Re: [RBW] First S24O, on the C&O Canal
Wonderful write-up and great Dad-work!!! Your son is very lucky!
On Friday, July 22, 2016, Scott McLain wrote:
> Love this story! Thanks! I have six kids of my own. I have ridden the
> C&O with my older kids when I lived in Manassas, VA. We did a campout
> there in June and it was hotter than ... it was hot all night, and I never
> slept.
>
> Great work! Kids need good Dads to take them on S24O's. A lot of our
> social problems would be greatly improved if we had more good Dads.
>
> Scott
>
>
>
> On Wednesday, July 20, 2016 at 10:12:46 PM UTC-6, John Stowe wrote:
>>
>> With my wife out of town for the week last week, to break up the
>> full-time childcare marathon I decided to declare a camping trip for me and
>> my 3 ("and a half!") year old son. The weather and open schedule lined up
>> to set off Thursday afternoon. We camped with him last summer on a road
>> trip, so he remembered and was excited about sleeping in a tent etc., but
>> this was the first S24O (and first bike camping trip) either of us had been
>> on. With the child seat blocking the rear rack, I was grateful for the
>> carrying capacity of my Pass & Stow rack up front. Warm weather meant we
>> could lighten the load by skipping sleeping bags.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> In the morning my passenger got a surprise gift of binoculars which
>> successfully kept him occupied on a long ride for him, over 2 hours of
>> riding plus breaks. It was a Very Hot Day, 90+, though not as humid as DC
>> can sometimes be. The first 8 miles (of 24), from Alexandria to Georgetown
>> on the Mount Vernon Trail, is part of my old commute and a route I still
>> ride several times a week - it was interesting to take it at a much slower
>> pace than usual (though not reduced effort!). Fortunately we left early
>> enough that we didn't get caught up in tangles of commuter traffic, so I
>> didn't have to do much regaining my momentum. The climb up to the Key
>> Bridge has a very steep bit which actually forced me into "granny gear" - a
>> rarity in our fairly flat surroundings. I was glad for the foresight of
>> including 24/32 gearing when I was selecting components 4 years ago!
>>
>> The shade on the C&O Canal towpath helped with the heat considerably, and
>> the change in scenery made things more interesting for both of us. We took
>> a couple of 'nature breaks' and snack/water stops and slowed down a few
>> times to check out birds and fish in the canal. My Sam Hillborne handled
>> the packed dirt/stone towpath quite well, with the front/back loading much
>> closer to evenly balanced than I've gotten used to with my son in his rear
>> seat. I wondered if the 35mm Schwalbe Delta Cruisers I have on it for city
>> riding might not be wide enough for the load + dirt, but they did fine - if
>> we were doing a multi-day trip, though, something wider would be better. I
>> was able to pin down a handling quirk I had felt a few times before with
>> heavy front loads, when the steering would start to feel springy. I thought
>> before that it was play in the rack, but the slightly rougher dirt surface
>> didn't seem to bother it at all. The Pass & Stow is very solid. Instead the
>> springiness I felt in large steering inputs seemed was due to twisting in
>> the stem! The leverage of the wide Bosco Bullmoose bars combined with the
>> inertia of the rack load gave me something to push against and wind it up -
>> enough to see the twist in the bars relative to the rack. Next time I have
>> a big load I will try adding some Irish Straps between the bars and the
>> load/rack to see if they help firm things up.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> We got to the campsite (Swain's Lock, for those who know the C&O) about
>> 7pm, just in time for dinner. We brought spaghetti, [no longer frozen]
>> meatballs and sauce from home and cooked it on the Trangia. My previous
>> attempt at using the Trangia was on a very windy beach at Nag's Head, NC,
>> where I was burning through fuel faster than I could get water boiling.
