Basil's Elements Fashion Bicycle Bag

Basil's new Elements Fashion Line of Shoulder / Bicycle Bags work on & off your bike.

Summer is the perfect time to get out and explore.  The warmer weather and slower pace of things can turn your vacation time into a great opportunity to enjoy outdoor living and travel.  If you haven't been on a bicycle in a while, how about getting reacquainted with bicycling?  You don't have to let the rising cost of gas turn your vacation into a stay-cation!  Get out there and pedal.  You can discover your local parks and recreation areas or take a leisurely shopping trip to the Farmer's Market.


The Elements Shoulder Bicycle Bag by Basil NL
I like to ride my bicycle and I enjoy shopping.  With the Elements Shoulder Bicycle Bag, I'm free to do both!  This fashionable shoulder bag has long straps for easy carrying and is appointed just like my designer handbags.  It has two snap pouches on either end for my water bottle and umbrella. The fabric itself is water resistant and very durable with a vinyl bottom and feet. The hanging clips shown below are genius.  The bag stays securely on but all you need do is pull up on the straps and away you go.  The clips then hide away under a secret zipper pouch.  Neat huh?

To Market To Market, Jiggity Jig
The bag interior itself is very roomy.  If you wanted to use it as a market bag, I would suggest getting a RuMe Bag.  They come in several sizes and roll up to about the size of a mini umbrella.  They are reusable and you can separate your market items from your shoulder bag contents by placing them in the RuMe Bag.

Basil Elements clipped on the rear rack of a classic Schwinn Admiral

There are a few things I make sure to take along on all my bicycle trips because you're really on your own out there.  I always carry an Ultralight Watertight Adventure Medical Kit extra aspirin, feminine supplies and in the summertime, Mission Athletecare Sun Defeated Sunblock, Fresh Bath Wipes and serious deodorant, (notice the "clinical strength")!

The Elements Bag has lots of room, a beautiful lining and a zippered inner pouch for your cell

Double Duty-Bike or Walk
The comfortable long straps are rounded and soft so they don't dig into your shoulders.  This makes this bag the perfect walking companion once you get off your bicycle.  On the bike, it quickly snaps onto most any size rear rack.  I've seen women in New York City with huge wire front baskets.  They put their handbags in them but I'm always leery about having that much weight up front.  This carrying system is so much more efficient and elegant. Better still, no one will ever know this is a bicycle bag until they see you ride away with it clipped on.  Even then, they may not be so sure!  Stop by the Basil of the Netherlands website to see more of their cycle chic yet innovative bicycle bags and baskets.

Definitely showing some bike love here!

Back Country Cooking

This summer try a back country hike & foraging excursion

There are so many good things to eat if you know where to look.  Maybe in your own backyard?  Back Country Cooking uses organic, wild foraged edibles and can really add interest to your next hike or camping trip.

KNOW YOUR PLANTS

Some plants are pretty obvious as weeds tend to be the most prolific and recognizable.  Weeds are a great place to start!  Did you know that young Dandelion, Clover and Lambsquarters greens make a delicious salad?  Also wild Mulberries are scrumptious eaten raw or added to a salad.  In my book, Nature's Weeds, Native Medicine - Lotus Press I explain that many such plants not only taste good but have great medicinal value as well.  Dandelion root tea for example, is rich in iron and acts as a liver detox.

To familiarize yourself with other more important plants I recommend the Edible & Poisonous Plant Cards from Camping Survival  You can take them for a little hike in your backyard to begin identifying and harvesting greens and edibles from clean, un-sprayed areas.  When you do this enough, you can take the card with you on your hiking or camping trip to find the same plants in the wild.  The card deck has full color photos on one side and detailed descriptions of the plants on the reverse.


CAMP COOKING

Update: This summer, we rented a small cabin again in one of our state parks for a week.  I prepared nearly all of our meals on a simple Trangia Camp Stove.  Everything from eggs and bacon in the morning to more elaborate meals at night.  The Backcountry Cooking Deck gave me ideas on how to organize and carry in our meal ingredients.  We also had the addition of piping hot soups from Augie Foods!  These were easy to prepare and utterly delicious.  The Backcountry Cooking Deck by Dorcas S. Miller (Mountaineers Books) is a set of 50 large recipe cards for camp and trail.  Covering all sorts of easy meals for breakfast, lunch, dinner as well as snacks and dessert, these cards offer delicious variety and much needed nutrition for your campers.  

