Test Ride

The Memorial Day weekend saw some pre-trip testing and a little fun. I always make it a point to test all my equipment prior to a trip and the fact that two of my former students, Jerica Olson and David Johnson, were planning a motorcycle trip to the west coast and needed to test equipment as well was all the excuse I needed for an overnight campout. The three of rode our motorcycles to Lake Bronson state park and there we put our kit through it's paces.




Breakfast- but no cold cereal for David!




Jerica giving the universal sign for "Good morning! Why yes, I did sleep very well on the cold, hard ground in that f***ing tent!"


As usual, there were some glitches that emerged during the equipment tests, including David discovering that a 40-degree "comfort" rating on a sleeping bag is really just two lies strung together! Jerica realized that white pants and the woods simply don't do well together. And for myself, I learned that encircling a Coleman Expedition stove with a wind screen is a great way to melt ALL the knobs off it and effectively render it useless... Furthermore, I was alerted to the fact that my MSR XGK stove desperately needed a little maintenance. The gaskets were badly worn in the pump and while under pressure the valve shot fuel everywhere- always exciting!

Of course the biggest lesson is simply re-enforcing the idea that a person should ALWAYS test their equipment BEFORE setting out on the road.