Pre-Bike Camping Jitters

It's 7 AM, and I can't sleep anymore. Even though I went to bed at 2 AM.. the sun has risen, the birds are chirping outside, and sleep can't regain it's foothold over me as I'm fighting down nervous jitters before my first bicycle camping trip... ever.

Now you're probably thinking, "what gives?" After all.. with so much bravado, I announced my plans to bike across the USA.. and to camp for 3 months straight. Thus one may assume that I'm some kindof Iron Woman.. with eternal confidence and a bum of steel. And then, much to everybody's surprise, I'm nervous because of a lilliputian Easter weekend ride. A cycle trip to the nearby tulip fields is too much for me, huh?

In all honesty.. the last time that I properly camped was ~10 years ago.. at the beginning of my senior year of college, when I was an exchange student for 3 months at the University of Essex in Colchester, England. Here's approximately how things went: I went climbing in the Peak District with a British friend of mine named Miles (now a massage therapist in the Gold Coast, Australia.) Miles arranged pretty much everything.. he drove the car that carried our gear.. setup the climbing routes.. arranged the food. And yes.. at night, he pitched his military grade tent (he was previously in the Territorial Army Reserves). It was close to freezing that night.. and female that I am.. I got cold and crept next to him for warmth. Despite my best intentions otherwise.. we were sortof dating the next morning. Thus I begin to convey the true nature of my bravado.

I think that the last time I went camping before that was together with my father and a gaggle of girls with the "Indian Princesses" back when I lived in Naperville, Illinois. I was probably ~7 at the time. I have vague memories of a skunk wandering into somebody's tent, and having total panic break loose. But as far as I can remember.. this exhausts my experience with camping.

So it's Easter 2009.. and it's the dawn (literally) of the first bicycle camping excursion in my life. Mercifully I won't be alone this time -- I am going with one of my best friends, Sarah Kraynick. I don't know if Sarah has much more camping experience than I do, but hey.. we'll figure it out!

So here I am wondering what clothes I should wear today. My bicycle bags contain my tent, sleeping bag, and sleeping mat.. but nothing more. No route has been planned. I'm not 100% sure where my bike maps are. And seeing that it's Easter, no supermarkets will be open today to buy food. (And satisfying my dietary requirements with Powerbars might get tiresome after half a day.) But it's okay. I know that it's gonna be okay. I can feel that it's gonna be okay. So I'll go with it.

With this TransAm cycle trip, I feel a bit like Bill Bryson setting out to thru-hike the Appalacian Trail.. despite my lack of specific training, I am optimistic and naieve enough to assume that everything will work out just fine. (And I'll do my best to document things amusingly, if they don't.) And my other merit is: I am mulishly stubborn.

And so it is... Sarah will be at my doorstep in ~2 hours from now... and I need to figure out what I will be bringing today. Vive la "flying by the seat of my pants" -- at least it keeps life from getting boring!