Days 80 and 81--Friday January 29, and Saturday January 30, 2016 "wobblyrob Year 7 s24o". "Good dog Bad Owner"
Friday January 29, 2016
I started this ride in 2010. I'd been riding bikes for about 4 months and a co-worker, got me interested in touring and bike-packing. A boring lackluster day with no football weekend later, I decided to go it alone for my first overnight bike ride. I had a specialized Hard Rock Sport that I'd converted and would be taking it on an 18 mile ride to Ft Pickens to spend the night. I think I put everything but the kitchen sink on that bike that year-I was even afraid that I was going to 'bonk' so even added a decent size tupperware bowl of previous night pasta "just in case".
The ride that night was extraordinary. I rode to my site-pulled into the campground at about 8pm, pulled the tent off the rack and set it up. it was cold but I had about 5 changes of clothes "just in case", and a 3 man tent, that I somehow strapped to that bike that year. The wifey, kiddos and brand new to us beagle came out to visit that night too. The inaugural wobblyrob night ride s24o was happening.
I took a book in 2010. After the wifey and kiddos visited and left, I spent about 30 minutes reading part of my book at the time, then passed out. I think it may have been about 9:30 pm. The next day, I hung out in my tent, found some firewood, attempted to light it unsuccessfully, but really just like hanging out by my self, in my huge tent. i guess I left around 1030 am that day to get back home.
Seven years later, the buddy that introduced me to overnight riding went with me--six times, he's been my companion for the ride, and ever year up until this year barring scheduling conflictions, we've had more riders, including a lot of 'remember the year that' memories.
This year was a new adventure that I'm sure we'll always remember as the 'good dog, bad owner' ride. Although we only had 4 riders, my staple riders--the ones that I can always count on going with me; Joe, Ray and Blevin--we had a perfect weather forecast--probably for the first time in about 4 years--(2013 being the ride in sleet and freezing rain storm). The temp showed a mild 45 at night with a perfect ride home condition of low winds and about 63 degrees.
What we didn't expect was the amount of dew on the ground. This was the pack-light trip, and, although I packed light, originally on my road bike (which I had to change due to rim issues) I had to take my Townie for the second year in a row. I brought my bivy and my '40 degree light bag' from Walmart.
I'm going to state right now--this is about a 60 degree bag at best. It packs quite nicely, but I about damn near froze last night. The dew on the ground and the light back in the bivy (which was soaked on the outside) had me shivering throughout the night--not to mention multiple trips to the bathroom during the night for unforseen bowel traumas. Do you have any idea how hard it is to get out of a bivy without getting your feet wet, on dewy ground at 2AM and 4AM? I am pretty sure it can be classified as a new yoga art form, because that's about what it took. I was calmed though by the beautiful view of the stars and night sky, with the half moon revolving over head.
It's complicated to sleep in a bivy. If you want to not get wet, your arms need to be inside the sleeping bag to keep from getting wet or damp--and my SOL bivy isn't the widest in the world, but it's made to keep the wet and wind off, so it did it's job. Never again will I take that '40 degree' bag in the winter, unless it's a mild 70 degrees at night. Not to mention, I like sleeping on my sides, which can be complicated because to keep your arms inside, it's easier to sleep on your back. Oh well, at least I was exhausted enough to sleep after getting back from the bathroom each time.
I did spend a lot of time looking up at the stars and moon though. The best part of the ride is after we leave the seafood restaurant, which just happens to be approximately 10 miles into the 18 mile round trip. We usually are nice and warmed up by then, hang out outside the restaurant that usually takes 30 mins to seat us, then we acclimate and by the time we ride to the fort and our campsite, we're freezing again because the sun has set and any sweat has stuck around in our clothing and got cold again until the body warms it back up.
This usually takes about two miles until the body starts to warm up again. Oh yeah, we usually go next door to the Conv store and get a six pack or single 16 oz beers to haul the rest of the way.
