I have been, and will probably always be, a last minute packer.

This has once again been demonstrated by the fact that I’m leaving for old pueblo tomorrow afternoon, and I have three distinct piles of stuff going in three different locations. None of which are my car, none of which are actually complete, and none of which I’m going to add anything else to tonight.

There’s the giant clothes pile in my room which includes such gems as my drunkcyclist recovery socks, full length windstopper bibs (with stirrups!), four pairs of gloves of varying thicknesses and wear states, and a jar of petroleum jelly for my tender bits at about 2am.

The next pile is in the bike room, and has camping stuff, bike repair stuff, camelbak, bike shoes, and enough spare tubes for about 1 flat every 2 hours.

Oh yeah, and my bike is in there too.

The final pile is the most pathetic. It’s the food pile on the kitchen table. Why is it so pathetic? Because my last minute packing has advanced yet another step: I haven’t done my grocery shopping or cooking yet. Normally I try to get this out of the way the night before I leave, but for some reason, I just couldn’t muster the energy to go to the store. I’ll get it done tomorrow, I just may be cooking up my food on the camp stove under an EZ up in tucson.

I sometimes wonder where these mannerisms and tendencies stem from. I mean, I have plenty of time to pack, and I even thought about it earlier this week. So, why do I do it?

I think it really stems back to my middle/high school days. You see, I played a lot of sports with their fair share of after school practices, and I also loved to go camping once or twice a month with my boy scout troop. Between those two activities, I would frequently get home on a friday after practice (about 5/5:30), and the camping trip would be leaving at 6 or 7. That would give me the bear minimum amount of time to shower, pack, eat dinner, and get out the door between those activities.

And, of course, my procrastinational tendencies were in full swing at that point in my life, so packing the night before was right out.

I somehow managed to make it every time. Sure there were times when I would show up without any socks, or without a pot to cook in, or even without a sleeping bag (yes, it happened once, luckily it was summer). But, after many years of practice, it almost became second nature to go through the checklist in my head of what I needed, and throw it in a bag in record time.

Maybe it’s just habit now? Or maybe I still have a ridiculous amount of activities? Or maybe it’s just a challenge to myself to see if I can still do it?

Whatever the reason, I’ll be getting up at around 5 to do some packing before work, and I’ll be heading to the grocery store after for food.

We’ll see ya’ll down there, hopefully I’ll remember my sleeping bag.