S24O Complete.

As in my previous post you will see that this past weekend my Wife and I completed our first S24O of the season with great success. We left our house around 1 in the afternoon. The late start is an aspect I really dig, being able to get some regular errands done before you leave.. Me: I got wallets cut out and a couple punched, ready for sewing. We were packed and loaded within a half hour and on the bikes. We were heading to Valens Conservation area, about 2.5 hours away through the country. As we arrived the winds were starting to pick up which was fine now that we were off the road, and camp was set up. Trying to keep it as simple as possible is the key for these type of outings. We decided to bring our smaller, single wall MSR "Fling", a futuristic looking sub 4 pound free-standing tent. We were lucky enough to not be expecting any rain even though there was some super low grey skies. Food wise we packed just enough for a small dinner, some snacks, and a couple bars for breakfast. Minimal gear was a cooking pot, headlights, a small Fiskars hatchet, and some little knick knacks. Clothing was the same idea. A change of sock and undies, a sweater and PJ's, that's it. The one non-simple thing I brought was 4 Camp stoves, As I am currently in the works for a field test review of some commercially available wood burning camp stoves. As we got the main fire lite, I was able to tinker around with some of the stove and get some pictures, I was only able to try two stove for the night, as I did want to relax and enjoy being outside. We climbed in the tent around 9pm, and man it was great. I love sleeping in a tent..Nothing like it, hearing the birds and noises. Laura was asleep within 2 mins of shutting her eyes...I wish I was exaggerating, but serious...she was. It got down to around -2*C that night, but all was great in our sleeping bags. I was up at 6 and stoaked the fire back to life to warm the site. As Laura climbed out of the tent around 7, we ate breakfast and broke camp. We were again on the bikes and riding the road by 8:45, and faced with some heavy cold winds. The first 9 km of the ride is across farm fields and the wind was head on. With ice cold toes and cheeks bright red we muscled our way home, and arrived around 11:30. I think that this year will be filled with many of these quick jaunts on our bike. So easy and quick and you really only need one set of panniers or a good backpack. I didn't take much pictures of us out and about, but I did get a neat shot of my bikes wheels with their reflective walls. S24O....try it.

Any other tips out there for making it even easier?