Bike Touring

Jordan laaaaavs bikes.  Moab mountain biking lured him out to Utah in the first place.  Weirdly, he doesn't discriminate between the rabidly distinct bike subcultures like a lot of guys do -- if it has two wheels and a frame, he's into it.  He shifts easily between high-speed lycra-clad road cycling to fat-tire slickrock without paying any attention to snotty sects.  The only bike I can't imagine him riding is a hipster fixie with an ironic scarf.  I knew our relationship was for real when he bought a backpack and I bought a bike!

panniers vs. trailer

Early spring weather is perfect for bike rides, so we decided to go on a mini bike tour this weekend.  Bike touring is when you mix backpacking and road biking  -- you load all your camping gear into panniers or a trailer and hit the road.  We've been geeking out on the  Adventure Cycling Association website the America ByCycle blog, and I had some new panniers I wanted to try out.

old route 24

It was fun!  We stayed close to home and tooled around SR-24, then camped tucked away off the side of the road.  Even though I drive this road to work every day, I noticed a lot more at this pace.  Honestly, I'll probably always gravitate more towards hiking -- I like the simplicity of less gear and wild places further from pavement -- but I can imagine covering a lot of ground this way it seems like a great way to see the country.