Horton Here's a Moots

Watching the sunrise Friday morning while doing morning barn chores before work.

The plan was simple. Roll out Friday night via bike to a place to camp. Camp. Ride back in time for work Saturday morning, preferably in time for a big country breakfast. It almost went off without a hitch. Some may question why one would head out at night to camp in 25 degree weather in January. Some may even wonder why one would do it on a work night. Perhaps I should back up a bit.

Packed and ready to roll.

I've bemoaned about limited time off and the lack of true "weekends" due to my employment. Even if I did get two consecutive days off, I'd still not be able to get away for wild adventures I read about from so many peers. It's just the way it is and not all that bad really. I also have a friend in a similar situation who is trying to make a dream come true. He's aiming for the Tour Divide race this year. Something that takes a lot of saddle as well as gear preparation time. He also has a wife and two young children who require dad to not be away on a bike all the time before attempting a potentially 4 week solo adventure.

The route.

While discussing strategies and gear options with him, we hit upon training. Knowing how much he adores his time with the family, getting in good solid training is going to be a challenge to balance with the rest of life's responsibilities. He's also had 3 run-ins with cars while commuting to work and, as he says, it gets harder and harder to recover from each one. So much so that it has inspired him to get it done. I really admire that.

We made camp down along the Duck River.

During our chat I hit upon an idea: S24o or sub-24hour overnights. Perfect. It would allow him to get saddle time in as well as chances to test gear options, learn some things, not be away all weekend from the kids, and would allow me an avenue for some local adventures to sooth the wanderlust inside. Win-win as they say. The plan calls for at least one s240 a month and hopefully more as the weather improves so the kids/family can join us at the camp sites and get to ride some with dad.

The new titanium stove worked beautifully.

This past Friday was our first of the many planned. With the vast amount of rain Middle TN has had the past 8 days, some of the more off-road adventuresome routes were put on the shelf until the ground could dry up and the freeze/thaw would no longer be an issue. So a more back-road option was used. I've been wanting to check out Henry Horton State Park ever since moving South of Nashville. Camping is along the Duck River, photos I'd seen were scenic, and multiple route options were available.

Dream.

Being a State Park, it also gave us a water source and bath house access, should we need it. As weather improves and our gear gets more tuned, we'll get into more remote and water filtration required venues. For now, being the first one and being 25 degrees, we opted to keep it as simple as possible. The main goals were the ride time, the camping, and having fun. Mission accomplished.

Sunrise along the Duck River.

Morning Frost.

Some might be interested in my pack, so hear is a list of what I took:

Sleeping bag liner (carried on bars)
Sleeping pad (carried under bars)
Half Dome 2 tent (carried on bars)
Coffee, tea, oatmeal, ti spork, fire starter brick (carried in frame bag)
Spare tube, honey stinger waffles (carried in frame bag)
Emergency blanket, lighter (carried in frame bag)
Columbia Two Lives Jacket (carried in small adventure backpack)
Rain pants and fleece pajama pants (carried in small adventure backpack)
t-shirt, boxer briefs, arm warmers (carried in small adventure backpack)
toothbrush (carried in small adventure backpack)
Small folding stove (carried in small adventure backpack)
2 ceramic coated aluminum cups (carried on bars)

Monster rocks.

My pack worked out well and I'm very pleased with what I have available. Camp was easy to set up and tear down. The bike was simple to pack up without having to wrestle anything. Knowing it wouldn't be above 30 anytime we were outside, I opted for thin fleece pants and my rain pants because the pack down really small and would provide both warm and protection from the biting wind. The Columbia coat is a birthday present (and most expensive piece of gear carried) and made it possible to do this trip on such a meager amount of clothing and lack of a true sleeping bag. It also packs down tiny. The stove was fast to boil water and the fuel I used burned for a very long time. I was very impressed. I totally expected it to be a dud or to be more of a pain than useful. It roared on even as the bulkier camp stove ran out of fuel. Next time I might save some bulk and forgo the tent in favor of my hammock, but the tent is quick, easy, and offers more room to move and store gear.

Today's moment of sunshine from high atop the magic Mountain.

After 75 miles in less than 24 hours, I awoke before sunrise again and headed out for more cycling fun. A large group of us met up at the Mountain at nine with 6 of of us going for the double lapper. 30 miles of singletrack heaven. It was one of the top 3 rides I've ever done up there. The weather was perfect, the trail was perfect, the bike was dialed, our 6 person group cohesive, and we drank in all the amazing views. My day off certainly feels as though it's been a full weekend.