The Time Has Come. The adventure begins.

Tomorrow I will load out my bike with all the camping gear I have slowly amassed over the past year. I will undoubtedly overpack, then set out on an overnight “dry run” with my friend Shannon.

The two of us are planning a 10 day bike trip later this summer that will take us through Oregon, Washington, British Columbia and Alberta (Canada) then back through Montana and Idaho before returning home, a total of just over 2000 miles in 10 days. We plan to ride between two and three hundred miles a day, camping the entire way. That means bringing our tents, sleeping bags, pads, gear, and anything else we might need with us on the bikes.

We decided it might be a good idea to do a single overnight, fully loaded with gear, to simulate what it would be like to trek about 250 miles in a day, then stop and set up camp, stay overnight, repack and ride another 250 miles the next day. It’s different, riding a fully packed out bike, so we need to get a feel for what’s comfortable, what’s necessary, and how the bikes will handle on a short run so any necessary adjustments can be made before we find ourselves 1000 miles from home. 

Most of this gear I’ve never used in an actual camping situation. In fact, I set up my tent for the first time in my living room the other night, just so I wouldn’t look like a dumbass when we get to the campground. Tents themselves are fairly simple, but for some reason the rain fly always tends to baffle me. That’s what I had to fix the night I had the run in with the bears the last time I tried to camp with my motorcycle. Anyway, you can go back and read that embarrassing story some other time 🙂

Motorcycling, as a hobby, can be fairly expensive. Like any other hobby though (think skiing / snowboarding) once you own all your own gear, it’s pretty much all downhill from there 😉

I’ve been amassing a LOT of gear over the past 12 months or so. Some of it for riding, some of it for camping, and some of it for blogging, cataloguing and recording the beautiful miles to be ridden and sights to be seen.

I’m listing the brands and specs only because a lot of research went into these purchases and some of you might be interested in the details. I’ll be talking more as I get a few trips under my tires about what worked well and what didn’t.

Here’s a quick rundown of the gear I’ll be bringing:

Tent: Shifter 2 by Mountain Hardwear.

Sleeping Bag: Ratio 15 (down), by Mountain Hardwear

Sleeping Pad: Sea to Summit Comfort Plus Insulated Mat with pump sack

Head Lamp: Eddie Bauer

Camp Stove: Jetboil Flash System, with French Press attachment and 1.5 L cooking pot

Stop and Go Mini Air Compressor

Dry Bags by The Camping Trail

Hydration Backpack: Ogio Atlas

Thermarest Compressible Pillow

Sena SMH 10 Helmet Intercom / Bluetooth System

Goal Zero Guide 10 Plus Solar Recharging Kit

Eagles Nest Outfitters (ENO): Double Nest Hammock with Straps

Rei: Helinox Chair One

Hot Wired: heated jacket liner and gloves (my FAVORITE new purchase)

Shoei Neotec: Modular Helmet with built in sun visor

Go Pro 3+Silver with keychain remote

Canon Rebel T-I 5 Digital Camera with Tripod

iPad Pro 9.7 inch with Smart Keyboard and Apple Pencil

Joe Rocket Women’s Alter Ego Riding Pants

Life Proof case for iPhone

Bike Specific Gear

Harley Davidson: Set of vintage brown leather saddle bags and down tube bag

Harley-Davidson: Detachable Windshield

Harley- Davidson: Highway bars with lowers

Harley-Davidson: Tail Light conversion kit

Kuryakyn: Mini floor boards

Kuryakyn: Highway Pegs

Saddlemen: BR3400 Sissy Bar Bag

I’m sure there’s more than this that I’m forgetting, which in hindsight and looking back over this list is rather embarrassing. It would seem that I’m fairly serious about this motorcycling / adventuring lifestyle 🙂

So that’s the haps. Next up will be before and after pictures of the bike once it’s fully loaded, a route map, and other goodies. I’ll be mounting the Go Pro to my helmet, so stay tuned for some weird and wonderful pics and videos from Oregon Coast Adventure 2016!

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