Ives Run

Saturday and Sunday, September 11-12, 2010

Gypsy Stats: 356 mi, Day 1

11 hrs 53 min Elapsed time, Day 1

8 hrs 34 min Riding Time, Day 1

41.1 Ave mph, Day 1

194 mi, Day 2

6 hrs 24 min Elapsed time, Day 2

4 hrs 12 min Riding Time, Day 2

45.8 Ave mph, Day 2

550 mi, Total trip

Beemer Stats: 364 mi, Day 1

47 mph average speed, Day 1

48 mpg, Day 1

198 mi, Day 2

47 mph average speed, Day 2

48 mpg, Day 2

562 mi, Total trip

Gas Pump: $32.74 for the R1200R burning 93 Octane (R+M/2)

47.3 MPG

$2.89/gal ave for 93 Octane

6.10 cents/mile for gas

Cost Stats: Campsite $30

Dinner for three $12.81

Breakfast $27

Breakfast $30

Firewood $3

Total $105. or about $35 apiece. Pretty reasonable

Tim: ’00 Triumph Sprint ST 955 Triple

Dave: ’04 Triumph Sprint ST 955 Triple

Lindsey: ’07 BWM R1200R (grin)

A Triumphant blue preponderance once again.

We got thinking about motorcycle camping and realized that is we didn’t get to it soon we were going to miss our chance for this year, so we picked the one free weekend in September and headed off. I focused on trying to put together the right gear for (1) riding in any weather and (2) camping comfortably as a cheap overnight accommodation. The problem is, there is a very limited amount of storage capacity on a motorcycle, so you need to limit the number of items and get them as compact as possible. We accommodate temperature change by regulating the number of layers, but you can carry only so many layers. Usually it’s not a problem but when you want to add in a bed (sleeping bag and pad), house (tent), and camp kitchen, room gets limited. The electric jacket liner is a great addition. We ride ATGATT, so the outer layer is always the safety suit, but I usually have the suit liner in as well, at least until it goes up to 80. The liner also serves as the primary defense against rain for anything up to a massive continuing downpour. I have been finding the LD Comfort base layer to be extremely comfortable in long or short version depending upon temperature. By itself, the electric jacket is all the internal layer you need down to about 60 degrees (if you’re a temperature wimp like Lindsey) or somewhat lower. Below that, plug it in and just turn up the thermostat as the temperature drops. I also am comfortably down to 60 with just the long LD tights and suit with liner on my legs. The next internal layer needs to be whatever you carry for off-cycle pants, a pair of jeans so far, but still under development. We pretty much proved that you also need a waterproof outer layer for the really serious downpour, but this can also add about 5 degrees of temperature tolerance as well, I found this weekend with the new Frogg Toggs.

Trying to get everything in the right place is important also. This weekend, I tried packing the camp kitchen in one saddlebag. Not a disaster, but really not a good solution. The kitchen parts do not fit in the hard bag as well as soft goods, are difficult to pack, and make inefficient use of space. When we got home this afternoon, I washed up all of the cooking gear then tried repacking it in the new Wolfman tail bag. Much better solution, so we’ll try that next time out. BTW, I bought a new tank bag and then tail bag from Wolfman. Both are excellent – heavy duty, well made, well designed, and American made in Colorado. A definite winner.

Back to camping gear, I just bought a Kermit Chair which packs up compactly but sets up to be a very comfortable camp chair. Expensive, but a good product meeting a tough set of requirements. Tim carried his also on this trip.

So what about the trip. Lindsey’s start was much like last week: out a little after 7 with the temp at a brisk 50 degrees and the sun coming up to light up a clear bright day. Heading over Levengood Road towards 662 I saw a bald eagle. It was down at about treetop level, having trouble trying to gain altitude and being harassed by two or three crows. Lindsey got to the Redner’s Quick Stop with enough extra time to grab a cup of joe and a piece of shoofly pie. Not that I would ever doubt that Navigator Tim will get us to breakfast eventually, it’s just nice to be fortified against the vagaries of how long that might sometimes take and a piece of shoofly pie with coffee is always a treat.

Tim had heard that Cabella’s restaurant does an all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet for $6.99, so we decided to give it a try. It was OK, but I wouldn’t go out of my way for it. Also, the coffee was extra, so by the time we were done, breakfast was about 9 bucks. While there, we got concerned that our lightweight (and space conserving, compression sack stored) sleeping bags might leave us a tad cool if the temperature dropped as much as was threatened by the weather report, so we supplemented our sleeping gear with a couple of polar fleece watch caps (not bad at $9.99 each). Tim heard that in cold weather you lose as much as 30% of your body heat while sleeping through the scalp, so a cap is very important sleep gear when the temperature drops.

After breakfast, the temp was comfortably in the 60’s as we went up through Pine Grove and over Rt 125, one of our favorite rides. Eventually it got up to 70, time to shed a layer and switch to lighter gloves. Navigator Tim had a route all planned but when we got to Stony Run Road we found that they had forgotten to pave it and we had forgotten to bring the off road bikes. I guess we found the stony in Stony Run. A brief navigation meeting ensued. By mid-afternoon, we were passing through Williamsport. Last time we did that, it turned out the Little League World Series was in full swing, making it nearly impossible to get through town. This time, we found folks setting up chairs and sitting along side of the road. This went on all the way down the highway to Montgomery where the fire police tried to direct us into the midst of what turned out to be a massive, 23 mile long, 9/11 motorcycle ride, whatever that is. Thankfully Tim deeked down a side street and out of harm's way before we were captured. We backtracked the highway before the festivities were quite started and gave the whole area wide berth.

By the end of the day, we rode into Ives Run recreation area on Hammond Lake just north of Mansfield. This is a top notch camp group run by the Army Corp of Engineers (they built the dam that made the lake). Luckily, Dave had made a reservation because the camp ground was full. We set up tents and got dinner started. Tim went out to buy firewood, Dave went for a walk to look at the lake, and Lindsey stayed at the campsite and got busted by Ranger Tammy for having three tents (two tents max). Luckily, Tim’s bike was not there (2 vehicles max also, it turns out). It was looking dire until Ranger Tammy decided since there were only three of us and the tents were small and there was nowhere else for us to go and we were only staying one night, it would be OK and she would let it go. It was either good luck, good sense, or the fact that I am pure of heart, but the problem resolved itself with little fuss.

Dinner was Katherine’s one pot chicken and rice recipe, canned green beans, and spice wafers for dessert. Dave brought along his one burner propane stave to supplement Lindsey’s one burner white gas stove, which was good for getting both the chicken and rice and the green beans hot at the same time. The one burner propane stove was uber simple and worked really well. I think there may be one of those in my future.

A little time around a welcome campfire (we could see our breath by this time) and then off to bed, not forgetting the new cap.

Some time in the middle of the night, a new front blew in bringing clouds, a little light rain, and warmer air, so we had no problem staying warm. There really wasn’t much rain, just enough that it would have been a problem without a tent, so gear was basically dry by morning. As it happened, that didn’t last. We set off in the dry but were soon looking at 60 degrees and a definite case of Portland sunshine, i.e. not enough moisture to call it rain, but enough in the air to leave droplets on the face shield as we swept through the moist air. By the time breakfast at the Wellsboro Diner was over, it was 60 degrees and definite intermittent rain. We suited up, Lindsey in the new never before tried Frogg Toggs, and set a path to home. The rain never became extreme. Some of the time we were on dry pavement, but would then run into fog going over a ridge. So we plotted a straight (and shorter) path home, arriving here by 2:30 with plenty of time to put the travel gear away.