2015 Camping at William O’Brien – Low’s recap

This is a do as I do song:

I’m smart!

I’m strong.

I’m ready for whatever comes along!

I’ve got good friends,

We’ll stick together until the end.

I like myself, I’m worth a lot,

and you can’t tell me that I’m not,

cause you can’t see inside of me,

SELF WORRRRRTH!

I was lucky enough to join the Grease Rag camping trip to William O’Brien State Park this past weekend- this is the first year that I haven’t been able to organize a Grease Rag camping trip, and it is also the first year I’ve gone on a trip that I have not organized.  This is the seventh year Grease Rag has been organizing fun, accessible, WTF-ortiented bike camping trips.

Did you know…

…Anyone can organize a Grease Rag event? We all share the power and responsibility of organizing this group.

…Grease Rag does not turn anyone away from events like bike camping for lack of funds?  We have a scholarship fund for that!

…Grease Rag is RAISING FUNDS RIGHT NOW at our open shop locations?  Drop by and drop a dollar in the bucket!

…You can volunteer to lead your own WTF-oriented bike camping trip, ride, or event on the Grease Rag page?  Create something today- You have the power!

The opening to this post is a song Julia lead while we were standing around the picnic table.  One of the many “Grease Rag moments” on the trip was singing the song while one person held the front of Olivia’s bike, two people lifted up the back, and another pedaled and adjusted the derailleur.  “Self Worth!”

More Memorable Moments

• We were wearing a rainbow of colors and took a photo in ROYGBIV order
• Julia saved a turtle sunning itself on the trail
• Pannier bumps as we ride side by side
• Natalie’s “backpacking guitar” was beautiful breakfast music
• Everyone brought avocados to dinner!
• Lauren’s waterproof camera was super exciting
• The thunderous rain at the close of the trip
• All of the cottonwood fluff caught in my leg hair looked like I was turning into a downy bunny creature
• Watching Kelsey change a flat super fast and efficiently, while some guy stood around hovering, “Just in case we needed anything.”  There were ten of us there.  Between us, we have everything we need.
• Casey adjusting a finicky derailleur
• Lauren and Kelsey and Casey figuring out they had connections from other states they had lived and worked (what a well-traveled bunch!)
• Listening to the rain pound on my tent, from 3am until 7am, stopping just in time for my morning pee and breakfast
• My donut holes arrived at their destination, unsquished and un-soaked, despite being strapped to my rear rack through a crazy rain storm!
• Being prepared means “Plan B is ‘Plan A,’ with trash bags and a tarp”
• I had an easy time batonning firewood with my new knife!
• Booting a tire sidewall with a dollar bill, and making it 20 miles to the next bike shop
• Everyone had their own method of strapping stuff to their bikes, it was endlessly fascinating!
• I woke up in the middle of the night and put my hand in something oily. I turned on the light and realized that my lunch container, full of olive oily pesto, had cracked and was sitting in a puddle of oil inside my tent. Miraculously the oil was not on my clothes or gear, only the floor of my tent, but I didn’t really have anything to mop it up, and it was storming really hard outside.  I unzipped the tent, threw my pesto into the outer vestibule to deal with in the morning, took a container of salt from my mess kit and dumped it on the oil, and went back to sleep.  When I woke up I was able to flip a cake of oily salt out of my tent, leaving only a little residue behind.  Some Dr. Bronners and a quick wipe of my tent with my dish towel was all it needed, and we were good to go!  Kitchen/laundry skills translate well to camping skills.
• No one cried, no one died.  A success, by all accounts.

The most striking thing about camping with such a cool group of WTFs was all of the knowledge.  Any time I asked a question, from, “What is a love language?” to, “How do you light a fire when it’s raining?” to, “What’s the best way to eat raw kale?” I got a ton of knowledge in return.

Grease Rag means every event is a skill-share.  How can you avoid learning when you are surrounded by rad WTFs with diverse experiences?