Trimming the Excess

Recently, a friend of mine (Hi, Jess!) emailed me and asked for ideas on how to pare down the packing when going on a family camping trip. She said that she, her husband, and their almost-five-year-old daughter like to camp, but the car has every inch stuffed on those trips. I was inspired by her question to write a blog post—even though camping is not specifically about family cycling, it was family cycling and bike camping that really inspired us to start streamlining our gear and lighten our camping load, so I want to provide other families of cyclists, family campers, and just plain ‘ol everybody with some ideas of how to avoid bringing everything but the kitchen sink.

First off, I’m assuming that if you are reading this, it’s because you want to use as much of your existing equipment as you can; it’s pretty easy to go into an REI or outdoor store and drop hundreds of dollars on the most state-of-the-art lightweight gear. It can be more difficult to try to make the stuff you already own feel smaller.  I know that for my husband and me, we were always casual car campers, not hardcore backpackers. We just threw everything we owned into a car and met up with friends at a state park. Most families are going to camp within this zone as well, and if you are car campers who want to dabble in bike camping, then trying some lightweight trips with your car is the way to go and experiment before packing it all on the bikes.  Here are some places where you can start trimming the fat.

1. Food.  Plan out each meal, plus snacks, ahead of time. I know overpacking food is a real problem for me, and that I always envision hordes of starving camper-zombies heading toward me while I scrape at the bottom of an empty cooler. But really, how far will you be from "civilization"? Just bring the food that you need, and make a quick run to the nearest mini mart or grocery store if you really find yourself running short of supplies; some campgrounds even have a little general store or ice cream counter. Break open packages to rid yourself of excess packaging or pack things in smaller containers, pre-chop or pre-cook at home whenever you can. Instead of hauling along a gigantic cooler that can fit a case of beer, bring a smaller cooler and when you take a drink out, put another one in to cool down, and replenish ice if you need to (from a nearby town, or campgrounds in hot climates will often sell ice on-site).
When you start planning out each meal, consider whether you can cook all of your meals either over the campfire or over the stove. If you plan to have a campfire each night, maybe hot dogs, sausages, burgers, or even steaks (or vegetarian favorites) could make up the main course for your dinner, with carrot sticks and string cheese to supplement. If you want to get a little more variety, maybe try foil “hobo packets” with a bunch of pre-chopped ingredients (Google for recipe ideas). Do a no-cook breakfast (Bagels? Muffins?) and snack through the lunch hour, and you don’t need to bring a stove or propane.

If you’re heading to a location where it’s going to be 90+ degrees all night long, you might want to avoid the campfire entirely. Besides having sandwiches for dinner, you could use a propane camp stove for one quick-cook dinner item, like ground beef in a skillet, then set out tortillas, cheese and salsa for a DIY buffet. I have also found that many state parks have restroom buildings with outlets near the sinks where you wash your hands, and sometimes I will bring a plug-in hot pot so that I can just quickly boil water for coffee or oatmeal without having to set up our whole stove rig.

2. Kitchen supplies. Once you’ve planned your meals, you know what cookware and utensils you’ll need.  Take that list, and pare it down even more. Maybe you don’t need a serving spoon and a stirring spoon and a spatula, etc. Use your eating utensils to flip burgers or stir oatmeal; the Health Department is not going to be coming around to inspect your work. Remember, this is your family, the same people who have probably sneezed into your mouth at some point in the past, so they can’t complain about double-dipping. Many people also like to bring disposable plates/napkins/utensils when they go camping. Besides generating a lot of trash, which is something I try to avoid, bringing disposable tableware piles on the amount of stuff you have to pack. Instead of lugging along an entire Costco pack of Chinet plates, just bring one non-disposable plate, cup, fork, and spoon for each family member. If you are preparing any food that requires pots/pans, you have at least some cursory dishwashing to do already, so what’s a few more things? Many state parks have a dishwater dump station or even a sink reserved for cleaning dishes, so they are trying to make it easier on you. Or ask the kids to lick their plates clean instead—it is camping, after all! Use one cloth napkin or washcloth per person instead of blowing through an entire roll of paper towels. Most of the time, families are only camping for a weekend night or two, so you will survive being a dirty hippie for that long. 

