Since we’ve been traveling, we’ve had a lot of time to think about what we want to accomplish with our trip. Beyond our own personal goals and interests, we feel really strongly about encouring others to travel and explore by bicycle. Bicycle travel has changed our lives and our perspectives about these United States and we really want to pass this insight on to others.

During our last week in Austin, we planned an S24O – or an overnight bike camping trip. It is the perfect gateway tour to get people hooked on bicycle travel. An intrepid band of people met at The Good Bike Cafe / Freewheeling Bicycles and we pushed off into the warm humid Texas night and headed towards McKinney State Park. Some had done tours, for others this was their first tour. Every manner of touring rig was there from panniers, an Xtracycle, backpacks, and recycled rubber bins bolted onto bike racks. It was a beautiful sight and really proved the point that you DON’T need the perfect rig to go bike touring.

We navigated through the city streets of Austin and even took a short dirt detour along the way. The night was warm and thick and it had that feeling of being pregnant with possibilities. There was something magical about seeing a small courteous fleet of touring bicycles on city streets!

One of our favorite aspects of touring is meeting interesting people and our S24O out of Austin was no different. We had people who commuted, young professionals, a pedicabber, beer connoisseurs and a few musicians. It was an eclectic mix and during the evening we each heard a little about our own lives. We talked and laughed until the wee hours of the morning. At sometime around 2am, a bottle of rum was produced as was a guitar and some people began to sing and it was by all accounts a perfect night.

People seemed excited the whole evening and there was talk about organizing a monthly bike camping ride out of Austin. It was a great evening and I feel we did our part in spreading the love for bicycle travel to new two wheeled explorers! We hope to do more of these rides along our travels, inspiring, informing and engaging others to hit the road as well. If you’d like us to do something with your bike community email us!