LOOKING AT THE WEATHER FORECAST for the next ten days leads me to think I ought to get out for a mini-tour, since I have heretofore demonstrated an utter lack of self-discipline in executing day rides for training.  Oh sure, there have been a few but not enough (in my mind) to tip the odds of success for the Minnesota junket firmly in my favor.

To help change that, I've planned out a five-day, four-night loop starting from and ending in my driveway- just the sort of thing I like.  It'll take me through central Maryland and into southern Pennsylvania.  There will be hills- some of them decidedly strenuous- but many more miles of gently rolling farmland and woods.

If the various campground reservation websites are to be believed, there shouldn't be any trouble arriving unheralded and finding an open campsite.  All of the websites show numerous tent sites available.  Since not all of them have electric hookups available I'll lug my CPAP batteries along, and find recharging opportunities as needed.

It'll be freeze-dried backpacker cuisine for dinner, oatmeal and coffee for breakfast, and restaurant-type meals for lunch.  My small cook pot and coffee pot are all I'll need for heating water, with a minimum of other kitchen-related impedimentia required; all of the campgrounds have showers so I won't have to resort to sponge bathing at the campsite picnic table as I did on a few occasions last year.

Daily high temperatures look to be in the middle to upper 80s, with nights in the upper 60s.  There's no rain showing but of course it's folly to assume that what is shown now will hold true a week or more from now, so I'll be keeping an eye on that.

Assuming all stays as it is, my departure date is next Tuesday, after a service appointment scheduled for the morning.