Well, as everyone knows… having a big fire is priority #1 after getting camp set up, and riding until tired. Last night, Tiffin, The Girl™, and I went out to the flats for a jaunt of night riding and camping. The night riding was fantastic! Being a little disoriented as to where you are is an interesting feeling. Without daylight, the same locations we always ride around look and feel a little bit different, but not scary different. Without being able to see as well, we ended up taking stray trails, which have not been ridden by bikes (ATV trails, dirt bike trails, etc) for months, if not years.
After riding around for about an hour and a half, we started to set up camp Just like past cyclocamping posts ere on WV Cycling, we used the same gear, same tents, so not a lot to report there. I did end up packing an abundance of leaves under my Tyvek ground cloth. This was free padding, and significantly made an improvement in comfort and happiness! I suggest everyone to do this when weight-weenie camping!
We started setting up a fire in a nice little firepit that we dug up the night before. Fire was a-blazing for a good two hours. We roasted hot dogs, and Tiffin tried to make popcorn by breaking open a package of microwave popcorn and placing them in a espresso milk frothing mug.
The oils got so hot in the stainless steel mug that they ignited, he had to blow out the fire before he could eat the popcorn… Such a bad idea…
Our campfire was so warm that I had to move my stump bench away from the firepit. When I was scooting it away, I saw a Red Salamander. He was a very shy little reptile and attempted to hide back under something immediately. I was lucky to nab a photo:
Sleeping was very much more comfortable, just as I said earlier. Having the leaves, a foam pad, and a light sleeping bag really made a difference. Maybe being a weightweenie camper is as fun as being a weightweenie cyclist.
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