3. Clothes. Speaking of dirty hippies…don’t bring so many clothes, either. I was commenting to a friend earlier in the summer at how amazed I am that it took me so long to slim down my camping “wardrobe.” Most years, I would set out for a car camping trip with a fresh t-shirt and shorts per day, plus pajamas, swimsuit, undergarments, etc.  You’re camping, so it’s all about the dirt. Bring one outfit, and that’s all. Pack clean underwear for each day, but unless you are doing something especially sweaty (trail running) or messy (cleaning fish), you’ll be okay in the same clothes for a couple of days in a row. I know for my family, the most strenuous stuff we do often involves “hiking” at a preschooler’s pace, so you’re unlikely to even break a sweat, let alone get so stanky that your fellow campers can’t sit near you in the great outdoors. Most of the time you don’t need pajamas, either. If you are sleeping in a tent with family or with friends you know very well, consider stripping down to your skivvies in your sleeping bag. Then pack the prudent weather essentials, of course, such as sweatshirt/jacket for chill or rain, hats and sunglasses for the sun, thick socks for making breakfast on cold mornings, extra underwear for your recently potty-trained child, and so on. Try to think about items that could do double duty, too, like pants that can roll up into shorts, or using socks as mittens or hot-pad holders.

4. Toiletries. If you are only there a couple of nights, consider ditching your usual cold cream rituals. Toothbrushes and toothpaste, soap for hand washing, plus essential prescription medicines and you are fine. A towel for each camper is not necessary most of the time, because you are probably not taking the daily showers that you would take at home. If you are planning to do a lot of swimming or showering after fish-cleaning, maybe you could invest in a camp towel, which are made from microfiber so that they suck all the water off your body, then dry very quickly, and they fold and pack down much smaller than a large beach towel.

For a first-aid kit, you really don’t need to go overboard. If you are at an established campground (rather than the backcountry), the ranger station will have all the basic band-aids and gauze, plus the means to contact emergency services if you actually need a medic or ambulance. I usually just like to bring along a couple of Advil or Tylenol (in case of a simple headache or sore knees from a hike) and a sharp pair of tweezers (for the splinters kids inevitably get). If you’re concerned about injuries or emergencies, just remind yourself that help is not that far away—you can get in your car and drive to the nearest town to a store if you really need something, or even cut the trip short and go home if you need to. And the rangers or local law enforcement are there for the really dire situations.

5. Toys. This is a great place to cut down on the overpacking. The point of camping is to experience Mother Nature, so bring toys and plan activities to take advantage of your surroundings. If you are at a state park, sometimes they will have a nature center or junior ranger program, so ask at the park gate or check bulletin boards for things that might be happening during your visit.  One of my son’s favorite activities on a camping trip is a scavenger hunt. Make a list (or grid of pictures for children who can’t read yet) of things you are likely to find in your campground environment, and tailor it to your child’s ability level. For older kids, you might consider letting them use digital cameras to turn the game into a photo scavenger hunt. Alton is four, so I drew him a series of pictures that varied from easy things to find, such as a green leaf or flying bird, to slightly more difficult or whimsical things, like a tree smaller than he is or a spider in a web. A forest scavenger hunt can add interest to a family hike, especially if you can bring along binoculars or a magnifying glass. When we camped near a beach in California, I changed his list to surfers and Frisbees. And don’t forget to take your time on walks or hikes, if that’s what your little one needs. It doesn’t matter if you never get to see those waterfalls, as long as you had a good time.

For playtime at the campsite, just let your kids get super dirty. Shovels and buckets, old cars to zoom in the sand or gravel, using a stick to draw in the dirt…you don’t need to pack up tons of toys to have fun. Do a Google search to jog your memory about all those dorky old day camp songs, like “Down By the Bay” or “I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly,” and sing them with your kids. Play I Spy or 20 Questions. Make up games or stories. Let them help with camp chores, like building the campfire or filling a bucket with water. Another favorite campsite activity for us is to make pictures with solar paper, which is a special kind of paper that, when you place items on top of it in the sun, burns an impression of your objects onto the paper. Sometimes I’ll combine this with a scavenger hunt, and set my son hunting around the nearby bushes for things to use for his solar paper image, like a tiny flower, or dried leaf.

