Trek_geek

I did my first, what the Adventure Cycling Assoc. calls "Bike Overnight" last fall. My trip report. I put some 1.5"x26" slicks on my old Performance MTB with a Topeak rear rack and MTX trunk bag. Had a lot of fun doing a 26 mile out and back to a private campground. Not the most comfortable ride but I now have a Trek 520 which I started using to commute this past March. The next trip planned is an overnight on the High Bridge Rail-to-trail in Farmville, VA with a friend. (I am 61 and he is 67) We will park on the western end on a Saturday morning, ride the 31 miles to the state part on the other end. Oh yes, and stop for lunch each way at the local brew pub. Less to carry.

Booger1

I'll take the train to Palmdale and go to:Red Rock Canyon,California Poppy Reserve,out by Edwards Air Force Base,out by Goldstone,El Mirage.There are some live testing grounds out there,but I'm not going to say exactly where,it's dangerous and the sentries are not real happy to see you,but it's GREAT FUN TO WATCH!

Take the train to Moorpark or Magic Mountain,ride through the valley to Oxnard or Santa Barbara,ride home.Leo Carillo,Sycamore Canyon,Carpinteria SB are south of Santa Barbara.El Capitan,Refugio and Gaviota SB are north of Santa Barbara.

Take the train to San Berdoo or Corona,go to Lake Elsinore,some casino if I'm feeling rich,Lake Piramid,Vail Lake,there's a county Campground a couple miles past Vail Lake,Palm Springs,By the city of Joshua Tree on the north side of the park there is a campground or 2.

Take the train to Oceanside and ride around east of there,I can't think of the campgrounds right at the moment but there are some indian lands back in there with camping,campgrounds around Palomar mountain.

There are alot of places to go around L.A. for overnighters,you just have a bit of a ride to get out of town.

I also do alot of stealth camping out in the high and low desert.

gerv 

That's why I usually do my overnights alone. Not too many people have the bandwidth or the schedule to work quick trips in. But that's fine with me. The solitude is nothing to sneeze at.

I have done some hotel overnights, but actually prefer camping. I am enthralled with the lore of backpacking (spend a lot of the winter reading books like The Complete Walker) and bike camping is very similar. It feels like more of an adventure too (and if you don't get it right, it can be pretty adventurous).

ortcutt

I've bike camped only once, and I had originally intended to make it an S24O. I prefer a quiet camping spot that gives at least an illusion of solitude, but since I live in metro Boston, I concluded that I would need to head well out of town. I didn't want to make cycling the main focus of the trip, however; so I decided to make it two nights at the same spot, and to take a train to my ride start.

(I took the commuter rail to Newburyport and rode 35 miles NW to Pawtuckaway State Park in NH. It's a lovely place, but it did not provide an illusion of solitude.)

If I can generalize from a single experience, I'd say that I want my trips to prioritize the camping, and the destination, over the journey. I want what's probably impossible: a quiet and relatively sparsely visited spot that is a fairly easy ride from an interesting town, preferably one with a decent brewpub.

Northwestrider

I have just returned from a 2 month tour, this weekend I'm heading to Mt. Rainer for a 2 night trip on my Surly. If its on a bike and involves camping, how can you fail? Enjoy.

tarwheel 

I'm a former backpacker myself but I'm getting soft in my older age. It's become harder and harder for me to sleep on the ground, and I have trouble sleeping when it's hot at night. I can deal with the ground issue with my new Neo-Air mattress, but will have to wait for the weather here to cool down before attempting any camping trips. As soon as it cools down, I'm going to try riding from Raleigh, NC, to the coast -- which is a 2-3 day trip depending on how hard I want to push myself. I would have to ride 80-90 miles/day to make it in two days, but it's pretty flat although wind can be an issue. There's a nice state park near the halfway point, but not many good options for camping if I spread the trip over 3 days.

stevepusser

Living in the SW corner of the US here leaves only north and east as directions to head for overnights.

The campground by Palomar Mountain is on the La Jolla Reservation (nowhere near La Jolla on the coast), and offers half price for cyclists. Another nice state park with hike&bike sites near San Bernadino is Silverwood Lake, though the Coaster and Metrolink Schedules make it tough to get to SB from San Diego early enough. During hot summer weekends, used to do many one-nighters up to San Clemente State Beach hike & bike, though it was common to have homeless people sneak in, it was a huge site and there was room for all. Now it's gone because of problems with mentally unstable homeless...it was definitely not a quiet, wilderness experience. For that, I'd often head up into the Cuyamaca mountains, the state park has two campgrounds with hot showers and a hike&bike policy that let you camp in the day-use picnic area (sometimes the kiosk attendant had to be educated about that). They are very quiet & deserted at night---or you could bike out a dirt road to one of the primitive camps even further out in the park. Sometimes I'd stay at both sites, then leave at daybreak Monday AM and make it back to SD in time for work (it's a big downhill).

