The next stop was a distant one, requiring me to cross town a bit. My original destination was downtown, but I skirted the expressway into St. Matthews. It helps that I've toodled around so much, b/c access outside of the Watterson is so limited. I eventually found my way to Browns Ln., crossing the Watterson and headed through neighborhoods to Frankfort Ave. I hadn't planned on my 2nd stop, but there it was, Quest Outdoors. For many years it was our only "outdoors" store, although now a few other options exist. Importantly, this is the only one that is safely bike-able, so I stopped in. Having bought the 1-man tent on sale, I wanted to look into sleeping bag options. My only sleeping bag at present is one of those big, thick Target type bags that are perfectly good for going to family camp, but I wouldn't want to lug the 10lbs of bag on a bike.
I looked a bit and chose a relatively warm 45F Mountain Hardware Lamina 45. I decided on such a light bag for 2 reasons. First, the carrying weight is only 1lb, 11oz. That interested me as a means of keeping my bike weight down. Secondly, I plan on doing a S240 in the near future, and will do more if I enjoy myself. That said, I don't see me heading off in the wilds of winter, so I don't need a tremendous bag like a MN resident might. It was good to see that this one got a couple nice reviews online. Yes, this was an impulse purchase, but I trusted the shop and I think I bought a bag that will fill my needs. My only dismay was seeing that Campmor had the same bag offered for a good bit less. Oh well. Keep Louisville weird and support local vendors, like my wife's place of employment, right? It did stuff quite nicely into my one pannier on the LHT, and I had room to fit my cable lock and "European carryall" on top.My last stop took me to Slugger Field's tix window. Last night we decided to buy tix for the upcoming riverfront My Morning Jacket show. If you haven't taken some type to experience this great band, do so asap. Their our 'Ville success story, and that is predicated on their outofthisworld live shows. This outdoor show should be epic, regardless of conditions. I'm really looking forward to it.
From their I came home via the Beargrass Trail and Cherokee giving me 26 errand miles I'm looking forward to work starting again so I can have that impetus for guaranteed miles each day. I saw a couple bikers coming home that looked to be doing the commuter thing. I think it's growing. Let's hope so.
2 comments:
Nice bag...you can't go wrong with Mountain Hardware? Last year I splurged on a Marmot Arete 40 degree down bag. I got it on sale at REI and used my dividend. Ended up paying half price. My previous bag was a synthetic North Face Cat's Meow. Love that bag, but it didn't pack down very small. I used a compression stuff sack to get the bag down to a smaller size when packing.
I think this one will pack down very small, which is another benefit. I shop REI sometimes, but usually not enough to get a big dividend. I've been thinking of getting one of their credit cards. As for a S24O, I have a smidge more planning, but it'll happen soon.
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