6. Tent, sleeping bags, sleeping pads. These are sometimes some of the biggest things to pack, and there isn’t often a lot you can change about them, but here are a few ideas.

-Tent: if your tent is old or not appropriate for your trip (i.e., the weather forecast is for rain, but you can’t find your tent’s rain fly), consider borrowing one from a friend or checking your local outdoor store to see if you can rent one. Those are both great ways to try out a different style or brand of tent to see if you like it before you buy it. If it's just space in the car you need, open your tent's bag and separate the tent, poles, and rainfly--see if it works better for packing the car to cram these things into small areas rather than take up a large piece of trunk real estate for the tent all together.

-Sleeping bags: again, renting, borrowing, or buying a new one are options if your old bulky bag needs replacing or is inappropriate for your climate, but if the temps are warm enough you might be able to bring blankets instead. For a few summer camping trips this year, we had blankets as covers with a sheet to lie upon, and zipping into a sleeping bag was just not necessary.

-Sleeping pads: these camping-specific sleeping surfaces are made with either dense foam or foam with an air-filled core. For the first few years that we were camping together, my husband and I would bring along a big full-size air mattress, with either a battery or foot pump to blow it up. Usually, these just are not tough enough for life in the outdoors. We thought we were being economical buying a “cheaper” brand of air mattress for our camping trips, but once we had sprung a leak in the SECOND air mattress we bought at Target, we could see that it was going to be less expensive in the long run to buy sturdy camping equipment that would last instead of spending money on a new air mattress every summer. We bought self-inflating Therm-a-rest pads, and we’ve now owned them for almost 10 years with no problems at all. These come in a range of prices new, or you might be able to rent them as well; if you want to camp a lot, they could be a good investment for your family to consider.

 

7. Luxuries. These are the things that you don’t actually need to spend a night outside, but are things you kind of want to have. Folding camp chairs, maybe an extra folding camp or card table, bottled water, a sun umbrella or shade/rain shelter, your own barbecue…I’ve seen people haul along (or hauled myself) many of these items at various different campgrounds. You know you best, and what you think you can’t live without. Just try not to bring ALL of them. Most of the time, the campsite you pitch up at will have a fire pit (likely with some kind of grill top), picnic table with benches, a spigot with potable water, restrooms nearby, etc. Experiment with leaving different things at home, and maybe you’ll be surprised at how well you get along without all the creature comforts of home.

These are just a few ways for the weekend family car camper to pare down on the non-essentials to make room for more fun (and more sanity when packing that car). Another place to get more tips, ideas, and advice about enjoying nature and life in the outdoors with your small children is this site, written by Jennifer Aist, who has also published a great book called Babes in the Woods on the same topics. In the future, I hope to write more cycling-specific posts about bike camping with kids, so in the meantime I will hunker down with a hot cup of tea and toast my feet at an imaginary campfire.

Have more questions or specific issues you'd like to ask about? Ask in the comments section below!

Labor Day Bike Camping

It's now almost Halloween, so I apologize for this very belated post about our We Go By Bike camping trip over Labor Day weekend! We can gaze at the sunny patches in these photos and sigh wistfully while the Oregonian rain patters on the windows outside. First of all, as I mentioned in a previous post, this Labor Day camping trip was going to be not only a first for the entire We Go By Bike family (contributors Katie and Fabi and our husbands and children), but also Fabi's family's first time bike camping. We excitedly got together for practice rides, meal planning, gear lists, etc.  The plan was as follows: Katie (me) and my son Alton meet up with Fabi and her daughter Dani in the morning on Friday and ride at a pretty slow pace to the campground: we would both be riding heavy-ish extended frame cargo bikes. My husband Andy meets up with Fabi's husband Gabe and their son Matthew after the workday is over on Friday, and the dads ride at a faster pace on lighter bikes to make it to the campground before it's too dark.  On the day of our ride, I got my bike and son all packed up, rode to a local park, and met up with Fabi and Dani to begin our trip. So far, so good....

