Western NC - Ride and Camp 2020

Wait shit I can be at campsite by 3. So I'll just ride Black with y'all. I was under the impression nobody was going to be around

And if y'all want to wake up early and ride Kitsuma Sunday AM I could squeeze it

 

Awesome! Yeah we will all be there by then it sounds like. Heck, I'm already in Asheville.

 

How long will kitsuma take? Like whole process of leaving camp and being done. Trying to gauge if I could do it Sunday morning too

 

I can run it in sub 40 min from upper parking lot to lower. So if we shuttled it, call it an hour+. If we just park at the bottom lot and ride up then back down, maybe 1:45? But it's probably the opposite direction from where you are heading to get home so factor that in.

 

Yeah I’m trying to debate that haha. I might come stupid early to link up with you guys tomorrow morning if that’s ok..

 

I plan to be at camp by 1. Is that too early? @Bannerman you get my # by DM?

 

I’ll double check when I get back to my desk but I think check in is any time after 3.

I send you my contact info by text a couple days ago. Let me know if you didn’t get it?

 

Checking fitment on everything...bike fits just beside the spare tire and under the bed rack.

 

Gazelle tents are sweet! I have a T3 I use when not in the RTT. It is awesome.

 

This is the T4, way too much for me alone, but got it for the fiancé and dogs when they come along. This will be my first time using it and I cannot wait to try it out.

 

They are sweet, 90 second setup! Spoiled me so much, I had to patiently wait to find a FSR tent used somewhere so I could keep fast setup time with my RTT.

Does fine in the rain too. My only trouble has been finding a good tarp size to make a footprint for the Gazelle tent. Oh, and the stakes that come with it suck, but you can easily get different ones. The tent itself is incredible.

 

You recommend a tarp below? I haven’t ground tented in a long time lol and never used a tarp.

 

It absolutely does fine without one, I just usually do footprints for ground tents for ease of cleaning.

The base is removable with Velcro and you can clean it, but putting it back on will take 5-10 minutes to get crisp.

 

Yeah I assumed it was just for cleaning. I may give it a shot without this time.

 

You will do just fine, not the end of the world!

 

I want one of those. Still rocking my 2 person REI half dome.

RTTs are neat, just can’t bring myself to drop that kind of coin on something I know I’ll only use a few times a year. Then store it the rest of the time. The few I’ve been around seemed to require just as much if not more time/effort to set up than a basic ground tent. Admittedly though my RTT exposure is pretty limited.

 

I’m right there with you. I got one because the wife wanted it and it gets her more interested in camping.

 

I got mine for the exact same reasons (fiancée though). I usually just rough it camping. I bought my rtt because I already had the bed bars and I found my tent super cheap and barely used and I knew she would go with me more. I’ll admit, I enjoy it though! Nice to have bedding and everything in there, roll up to camp at night, and be in bed in 3 minutes.

gazelles are sweet if you’re coming from a normal 2-3 person tent. I hated solo camping because tent setup was a pain. The gazelle makes that painless.

One edit I’ll make is I patiently waited for a fsr tent to be for sale used. Those were the only ones I found with sub 2 minute setup.

 

Those are great tents. We used one for years that was a hand-me-down. Still going strong until we sold it. We were pretty sold on the RTT but had no where to store it when not in use at the time. Ended up with an Oztent along with the same reason @Bannerman ended up with the RTT. My wife likes it and it means we've been camping quite a bit up until this spring.