Part Time Vagabond

For me, bike season is over…

// September 28th, 2009 // 4 Comments » // News

Yes, it’s that time of year once again where the temperatures cool, the leaves begin to turn, and the summer fun gear gets put away. Usually, I can get away with riding my bike until early October, just about the time when I finally stop wearing shorts and start in with the long pants. Unfortunately, I’ve had to cut my bike riding season short this year, as I’ve broken two spokes on my rear wheel, rendering it effectively useless until I can find the money to have the wheel respoked and trued. This happened about two weeks ago, so I’ve been off my bike since then, and my body is rebelling about that. I knew when I popped the first spoke that I’d have to hurry to get the wheel fixed, but when I went out for a ride a few weeks ago, and I heard the “twhang” of snapping metal as my rear wheel started to wobble, I knew it was over. I may actually have to get the entire wheel rebuilt, as it seems the spokes are old enough that they’re breaking. That will cost me. So for now, my bike sits sans rear wheel, and I wait until I have enough saved to get it fixed. Who’s up for some skiing?

S24O Video Update #2

// September 25th, 2009 // No Comments » // TRIP REPORT, VIDEO, s24o

From day 2 of my first S24O camping trip. Tuesday, September 22, 2009.

S24O Recap

// September 25th, 2009 // No Comments » // TRIP REPORT, s24o

My first S24O camping trip was a mixed bag of complete success and utter failure. And I totally expected both. (For those who don’t know, S24O stands for “Sub-24-hour-Overnight” camping, where you get to a camping spot, usually by riding your bike, set up, eat dinner, chat by the campfire, sleep, then head in to work the next morning. The great thing is you can do it any day of the week, so long as you’re in riding/driving distance of work.)

Successes:

• Found the campground and got a nice site
• Hiked to the top of Bradbury Mountain with a loaded backpack
• Had a roaring campfire all to myself
• Finished a book by headlamp/campfire light
• Learned a lot about my current gear
• Started (almost) a fire using magnesium firestarter

Failures:

• Lost my $115 Oakley sunglasses on the trail
• Found my gear to be incredibly bulky and heavy
• Forgot the battery to my camera
• Trekking pole lost parts
• Insufficient amount of water
• I have no rain gear
• Headlamp died
• Knee started to hurt
• Chafing. Enough said.

General Observations:

• Need insoles and taller socks for boots
• Heavy cook kit
• Tent was heavy, too big for one person
• Need to improve my backpacking skills
• Found out there’s apparently a pocket for a water bladder in my pack. Will need to use that in the future

Overall, I consider the trip a success. It’s a great way for me to both get outside to enjoy camping and have a nice campfire, and also to test my gear and my skills. I love that I was able to find out what works and what doesn’t, and seriously improve upon my techniques. In the spring, if I’ve been able to meet a few goals, I’ll get a new touring bike with panniers and do an S24O on my bike.

S24O Video Update #1

// September 24th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // TRIP REPORT, VIDEO, s24o

From the first day of my S24O camping trip. Monday, September 21, 2009.

Born Again Cyclist

// September 24th, 2009 // No Comments » // Feature

A few weeks ago, I started getting very interested in bike touring. I like the idea of living my entire life off my bike, even if it’s only for a short time. My brother and I got into mountain biking when we were in our early teens, and he became very much involved in road and mountain biking communities, both in Connecticut and Arizona. He even trained himself and became a bike mechanic. I took a less dedicated approach, but still very much enjoy riding. Now, with my renewed and new interests in biking and bike touring, I found that I’m paying more attention to what people are doing with their bikes. A few weeks ago, my good friend Miss Something of Somethingfound.net found an old bicycle in New York City, completely stripped it down to its bare bones, and refurbished it. She truly made it her own. I asked her about what it’s like to get back on the bike and ride the streets of New York. Read on after the jump. (more…)

16 Hours of Camping

// September 21st, 2009 // 2 Comments » // TRIP REPORT, s24o

Today I embark upon my first sub twenty-four hour camping trip, and although I’ve done zero preparation for this overnight stay, I’m upbeat and excited. It’s about 8:45 on Monday morning, and despite an allergy attack yesterday that had me laid up in bed, I’m ready to go with allergy meds and Breathe Right nasal strips. I will be a breathing machine.

The plan as it stands is to pack everything in my giant Lowe Alpine backpack, a behemoth with nearly 5000 cubic inches of cargo space and pockets galore. I bought this pack around 1997 for multi-day backpacking trips, but it’s hardly been used for that purpose, and now that I’m 12 years older, I’m thinking a smaller, more compact and lightweight model would be better for me. For now, though, I’m taking it with me to test how well the pack and I hold up.