It was more than a year ago on a prior bike camping trip that I debuted my homemade bike books--a thrifted picture book with a hole punched near its spine to fit a metal binder ring, which I tethered to the kiddo bike seat for drop-proof reading 'n riding.  Both Alton and Dani in their Yepp seats took advantage of my awesome invention.

Starting out so early in the day also gave us the chance to pause for wild blackberry breaks along the way.

After some cycling, water, cycling, stretching, water, blackberries, whining, and cycling, we made it! Almost 25 miles.

And of course, I immediately had to set up our tent so that whenever we wanted to crash that night, it was ready.

The kids kept busy playing with the copious gravel at the site...

...or having picnics (I believe the menu featured heavily in the Pirate's Booty genre).

Finally the dads arrived that night. From then on, it was bike + gear chaos.

But we had a good time. We went on some hikes and scavenger hunts.

Cooked some food, roasted some marshmallows, listened to coyotes howl at night, laughed our butts off around the campfire, and celebrated Andy's birthday!

And before we knew it, it was time to pack up those bikes again and head home. Can't wait to do it again soon!

We Go Buy Pumpkins

We've been having some gorgeous fall weather here in Oregon. Cold and somewhat grayish mornings slowly warm into brilliant afternoons with cornflower-blue skies, million-watt sunshine, and changing leaves in a full complement of autumn hues. With nothing pressing to get done this weekend, Andy, Alton, and I decided to ride to Lakeview Farms, our favorite local pumpkin patch. When you arrive at their parking lot near the barns, guests at Lakeview purchase a ticket for $3 that gets you a trip out to the pumpkin patch, which you can access either by a train ride or a boat ride, and you get to pick which one you take out there, then back! Each ticket also gets you $1 off a pumpkin purchase. With available extras to buy like snacks, pony rides, corn maze, centipede tractor rides, and gratuity-only face painting, you can really spend a day at this place having fun for still only $20 or so. Locals, I highly recommend it.
But first, the ride! Andy mapped out a route to the farm since it would be our first time cycling there, and we tried to skedaddle out the door by 8a.m. (we were only running like 15 minutes late).

It was sunny but cold, so we pumped our legs briskly to get the blood flowing. As you can see from the picture above, Andy and I opted to ride our longtail bikes today, the extend-o frame bikes with extra long decks on the back to hang useful adjustable bags and strap down all sorts of stuff. Normally, Alton's blue kid seat is bolted to my Xtracycle Radish that you see in the background; this is my "station wagon," the bike that always has all my stuff ready to go, with room for more. But for today's trip (an estimated 12-13 miles in each direction), Andy offered to carry Alton on his bike, aka Big Red, since Andy is a stronger/faster rider and the extra weight on his bike made us more evenly matched for stamina. So my two guys got all bundled up for the crisp morning and took the lead. Once we got to the northernmost border of the city, our route was mainly on country roads that were semi-commercial and semi-residential. On the sunny street in the picture below, we saw a deer bounding through the trees on someone's property!

One of the streets we navigated was actually a slightly more busy rural road--still not too many cars this early in the morning, but we were disappointed at the microscopic shoulder and impatient Saturday morning motorists. But eventually we arrived at the gravelly driveway of the pumpkin patch (below), which was not yet very crowded for a stunning fall day!

"Lakeview" Farms really does include a lake! In the background you can see the boat ride on the water, while Alton proudly displays one of his pumpkin selections.

He partook of the face painting...

...and got a lollipop for the ride home. Time to hit the road for our afternoon plans, which (originally) included picking up some papers at Andy's work, a haircut for Alton, stopping by REI, and lunch. The weather had other ideas.

The sun is beautiful in all these still shots, but what you can't see is the incredibly gusty wind, blowing as hard as it can from the east, which of COURSE was the direction we were now headed! We zigged our way south a bit before turning left onto the next road, and Andy turned back to me in his saddle to encourage me to get as close as I could to his back tire to benefit from the "draft" off of his bike in front. I rode as close as I dared (and waited until no cars were coming to snap the picture below with my phone), but it still felt like the wind was stopping me in my tracks with every puff.