Though I can't fit the departure times into my schedule, San Diego Transit also runs a minibus east into the mountains and into the desert every evening, with racks for two bikes, $10 for a complete one-way into the desert. Anza Borrego SP has developed campgrounds and free "stealth" camping, though stealth would not be needed.
During cooler months, one could make some great short tours involving riding back to SD from the deserts or mountains, or riding south from Borrego to Agua Caliente Hot Springs, camping there, and then catching the bus back to SD from Octotillo

gerv 

Any site where you separate the camp site from the car is usually pretty quiet. There are a few of those and they are generally golden.

I've never camped overnight where you head back to town and work on the same day. But there are two camping sites with 15 miles of town that I might try sometime... maybe shoot to arrive at work a little late. The thought of going from a campground to my cubicle on the same morning sounds delicious

Tomorrow I'm headed north west to a campground I've never visited before. This is a Sunday/Monday trip.. first one this year. This 100 mile roundtrip is a mixture of bike trail and county "blacktop" ... usually traffic is less than 750 cars per day ( and often quite a bit less). The weather has turned cooler, high 70s in the afternoon and nights are down to low 50s. So I'll have to bring some extra clothes to augment my lightweight sleeping bag. A wool hat is handy.

andrewclaus

Not many have addressed the main question, which is how is a weekender different from a longer tour.

One big difference in my opinion is if you're really out there less than 24 hours, you never actually get a full day on the bike, just two half-days. One of the aspects I enjoy about touring is waking up at dawn in camp, spend a full day at your leisure on the bike, cycle until sunset and find a campsite, and repeat.

I tend to carry a little more stuff on a weekender. Or I should say I used to, because since I retired I don't do them anymore.

Also, I do not like to return via the same route I left home and will go to great lengths, including walking rutted two-tracks to connect a loop, or getting public transport on a one-way trip. Where I live, that often takes more than 24 hours, at least to make the trouble worthwhile.

PS: I just cycled NE Iowa on my Northern Tier tour. One of my favorite towns I visited on the whole trip was Elkader, IA. The river bluff country was beautiful and memorable, even in triple digit heat. Some pretty lousy roads, though, probably the worst I saw until I got to Maine.

tom cotter

I guess you are talking about Parvin? Really a shame what happened there.

There are several state parks in Jersey that offer camping, nearby food, and will give you the same flat ride.

Closest to Philly is Atsion State Park. Further and worth it is Bass River State Park. That park is 54 miles door to door for me from Cherry Hill. A little closer is camping at Bodine Field and along the Wading river. Bodine requires a mile slog down a dirt/sand road. Along RT 542 across from Crowley's Landing is a small state camping area. That's about 34 miles from the house. Finally, there is Belleplain, which is about 40 miles away, but hardest to reach due to road choices.

I guess you'd add about 10 miles to my mileage count as you are further west. Still, plenty of camping still available.

Leebo

Ortcutt, where else have you tried in Southern Nh and northeast Ma. There should be some choices out there for you.

irwin7638

I do weekend trips several times a year and try to work in a week or longer trip in somewhere. I just came back from a weekend on Lake Michigan. I really never vary on the equipment. The only possible variable would be the amount or nature of clothing, but I have found that 3 days worth is enough, if I take a longer trip than that, I will make a point of having lunch near a laundry.

Marc

indyfabz

Nope. Bull's Island on the Delaware River north of Stockton.

Riding to camp in the Pine Barrens doesn't interest me. I need some hills or I run the risk of falling asleep. Camped at Belleplain a long time ago. It was o.k., but steamy hot with no breeze and lots of skeeters. I might consider going back in the fall or spring. I can easily make it there from somewhere like Woodcrest or even from home if I want to ride through Camden. The GF and I rode to her parents' house in Avalon last year. Went right through that dump they call Woodbine.

Rob_E

That probably depends on how you do it. If you're really going for "sub 24 hours," then, yes, assuming at least 10 hours at camp leaves you less than 6 hours per day on the bike, but if you're willing to stretch the time limit, then there's no reason you can't spend a full day biking before setting up camp.

Yes, returning the way you came is something I always avoid, even just puttering around town. And more stuff. With a longer trip, I feel like it's more about the biking, and camping is just because you have to sleep some time. A shorter trip seems to focus on the camping, so I'm more likely to bring items that I might enjoy having at the campground, secure in the knowledge that I will only have to carry it two days. That said, I like the camping aspect of touring, and my problem with most of bike trips is that I feel that camping is rushed: setting up camp while there's still light, eating, showering (if I'm lucky) then off to bed. I could do with a little more time around a campfire or reading a book to unwind. A nice S24O is nice because you can often spend more time lounging at the campground if you plan it right.

So it would seem logical that longer trips = more gear, I find that the only increase in gear is that I take one more set of clothes on longer trips and occasionally more clothes for different weather contingencies. But on a shorter trip, I take anything I might like to have, secure in the knowledge that I won't be carrying it far. Also on a shorter trip I often do not plan on a grocery store stop, and bring all my food with me in addition to almost all of the gear that I would take on a longer trip.

