Group Camping Trip Recap

By : Lowrah · May 21, 2012

WOW!

Team work and good attitudes made this the best bike camping trip!

I've hung my tent to dry, I'm somewhat successfully resisting the urge to scratch my mozzie bites, and drinking lots of water while my cats make sure I'm recovering properly by sitting on me so I can't get off the couch.  A fantastic opportunity to post a couple of photos, reflect, and ..I'M DEFINITELY NOT SCRATCHING.

Even with a threat of rain and thunderstorms, a crew of 20 rode out to Carver and 18 stayed to camp!  How's that for impressive attendance?  While I nervously watched the radar, sought out the nearest shelter (vault toilets!) in case of a weather emergency and got texts about hail in Minneapolis, our campground went relatively unscathed by the two red areas on the radar that skimmed us by mere miles.  At one point I'm pretty sure I jumped into Erin's lap because the thunder that boomed directly over us.  But instead of spending time in our tents waiting out the rain, we drank and ate and were merry around the fire.  Brilliant luck.

We had at least six people that had never bike camped before, and I hope they had a great first time.  It's all about teamwork and a positive attitude!

Some people made food, some provided firewood, some people used their bikes to anchor a tarp, people shared tents, hauled equipment for others... this was the most helpful, all-hands-on-deck group!  People pulled 8-foot long trailers, all sorts of gear including three pounds of bacon and a whole lotta coffee.  We had poppy seed pancakes and fresh fried fish and bacon and BACON and bratwurst.  

Even though I gave sketchy routing directions and kind of missed the boat on getting a group camping site in time, I'm not sure I would change anything.  I'm proud to say that all mechanical issues were dealt with efficiently and effectively, and that no tears of defeat were shed along the trail.  In spite of the rain it appeared that everyone was outfitted and comfortable.

Do you have any suggestions for next year?  (Because.. YES, there will be a next year!)

Events, Bike Camping/ Touring, Recap

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 Its so great to hear that the trip was so much fun and lucky. The pictures turned out great. Kudos to the photographer. I bet the day seemed so short. I find that my good days always went by too fast. I took a quick look at Kat's knee and it was looking so much better. It was so good to see everybody smiling.
Posted by tina marie on May 23rd, 2012
Here is a copy of our planning email, in case anyone was wondering about what goes on behind the scenes.  A summary of this information is also in my previous post about this trip: http://greaserag.org/user_blogs/lowrah/may-19-20-group-bike-camping-trip/
Plan: Meet at Common Roots on Lyndale at 11am on May 19 for fuel and caffeine, plan to roll out at noon. Ted will be leaving earlier with his trailer and tandem to get some fishing in.
There's an early-riser group leaving the campground on Sunday: Kat, Ben and Ethan will be speeding back to Mpls for work.
Route: http://g.co/maps/z4fm9 Map of Carver Park Reserve: http://www.threeriversparks.org/~/media/Maps/PDFs/Park%20Detail/Summer/carver_summer.ashx
We will be camping at sites 1-6. I'm so sorry I couldn't get the group site, but that's the way it goes. We will purchase our firewood at the park. Beer and wine are permitted. Hard liquor, kegs or other bulk containers are not allowed.
We are doing this early in the season, so there is a chance that there will be bad weather. There's no real rain plan, we'll figure it out if it becomes an issue.
We are limited to 12 tents (2 per site), FYI. I sent out a list of people that need tents, and people that have room in their tents. I will leave it up to the people that need tents to contact those with tents.
Looks like everyone has their own mess kit, sleeping bag and sleeping mat. Sweet!
Shayne: Bring your coffee pot! Ted: Bacon, fishing equip. (if you want to fish you need a license), stove for cooking fish (fingers crossed!) Erin, Wes, and Alex have a one-burner stove. Not sure how many we need to bring... Wes, Alex, Christina have cooking pots and pans. Low: Does anyone have a large cooler that I can fit on the BoB? I don't mind carrying stuff but I don't have a big cooler. Pancake mix (vegan), french press coffee pot, pasta, pump Wes: French press Janne: Falafel mix Alex: COFFEE, non-meat protein
We are going to stop at the grocery store in Victoria. I would recommend picking up most foods there. If your food needs prep (my pesto pasta) make them ahead and carry them with, but otherwise we can make stuff once we get to camp!
Posted by Lowrah on Jun 18th, 2012


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