Jul 16, 2020
With my proper trail bike in the shop but a real need to get out for an overnight, I turned to a C&O newbie... my trusty 12" wheeled, very orange Brompton as my chariot to an urban(ish) stealth camping overnight. Would the trail chew up the Brompton? Would my orange gear prove too, well, orange for stealth camping? If you can't get your adventure by the liter these days, may as well do it in sips...
News and housekeeping
My touring bike is finally back! Now that it's fully repaired
(a) wow what a difference and (b) I'm hoping to pull together
another mini tour to share with you all soon. And no, it won't be
the C&O... but the logistics are key.
Speaking of. Next week's show is going to revisit the COVID
situation. Touring as we knew it just isn't possible and how we
modify what we do is the difference between responsible and
irresponsible. On next week's show I'll share my thoughts on what
responsible bike touring looks like this year and beyond. If you've
got thoughts, I'd love to hear them to help shape the episode...
call the voicemail at 202-930-1109 or shoot me an email at
pedalshift@pedalshift.net.
Pedalshift Tour Journals: A Brompton Urban Stealth Overnight
I won't share
details of where I was other than (a) it was accessed using the
C&O trail, (b) to the best of my knowledge it was not on NPS
property, (c) it was (barely) inside the Beltway a.k.a. I-495, the
interstate that loops around my fair District plus suburban
Maryland and northern Virginia, and (d) there were no "no
trespassing" signs.
So, nobody saw
me re-enter the trail and the ride back was uneventful. Sitting
here now several days later I'm still really impressed at the
Brompton and I don't think I'll underestimate its ability to handle
a trail like that anymore. I'm also liking these quick overnights
as mini sips of adventure... it's not a good substitute to what I
want, but it's good enough. And that's going to have to do.