Rob_E

I've dealt with the ground issue with a hammock. It has its challenges, too, but when it works, it's far more comfortable than the ground to me. I haven't had to pitch my hammock on the ground yet, but I've also had to get pretty creative a few times as well.

I've done the trip to the coast this summer and last and can share my campsites with you if you're interested. Took a different route both years, three nights both times, so I've got a number of options scoped out. Very few offer much in the way of seclusion/isolation from other campers, but some do.

I've also done a few local trips, too. If state parks are acceptable, we do have a good number that are within a days ride. I've also considered a train + bike trip to get out to the Uwharrie, which might offer more seclusion. I've never camped there, but it seems like it'd have potential.

Machka 

Rowan and I did a lot of weekend cycletouring back in Australia. We'd try to go somewhere about once a month. For the most part, our style of weekend touring was hub-and-spoke. We'd drive out to a favourite place, or one we had not been to before, on a Friday night, then stay there Saturday and Sunday, and return on Monday (or sometimes Tuesday if we had an extra long weekend). On Saturday and Sunday (and sometimes Monday) we would ride in different directions to explore the area.

For the most part we would stay in the cabins located in the plentiful campgrounds around the state of Victoria. I'm also not a huge fan of camping, and most of the time the cabins were a good price, allowing us to stay indoors, sleep in a bed, keep our bicycles right there in the cabin with us, and have toilet facilities a few steps away.




You can see some of the write-ups of our (and other's) weekend tours in the Your Short Tours thread for this year and the last couple years.

2012 Your Short Tours - https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php/795564-2012-Your-Short-Tours?highlight=

2011 Our Short Tours - https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php/724593-2011-Our-Short-Tours?highlight=

zoltani

Ipsut creek campground?

We did that one last labor day, it was fantastic.

cpblue

Once the weather cools in southeast Texas (halloween), I'll ride from Brookshire to Bellville then through Brenham up to Lake Somerville. It comes out to about 60 miles to the lake depending on where you camp. Camping at the lake is nice especially if I go during the week.

bent4me

My favorite was a 4 day 3 night trip with my son in southern New Jersey. Great bonding experience. My story got published on Adventure cycling's Bikeovernights. By the seat of my pants

Bekologist

Washington state, talk about great weekend touring options from Puget Sound......

there is excellent quantity of quality destinations available to weekenders riding out of Pugetopolis. Have you ridden the Quilcene crossover yet, zoltani? A great weekend out of Seattle...

jwbnyc

Grant Peterson's purpose in coining the term S240 was pretty specific. IMO.

He was trying to point the way forward for more people to get out on their bikes more often in a way that supported the "Rivendell" philosphy of bike usage.

Specifically, getting out of work, heading out on the bike, camping over, and heading back, with a bit of riding about, relaxing, having some wine with friends, etc.. you know, living.

Now, to me this counts as touring, but then; riding around, with a sandwich in a jersey pocket, seeing the sights counts as touring as well IMO.

I think the key is that the distances involved can't get too large. Otherwise time becomes too much of an issue to pull off an S240 in the sense that Grant has used the term. This means you need to have someplace nice to go within 15-20 Miles IMO.

I lean more towards long weekends/Six day trips, just because the time to get to the places I want to ride (and camp) takes more time than is practical within the constraints of an S240.

I started out doing exactly what Grant Peterson was getting at with the S240 however.

gerv 

Sometime seclusion is the luck of the draw. Last Sunday I pulled into a county park 40 miles from my door and found... nobody home. Asked the caretaker if it was always like this and he said the previous 4 days had been "full up"



When I first started looking for camping locations close by, I thought Iowa was pretty much wall-to-wall corn and beans fields.

However, I discovered that the rivers are frequently well treed and home to a number of parks. Problem is that here you really need to do your homework to find them, since there are federal, state and county parks with camping facilities. Several great ones have very primitive sites that require the camper to walk a distance... These are usually ideal for bike camping. Parks that have the RVs and tent campers in close proximity are usually pretty miserable though.

Bekologist

No, no, don't get me wrong - there's plenty of places for me to camp round here, there's nothing BUT woods. and i've been to plenty places nearby that are quite beautiful. but it's really quite swampy in the hinterlands, makes it much less appealing.

i was just pining for the excellent weekend touring available in the Pacific NW.

Sometimes, when there's two roads out of town and they both lead you right into the swamp, your choices can become monotonous.

zoltani

Is the Quilcene corssover you speak of the one you mentioned where you take a pass over in the olympics? I've yet to do that one, but was just thinking of it last weekend. Honestly I have not done much bike camping this year.

Rob_E

Walk! Forget it!

We do have a park nearby that has float or hike in sites. My buddy and I went one weekend and the hike into the site was the most grueling part of the day. I might do it again, but I'd give a lot more thought to how I'm going to carry my gear all the way in to the camp area over some steep trails. Nothing makes you re-evaluate your packing decisions as much as having to take all your gear off the bike and carry it.