Lance Parker
Summer, 2015
3 Credits, AS 3xx
Trip Planning and
Logistics
A narrative description of the project, including:
study plan, detailed weekly schedule, learning objectives, and supporting
activities
Through the course
of this study, I will create detailed plans for a solo multi-thousand
mile bicycle tour. While doing so, I will analyze, assess, and improve what I
have for gear to suit the needs of my trip.
After planning the
route, gear, and equipment, I will leave the Sterling campus on my bicycle. I
will make my way through the first two thirds of the country and find myself
having biked over 2400 miles and be in the Big Horn Mountain National
Forest.
Schedule:
May 5-10:
Intensive Route planning, gear acquisition, logistics.
Create a gear
list. Have copies of my planned route (Dates and where). Bicycle
equipment.
May 10th: Depart
from Sterling College
May 10th - June
18th: Bicycle west (>2400 miles)to the Big Horn Mountains of Wyoming.
arrival in the BHM
National Forest Between June 13th and June 18th.
Some learning
objectives include:
Practice and
develop trip planning skills
Learn from others
who have done bicycle tours
Establish an
understanding of the unforeseeable (be preemptive to avoid
mistakes)
Develop a thorough
understanding of the most necessary pieces of equipment and gear
Self-design a
route that is specific to my needs
Aid in culminating
my senior work with a well-established, smart, achievable but ambitious
trip plan.
Resources to be
used *
John Zaber – His
personal experience with bicycle touring
The bicycle
touring class – Budget, risk management, etc…
Local bicycle
store to help ensure my bike is ready – Power Play Sports, Morrisville, VT
Bike touring : the
Sierra Club guide to travel on two wheels - Bridge, Raymond; Lencicki, John.
Community members
who have connections throughout the country.
Google Earth and
Google Maps
Crazyguyonabike.com
– A bicycle touring online forum with detailed trips and gear lists from others
Specific products
of the study *
Design of an
extended solo trip via bicycle. Including but not limited to:
· Route plan with a rationale
for how I selected the route and why, miles per day, total mileage, rest days,
etc...
· Specific destinations with notes on
sites of interest, resources, people to stay with;
· Creation of a gear list that pertains
to my specific needs for this specific trip, including bike maintenance kit;
· Notes on gear that would be helpful
in planning a trip with clients, for example, preferable types of
bikes, recommended safety equipment, recommended weight to carry, styles of
panniers, panniers versus trailers, etc.
· A plan for food consumption:
including nutritional needs anticipated on a daily basis, dietary preferences,
caloric needs per day, costs, sources of food along the way, and specific food
ideas to meet the demands of the above parameters;
· A risk
management plan including:
o Communication plan should I
be injured or ill, have serious bike trouble, or need to
change plans for other reasons; what kind of communication I will
rely on; who you would contact. How does your communication plan differ
from what it would be if I were leading a trip? What phone numbers I will
have with me.
o What first aid supplies I will carry
and what I would carry if I were leading a trip.
o Safety equipment.
o Other aspects of a risk
management plan that you would prepare if I were leading a trip with
clients.
Continual use of
the tool of reflection throughout the trip to assess and evaluate my initial
trip plan with regards to distances, resources along the way (people,
town or state parks, great places to camp, good sources for healthy food,
public libraries, etc…), planning for rest days, hazards along the
road, problems with the route.
Method of
evaluation and assessment *
My advisor seeing,
evaluating and giving feedback on my trip plan and gear plan.
An assessment of
my journaling throughout the trip (which will be mailed to my advisor)
and on a final
reflection paper on the trip as a whole through the lens
of planning and logistics.
50% Trip Plan:
-Risk management plan (effectiveness
and sufficiency)
-Route feasibility
(Possibility/probability for me; e.g. time and distance)
-Sufficient planning
(enough places to stay, accuracy of budget, road choice)
-Notes on what
would look differently if I were with a group of clients
-Adequate
food plan
30% Gear Plan:
-Bicycle repair
kit (sufficiency)
-Camping gear
(choices and why)
-Bicycle (quality,
likelihood of surviving the trip)
-What would change
if I were with a group of clients (e.g. what types of bikes, different gear,
etc…)
20% Final
Reflection Paper:
-Analysis,
assessment of the trip plan, its effectiveness and sufficiency.
-Improvements that
would be made if I were to do the same trip
-What went well?
-Now what?
Where/how can I take this experience further?
Mail, phone and
email will be my primary means of keeping in contact.
Description of how
the Independent Study fits into an overall degree plan
As an outdoor educator I will need to know that I can create detailed plans for trips so that I can create safe, meaningful experiences for other people. This study will help me build these skills to a degree that I have yet to be able to practice. This will be an incredible learning opportunity in regards to planning a trip, partaking in the trip, and then reflecting on the plan and enactment of the trip.
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