Our optimistic plans now abridged, we pedaled hard into the gritty air and went straight to lunch, where we wolfed down carbohydrates as quickly as possible. Worn out by sun and fun, Alton said that he felt sleepy, so I reached into my two-wheeled station wagon to pull out the neck support that Alton calls his "pillowpet," which is a little cushion that I made for him to more comfortably nap on the bike. It works kind of like an airplane neck pillow, only in reverse, so that it keeps his chin from hitting his chest under the weight of his bulbous helmet after he falls asleep in his little seat. He reclined in that cock-a-mamie way that only kids can, but didn't actually doze off.

So of course, he insisted on hitting a park on the way home. Andy and I took turns stretching our limbs and groaning on the park bench while Alton scampered happily over the jungle gym.

When all was said and done, it was a 35-mile day. We were gone for a total of 9 hours, so clearly we took our time with the ride, the family fun at the pumpkin patch, the re-energization over lunch, and the park detour. Enjoying the fun that comes our way, making schedule adjustments, and just plain taking our time are some of the things I love most about family outings by bike, where we really get to slow down and leave the hectic at home.

My To-Do List

Check out some toddler shoes for Matty

Go to the chiropractor

Pick up popcorn at the Farmer’s Market

Grocery Shop

I was all pumped up to knock out this to-do list by bike and as the morning hours started to fade away, I told myself that I should use the car instead.  The kids haven’t been feeling well and as a result they are moody and irritable.  And with the cloud cover and chill in the air today, I thought I was justified in using the car.  Besides, with two kid seats on my bike, I am always intimated to go grocery shopping with both the kids because it seems to be difficult to fit all the groceries on the bike.

After a quick pep-talk, and scrapping the popcorn pick up which would have been a 20 minute out of the way detour, I got myself and the Little Z’s all geared up and out we went.  

About ½ mile away from me was a woman from a resale group I’m a part of, selling shoes I thought would be a good fit for Matthew.  It didn’t work out, but the short ride did convince me to head back home and pick up a sweater for all of us.  For the first time in a while we had a misty cloud cover kind of day. 

Then it was off to our chiropractic appointment. 

After everyone was nicely aligned, we headed off to the local grocery store.  On my way to the store, I was reminded once again that there is a new knitting store around the corner I’ve been meaning to stop by.  So I U-turned up onto the sidewalk and as I was unloading the kids, the owner, Tina came out to welcome me.  The store was opened and I got some Christmas yarn shopping out of the way.  That wasn’t even on the list!

And since we were so close to the grocery store, Matthew decided he was going to walk alongside the bike while I pushed Dani, who was sitting in her seat.  We made it there – not without him falling and scrapping his knee of course – but I did it!

 I finally went grocery shopping by bike with both kids!!  And I was able to share my excitement with two women who stopped to look at and get information on this bike that they’ve never seen before.

To top it off, being out of the house helped everyone fell better…and tired which meant I got a quiet afternoon while the two Little Z’s got a much needed napped.  What a lovely unplanned adventure we ended up having today.  So glad we took the bike.  

Training Ride

The We Go By Bike family was cooking up something special: a Labor Day bike camping trip for the whole gang! It would be my (Katie's) family's first time bike camping with Fabi's family, and their first time bike camping, period. But with the campground just under 30 miles away, Fabi and I decided that we should squeeze in a training ride a week before the trip. We would ride the bikes we were planning to take on our trip (Xtracycles), and practice some hill climbing since our camping route involved an incline. And what better way to reward ourselves after a hard ride than getting to sit down and relax at a winery?

Fabi and I met up with our families at the local Saturday Farmers' Market, then peeled off from the dads and kiddos to begin our ascent. Well, we had a pretty general idea of what the cycling route to this hilltop winery would be like, but the steepness was even more than we had realized when there were a couple of stretches where we had to push our heavy bikes along.

