Friends,
I leave tomorrow on a trip I’ve been planning since the Spring. Haven’t said anything about it because I am a bit superstitious. I wasn’t sure it would/could come together. In fact, I still kind of don’t believe it’s happening.
Some of you might know I am a bit of a cycling nut. Not saying I’m particularly good at at, but I sure do love it. And I prefer to cycle off the pavement, on dirt terrain of varying condition.
I had this idea to combine my two favorite things (that is, the two things that can hold my attention longer than every other two, non-living things): cycling and making music. What if I took a long-ish, off-road cycling trip into some remote areas of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, hauled in some recording gear and a guitar (along with all my camping gear and supplies to last a week), and biked to a spot & did some recording? Might sound very cool. Might sound like total crap. But it will 100% be extremely cool for me. It won’t be unlike anything I’ve ever done. It’ll be like two things I’ve done, but never together. Seven days in the bush, riding bikes, camping, making music. Seems pretty right to me.
Lucky for me my good friend Theo Kelsey-Verdecchia (a world-class adventure cyclist AND a filmmaker) is coming along to document the trip. And let’s face it, he’s going to guide my middle-aged carcass down the coast of Vancouver Island. He’s also a very talented musician, so I might coax him to lay down a vocal, percussion or guitar track. Check out Theo’s instagram account. He has ridden some of the premier adventure cycling events worldwide. He’s a beast who thrives on an extreme challenge with lots of sleep derivation. I already toured a good chunk of the world in a van with an indie band. I’m through with extreme challenges and intentional sleep deprivation. This trip will be chill.
I have some pretty specific ideas of what songs I’d like to record out there. And I also want to cut some vocals to a bunch of songs I’ve already been recording. Sing looking at a lake or the surf. Could be cool. But like all sessions, you don’t really know what you’re going to get till you listen back. Hopefully there will be a cool thing or two to share when the dust settles. And if Theo can shoot my mug from a lucky angle in magical light, there might be a nice visual document. At least my wife and future grandkids might dig it.
For you tech geeks, I’m taking along the following recording gear: A Zoom H4 32 bit digital four track recorder. (It runs on batteries, plus I have a large cache battery I can connect via USB.) I’ll bring a couple SM58 mics, one of my Warm Audio condenser mics, my SHURE MV88 mic, my iPhone & appropriate cables. Because weather and temp could be issues, I bought a carbon fiber acoustic travel guitar. Sounds pretty good. And I read a review where someone dropped one into a pond, and it still sounded good. What I’m not schlepping out into the bush are mic stands. I have a plan for those. If you don’t know who Dick Proenneke is, look him up.
For you bike geeks: I’ll be riding my most-loved All City Gorilla Monsoon retrofitted with Sram Apex 12 group. Got a 50 tooth granpa gear for the hills. Hydro brakes. Got two Old Man Mountain racks. Rocking Arkel rear panniers and some older Axiom front panniers I borrowed from my good bud Dan Lambert, owner of Brockton Cyclery in Toronto. Bringing a lot of gear, so balancing it all out front & rear is key. Panniers got the nod. Running 650B tubeless Rene Herse tires. We shall see how that goes. Brought some tubes, tire boots, super glue, needle & thread, etc. Front wheel has an SP dynamo hub, and I have a K-lite usb charger so I can (theoretically) top up my cache batteries. Using a Garmin 540 solar to navigate, though mine is a tertiary backup to Theo’s two.
We’ll haul in our food. A couple resupply spots along the way. I’ll use my Grayl water purifier to supply our water. (The Grayl rules. Makes better water than city tap most anywhere except that at the Grayl factory.)
Not bringing much as far as changes of clothes go. Like I said. I’ve toured in an indie band. I know how many pairs of sox and underwear a guy can get away with bringing. (Hi, Laura!) The secret: merino wool.
All told, I think we’ll ride about 200 miles. (Theo rides further than that before napping. I tend to nap every two hours.) My recording “camp” will be a nice-looking spot somewhere along those miles. Theo has ridden the route, and he has a couple places in mind. But if I see a cool spot, and the vibe is right, I’ll plant our flag.
All that said, I will not be able to post a proper substack until I get back on the 23rd. But I will do a double post soon after my return. And IF we get some cell service (iffy at best), I’ll try to upload something, or have my partner Joyce do it on my behalf.
That’s about it. As always, thanks for listening. Take care of yourselves and those around you.
-JP
That’s sounds amazing. I wish I could do something like this! One day maybe!
Have fun Joe! This sounds fabulous. It makes me a little sad that my BC bike trip this year ended up not happening, but I am sure your trip report will be great motivation to plan something for next year.