The plan was to go bike camping Saturday night. Which is a normal night to go camping.
Unfortunately, Saturday's forecast called for on-and-off rain with a dew point that felt like it might rival the Everglades. Even if the rain let up, Emma and I knew nothing would ever dry out—not our clothes, my hammock, her tent, or even our skin.
So we did what any reasonable people with Monday morning obligations would do: we went camping Sunday night instead.
There was just one catch. I needed to be home and online for work Monday morning, and Emma had family obligations of her own.
Challenge accepted.
Trading the Sunday Scaries for Something Better
My Sunday evenings tend to follow a pretty predictable routine. Grocery shopping. Tidy up the house. Walk the dog. Eventually land on the couch with my husband and watch Netflix while periodically checking work emails and Slack to see what's waiting for me Monday morning.
It could certainly be worse. But I wouldn't call it an inspiring way to end the weekend.
This Sunday, there wasn't much time to think about work. I was too busy making organized piles of camping gear, checking tire pressures, and making last-minute adjustments to our route.
By late afternoon, we had the bikes loaded—Emma on the Tracer and myself on the Marker. After a quick ebike tutorial, we pointed ourselves roughly 30 miles west of the Twin Cities toward Lake Auburn Campground and started pedaling.
Permission to Overpack
One advantage of bike camping on an ebike is that you can be a little less precious about weight.
We weren't throwing cast-iron skillets into our panniers, but we could afford a few luxuries. A camp chair made the cut. So did some extra layers. We packed what would make camp comfortable and didn’t spend any time debating whether the weight was worth it or not. Who cares! We have ebikes!
Our 28-mile route was almost entirely on dedicated bike infrastructure, including pavement and crushed limestone. We settled into an easy 14–17 mph pace and arrived at the bike-only campsite at Lake Auburn with about two hours of daylight to spare.
Plenty of time to set up camp, eat dinner, and figure out our next task: electricity.
The Brewery Charging Plan
We'd left home with fully charged batteries, but after 28 miles, both bikes were sitting just under 50 percent. We'd need a little more juice to comfortably make it home the next morning.
The campground didn't have electrical hookups, however luckily, there was a brewery less than two miles away. I joked with the park staff that there are worse problems to have on my way out.
We'd brought a single charger to save space, so Emma and I took turns. While she headed off to explore some nearby singletrack (ironically named Monarch), I rode over to the brewery with my battery.
I found an outlet, plugged it in, ordered a beer, and pulled out my Kindle.
Sitting there reading with my battery charging beside me, it occurred to me that this was about the time I'd normally be on my couch thinking about the week ahead. I gotta say, this was way better.
A Sunday Night Well Spent
By the time the brewery started closing up, darkness had settled in. I popped the battery back into the Marker and headed for camp.
I hadn't packed separate bike lights, because I didn't need to. The Marker, and every Monarc bike, has front and rear lights built in, and they were plenty bright for the short ride back.
Emma was already back from the trails, and there wasn't much left to do besides crawl into our respective sleeping arrangements. She headed for her tent. I climbed into my hammock and watched the stars appear overhead.
Sometime around midnight, I woke up to what sounded like an entire convention of coyotes yipping and howling nearby. I don’t think I’ve ever heard so many at once before. Luckily they quieted down after maybe 20 minutes.
The other surprise was that we weren't the only people with this idea. Several other bike campers were spending Sunday night at Lake Auburn, and at least a few of them were also planning early departures so they could get to work Monday morning.
Coffee, Muffins, and 19 MPH
Our alarms went off at 6 a.m.
We packed camp, loaded the bikes, and headed toward a town along our route where we could accomplish two important Monday-morning tasks: find coffee and put some charge into Emma's battery.
By the time we'd ordered coffee, eaten a muffin, and lingered for a bit, the battery had enough juice to get us home.
The trails were nearly empty, so we spent much of the return trip cruising in the "yellow" zone on the TouchDisplay, somewhere around 17–19 mph. Pro tip: If you want the trails to yourself, ride before 9am on a weekday. Before long, my neighborhood came back into view.
Maybe Sundays Are for Camping
I got home, said goodbye to Emma, unloaded the bike, cleaned myself up, made another cup of coffee, and opened my laptop.
Monday had arrived.
I'd slept in a gently swaying hammock all night, was serenaded to sleep by coyotes, and rode nearly 30 miles before work. So, while I wouldn't exactly describe myself as well-rested, I did feel refreshed in a way I usually don't on Monday mornings.
The night before, I hadn't thought about my inbox or my to-do list. There literally wasn't room. I was thinking about where we were going, whether we'd make it before dark, where to charge our batteries, and catching up with a friend.
For one Sunday night, I had completely broken out of my normal routine. And while sometimes you have to do the boring adult stuff on a Sunday night like doing the laundry and getting groceries, it’s good to occasionally push yourself outside of your routine. It’s also a good reminder that you don’t always need PTO or a holiday weekend to get a taste of adventure. Sometimes you just need to strap some bags onto your bike and go.