Gearing Up

Today I went to REI and Costco to pick up a few things that I will need for ALC. First up, REI. I had gotten a coupon for signing up for their gearmail newsletter thing. So I wanted to get a chair that I've been eyeing up for a while. This chair is small and compacts down into a little carrying case. It will be perfect for in camp. One of my friends has this same chair and she had brought it to one of our training rides, which is how I found out about it. Plus, it is orange, so of course I had to have it.

 

While I was there I spotted a few other things that I knew would come in handy. I wanted to make sure that I had a quick dry towel for in camp as well. Since we have to pack up our gear everyday I figured that it would be a good idea to have a quick dry towel instead of a normal one. Don't want to have a wet towel hanging out in my gear bag all day while I'm on the road. The purple towel is 25" x 54" and the blue one is 15.5" x 15.5".

 

I figured that while I was there I might as well take a look at the sleeping bags. I was originally thinking that I would just see if I could borrow my friends sleeping bag since he is an avid hiker/camper, I assumed that he would have a decent one. However, when I told my husband my idea, he said I should just buy my own. So we took a look and what they had to offer. I wasn't thinking of actually buying one today. We looked at the different options, down vs. synthetic, 32 degree v 14 degree rating. We ended up figuring out that the synthetic filled 14 degree rated sleeping bag was my best option. It wasn't too expensive, so no breaking the bank. Plus, I should be as snug as a bug in a rug. :) (I'm a little weird, just leave it at that)

 

After spending a good chunk of change at REI, I headed on over to Costco. A fellow teammate posted that Costco had some self-inflating sleep pads for only $35. I figured that was a good price so I wanted to pick one up for my self.

It rolls up and fits into its own bag. My sleeping bag also compresses down quite nicely and came with its own compression bag. Hopefully I shouldn't have too hard of a time getting all my stuff into my gear bag. Thankfully none of this stuff is very heavy.

I'm not done gearing up for the ride, there are a few other items I will still need to gather. But i'm getting there. I'm so excited, can't wait!