Bike for Fort Sill

Last week I was talking to my squad leader about packing for Iraq and it occurred to me I would be bringing a lot of cold weather gear. We go to Fort Sill for training in the US for 72 days before we head for the sand box. It gets cold in Oklahoma in the winter, so we will bring our cold weather gear. We get deployed from Fort Sill, so I will have Army long underwear in Iraq.

Then I realized that if I stash my new one-speed bike in the Conex that's going to Iraq, I won't have a bike in Oklahoma. And even for a Yankee like me, Oklahoma is less dangerous than Iraq, so I realized I would need some kind of bike I could possible leave behind--or go without riding for 72 days.



A FOLDING BIKE READY TO RIDE



So I got my old Dahon folding bike out of the garage and took it to Bill and Jeremiah at Bike Line in Lancaster. They are going to clean it up and make sure it works before January. The bike fits in a backpack, so I will just have one more piece of luggage, not a whole bike.

When I rode this bike to work seven years ago--50 miles on the train, 5 on the bike--my co-workers called it the Clown Bike. It should look even funnier when I am wearing ACUs.

FOLDED UP