>> This time it was much more efficient, and actually got a bit too hot at the
>> bottom. I had to pick some burned noodles off the pot later. Set up the
>> tent while dinner cooked, and ready for bed just-like-that. Except: unlike
>> most of the campgrounds, which have wells with hand pumps to provide water,
>> this had a standpipe that was... turned off. A check on my smartphone
>> revealed that it had been for some time. I had brought along a filter "just
>> to be safe" with the well water and ended up using it to filter 6L of water
>> straight from the Potomac. I was very dehydrated from the hot day and the
>> effort, and did not plan for enough water carrying capacity - the nearest
>> fresh water was a 5 mile round trip back down the canal to the Great Falls
>> visitor center, and I would have had a hard time coaxing my now sleepy
>> passenger back onto the
Re: [RBW] First S24O, on the C&O Canal
Great write up!! I've done some camping with my boys but no bike camping yet. Riding from our home in Nashville is a bit too far for them. But not too much longer. As for the respect for tent closures and bugs... keep working on it, as I am with my 10, 8, and 5 year olds. They struggle with that one!! Edwin -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
Re: [RBW] First S24O, on the C&O Canal
Awesome! I'm hoping to get out on the C&O for a solo night with my 19-month old daughter this fall. This is great inspiration! Bob in Baltimore -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
[RBW] First S24O, on the C&O Canal
Thanks for the wonderful, illustrated report, John! I have total respect for your s24o talents ...bringing the next generation along. Your report brings back fantastic memories from my trip out there last October. My same crew plans an assault on the GAP trail this October. Anyway, keep up the great work, and keep those reports coming. Chris Johnson Sanger, Texas -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
Re: [RBW] First S24O, on the C&O Canal
I've not done a C&O S24O in a few years but if you can plan it, the next site Horsepen Branch at mile 26 (Swains lock is at 16), is usually quieter because it's about a mile from the nearest parking lot. But HB has a lot of tree cover so the ground is just dirt, if you can get to Chisel Branch at mile 30, it's more open so there's actually grass as well as a larger area around the fire pit. If your legs are up for it, you can then go to White's Ferry at mile 36 the next morning, get breakfast in Leesburg and then take the WOD back the next day. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
Re: [RBW] First S24O, on the C&O Canal
Jeff,
Oh, so you use to ride a burly surly, very interesting :)
JohnS
On Thursday, July 21, 2016 at 11:25:16 AM UTC-4, Jeff wrote:
>
> Great story. I have two girls, 8 and 11 now, and started with them on a
> Surly Big Dummy with a Burly trailer connected, and worked them up to the
> sharing stoker duties on a Bike Friday family tandem. I've been planning on
> taking them on s240's on the C&O as well, and just did a solo overnight to
> Swain's lock a few weeks ago to assess the summer weekend crowd there -
> with parking nearby I thought it could see more non-hiker/biker camper, and
> I was correct - it was noisy a bit later in the night than would have been
> ideal for my girls. FWIW, when I was there a few weeks ago, the water was
> turned on, and it hadn't occurred to me that it could have been turned off
> - lucky for me because I do have a water filter but I didn't bring one with
> me that day.
>
> -Jeff
> Silver Spring, MD
>
> On Thu, Jul 21, 2016 at 12:12 AM, John Stowe > wrote:
>
>> With my wife out of town for the week last week, to break up the
>> full-time childcare marathon I decided to declare a camping trip for me and
>> my 3 ("and a half!") year old son. The weather and open schedule lined up
>> to set off Thursday afternoon. We camped with him last summer on a road
>> trip, so he remembered and was excited about sleeping in a tent etc., but
>> this was the first S24O (and first bike camping trip) either of us had been
>> on. With the child seat blocking the rear rack, I was grateful for the
>> carrying capacity of my Pass & Stow rack up front. Warm weather meant we
>> could lighten the load by skipping sleeping bags.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> In the morning my passenger got a surprise gift of binoculars which
>> successfully kept him occupied on a long ride for him, over 2 hours of
>> riding plus breaks. It was a Very Hot Day, 90+, though not as humid as DC
>> can sometimes be. The first 8 miles (of 24), from Alexandria to Georgetown
>> on the Mount Vernon Trail, is part of my old commute and a route I still
>> ride several times a week - it was interesting to take it at a much slower
>> pace than usual (though not reduced effort!). Fortunately we left early
>> enough that we didn't get caught up in tangles of commuter traffic, so I
>> didn't have to do much regaining my momentum. The climb up to the Key
>> Bridge has a very steep bit which actually forced me into "granny gear" - a
>> rarity in our fairly flat surroundings. I was glad for the foresight of
>> including 24/32 gearing when I was selecting components 4 years ago!
>>
>> The shade on the C&O Canal towpath helped with the heat considerably, and
>> the change in scenery made things more interesting for both of us. We took
>> a couple of 'nature breaks' and snack/water stops and slowed down a few
>> times to check out birds and fish in the canal. My Sam Hillborne handled
>> the packed dirt/stone towpath quite well, with the front/back loading much
>> closer to evenly balanced than I've gotten used to with my son in his rear
>> seat. I wondered if the 35mm Schwalbe Delta Cruisers I have on it for city
>> riding might not be wide enough for the load + dirt, but they did fine - if
>> we were doing a multi-day trip, though, something wider would be better. I
>> was able to pin down a handling quirk I had felt a few times before with
>> heavy front loads, when the steering would start to feel springy. I thought
>> before that it was play in the rack, but the slightly rougher dirt surface
>> didn't seem to bother it at all. The Pass & Stow is very solid. Instead the
>> springiness I felt in large steering inputs seemed was due to twisting in
>> the stem! The leverage of the wide Bosco Bullmoose bars combined with the
>> inertia of the rack load gave me something to push against and wind it up -
>> enough to see the twist in the bars relative to the rack. Next time I have
>> a big load I will try adding some Irish Straps between the bars and the
>> load/rack to see if they help firm things up.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> We got to the campsite (Swain's Lock, for those who know the C&O) about
>> 7pm, just in time for dinner. We brought spaghetti, [no longer frozen]
>> meatballs and sauce from home and cooked it on the Trangia. My previous
>> attempt at using the Trangia was on a very windy beach at Nag's Head, NC,
>> where I was burning through fuel faster than I could get water boiling.