The ride on this point is the most spectacular. I can't remember a ride where we all haven't' been able to take up the WHOLE ROAD, with just the flicker of bike taillights in the foreground and those stars overhead--the were plentiful last night. So plentiful in fact, that I was able to turn off my headlight and bike light and just bask in it for the final 4 miles. Once the body warms up, it is truly breathtaking to see all that surrounds us, especially with the Gulf of Mexico gently lapping about 50 feet away.
So last night as we get to our campsite, our newest adventure included what appeared to be a quite cool docile dog on the campsite across from us. (I usually always reserve a campsite near a bathroom, with the tent campers) It's usually quiet with the tent campers. Usually.
This changed last night.
Not long after Ray and Joe got our tents set up, this dog, that was off leash, just starts barking at us. What the heck. Did he wanna play? Nope. About 15 minutes after attempting to start a fire with what we like to call "Yangtze river wood" (s24o 2013) we couldn't get it to light. The next thing we know, as we all attempt to got to the bathroom to relieve the beer stress on our bladders, this dog starts getting aggressive. What the hell is going on here, and where is this dogs owner? We all figured he went somewhere and let his 'nice dog' just hang out, unrestrained. I swear, the dog barked constantly and challenged us for about 30 minutes. This definitely ruined the mood of the wobblyrob overnight ride. Finally, after calling park hosts, and local area dispatch centers, we decided to move camp so we might be able to get a wink of sleep. Ray and Joe had to walk their tents about 300 yards across the campground to a quieter site, along with me and blevin, who packed much lighter.
Not long afterward, two Escambia deputies in the Tahoes, came in the campground. We were able to flag them down, and since 3 of the 4 of us work in law enforcement, were able to direct them to the problem. Watching across the campground, we realized they knocked on the tent that we thought was vacant. We heard them announce 'sheriff's office' and next thing we saw was a WASTED dude come out of the tent. He was TOTALLY passed out inside, not an inkling of what was going on. I couldn't believe this guy would be so inconsiderate at the campground. Utterly ridiculous that people act that way. We found out later, he was escorted to Escambia county Jail, on behalf of the park Ranger and deputies. I dozed off not long after that.
Day 81-Saturday January 30, 2016
The whole point of 's24o' is to do a camp bike ride in less than 24 hours. so it's a 'sub 24 hour overnight'. We usually cook our coffee using our portable stoves to boil water, and eat a good amount of oatmeal before riding home early in the morning. It got warm rather quickly this morning, which I was very appreciative of, but not long after we were on our bikes, I was shedding materials quickly. We left camp graciousness beers on our picnic table, as we weren't in much of a mood to drink a beer after last night's fiasco.
The ride back was under PERFECT conditions, but I must say, i was less than in shape for this ride, as I hadn't been riding much the previous year. No complaints though. Our ride back usually consists of a stop for coffee and a muffin or breakfast item "energy to get us home" the rest of the way and we like to stop at a halfway point on the beach--Drowsy Poet coffee. Today didn't disappoint either. Great coffee, great views--the off to the homestead. The adventure of the weekend was definitely the dog, which I'm sure will be topic of conversation for years to come. "hey, remember that year with that dog"?
Lessons learned this trip:
I was able to make it home in time for GT's basketball game. Turns out it was the best game i watched all year with him. He made 6 points, grabbing the first four points, a huge amount of rebounds, and finally, in OT, getting both foul shots to eventually win the game, after having the other team come back from 13 down, enroute to a 28-26 victory. Love the kids' grit in that game. Was a heart attack in waiting but incredible to watch.
I started this ride in 2010. I'd been riding bikes for about 4 months and a co-worker, got me interested in touring and bike-packing. A boring lackluster day with no football weekend later, I decided to go it alone for my first overnight bike ride. I had a specialized Hard Rock Sport that I'd converted and would be taking it on an 18 mile ride to Ft Pickens to spend the night. I think I put everything but the kitchen sink on that bike that year-I was even afraid that I was going to 'bonk' so even added a decent size tupperware bowl of previous night pasta "just in case".
The ride that night was extraordinary. I rode to my site-pulled into the campground at about 8pm, pulled the tent off the rack and set it up. it was cold but I had about 5 changes of clothes "just in case", and a 3 man tent, that I somehow strapped to that bike that year. The wifey, kiddos and brand new to us beagle came out to visit that night too. The inaugural wobblyrob night ride s24o was happening.
