Camping Weekend

Once again, no reports on rides. We did take our new pop-up camper out to a little lake by Hot Springs. Cold Brook Lake which isn't so much of a lake as it is a big puddle. That's not true, it's a really big puddle. Honestly, it's a lake, yet a small one.

Cold Brook is a very nice lake. It's small and not very crowded which is the part I loved. While all of the other campgrounds get tons of traffic, Cold Brook is off the beaten path and it seems most people don't know about it and if they do, they don't go there.

Since we were in for a short, overnight camping trip I decided to opt out of bringing the bikes. The one thing we do need to do is work on pairing down the amount of stuff we take camping. I think I'm going to start making an inventory of what we take and then what we use. This will help decide what we really need. Honestly, do we need 3 packs of hotdogs for an overnight trip? The case of beer is a necessity but what about the 3 gallons of water... I don't think so.

Rain

The wife and I purchased a small pop-up camper for some weekend excursions. Does anyone have any good ideas for mounting a bike rack to the top of the camper? I've seen it done but mainly just with vehicles driving by at 65 miles per hour. I've never seen one up close.

I also haven't had a chance to try out some bikepacking gear. Well, not so much gear but the bike, bags and just other normal stuff I have. My weekends have been so busy that time has been spent elsewhere. I have the Salsa Fargo with some bags. It would be so easy to take a short ride up to Nemo and camp overnight yet I haven't done it yet.

Is anyone watching the tour?

Last weekend we were camping at Stockade Lake by Custer. I brought my Blur and was hoping for a Centennial trail ride. That didn't happen but I was able to ride through the park from our lake to another lake. Bicycle is the ultimate way to travel through the park. It's slow enough where you can really see the sights.

News from the West side

Well, I have a little news to share. I have a new job that I'll be starting in a few weeks. I'm going from the energy industry to the bicycle industry. I'm going to be working for a little company that makes little bikes for little people. You may have heard of them. Strider Sports.

My excitement is overwhelming at this point. I love the idea of putting more kids on bikes and at a younger age. I completely believe in the brand and the product. Both of my kids have used or are currently riding Striders. The oldest, 4, is now on a peddle bike. He had no issues at all going from the Strider to the peddle bike. No training wheels and he had so much confidence already. My 2 year old rolls around everywhere.

It's always interesting when I'm talking to people and they ask how I get my kids to ride their bikes so much. I ask them how not too. Maybe it's because I love bikes and I try to ride as much as possible or maybe it's just that bikes are so fun it's nearly impossible not to want to ride. Both of the kids wake up in the morning and instantly want to go outside and ride. For some reason, it seems so natural to me.

That's all from me for now. I'll update you on more once I start. Maybe I'll have some ride reports between now and then, who knows.

I'm extremely excited to be starting a different chapter in my life doing something I completely believe in and have so much passion for. Until then... later.