I have been reading the
Pondero blog recently, which I stumbled across courtesy of
Anniebikes, and its got me thinking about
S24O's as in Sub 24 hour overnight, an idea popularized by Grant Peterson of Rivendell bicycles. That in turn got me thinking about the first, and only, S24O I did back in 2012 before I even started this blog.
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| West Seattle Ferry |
In retrospect my trip was a bit ill conceived, I had this itch that I wanted to try an S24O but I waited until into October to do it, I just picked the closest park I could find with camping, and I started off late in the day. I was fortunate in one sense that despite my waiting till October we were having a nice Indian summer that year so the temps were nice and mild and it was dry. Also from my house to Manchester state park was only 14 miles away and about 3 of those miles were covered by the Ferry so I didn't have to travel too far.
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| The route |
Normally when I head down toward the West Seattle Ferry dock I take a right and go into Lincoln park, the forested area in the picture below, to ride the waterfront trail that goes from asphalt to gravel and offers some variety while giving spectacular views of Puget Sound and the Olympic range.
This time though I got on the ferry and enjoyed the nice 30 minute ferry ride to the Peninsula. I have almost exclusively great memories related to rides on Washington State Ferries as they usually involve; travel, escape, time spent with friends and family and of course great views.
Where leaving late came back to bite me was that although I had plenty of light while riding from the Southworth dock to the park, by the time I arrived light was starting to fade.
I had also failed to take into consideration that the camp sites were in the forested section of the park so with the fading light and the forest canopy it was essentially dark by the time I started setting up my tent. I actually set up by the light of my front bike lighting. I had purchased a cheap one-man tent earlier in the year in anticipation of doing some bike camping but setting it up for the first time in the dark wasn't really part of the plan.
I did, in the end, manage to get the tent set up and since it was so dark I just went to sleep. It would have been nice to have a campfire to sit reflectively by but I didn't have the room to bring wood with me-nor would I have wanted the weight- and I didn't get to the park early enough to scope out if there was a place to buy/collect some. When I got up in the morning I simply packed up and headed back home.
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| my little mule |
After the fact I looked at the Manchester Park
website and realized there were lots of things I could have done, hiking, wandering the beach, historic buildings etc.
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| Some things I didn't see |
Looking back I also realize with a bit more planning I could have probably found a diner someplace in the vicinity for a hearty breakfast and a little local flavor but I just hightailed back to the ferry and home. In summary I am glad I did it and learned I could pack all the basics on the bike and gained a few lessons of what
not to do along the way, so I expect my next S24O experience to be a bit more planned out.
Until next time...Ride.Smile.Repeat.
