After years of either doing the hotel or tent thing for going to or putting on races Mrs. Bigfoot and I got a lil fiberglass trailer.
Ours is a '72 vintage TrailMite. There are a number of similar brands, Burro, Casita, Boler etc., all have basically the same layout; kitchenette, small bed in front, bigger bed in the rear, closet, lots of lil cabinets and cubby holes for storage. We love it! It's so nice to not have to hassle with pitching camp or moving in and out of a hotel room. Plus it's nice to be able to pull over wherever to sleep, make lunch or whatever.
It only weighs about 1100 pounds, so our Tacoma pulls it no problem, even our '89 Trooper can handle it, although with the Trooper some hills are taken at 40 or 50mph. Interior space is 6"x10" 6' and overall length is just 13', so it's easy to park and maneuver.
I welded on a hitch receiver to the rear bumper so I could mount a 2-bike hitch rack. Over the winter I'm going to build a box on the tongue over the battery and propane tank so I have a place to stow the jacks, cords, hoses and such, and I'll mount a Park bench clamp so I won't have to carry a work stand. I'll also mount a Coleman shower/heater for post-ride de-griming operations.
What kind of travel rigs do the rest of you have?
Bigfoot
Humboldt County, it's way the %$#@ up there, but worth it!
With bunk bends in the back so the kids can bring along their friends. After tenting for years there is nothing like roughing it with a hot shower, cold beer from the fridge and microwave popcorn.
We've done three family trips by flying in and renting an RV, one in AK, one in Fruita and one in Moab (we shipped bikes on the last two trips).
It really worked out great all three times. Nothing better than having a full (kinda) kitchen there at the end of a ride. We're vegetarians so finding "fast" food is not really an option. Having the ability to whip up some pasta or something else right at the trail head was awesome. I remember an end of ride pig out at the Bookcliffs trailhead that was amazing).
When you figure in the cost of a rental vehicle that can carry four bikes and a room each night where four people can sleep, a rental RV makes a lot of sense financially (we carried the bikes inside the RV)
My wife and I are heading out to UT in a few weeks, but for just two of us, it sure looks like the cost of a rental RV exceeds the cost of cheaper hotels and a relatively small rental car.
Since 1998, CraigH and I have put on many thousands of miles on our big 8 passenger van. Some of you we've ridden with at gatherings--in BC, Alberta, California, Oregon, Colorado--will recognize this vehicle.
The back two bench seats fold down for sleeping and it has room to hold all our gear for multi-week trips, including two bikes. It's great being self-contained and ready to move at a moment's notice. We just try to park it where hot showers/bathrooms are accessible.
Another handy accessory is our utility trailer when we've done group trips with three or more people. We've shuttled up to 8 bikes in that thing, i.e. Downieville, Hood River.
Lots of great biking vacation memories associated with our big ol' van and more to come this year!
We just bought a used 1996 Prowler 20 foot trailer. Smaller and lighter would be nice, but since we were buying used, we were somewhat limited to what was available. The gas sure goes fast at 10 mpg . But it is comfy for "camping".
Hiking and biking to get away from man's madness and enjoy God's creation for a bit.
It's really more a mini-van (VW) but it's technically classified as a RV under our motor-vehicle regulations. The engine is so small, I have trouble maintaining 40mpg on any incline above 9000ft.
Wife doesn't like "camping" so we bring our house with us.....32ft 5th Wheel. It's comfy, but it's a lot more than we really need. Now we go "camping" at least once or twice a month...pull it with a 2005 F250.
This has been on my "I want list" for the last year. I'm trying to figure how to get it moved over to my "I need list". Of course it is for the family, but it would certainly see some MTBBuds usage .
Eventually. Almost bought one last spring - Mountaineer 31 foot tag along. Passed at the time, which is a good thing for now. Just had a baby and might be taking orders overseas for a few years.
Already have the tow vehicle, so now it's just a matter of time.
Another Pop Up owner here. We have a 97 Dutchman. It is great to have the fridge to keep the beer cold. Nice thing with ours is that we can pull it with a minivan. That way I don't have to own a big obnoxious SUV. It sleeps the family (2 adults and 3 kids) quite comfortably.
Wish I had some pictures, but never thought to take pictures of the popup itself.
"There are those who would say there's something pathological about the need to ride, and they're probably on to something. I'd wager though that most of the society-approved compulsions leave deeper scars in the psyche than a need to go and ride a bicycle on a mountain." Cam McRea
We have an '84 VW Westfalia that sleeps our family of four, but it's a little sketchy trusting it on long trips. This photo was taken by Charlie America at the Bromont gathering a number of years ago. Annie (tiny tank) looking at the horse crap, I mean mud she got from my front wheel.
We've also done a couple of western RV/MTB trips using Cruise America rentals. Last April's trip to NM we were upgraded to a 30' rig because they had run out of the mid-size models. Something like this might seem excessive, but with bikes and four people, it's just about right. As Jisch said, cooking up a killer meal and having cold beverages at the trailhead right after a good ride is hard to beat.
Dont you worry about loseing them as you travel or are they restricted some how ?
The thought of mine running of would scare me.
They only go outside with us as chaparones. These two are indoor kitties, as we lost a couple to coyotes (at home).
They love traveling though. They're with us 24-7, and they really like investigating each new local. We dry camp, and for the most part don't even stay at campgrounds.
Did the camper shell on my pickup when I was single, went to tents once I was married, as the kids came along we bought a pop-up and bought a 29' Outback trailer this past Summer which we have on a permanent site in Jim Thorpe,PA. Some of the best trails in the Northeast are accessible from my door and we can tow it whenever we decide to go on road trips. I've got 2 kids, 2 dogs, a wife and a parrot and we all cohabitate comfortably in the trailer.
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. But it is comfy for "camping".
Originally Posted by Telewacker