>> This time it was much more efficient, and actually got a bit too hot at the
>> bottom. I had to pick some burned noodles off the pot later. Set up the
>> tent while dinner cooked, and ready for bed just-like-that. Except: unlike
>> most of the campgrounds, which have wells with hand pumps to provide water,
>> this had a standpipe that was... turned off. A check on my smartphone
>> reve
Re: [RBW] First S24O, on the C&O Canal
Great story. I have two girls, 8 and 11 now, and started with them on a
Surly Big Dummy with a Burly trailer connected, and worked them up to the
sharing stoker duties on a Bike Friday family tandem. I've been planning on
taking them on s240's on the C&O as well, and just did a solo overnight to
Swain's lock a few weeks ago to assess the summer weekend crowd there -
with parking nearby I thought it could see more non-hiker/biker camper, and
I was correct - it was noisy a bit later in the night than would have been
ideal for my girls. FWIW, when I was there a few weeks ago, the water was
turned on, and it hadn't occurred to me that it could have been turned off
- lucky for me because I do have a water filter but I didn't bring one with
me that day.
-Jeff
Silver Spring, MD
On Thu, Jul 21, 2016 at 12:12 AM, John Stowe wrote:
> With my wife out of town for the week last week, to break up the full-time
> childcare marathon I decided to declare a camping trip for me and my 3
> ("and a half!") year old son. The weather and open schedule lined up to set
> off Thursday afternoon. We camped with him last summer on a road trip, so
> he remembered and was excited about sleeping in a tent etc., but this was
> the first S24O (and first bike camping trip) either of us had been on. With
> the child seat blocking the rear rack, I was grateful for the carrying
> capacity of my Pass & Stow rack up front. Warm weather meant we could
> lighten the load by skipping sleeping bags.
>
>
>
>
> In the morning my passenger got a surprise gift of binoculars which
> successfully kept him occupied on a long ride for him, over 2 hours of
> riding plus breaks. It was a Very Hot Day, 90+, though not as humid as DC
> can sometimes be. The first 8 miles (of 24), from Alexandria to Georgetown
> on the Mount Vernon Trail, is part of my old commute and a route I still
> ride several times a week - it was interesting to take it at a much slower
> pace than usual (though not reduced effort!). Fortunately we left early
> enough that we didn't get caught up in tangles of commuter traffic, so I
> didn't have to do much regaining my momentum. The climb up to the Key
> Bridge has a very steep bit which actually forced me into "granny gear" - a
> rarity in our fairly flat surroundings. I was glad for the foresight of
> including 24/32 gearing when I was selecting components 4 years ago!
>
> The shade on the C&O Canal towpath helped with the heat considerably, and
> the change in scenery made things more interesting for both of us. We took
> a couple of 'nature breaks' and snack/water stops and slowed down a few
> times to check out birds and fish in the canal. My Sam Hillborne handled
> the packed dirt/stone towpath quite well, with the front/back loading much
> closer to evenly balanced than I've gotten used to with my son in his rear
> seat. I wondered if the 35mm Schwalbe Delta Cruisers I have on it for city
> riding might not be wide enough for the load + dirt, but they did fine - if
> we were doing a multi-day trip, though, something wider would be better. I
> was able to pin down a handling quirk I had felt a few times before with
> heavy front loads, when the steering would start to feel springy. I thought
> before that it was play in the rack, but the slightly rougher dirt surface
> didn't seem to bother it at all. The Pass & Stow is very solid. Instead the
> springiness I felt in large steering inputs seemed was due to twisting in
> the stem! The leverage of the wide Bosco Bullmoose bars combined with the
> inertia of the rack load gave me something to push against and wind it up -
> enough to see the twist in the bars relative to the rack. Next time I have
> a big load I will try adding some Irish Straps between the bars and the
> load/rack to see if they help firm things up.
>
>
>
>
> We got to the campsite (Swain's Lock, for those who know the C&O) about
> 7pm, just in time for dinner. We brought spaghetti, [no longer frozen]
> meatballs and sauce from home and cooked it on the Trangia. My previous
> attempt at using the Trangia was on a very windy beach at Nag's Head, NC,
> where I was burning through fuel faster than I could get water boiling.
