Sharpshin

I average a shower about every three days on tour, most times I ride until dark and then find a spot out of the headlights but outside of fence lines (I am strongly averse to trespassing). My sleeping arrangements are similarly spartan, I just throw out the REI Quarterdome and sleep in it. Despite the cooler temperatures in the UK I found sleeping w/out an air mattress of any sort of insulation between me and the ground to be no problem. My light 45F sleeping bag was plenty, and in my thin smartwool sweater it was positively balmy the few nights I wore it.

Here's a picture of my last night's camp on my 40 day tour just off M62 in the Pennines, photo taken the morning of departure before a 65 mile day back to Blackpool, I slept with the tent like that, the fly was needed to intercept dew, which ran very heavy in the UK.



Off the bike, my nylon pants and shirt worn in a normal fashion passed for street clothes.

I carried a 32 oz copper cup that I use for 1830's reenacting, and a dang useful implement it is too. Each evening I would fill it with a 50/50 mix of oatmeal and granola, add milk or water, and eat it like cereal, and so recharge carbs overnight as well as providing the roughage to stay regular (omit fiber in one's diet and you may never poop at all until your tour is over).

First stop every morning (as seen in on the final morning in Sowerby Bridge) was for a greasy breakfast, a pot of tea, and a newspaper



...and while I'm at it, shots of the real estate between the above two photos.






Mike