Re: [RBW] Planning my first bikepacking trip

[Leah Peterson]

Thanks for all the tips, you guys! And thank you for reassuring me, Curtis. ❤️  Ironically, the GAP was my first route. I scrapped it because I couldn’t get E interested in it. He said it was too historical for him, sigh. Then we scrapped Buffalo, NY to NYC - which would have been REALLY cool because the greenway spits you right onto my sister’s doorstep in lower Manhattan. But that route had almost no camping, so he rejected that one, too. He proposed the new DelMarVa route in Adventure Cycling but there is no safe/good way to get the bikes over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. (“Hitchhike!” said Pam.) We finally both chose the Erie coast independently. I’ve had to do all the planning because he can’t look away from his books and projects at ALL.  We won’t be lighting any fires. I did put my foot down about food. I said I am not hauling food and cooking equipment. We will have all we can do learning to ride together on unknown roads, fully loaded over who knows what kind of terrain in cities we’ve never seen. And then we have to pitch tents. We will stay places that have food in a town nearby. And really, I think this will always be my rule. So don’t invite me to your bikepacking events deep in the woods. Not unless we’re eating in town before we head to camp and also we must arise and point the bikes straight to coffee in the morning. Also, we find campgrounds with hot showers and restrooms. Those are the rules. I don’t make….well, yes I do. And I never break the rules. Leah On Jun 10, 2025, at 7:08 PM, Richard Rose <rmros...@gmail.com> wrote: Hi Leah. I second several thoughts already posted. A huge YES to the GAP/C&O for a first multi night trip. It is simply fantastic & you can very easily mix in some B&B time to break up the camping if you wish. An even bigger YES! to the suggestion of at least one Sub24. The Ann Arbor folks do them almost every month spring through fall. Lots of first timers come on these as well as seasoned veterans who are happy to help. I have many more thoughts and happy to help - you know where to find me.:) P.S. there is a Sub 24 coming up soon in A2. June 21 I think. Sent from my iPhone On Jun 10, 2025, at 4:32 PM, Bicycle Belle Ding Ding! <jonasandle...@gmail.com> wrote: I, Leah Peterson, have refused to camp my entire life. A lover of safety, cleanliness, hot showers and fresh coffee, I never saw the allure. Why should I pitch a tent and sleep in the ditch if I could sleep in a hotel bed?  Several of my bike world friends told me I was missing out. But I wasn’t missing out, because I was content in my hotels and unaware of the joys and sorrows of bike camping.  But, we have this son. This child is not a child, he stands at 6’2” tall and is heading into his sophomore year of college. He has his head in his books with no time for anything else, but oh, he has the wanderlust. I read that 90% of the time you’ll ever spend with your kid is spent by age 18. That was a year ago…I have less than 10% of my allotted time left with one of the most beloved, treasured people in my world. I could sob just typing it.  E discovered the term “bikepacking” at the Philly Bike Expo. And when he heard it he said, “Wait, say that again…” His eyes lit up and he was determined to try. Julian (from this list) sent him some bikepacking essentials he had, and that was the catalyst for getting E to hit the trails. I immediately decided that since it involved my son and biking, two of my great loves, I was going. All my friends said, Leah, you don’t camp. Leah, you’ve lost your mind. I know, I said. Then I went to the internet and to Pam Murray and I started to plan. And you guys, every brain cell in my head was being used and I decided I must be stupid because I could not figure out how to make the logistics all work. Choose a route. How do you get to the start? How do you get back again? How to use Amtrak? Why does their train station and schedule NEVER WORK for my purposes?! What do you mean there is no camping along most of the Hudson Valley Trail? Too much mileage between these two towns, not enough between those. I have scrapped 2 entire routes we planned because we just couldn’t get the logistics to work. I do not think it is supposed to be this hard, so I must be doing it wrong. (I’m going for a ride with The Lone Wolf tomorrow who will surely scoff and confirm that I am doing it wrong. But also, maybe he will give me some pointers.) Finally, we settled on a route that takes us along Lake Erie. With Chat GPT’s help, I have a decent plan and two campsites picked out so far. One is first come, first serve, so say a prayer for us. Say 2 prayers, because my husband is going to get roped into dropping us off and picking us up at the start and finish, and he has no idea.  He also has no idea that I just spent $$$ on a tent, footprint, sleeping pad and sleeping quilt (ha! Have you ever heard of such a thing? What happened to sleeping bags?!). Like, really a lot. Big money. I got sucked down the gear rabbit hole and suddenly nothing but these ultralightweight things will do. It is shameful. I confessed to E who sent me this text:  MOM SPENDING 700 ON A TENT IS NOT RIGHT THAT DOESNT MEAN YOU LOVE ME TENTS DONT COST THAT MUCH YOU DONT NEED IT TO BE COMFORTABLE😭 😭 😭 😭 😭 😭 😭 😭 😭 So, that is what is happening over here. Be gentle in your rebukes. I am stressed out about this whole experiment on several levels!  But this kid. What would I not do for him? I thought I’d draw the line at sleeping in ditches, but no, not even that is off-limits. I’ll do anything, it seems, to stay involved and relevant. Luckily, my second son is quite comfortable in hotels, and will not make me work this hard to be in his orbit. Leah -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/293ccbb4-ce5f-4067-be84-57e3153e61dan%40googlegroups.com. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this topic, visit https://groups.google.com/d/topic/rbw-owners-bunch/1-6ssrRirOQ/unsubscribe. To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/01AC83D2-6440-4DBE-9553-D9FC0B955566%40gmail.com. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/B0D1CF9F-2752-401B-8314-40FE504D01FB%40gmail.com.