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BURN BABY BURN!

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Now is a good time to start scouring yard sales and thrift stores.   When the weather gets cold, you’ll have fewer opportunities to find hot-weather clothes and roadside treasure.

Can you smell the playa dust yet?

More to come…

Here is a photo of the bike trailer (sans load bed), packed and currently traveling out west in Plan A.

(Click to view close-up.)

Here is the latest camp layout:

(Click to view close-up.)

- Get a bunch of the 2+ gallon ziplog bags (with the actual sliding
zipper) to store your clothes etc. in. It helps keep things
organized, and it’s really nice to have dust-free socks and underwear
at the end of the week.

- Get a head lamp, for god’s sake. And for god’s sake, don’t walk
around with it shining into everyone’s eyes.

- It’s cold at night. I have a set of silk thermal underwear that I
wear after the sun goes down, and they work great. I use the same
silks when snowboarding, etc.

- Yes, a water bottle is good and necessary, but also take a smaller
cup with you. You *will* be barhopping, and none of the bars will
have cups. I got a cheap plastic coffee mug at goodwill that I attach
to my belt with a carabiner or small piece of rope. If you’re going
to do some drinking & biking, bring a cup with a lid on it.

- Bring some silverware and a reusable plastic plate for eatin’. The
RVs may have some, but probably not enough for the entire group. And
disposable plates are total bullshit.

- PUT A RACK OR BASKET ON YOUR BIKE. This is a camp requirement,
actually. We want to make sure that everyone can carry at least one
bag of ice back to the camp.

- Put a bell/horn/etc. on your bike. Makes it easier to keep a big
group of bikes together in the dark. Though the badass crab flags
will beat the night into submission!

- Consider a MOOP bag/box for your bike. By the end of the second
day, you will find yourself chasing wind-blown MOOP (material out of
place, aka garbage on the ground) across the open playa, and fighting
a crowd of people to pick up gross crap in the middle of the road.
Once you pick it up, though, you’ll need somewhere to put it. I
usually tie a small heavy plastic bag to my bike, but something like a
coffee can with a cross cut in the plastic lid works great, too.

- Bring toilet paper, and be sure it’s 1-ply toilet paper. Fancier
toilet paper clogs up the shit trucks, which means that the
portacrappers don’t get cleaned as often.

- Like someone said before, bring a costume! You know, that thing in
your closet that you’ve always wanted to wear in public but never felt
comfortable doing so. Everyone in BRC is wearing that thing.
Something for the day, something for the night.

- Bring some powdered sports drink mix. You’ll be drinking a lot of
water, and you’ll appreciate a change in flavor. (or is this already
on the shopping list? GOOKINADE)

- Bring a washcloth and some Dr. Bronners. I’m kind of
anti-baby-wipes, but I still like to scrub the filth off as often as
possible.

- Bring a sharpie. It always comes in handy.

- Bring a bunch of plastic garbage bags. Ditto.

- Safety pins, rubber bands, string, clothes pins, sewing kit,
eyeglass repair kit, condoms, gaffer’s tape, ditto ditto ditto.

- It’s nice to have a small basket to keep your toiletries and small
stuff in so you don’t have to root around for your head lamp or
glasses in the dark.

- You do have goggles, right? Dust storms, man.

- Bring a little something special to break out and share late in the
week. A fancy bottle of Scotch? A delicacy from home?

Add to the list!

–dbort

-OK this may sound in opposition to what has been said, but attempt to pack lightly.
As far as clothes, You won’t need a whole lot of “street” clothes. A few pairs of
shorts and jeans and some T-Shirts. As far as other gear goes(sunscreen, rope, whips
etc) if you forget it, likely someone will have some to share. You forget this, they
forgot that, it all tends to work out.

- You may also want to bring some funky formal wear, some of us old timers will get
dressed up one night of the week.

- Consider a useful gift item to carry around. If not a physical gift, watch out for anyone
in need of assistance doing whatever.

- Smile and say HI to everyone!!! This gets you very far, both in karma and making connections.

-Speaking of which you may want to carry a pen with you. JIC

- Drink water, all the time. Even at night while drinkin’ the shine. You’ll thank yourself
in the morning.

- If someone tells you about a party that’s going on “right now” at 10 and K-Car, forget it. That
shit is gonna be way over by the time you get there. The playa is HUGE this year, the Esplanade
is over 1 mile in diameter.

- Ride off into the wilderness(away from civilization) on your own at least once. It’s really an
amazing place.

- Use light to medium sunscreen at least for the first few days. If you go barefoot, wash your feet
with vinegar once a day.

-Ride an art-car.

- Decorate your bike, it’s not the only Blue Schwinn there, I promise.

-Burn 4:15 and K-Car into your permanent memory. When you’re slurring to the Black Rock Rangers the
only thing you need to slur is 4:15 and K-Car. Also pay attention to what our neighboring camps look
like, look for landmarks, it blends together at night.
_Ryan_

If we do another layover in Reno I’d love to take the time to go see the Auto Museum. It’s got the Batmobile AND one of the two surviving Dymaxion cars built by Buckminister Fuller. I’m not sure how close it is to the place we stayed last time.