I took a book in 2010. After the wifey and kiddos visited and left, I spent about 30 minutes reading part of my book at the time, then passed out. I think it may have been about 9:30 pm. The next day, I hung out in my tent, found some firewood, attempted to light it unsuccessfully, but really just like hanging out by my self, in my huge tent. i guess I left around 1030 am that day to get back home.
Seven years later, the buddy that introduced me to overnight riding went with me--six times, he's been my companion for the ride, and ever year up until this year barring scheduling conflictions, we've had more riders, including a lot of 'remember the year that' memories.
This year was a new adventure that I'm sure we'll always remember as the 'good dog, bad owner' ride. Although we only had 4 riders, my staple riders--the ones that I can always count on going with me; Joe, Ray and Blevin--we had a perfect weather forecast--probably for the first time in about 4 years--(2013 being the ride in sleet and freezing rain storm). The temp showed a mild 45 at night with a perfect ride home condition of low winds and about 63 degrees.
What we didn't expect was the amount of dew on the ground. This was the pack-light trip, and, although I packed light, originally on my road bike (which I had to change due to rim issues) I had to take my Townie for the second year in a row. I brought my bivy and my '40 degree light bag' from Walmart.
I'm going to state right now--this is about a 60 degree bag at best. It packs quite nicely, but I about damn near froze last night. The dew on the ground and the light back in the bivy (which was soaked on the outside) had me shivering throughout the night--not to mention multiple trips to the bathroom during the night for unforseen bowel traumas. Do you have any idea how hard it is to get out of a bivy without getting your feet wet, on dewy ground at 2AM and 4AM? I am pretty sure it can be classified as a new yoga art form, because that's about what it took. I was calmed though by the beautiful view of the stars and night sky, with the half moon revolving over head.
It's complicated to sleep in a bivy. If you want to not get wet, your arms need to be inside the sleeping bag to keep from getting wet or damp--and my SOL bivy isn't the widest in the world, but it's made to keep the wet and wind off, so it did it's job. Never again will I take that '40 degree' bag in the winter, unless it's a mild 70 degrees at night. Not to mention, I like sleeping on my sides, which can be complicated because to keep your arms inside, it's easier to sleep on your back. Oh well, at least I was exhausted enough to sleep after getting back from the bathroom each time.
I did spend a lot of time looking up at the stars and moon though. The best part of the ride is after we leave the seafood restaurant, which just happens to be approximately 10 miles into the 18 mile round trip. We usually are nice and warmed up by then, hang out outside the restaurant that usually takes 30 mins to seat us, then we acclimate and by the time we ride to the fort and our campsite, we're freezing again because the sun has set and any sweat has stuck around in our clothing and got cold again until the body warms it back up.
This usually takes about two miles until the body starts to warm up again. Oh yeah, we usually go next door to the Conv store and get a six pack or single 16 oz beers to haul the rest of the way.
The ride on this point is the most spectacular. I can't remember a ride where we all haven't' been able to take up the WHOLE ROAD, with just the flicker of bike taillights in the foreground and those stars overhead--the were plentiful last night. So plentiful in fact, that I was able to turn off my headlight and bike light and just bask in it for the final 4 miles. Once the body warms up, it is truly breathtaking to see all that surrounds us, especially with the Gulf of Mexico gently lapping about 50 feet away.
So last night as we get to our campsite, our newest adventure included what appeared to be a quite cool docile dog on the campsite across from us. (I usually always reserve a campsite near a bathroom, with the tent campers) It's usually quiet with the tent campers. Usually.
This changed last night.
Not long after Ray and Joe got our tents set up, this dog, that was off leash, just starts barking at us. What the heck. Did he wanna play? Nope. About 15 minutes after attempting to start a fire with what we like to call "Yangtze river wood" (s24o 2013) we couldn't get it to light. The next thing we know, as we all attempt to got to the bathroom to relieve the beer stress on our bladders, this dog starts getting aggressive. What the hell is going on here, and where is this dogs owner? We all figured he went somewhere and let his 'nice dog' just hang out, unrestrained. I swear, the dog barked constantly and challenged us for about 30 minutes. This definitely ruined the mood of the wobblyrob overnight ride. Finally, after calling park hosts, and local area dispatch centers, we decided to move camp so we might be able to get a wink of sleep. Ray and Joe had to walk their tents about 300 yards across the campground to a quieter site, along with me and blevin, who packed much lighter.