Once I’m packed, I’ll head up to Bradbury Mountain State Park in Pownal, ME, pick a campsite, and then do some day hiking, pack fully loaded. I’ll make sure to take some video and post it up here on the site after I get back. Since moving to Maine, I’ve only spent one night in the woods, so you can imagine how much I’m looking forward to this. I only wish I’d realized I could do this sooner!

S24O Preparations

// September 17th, 2009 // No Comments » // Feature, s24o

This coming Monday I’ll be packing up the car and heading about twenty minutes north to Bradbury Mountain State Park for my first S24O camping trip. I’ll admit, I’m pretty excited, and if I find that I enjoy this overnight, I hope to do many more. And once spring rolls around, I hope to have a new touring bike outfitted with panniers to get me to these campouts. Even though the sub 24 hour trips are supposed to be “grab some gear and go” adventures, I find that I’ll still need to do a bit of preparation to make this successful.

One of my tasks over the next few days is to decide what gear I need to bring with me. “Lightweight” and “minimalist” are words I’ll be keeping in the front of my mind as I go through my gear. As you saw in the video yesterday, I have a good amount of big and bulky stuff in my collection, so it will be important to pare down what I bring. My goal is to pack simple, enough that I can fit most of my stuff into one small daypack. I’ll be leaving sometime Monday morning and driving up to the park where I’ll set up camp and get some hiking in. Unforutnately, biking to the park is out of the question because of 2 broken spokes and a bike without gear racks. So I’ll drive for this one, which is fine by me.

First, I need to remember to pack toiletries. On Tuesday morning, I have to get up and be at work for 11AM, meaning I have to get there early enough to shower, shave, and change into my work clothes. I picked Bradbury because it’s fairly close to Freeport, Maine, where I work.

Second, some of my gear is old and hasn’t been used for months. Checking the tent for tears or mold, making sure my headlamp has batteries, cleaning my pocket knives and cook kit, and other various tasks are all on the checklist.

Next, I’ll need to decide what electronics I’m going to carry along. I’d like to document the trip for PTV, but I’m not into carrying iPods and cell phones with me on any camping trip. I go to the woods to avoid those things. So, I’ll bring my Nikon point & shoot camera to take some pictures, and maybe shoot a few video clips along the way. Other than that, the only other battery operated toy will be my old Petzl headlamp.

Finally, I’ll need to pack everything up. That will happen on Sunday morning, because I work late that night, and won’t be able to pack anything once I do arrive home. I’ll make sure I get directions from Google maps, and do a final check before heading to work.

That’s the plan for now. I’ll keep you updated as the day nears, especially on what gear I do end up taking. Woo!

VIDEO: My Gear

// September 16th, 2009 // No Comments » // VIDEO

Part Time Vagabond 001 from Chris Cavs on Vimeo.

I walked into my room the other day and happened to glance a the corner next to my dresser, the one where i keep a crate full of camping gear. The pile glared at me like a long neglected lover, angry at having been ignored for so long. I decided it was time to pull out the old crate and find out what was lurking inside. This is the result.

S24O

// September 16th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // Feature

Part of being a Part Time Vagabond is making short trips a regular part of your life. The reason I’m a part time vagabond is because I don’t necessarily have the resources to travel full time right now. That doesn’t mean I won’t be traveling on a regular basis in the future. In fact, that’s the goal very, very soon. For now, though, I have to find alternate ways of having fun and getting outdoors. As I was reading one of my favorite blogs, The Path Less Pedaled, I happened to learn about S24O (pronounced “ES-two-four-OH”). Russ and Laura from Path Less Pedaled are on an extended bike trip around the U.S., and Russ posted an entry on the Bike Commuters blog about S24O and the guy who supposedly coined the phrase, Grant Petersen.

I thought about this idea of taking short overnight camping trips and realized it was a stroke of genius. Sure, it’d be great for me to be able to ride my bike to the location, and I plan to do that in the future, but I simply don’t have the proper gear for that yet. So in the meantime, a short car ride will suffice. After all, I came to Maine so I could camp and hike and be outside! And dammit, that’s what I’m going to do!

This week at work is going to be a rough one, so I’m thinking next Monday might be the day. Just throw some stuff in the car, grab my tent and sleeping bag, and head to one of the nearby parks. It will give me an opportunity to relax, have some time in the woods, maybe read a book and sit by a campfire. I need to do more of that. I can’t wait!

Photo Credit: Bedtime by Jeff Pang on Flickr

Get outside!

// September 13th, 2009 // No Comments » // VIDEO

It can be tough to get outside as much as we’d like to, despite the well known fact that being outdoors is good for our mental and physical health. Some readers of this blog are likely to be people who spend most of their day indoors behind a computer. I find myself sitting at my desk or on my bed, laptop at the ready, way, way too often. Tech expert Chris Pirillo is well known for his live video streams from behind his massive tech station in his home in Washington state. But in this video, Chris “The Great Indoorsman” Pirillo describes his first hike after escaping the dank confines of his tech cave.