After dreading and prepping for two long, hard olympic distance triathlons I'm pretty sure there is nothing in the world I could be looking forward to more right now than a nice short sprint. This weekend, at Lake Dunmore (my favorite triathlon venue to date - and yes, because it is in Vermont). I'll also partake in what still remains my oldest favorite, and still most exciting recreational activity, camping by myself. There are a lot of things I like about triathlons, from form fitting clothes to anti-chaffing balms, to eating an obscene quantity of power bars at 3 in the morning. Still, there are a lot more things I like about camping by myself. Like thinking about bears. Wondering what bears sound like when they hunt and gather. Wondering if powerbars are above people in a bear's top ten favorite foods list. Wondering if a bear can run a 10k in under 35 minutes. Then, remembering camly that you're more likely to be gored by the angry deer you were chasing on your ATV then eaten by a north american black bear, especially in vermont where the number of deer chasing red necks and fish shooters far outweighs the people to malnourished bear per square mile coefficient (r=.000978 here if you mathlete triathletes were wondering).
SO, if you're from new jersey or parts thereabouts (making you natrual fearful of woodland creatures large and small), I would strongly suggest camping alone as a new hobby. It can be paired with lots of other exciting things to do alone. You know, when you're all by yourself. Like making smores, drinking burbon, and get a whiskryrific nights sleep heading into your first sprint triathlon of the season. Oh if Jim Beam doesn't sponsor me after this one... Or maybe the US Forest Service? I can see Smoky in a powerbar tshirt now. Only YOU can drink enough whisky to start a forest fire. Not this summer of course.
