what way do you folk reckon is the best way to set up camp after a hard day's cycling ,what work's best for you.do you pitch your tent first,or put the kettle on,or have a shower .cook a meal.
hope this post dosen't sound like a no brainer,but it seem's everyone has a different method of doing things .im trying to find out ,if there is a favourate way of getting you set up for the night.

make your riding partner do it.



I always set up the tent first.... before anything.

Usually my first move is put on camp shoes if I have them. Then set up tent. After that it may be shower or kettle depending on how I feel.

Tent first, then food. But if I am lazy and there are a lot of mosquitoes, I will just climb in the tent and have a can of beer and a package of donuts for dinner.

My preferred order:

Tent first, in case of rain
unpack sleeping bag/mattress into tent
find/establish bathroom area
find/get water for dinner
fix dinner/clean up (easier before dark)
shower/relax/fire/drinks
pass-out time

Rank all the tasks involved with setting up camp based on what you would least want to do in the dark, then work backwards.

I set up my tent while snacking on trail mix. I unroll my therma-rest and slepping bag, and throw the rest of my panniers in the tent. I shower. Then I wash my clothes. And finally I cook dinner.

My order of business:

- open bottle of beer if i got it
- Set up tent
- Get out of cycling shorts and shoes and put on camp shorts and sandles
- usually just throw tent and sleeping pad into tent without unpacking
- get water and cook dinner
- eat dinner
- shower if available, washing cycling shorts in shower with me
- put panniers in vestibule
- inflate sleeping pad and unroll bag

*subject to change based on weather and conditions

Check in.
Call room service.
Find the remote.

Ok, ok, I've never stayed in a motel/hotel while touring. My order has been:
- Cleats off, shoes on
- Tent up
- Unload bike
- Unroll sleeping bag
- Cook/cleanup
- If I'm lucky, get a shower
- Sleep

Map Tester nailed it. Get the shelter up and ready, get cleaned up and out of sweaty bike clothes, eat before dark and then relax and sleep.

Only one person mentioned a bathroom, everybody else must hold it. : P

I had a question about that actually, If you stealth camp . . . how do you go about a bathroom? Odd question maybe, but . . . necessary question.

Quietly, out in the woods, and burry your waste.
A hand spade should be part of your gear.

Ah, that's what I was wondering, If anybody carries a military folding spade. They're surprisingly lightweight for being a big hunk of metal. : P

I've always just dug out a hole with the heel of my boot, but that was always camping in softer soils, not hard clay or something like that.

excellent stuff ,seems that everyone does most things simular.thank's.

Small garden spade is all you need. I keep one in the same small stuff sack that I keep the TP.

i use a rock or stick or whatever is handy. sometimes removing a rock will start a nice cathole and replacing it buries my poop nicely. i don't carry a trowel and have never wanted for one.

Trowel is a good idea for most.

I often cook first and mount the tent while it's simmering.

Pictures or it didn't happen

My procedure exactly.

My system is the same as the others; set up tent, throw everything in tent (except bike and food) eat, have shower. I'm surprised no one mentioned hanging their food up! I never forget to do that.

My little toilet maker:

The same way people used to do it 100 years ago or so.

If you're touring in Australia or places like England and France, you don't really need to hang your food up.

Even in Canada, the hanging the food part doesn't happen till after supper.

I don't worry about changing shoes since my shoes are made for cycling and hiking. But the first thing I set up is my tent just in case it may rain so I have a place to get cover and put my stuff in including the bag, and it only takes 15 minutes to get it it up. Then I set up the cooking stuff.