> This time it was much more efficient, and actually got a bit too hot at the
> bottom. I had to pick some burned noodles off the pot later. Set up the
> tent while dinner cooked, and ready for bed just-like-that. Except: unlike
> most of the campgrounds, which have wells with hand pumps to provide water,
> this had a standpipe that was... turned off. A check on my smartphone
> revealed that it had been for some time. I had brought along a filter "just
> to be safe" with the well water and ended up using it to filter 6L of water
> straight from the Potomac. I was very dehydrated from the hot day and the
> effort, and did not plan for enough water carrying capacity -
[RBW] First S24O, on the C&O Canal
John, What a great adventure and well written summary. I love that you are out riding and camping with your son! My 13 year old always tells me that it is not a great summer if we don't go camping! Keep up the adventuring! Erl -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
[RBW] First S24O, on the C&O Canal
With my wife out of town for the week last week, to break up the full-time
childcare marathon I decided to declare a camping trip for me and my 3
("and a half!") year old son. The weather and open schedule lined up to set
off Thursday afternoon. We camped with him last summer on a road trip, so
he remembered and was excited about sleeping in a tent etc., but this was
the first S24O (and first bike camping trip) either of us had been on. With
the child seat blocking the rear rack, I was grateful for the carrying
capacity of my Pass & Stow rack up front. Warm weather meant we could
lighten the load by skipping sleeping bags.
In the morning my passenger got a surprise gift of binoculars which
successfully kept him occupied on a long ride for him, over 2 hours of
riding plus breaks. It was a Very Hot Day, 90+, though not as humid as DC
can sometimes be. The first 8 miles (of 24), from Alexandria to Georgetown
on the Mount Vernon Trail, is part of my old commute and a route I still
ride several times a week - it was interesting to take it at a much slower
pace than usual (though not reduced effort!). Fortunately we left early
enough that we didn't get caught up in tangles of commuter traffic, so I
didn't have to do much regaining my momentum. The climb up to the Key
Bridge has a very steep bit which actually forced me into "granny gear" - a
rarity in our fairly flat surroundings. I was glad for the foresight of
including 24/32 gearing when I was selecting components 4 years ago!
The shade on the C&O Canal towpath helped with the heat considerably, and
the change in scenery made things more interesting for both of us. We took
a couple of 'nature breaks' and snack/water stops and slowed down a few
times to check out birds and fish in the canal. My Sam Hillborne handled
the packed dirt/stone towpath quite well, with the front/back loading much
closer to evenly balanced than I've gotten used to with my son in his rear
seat. I wondered if the 35mm Schwalbe Delta Cruisers I have on it for city
riding might not be wide enough for the load + dirt, but they did fine - if
we were doing a multi-day trip, though, something wider would be better. I
was able to pin down a handling quirk I had felt a few times before with
heavy front loads, when the steering would start to feel springy. I thought
before that it was play in the rack, but the slightly rougher dirt surface
didn't seem to bother it at all. The Pass & Stow is very solid. Instead the
springiness I felt in large steering inputs seemed was due to twisting in
the stem! The leverage of the wide Bosco Bullmoose bars combined with the
inertia of the rack load gave me something to push against and wind it up -
enough to see the twist in the bars relative to the rack. Next time I have
a big load I will try adding some Irish Straps between the bars and the
load/rack to see if they help firm things up.
We got to the campsite (Swain's Lock, for those who know the C&O) about
7pm, just in time for dinner. We brought spaghetti, [no longer frozen]
meatballs and sauce from home and cooked it on the Trangia. My previous
attempt at using the Trangia was on a very windy beach at Nag's Head, NC,
where I was burning through fuel faster than I could get water boiling.
This time it was much more efficient, and actually got a bit too hot at the
bottom. I had to pick some burned noodles off the pot later. Set up the
tent while dinner cooked, and ready for bed just-like-that. Except: unlike
most of the campgrounds, which have wells with hand pumps to provide water,
this had a standpipe that was... turned off. A check on my smartphone
revealed that it had been for some time. I had brought along a filter "just
to be safe" with the well water and ended up using it to filter 6L of water
straight from the Potomac. I was very dehydrated from the hot day and the
effort, and did not plan for enough water carrying capacity - the nearest
fresh water was a 5 mile round trip back down the canal to the Great Falls
visitor center, and I would have had a hard time coaxing my now sleepy
passenger back onto the bike. The overnight temperature didn't get much
below 80, a bit hotter than I would have liked, but we managed with shirts
off and a bedsheets from home. Between the heat, needing to rehydrate, and
trying to work out comfortable sleeping positions (I had only been able to
find one of our two sleeping pads - another one is on order!), it took a
while to get settled. Oh, and there was a crisis because we forgot to bring
the beloved stuffed dog, Ruff Ruff.
There were some fishermen pulling their kayaks out of the water at the
campsite (there is vehicle access there) and a couple of other bike campers
setting up when we arrived. Dealing wit
