I'll be doing my first S24O this coming weekend, riding up to Samuel P. Taylor State Park from SF, camping overnight, then riding back. I'm really excited, but I'm also a little worried about what do to with my bike while I'm asleep in my tent--and maybe also what to do with my loaded bike if I want to, say, stop off somewhere nearby for a swim or a bit of offroad exploration. I've got urban bike security pretty figured out, but this is clearly a different situation. Of course I'd love to put my faith in humanity, park the bike somewhere out of the way, and hope for the best, but my faith is weak.

What do you do with your bikes while camping and wandering on tours?

What do I do? Pretty much "put my faith in humanity, park the bike somewhere out of the way, and hope for the best". That said it does depend on where I am. Thus far I have never carried more than a cheapie cable lock and often don't bother using it. I leave much of my gear on the bike, but do take my camera, phone, and other of the more theft worthy stuff with me.

OTOH, I have been places where I just flat would not leave my bike out even if locked. Fortunately they are the exception.

You won't have a problem in Samuel P. Taylor. The hiker/biker site is surrounded by redwoods so bring a cable to lock your bike with, either to the table or around a (big) tree. If this isn't enough, take some string or nylon line and tie one end to your bike and the other end to one of your tent poles (just don't trip over it on your way to the bathroom).

As for places along the way, just lock your bike as you would in Berkeley, as most of the trip will be along urban areas. I'd suggest also trying to keep your bike in view when you have to leave it alone, such as when you are eating. It seems a bit unlikely that you need to do much shopping for an S24O, but there you have to lock and trust a bit. I try to bring my bike into the store when I am on tour, but that might not be so easy in stores in the Bay Area.

On a multi-week tour, I don't worry much about security. Here is an article I wrote about security on a bike tour.

Have a great time.

I dont even bring along a lock. Im just finishing up a two month tour into northern Canada, Ive never had a problem yet, on this tour or others of course YMMV

Interesting post. I have been thinking about this too as I am hoping to do my first tour in the coming week. I live in a city where I don't take my eye off of it without locking it.

I was planning to take a long my u-lock (small heavy duty thing that really only works on sign-posts) and lock it wherever I can.

Putting your u-lock around your tire and frame and then tying it to your tent (as mentioned previously) should be an excellent solution. As far as gear, I guess you'll have to be trusting with the bulk of it while carrying/watching closely the valuable stuff.

I envy those who don't feel the need to worry ... I've just had so many bikes and wheels stolen over the past 15 years that I think I'm scarred for life.

I usually just lay it down next to my tent. Never camped anywhere I didn't feel safe doing that although I'm touring through Yellowstone next month and am rethinking that approach. If I have my Carradice rain poncho with me I'll lay that over it like a tarp. Makes it less conspicuous and shelters it a bit from weather (especially important if you leave your bags on the bike).

What route are you taking to Samuel P Taylor? I was thinking of camping near there too this weekend via Old Railroad Grade, Ridgecrest, and the Bolinas Ridge trail (with my dirt touring bike). I think I'm gonna have to postpone for a week though.

I think there was a previous poster who suggested using a little Velcro. It makes a LOT of noise when it´s being removed, so it would be a good deterent.

10 foot long , but fairly thin cable, for trees and picnic benches..
and shorter but thicker one to stop in towns.. rain-covers keep pilfering at bay..

Why take a heavy lock that very well may be useless in most of the time? (E.g., Usually not too many sign posts in campgrounds.) You can bring a cable and small lock and teather it to your tent to achieve the same result.

Bike theft is a sport in Philadelphia. When I tour I do what I do at home rather than worry or fear: I make an assessment of the risk and take reasonable precuations. On the last three-day trip I took I never once locked my bike at the campgrounds I stayed at even though two nights I left my site for walks. Didn't feel the need because I felt the risk of it being stolen was extremely low. The camgrounds were not in denseley populated areas, and access by the general public was not easy. The three times I stopped at diners my bike was in plain sight so I didn't bother locking it up.

On the flip side, during a tour last year in Montana, a couple of times the GF and I cabled our bikes together when we left our camping areas. In one of those instances, we also hid them behind a building near our tent site. In the other, we also put our bikes inside a structure (the "shack" at the Bike Camp in Twin Bridges) rather than leaving them outside. In those cases, the camping locations were in towns and were easily accessible by passers by. The night before Twin Bridges we stayed at BLM campground and did not use the lock and never lost a minute of sleep. What were the chances that someone would drive down a 1.5 mile gravel road in the middle of the night, circle the campground looking for something to steal and try to snatch our bikes that were leaning against a picnic table 6' from our tent?

I use a light cable lock,keeps the honest people honest.Panniers in the tent with me.You'll have more trouble with raccoons and squirrels than people.

I think you could teach a raccoon to rebuild a bicycle.....

