Originally Posted by
cyccommute
There's also the problem of what you carry. On a 3 to 4 day trip, do you really want to do laundry either everyday or on the second or third day? I usually carry enough clothing to get me all the way through the trip rather than mess with washing clothes.
This one, I haven't had to deal with yet on overnighters. Mostly because I usually just wear regular compression shorts with cargo shorts over them. A clean pair of compression shorts and a wicking t-shirt will easily fit in a fairly small Ziploc. OTOH, I may be going back to padded shorts after last night's 20 miler on a route I hadn't tried before; 5 miles of rougher-than-usual chipseal was making me really think about a Brooks saddle and a cruise of the web for some new bike shorts.
Food is also a problem. I usually carry enough for 3 days because I've found that it can be difficult to find food every day even in areas where there is population. Helmart has cleared out many of the smaller town grocery stores with in about a 40 to 60 mile radius so unless you want to eat grass, you need to carry food.
Where are you seeing this? Around here, anything with more than ~3500 people has some sort of IGA or Brookshires, and over 7000 probably has a full size HEB grocery store, possibly a Big Lots too. At any rate, even 60 mile days should have you passing 2-3 places you can stock up on groceries every day unless you're actively avoiding towns. What can be hard to find is a well stocked bike shop.
As to tents and carrying them in a bag, I don't. Panniers are premium space. I have other things I put in my panniers and the tent has its own carrying case. Tent poles seldom fit in the pannier as well so you end up with them on the top of the rack so why not just carry the whole tent there?
Unless I'm going somewhere I know there won't be enough trees, a camping hammock is the way to go; not much bigger packed than a bivy tent and smaller than any but the most cramped two-midget tents, a heck of a lot more comfortable in hot weather, and no poles needed. If it's not dark
and raining, (yeah, got to test both last weekend) I can be set up about ten minutes after finding the right tree spacing, and packed in not much more the next morning.
There is also the issue of morning dew. I've had far too many mornings where my tent was soaked on the outside and that not something I want to put in a waterproof pannier...or even a nonwater proof one...with anything else.
Worth adding the lightest rainfly and/or tarp you can find over the regular rainfly (or the tent itself if it doesn't use a separate fly) to keep the dew off. Almost anything will take the dew instead, and the lighter it is, the quicker it dries. Might even be worth experimenting with untreated ultralight nylon; it'll soak up the water, but should dry fast as soon as the sun hits it, or silnylon can be wiped dry easily during takedown if it's set up to form a couple of flat faces.
Foodwise, try not to carry things that have water in them. Freeze-dried works but it's expensive and not that good. I usually carry Zatarain's rice dishes and augment them with foil packed chicken or Spam (it's not as bad as it sounds).
Not sure how I've missed those as a camp food. My cookware usually consists of the Stanley cookpot and maybe a cheap mess kit skillet, but I keep forgetting there are rice dishes that don't involve all the extra hassle of cooking rice over a marginally controlled heat source like a wood stove.
I'm also a fan of some of the Velvetta Cheesy Skillets. They don't weigh much, the Buffalo Chicken one is pretty good, especially if you can add more Buffalo sauce or hot sauce (look for little packets of the hot sauce at convenience stores).
Da Bomb Ground Zero. 230,000 Scoville. Don't bother carrying the whole bottle; one large drop in a regular size can of bland pinto beans will leave me sweating. Decanting some into the tiniest
very well sealed bottle you can get your hands on should last you a couple weeks. Maybe check vape shops and ask about buying a few unused dropper-type juice bottles from them. Do handle it like it's the essence of hell, distilled and bottled. Wear gloves while pouring it into smaller containers, and wipe the threads of the bottle with a paper towel before putting the lid back on. Two hand srubbings with Dr Bronner's soap later, it may still burn if you rub your eyes.