After herding 87 high school freshmen for 180 days, I've been summer break chillin. about 2 weeks in. besides the usual like gym and reading, I've been mountain biking and will do more camping.


There's a little gem of a campsite about 10 minutes from my house. did a overnighter to try out the new sleeping pad. worked great which is awesome because I've been having trouble finding a pad that fits my height and body width. in the past I would find a pad that fits but doesn't fit inside the tent. if it fits the tent, it's too small or thin for me.
-pad is alps engineering comfort series XL. I'm 6'1 190lbs
-tent is Eureka midori 2. just enough room for me. I don't think another person is going to fit.
in my humble opinion, I've found that you get what you pay for in outdoor gear. the most expensive chit is super light and usually pretty durable. I only car camp so I don't need the lightest or strongest.


I usually bring a blow torch to start fires but I forgot so I used a Bic lighter to get the chit started. makes me really appreciate having a stove and not having to build a fuking fire anytime I want to cook.

I spent the night solo like I typically do. it was nice chillin outside in the sun. no one to bother me. instead of bothering with cooking and cleaning up I just went into town and bought some fried chicken.


I hit up the bike park today. this is what some ski resorts do during the offseason. when I was a kid my dads friend told me people ride bikes during the summer. could never wrap my head around why people would want to bomb the slopes. it all makes sense now. there's actually trails that zig zag as you can see.

shared a lift ride with another solo bro. chill dude, we hung out for a few hours and he bounced. it was cool to just talk about bikes and just bro out. arrived at 10am, left at 5pm. solid day.


I plan to hit more bike parks this summer. used to think pads were for sissys. I've going faster so I figured better safe than sorry. this is my chest and back plate.

inb4 dear diary. we all goin to make it

Merlin pics original poster.

For real though I've been getting more and more into camping and biking myself.

never saw the point of a chest/ back protector. Loved my leatt brace though, saved my neck once or twice

I feel the same way about neck braces, I've never and will never put myself in a spot where my neck will break lol I'd say the chest protector is a comfort thing. feels nice something wrapped around the body no homo