Not long afterward, two Escambia deputies in the Tahoes, came in the campground. We were able to flag them down, and since 3 of the 4 of us work in law enforcement, were able to direct them to the problem. Watching across the campground, we realized they knocked on the tent that we thought was vacant. We heard them announce 'sheriff's office' and next thing we saw was a WASTED dude come out of the tent. He was TOTALLY passed out inside, not an inkling of what was going on. I couldn't believe this guy would be so inconsiderate at the campground. Utterly ridiculous that people act that way. We found out later, he was escorted to Escambia county Jail, on behalf of the park Ranger and deputies. I dozed off not long after that.
Day 81-Saturday January 30, 2016
The whole point of 's24o' is to do a camp bike ride in less than 24 hours. so it's a 'sub 24 hour overnight'. We usually cook our coffee using our portable stoves to boil water, and eat a good amount of oatmeal before riding home early in the morning. It got warm rather quickly this morning, which I was very appreciative of, but not long after we were on our bikes, I was shedding materials quickly. We left camp graciousness beers on our picnic table, as we weren't in much of a mood to drink a beer after last night's fiasco.
The ride back was under PERFECT conditions, but I must say, i was less than in shape for this ride, as I hadn't been riding much the previous year. No complaints though. Our ride back usually consists of a stop for coffee and a muffin or breakfast item "energy to get us home" the rest of the way and we like to stop at a halfway point on the beach--Drowsy Poet coffee. Today didn't disappoint either. Great coffee, great views--the off to the homestead. The adventure of the weekend was definitely the dog, which I'm sure will be topic of conversation for years to come. "hey, remember that year with that dog"?
Lessons learned this trip:
- If a light Walmart sleeping bag says '40 degrees' expect it to be used in summer, in Florida, if it packs 'small'.
- Spoons are important (a staple since the second year I did this and forgot one in 2011)
- Don't make fun of Ray and his heater that he brings in his tent (I was dreaming of crawling in there and stripping down to my skivvies in the sauna-like atmosphere)
- Dogs can suck, but dipshit owners that burn cheba and drink and pass out to the world, suck MUCH worse (2016)
- Bring ground cover to keep the dew off your bivy (noted-2016)
- Don't overpack--it's a sub 24 hour overnight. Take only what you need, not 5 lbs of spaghetti (2010)
- If you have to go to the bathroom and it's cold outside--don't wait until your bladder is ready to splatter, there may be hidden down lines on make shift tents that will soak your friends in case you kick the stake out. (2011)
- Don't buy "Yangtze river wood" and store it on site. That shit just won't light (2013).
- As scary as it seems, weather changes in Florida when you cross bodies of water--be prepared. (2013)
- It is possible to ride in freezing rain or sleet (2013)
- Half chewed nerf footballs sometimes work as front brake spring levers (2012)
- Joe REALLY likes his wife's new Townie (2016)
- My friend Tom LOVES trail mix (2015)-he'll bring enough for everyone!
- It's possible to make a cake using a portable stove (2012)
- If you want to 'try' an s24o--it's a good idea to start it by parking at Ft Pickens and riding to peglegs, the driving home without spending the night--we don't complain, Alvin (2013)
- TJ really likes to take a trailer full of camping items, preset then ride out with nothing on his bike (just glad he goes with us) (2014)
- Go with good friends, it's makes the adventure much more memorable (2011-2016)
I was able to make it home in time for GT's basketball game. Turns out it was the best game i watched all year with him. He made 6 points, grabbing the first four points, a huge amount of rebounds, and finally, in OT, getting both foul shots to eventually win the game, after having the other team come back from 13 down, enroute to a 28-26 victory. Love the kids' grit in that game. Was a heart attack in waiting but incredible to watch.
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