I'm more cautious than those posting above, largely because when touring I quite often visit urban areas and want to lock up my bike outside hostels etc. while I take a look around. I take a Kryptonite evolution mini U-lock plus one of their 4' cables. Between them they cover most contingencies and they're quite compact for packing. Of course they weigh something, but I've never worried too much about the odd extra pound.

Not sure about that, but they are pretty good at working zippers and buckles. They will also carry off a full pannier if it smells good to them.

Man, I can barely carry off one of my full panniers.

If I'm staying mostly rural and am worried about my bike mainly when I'm at camp or running into a store, I take my cable. It's an On-Guard cable with loops on the ends, and I loop it around something and into my ring lock. Or sometimes I just use the ring lock. If I'm feeling like the location is very safe, and the bike won't be out of my sight for more than a minute, I might even leave the key in the ring lock. Anyone hopping on and trying ride off will have to take a minute to figure out why the wheel isn't turning. Anyone trying to toss it into their vehicle will have to be stronger than me as my loaded bike is not amenable to tossing.

Last trip had me spending a day in down town Cleveland. On that trip I had my U-lock and the cable/ring lock combo. And even then I was not comfortable leaving the bike out of my sight for any longer than necessary. I was less worried about the bike being stolen and more worried that someone would go through my gear.

It's situational, but my rule is to guess at the least secure place you're going to have to leave your bike, and then plan for that. I'd rather not tour with a U-lock, but I'd really rather not cut my trip short because my ride is gone.

I don`t lock up when I camp, but maybe its necessary at that park. If you feel uncomfortable leaving your bike unlocked, go ahead and throw a lock in your bags so you can enjoy yourself without a constant niggling worry.

Hmmm... to lock around a (big) tree in a redwood grove, you`d need an awfuly long cable, wouldn`t you? Chuckling here, no offense

It totally depends on where you are. I still try to find a place to lock up just as a precaution, although on the tours I've done I felt no threat. If you're in a campground and you want that security, though, it should be easy enough to find something to lock your bike to- a picnic table, a tree, etc.

While sleeping, the simplest way to secure the bike is run a string from it and tie to the body part of your choice. Food in tent or hung. In a sketchy area in daytime, keep in sight. Cable lock good too. If in a store with a big vestibule(WM), I roll the bike inside. If going to a movie, they've always found a place to securely store it. If with a buddy and shopping, one will stay with the bikes.

Collect discarded beer cans from area, poke a hole through them, string them on fishing line, attach to bike with beer cans several feet away in a "natural" pattern. Voila, you now have a bike tampering alarm. Remove cans in AM, retain alarm string for reuse.

I use a cable lock and cover my bike with black garbage bags for rain protection and it makes the bike less visible and desirable. You could also remove and take the wheel skewers, after locking the wheels.

My touring/shopping bike always has a light cable lock attached. When camping I lock it to either a picnic table or a tree to discourage casual thieves or joyriders - and hope no pro thieves frequent the campground. It's also what I use when leaving the bike outside grocery or convenience stores for either regular local shopping trips or when stopping in Fairfax or other towns along the way to Sam Taylor. Haven't had anything stolen in over three decades.

any combination of cable and or U-lock that suits your trip. If I'm touring trad, i simply pack both, like chasm54

cables in the hinterlands, big locks in the cities.

If I'm touring GGNRA and Samuel Taylor I'd be bringing a cable, but my last trip there i had an aluminum U-lock hanging from the saddle rails for the urban bits and didn't worry much about the bike in the woods other than to immobilize it and keep it next to the tent.

You'll never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy...

I like to think like this also. I've done a lot of 3 day - 2 week tours over the years and have had no problem. You would think nobody would mess with a totally loaded bike while you stop for supplies or lunch or whatever. On the other hand, it could be a real bonanza for a homeless drunk. I take a good lock.

Marc

When I was a kid I used my earnings from over a year of delivering newspapers to buy a new bicycle. I was about 25 feet away from it while shopping when someone jumped on it and pedaled off - I had left it in the perfect gear for them to accelerate and I could not run fast enough to catch them. Thus, in the rare circumstance where I leave a bike unlocked at a grocery store or restaurant, I leave the bike in the highest gear so someone can't accelerate very fast. But after losing over a year of income to one theft, I use locks when a lot of other people do not.

I use two different types of locks. A combination padlock on a quarter inch diameter steel cable, about 6 feet long for the bike overnight. For shorter term, like at a restaurant or in grocery store, a small diameter combination cable lock like those used by skiers to lock up their skis. I have also used such skier type locks to lock my panniers to the bike if I was nervous about the area around a grocery store.

Camping, I just lock it to a tree or tall post, but if I was really nervous about a campground I might pull a front wheel off of it and put that under my tent fly or vestibule. I feel best about public state or federal campgrounds, am most nervous at private RV parks. The RV parks with swimming pools make me even more nervous, but I am not sure why, perhaps because they look more urban.