space blanket and compass if you are a good boy scout
Bottle of beer and a joint if you are not

Well y'all motivated me yesterday and I got out for a ride through Catonsvilles hills, Ellicott city(Oella Ave is open again), out to the airport and back with a climb of Gun Rd. This after brewing a batch of Porter in the AM. After reading the morning trip reports I dressed way to warm. PM temps were great, nowhere near what y'all experienced.
So I went out again today(Saturday), to the homebrew store in Columbia.(trend developing). I bought and hauled 12 lbs of grain. I did fairly well w/ the exception of Dobbin rd near rt 175...crazy lane changes, no shoulders, lots of impatient shoppers. One driver cut me off with a bumper sticker reading "Choose Civility", how ironic. Most of Columbia's roads were great but then they changed to ***** quickly. Give me Balto co. any day. I do plan to map the area this year though. I've never seen a bikers map of Columbia so I'll make my own. I did find some sweet riding. Total miles for both days is between 70-80 miles. One of my New Years resolutions is to fix my odo. I guess I'm no good at resolutions.
Blue ridge pkwy touring: Well I read a bunch of tours from Crazy guy on a bike. Looks like a great tour but hard. Lots of climbing. Camping and water can be long distances from each other. Stealth camping is often an option. Harry: Adventure tours is nice but pricey. I kinda like planning and schlepping my crap. Barry, ice cooler is great for overnighters but doubt you want to haul it over the BRP. You're more than welcome to do it though. This trip (if we rode all of it) would need to be 8-10 days long. Perhaps we should plan a closer less intense trip. I've tour mostly flat but would like to try hills. I roll w/ a Burley trailer.... for the keg of course. We should keep talking about a spring tour.
Happy Bday NR
Everbody else, keep on cranking.