Luckily, we had lots of water and took breaks, so moving slowly was not a problem. Eventually we crested the hill just above the winery, so after that it was a short downhill and straight into their gravelly driveway.

We definitely got some odd looks from the other winery patrons as we rolled up and parked our big bikes, but we were too busy catching our breath and taking in the scenery to worry about that.

After removing our sweaty helmets and belting down some water, we were ready to sit down with a glass of wine! Thankfully, the winery also sold small cheese snack plates, which we two hungry cyclists were happy to purchase.

All told, we spent almost three hours chatting and snacking and enjoying the lovely view. And when it was time to go home, we had a really sweet downhill descent to start off our journey. It was a trip we would definitely make again!

Pedal Bike!

Alton is riding his first pedal bike! Followers of We Go By Bike might remember when Alton acquired this bike, as a hand-me-down of his two cousins' first bike. A few months down the road, and now Alton can ride like one of those big boys. With two velophile (bike-loving) parents, it's wonderful that Alton can share even more in this family pasttime. You can see the video here of his very first ride on the bike; since that day last week he's asked to go out and work on his newfound skill many times, so he gets better every single time he rides! Pictures to come soon.

We Go (By Bike) By Bike

Last week, my co-author Fabi and I (Katie) were planning a Girls' Night Out with a mutual friend of ours, Carrie.  As we were tossing around possibilities for the simple drinks 'n dessert outing, I asked if we would be taking the MAX light rail to our chosen restaurant destination. Alas! My head was up in Bike-land, knowing that the place we were headed was only a brisk 5 minute ride from the train station. But since Carrie doesn't own a bike, our trip from the station would have to be on foot, which we vetoed since the street would be poorly-lit late at night. Hatching a plan, I queried whether Carrie would be willing to pedal with us cycle-happy gals from the train station if I could bring a bike for her to use, and she was game!  I got to work in my garage with bungee cords.

Most of the time, bringing an extra bike somewhere is no challenge for my household. Both my husband and I own Brompton folding bicycles, which sturdily fold down small enough to fit side-by-side an airplane overhead bin. One of these little bikes (or even two!) in its folded state can ride shotgun in the side bags of our longtails, or perch proudly in the box of our Bakfiets, the wheelbarrow with handlebars.  However, neither the longtails or the Bak is allowed on the light rail, since they would block aisles. I needed to create a bike-on-a-bike setup that would involve two regular-sized bicycles so that I could hang or fold them out of the way on the train. Knowing that the 27-pound Brompton would be unstable teetering so high on the rack of my skinny-wheeled hybrid bike, I decided to unfold the little Brommie, lash it to my sturdy metal rear rack, and tow it along behind me with its front wheel in the air.

Now came the fun part! I rode to my nearest MAX stop, where Fabi was waiting with her hot pink Brompton folding bicycle, cheering on my homemade tandem rig. We folded her pink Brompton and my aqua one, then boarded the train with our suitcase-sized bikes and hung my hybrid up by its front wheel. A few stations farther down the line was friend Carrie's stop, which is walking distance from her house, so she had started off down the sidewalk once we let her know we were on the train and hopped into our train car when we pulled in.  Another couple of minutes on the track, and we disembarked at the station nearest to our restaurant. Bromptons unfolded, we fitted Carrie with the helmet I'd brought for her, adjusted the height of her seatpost, flicked on her lights, and she was off!

It was a nice warm night, so we pedaled easily through the evening air in our dresses and sandals, and snagged a patio table once we arrived at the restaurant. Our bikes parked close by on the concrete, we enjoyed late happy hour pricing on some wine and ordered decadent desserts. After much talking and laughing, we clambered aboard our saddles once more and cycled our trip to the train station in reverse. After waving goodbye to Carrie, Fabi and I rode a few stops farther, where we pedaled to her house and utilized her car to haul my two bikes home. Although I was proud of our unusual utilization of person-powered and public transportation to have a fun night out, both Fabi and I felt uneasy about me riding the farthest distance home with the bungee'd tandem so late.  So she kindly shuttled me to my door after tucking this latest adventure under our belts. Cheers!