Getting Ready To Go (Again)

Shoes fer goin' places

A couple of years ago now I was just starting to assemble some stuff to go do a "sub-24" and possibly more on my Ti Mukluk. Then I ran into some road blocks. Some self induced, some not. Gear "paralysis analysis", "tyranny of choice" issues, and my wife going back to school all conspired to push me off course with that plan, and I decided to move in other directions.

Now my son is old enough to make some shorter rides to do sub-24's and my wife has finished school. Not only that, but I decided to do more "jumping" and less "looky-looing" at gear. Some things have been sorted that have now brought me to the brink of really being "ready to go". Those things were major hurdles to me mentally two years ago, but now they have been put behind me.

One of those things is my cooking kit. I made a pretty decent alcohol stove from a pop can last Fall, and then I picked up a nice titanium cup, stove stand, and wind screen about a month ago. Along with my Ti Spork and another folding titanium spoon, I have stuff enough to get my son and I out for an overnighter.

My son and daughter are in there.

 Last week I picked up a two man tent. I had a bike packing tent, but it was more of a glorified bivy and it required a bicycle tube and wheel to make it stand up, which is a pain, and heavy to boot. I had all these wild ideas of getting alternative poles and what not, but in the end, it was just a dumb idea and my son wasn't going to fit in there either!

This Seirra Designs Lightning 2 is perfect though. It isn't the lightest, smallest tent going, but it is simple, roomy, and has features I appreciate in a tent. In other words, it will get the job done just fine and it didn't cost me some enormous amount of money. Realistically- I am not going to be camping in cold, inclement weather, so ya know......I don't need this epic gear. I just need a decent tent to have some fun, right?

I'm took the same idea with me when I chose my sleeping bag. A lightweight, 40-50 degree bag will do me just fine and I can score a decent one for well under $100.00 that will get me outside and sleeping just fine. I already have a Thermarest pad, and orders have been placed for our bags now, so it's just a matter of waiting for that stuff to appear and then........

We'll pack up his fat bike and one of my rigs and off we'll go to test our mettle over night someplace. We've also got a date coming up in July when we have to overnight for the NASCAR/Indy races at Iowa Speedway near Newton. So now we'll be ready, and we'll really be "ready to go" after all!