What I like about these cards is that they all include "At Home" pre-prep instructions to help make the meals easier to put together once you're out there.  One of the most versatile recipes from the deck is the Biscuit Mix.  It is very simple to throw together at home but transforms into pancakes, biscuits, pie dough, coffee cake or dumplings on the trail.

Backcountry Cooking Deck of 50 Recipes for Camp and Trail

The deck recipes include wholesome ingredients like wheat germ, whole wheat flour, quinoa, bulgar, nuts, vegetables and berries.  I can't say that I'm too sure about some of the tuna, salmon and mussels based recipes as fishy smells tend to attract all sorts of critters but the wide array of various ingredients will appeal to nearly everyone's palate.  The Hobo Dinner recipe uses Jerusalem Artichokes which are native to North American and relatively easy to find and harvest in the wild.

Light My Fire Outdoor Meal Kit

 

Augie Foods Cheddar Broccoli Soup in the Light My Fire Meal Kit

I like to bring along my SOL Origin Survival Kit  plus an Aurora Magnesium Fire Starter.  The survival kit has fire starting and survival tools all in one and the Aurora Magnesium Fire Starter can even ignite your camp stove's gas burner.  It is always good to have a back up cooking / heating method when you take to the outback. 

TecX Inceptra with blue anodized aluminum handle makes quick work of kindling.

The same thing can be said for a camp knife.  The SOL Origin comes equipped with an AUS-8 blade folding knife with a light in the handle. This is good backup and you will need to sharpen it first but I would reserve it for emergencies. My primary knife for cleaning fish, preparing kindling, cutting rope, etc would be this TecX Inceptra folding knife from W.R.Case. It is much easier to open and use than the traditional Swiss Army knives. The 440 stainless steel blade and blue anodized aluminum handle equals a nearly indestructible knife you don't have to worry about. The stainless steel blade locks in place and the knife comes with a belt and key ring clip. The TecX Inceptra comes pre-sharpened and ready to go as you can see it made kindling very quickly in the photo above.  A definite must for all your camp cooking & fire starting needs.

Camp cooking eggs and sausage.  Trangia Camp Mess Kit & Stove

Taking a Bicycle on Vacation

Citizen's Barcelona Folding Bike at the Beach

Summer is here and perhaps you've already made your vacation plans: Trips to the beach, a cruise or my favorite, a woodland cabin retreat.  Any of these destinations and more can be made all the better by taking along a bicycle.  Cycling is the best way to intimately enjoy the local atmosphere.  It also takes care of the problem of getting in your exercise while vacationing.

Some people use car mounted bicycle racks to take their bikes along. I've done that too but if you're staying at a hotel you might want to bring your bike with you into your room. Traveling by plane or train? Well, that car rack isn't going to be much help so why not consider taking a folding bike?

Folding Bikes like this one by Green Zone are ideal for vacation and travel.

Green Zone Alloy Folding Bicycle
We've taken this folding bicycle on the train to New York City last summer.  We took a trip downtown to the Marina at Chelsea Piers via the New York City Bike Path / Greenway. This Green Zone folding bicycle packs easily into a canvas bag which comes with it. However it is a folding bike with a LOT of features:  Rear spring rack, fenders, 7 Speed Shimano shifters and a sweet bell are ALL included.

The Train Trip

The folding bike itself was very quick and easy to pack into my car trunk, carry on the train and then set up at our destination. It took about 30 seconds (seriously) to unfold on the street outside the train station - ready to ride.  We clipped on our Trek Trunk and effortlessly zipped down the Bike Path!

Our Green Zone in its bag for the train ride!

I've seen full sized bicycles rolled onto trains but ours was very compact and secure in its own neat tote bag.  The picture above shows our folding bike in the bag sitting on the train seat.

Weighing in at only 25 lbs, this folding bicycle was very easy to transport while the 20 inch wheels gave us a safe and comfortable ride downtown.

While New York City is relatively flat, it's good to have 7 speeds at your disposal for hilly terrains. I've ridden the Green Zone through rural towns with rolling hills and it does just great.  The fact that it has fenders means you'll stay cleaner and dryer during a rainfall or if you hit a puddle or two.

The Green Zone at our destination - Chelsea Piers, New York City

A folding bicycle like this can go where YOU go.  Take it with you when you check into your hotel room. Ride it instead of renting a car, especially if your destination is a resort or other attraction. Need a bicycle built for two?  Yes, Green Zone makes FOLDING TANDEMS as well.  Visit their website and get some wheels to go for your BEST summer vacation ever! GREEN ZONE FOLDING BIKES