Getting Ready

I have needed to purchase a few items for my trip. I needed a bag for the bike to carry everything and securely strap it to the bike. I also wanted to get a small tent for camping, and along with that a compact sleeping bag. I also decided to purchase a camping pillow, sleeping mat, and several other items for the trip.

The tent I decided to get was a Big Agnes Seedhouse 2 tent, which is a small backpacking tent for 2 persons. Since I am a bigger person it seemed fitting to get a larger tent. This turned out to be a good decision as the tent had enough room inside for all of my gear and for me to sleep comfortably. The tent is rather small, but it is very well built and did the job very well for the trip. Below are a couple of pictures of the tent setup.

The first is with the footprint and the tent setup with the poles only, and the second one is with the fly on the tent. Notice that the tent is essentially a mesh tent and the only way to get privacy is to use the fly. You can also not use the tent at all and use the footprint and poles with the fly for a "Fast Fly" setup - slick. The footprint is sold separately most places.

I purchased the tent at www.campsaver.com and they have a great selection. The tent was $198.90 and the footprint was free with purchase of the tent, so even Ebay couldn't beat that price. Also from them I purchased the Big Agnes Clearview Air Pad and a flashlight called the "Gizmo Head Lamp". The air pad is very compact and also blows up easily. It is just clear plastic and works well, but it is a bit squeaky. I ended up putting an old t-shirt over it so it didn't squeak.

I got the headlamp in case I had a break down on the road and needed light and both hands to fix something. The headlamp used two AAA batteries and has a head strap so you have a hands-free light. It is LED and works great. You can angle the light to be shining directly on what you are working on, so it works well and is comfortable to use.

For a sleeping bag I purchased a compact one at Gander Mountain that was rated for 40 degrees, and it was a "Back Face" brand. They make several items, but the sleeping bag seemed fine. It was the first "Mummy" bag I have owned, but it seemed large enough for me and was warm enough on a couple of cold nights.

I also needed a bag so I purchased a Saddleman TS3200 Deluxe Sport Tail Bag. This bag sits on the seat or tail of the motorcycle and had a "Tunnel" to ride the seat. It also has quick disconnect straps to make it easy to take on and off. It seemed to be a good choice but I had a lot of trouble purchasing it as everyone had none in stock. The all black one lists at DennisKirk for about $95, and the pricing is similar, but nobody had one in stock. Then I found the Cycle Guys - www.thecycleguys.com. They had one in Red for sale, so it would match my bike, and it was listing out at about $65 bucks, so I decided to buy theirs. I also bought a luggage net from them as well for under $5.

With all of my items purchased I was ready to go. All I needed to do was wait for the day to arrive and I would be departing. The departure is set for Friday 8/8/2008 and my return will be on Saturday 8/16/2008 or Sunday 8/17/2008.

More to come.