Chris Mabe's Oregon Trail

[sonsashi]

So about a month and a half ago, I was lying in my bed, tormented by sleeplessness, as I was on many nights around that time. There was frustration. I was languorous. Life just seemed so meaningless. Friends seemed so cruel despite being friends. It felt like I was not a very important person and seriously pondered my self worth. I decided that I

Comments

[muzikmaker21]

Dude! Your journal is one that I really, really enjoy reading. My bad for not commenting

[sonsashi]

Ah wow, I honestly wasn't expecting you to reply because you were on your trip, this is fantastic! Thank you for all the advice. I do plan on camping as much as possible, and now I shall consider the couchsurfing possibility you've put forth. Also, I definitely made sure to get a nice granny gear bike in anticipation of those mountains I'll be climbing. I'm also doing some hill training to make myself fantastic at climbing hills. Elkridge is oddly fantastic for that because there's nothing but huge hills here!
Thank you so much for the encouragement. I've gotten a lot of mixed reviews from friends in going public with this, and some have not been so encouraging. I'm really looking forward to this.

I have many curiosities about your trip, but for now I'll have to content myself with just knowing what kind of bike you have. I'm exquisitely and profoundly curious about that. Then maybe what your destination is, as I've somehow forgotten that.

[werewulf]

Awesome.. I did something similar a few years younger than you.

BUT... given your departure date, I'm assuming that you will not be at Daycamp this year. Tell me this now, please so that I can start finding a new replacement for shedmaster, this is not a job that can be left randomly to the last minute.

Hugs and Howls...
Wulf

[sonsashi]

Yes, that is something I have agonized over quite a bit - Daycamp. I do not believe I will be there I am incredibly sad to say. There is the slimmest tiniest almost impossible chance I could be, but it certainly is not likely with how long it seems I will be gone. Therefore it would be be best to find at least a temporary replacement for next year. However, that certainly does not mean that I cannot help you with camp stuff before I leave.

I would certainly be interested in hearing your experiences with what you did. If you already told me about them, I can't remember them anymore.

Also, to note, I plan on coming to your training walk tomorrow since it's not that far from me.

[sonsashi]

And by training walk tomorrow, I actually mean next Sunday, my bad.

[macaroniandtuna]

If I was one of the people who figuratively bashed you into the ground on your birthday, I'm sorry. If not, I'm sorry anyway, that your birthday wasn't fantabulously fantastically amazing, as all birthdays should be. :(

I saw something online a while ago about turning bog-standard messenger bags into bike panniers. I bet you could find waterproof messenger bags no problem. If not, plastic bags are cheap and plentiful.

Otherwise be careful: I'm pretty sure all waterproof fabrics need special handling/sewing/etc. so that water doesn't get in through the seams. You probably already have or will come across this, though, so, y'know, just FYI.

[sonsashi]

You were certainly not one of he people who bashed me on my birthday, though you did see them at the dinner. They were my other group of friends of whom you don't know so well. But thank you for your sentiment. I really do appreciate it.

In terms of panniers, I am well aware of those problems. The biggest problem I've seen that most people have with panniers is the zipper design. While they have great waterproof fabrics or whatever to keep out water, their zippers always fail at the waterproofing thing. Thus, my solution to that is simple. Just cover the zippers with the fabric in a manner that I can remove it. Like a cover with a snap. Then I'll put a small hole in the bottom of it so that water can actually leak out if it does get in.

I just haven't made these bags yet because I'm not entirely exactly sure of how to start my design, but I have some ideas.