Advice for light touring
07-12-10, 05:23 PM
#26
Mad bike riding scientist
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The bugs will get to you regardless of whether or not you are in your tent. [Like before you go to bed] prime time for biting is really around dusk and dawn. Don't be near stagnant water if you can avoid it. Mosquitos don't like breezy places either. IF it is really 55 at night there won't be much activity anyway.
Being on a search and rescue team the standard for our packs is a lightweight plastic or nylon tarp and an emergency blanket (no bag-no tent) "just in case" we get stuck overnight. I have spent plenty of muggy SC nights in the woods and bug spray works. This is not exactly an expedition; if you are not used to sleeping outside you will probably only doze all night anyway.
mosquito isn't in an emergency situation so why act like he is? There's nothing wrong with at least a little comfort. It's supposed to be fun, not a death march. A tent provides a little shelter from bugs and storms and littler beasties. Not to mention the aforementioned maladies.
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Stuart Black
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Stuart Black
Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Old School…When It Wasn’t Ancient bikepacking
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
07-12-10, 05:52 PM
#27
Walmart bike rider
mosquito, try a tarp at your house on a bad night, unless you plan close enough to ensure good weather. If the tarp works out, that's fine. Personally I would use a bivy or one of the suggestions others have posted. But if you haven't done this before, try an overnighter at your house or near your house to test everything out. Then you can tweak You also didn't mention a sleeping bag which will take up more space than a tent.
The very worse case is you will have a bad night of sleep.
The very worse case is you will have a bad night of sleep.
07-12-10, 08:13 PM
#28
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07-13-10, 06:02 AM
#29
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I'm kind of in the same boat. I was invited to a s24o in a couple of weeks and it looks fun. I have a carbon roadbike with no racks but I have a carradice saddle bag and a handlebar bag. I thought I saw a tent at a bike store that strapped in like a handlebar bag some time back but I haven't been lucky finding any online like that. I'm thinking about a cheap popup mosquito net and a tarp maybe.
07-13-10, 07:17 AM
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for a single/ infrequent use I might suggest the hiker/biker 2 from Sports Authority. On sale for about $30 bucks and I bought my son one for when he tags along. It packs about 4x4x18 and doesnt weigh much. could be strapped to the top tube or easily secured to a simple rack.
NOTE!!! be sure to get the hiker biker II as it has a full mesh body and plenty of ventilation. the original hiker biker had almost no mesh and didnt breath at all. I could only find a link to the original. https://www.sportsauthority.com/produ...id=body_rv_img
NOTE!!! be sure to get the hiker biker II as it has a full mesh body and plenty of ventilation. the original hiker biker had almost no mesh and didnt breath at all. I could only find a link to the original. https://www.sportsauthority.com/produ...id=body_rv_img
