Bikeforums.net is a forum about nothing but bikes. Our community can help you find information about hard-to-find and localized information like bicycle tours, specialties like where in your area to have your recumbent bike serviced, or what are the best bicycle tires and seats for the activities you use your bike for.djembob02
03-02-06, 08:55 AM
We just completed our first unsupported tour on the triplet. Just me and my young stoker, my 4.5 yo daughter. We pulled a fully loaded 2 wheel trailer. I’m guessing a good 40 lbs of gear. We went from Independence MO to Weston MO on Tuesday, camped overnight, and came back on Wednesday. It was 45 miles each way.
I consider it a great success. 45 miles is the longest either of us had gone before, our previous was 40 and that was not pulling a load of gear. The first day we kept a 12.5 mph average and the second 11.8. The worst part was the mile of gravel road that we didn’t know about until we were on it. The good news was that another cyclist came along and chatted with us. Jamie does not like the bumps so we ended up walking half of this on the way home.
It was a lot of work circling our legs for so long, left at 9:30, arrived at 3:30, but we took enough stops that it wasn’t too bad. The first day, Jamie didn’t complain about anything other than the above mentioned dirt road until mile 35 when she said she needed another break. We didn’t go overly fast, but we made it and we rode very consistently.
I should also say that the camping was great. Perfect temperature, very quiet, fun campfire, etc. This is always THE MOTIVATOR for Jamie. She loves camping, which is great because this old boy scout loves it too.
I definitely think that we are ready for the Bike Across Kansas, which we have on our calendar for June 10-17. I’m sure this is only the first of many tours we will do, though I think we will either wait for a 3 day weekend or go somewhere a little closer next time so there is more time to play around and sight see.
The picture quality didn't turn out so well being limited to 100k. In the original, you can tell that Jamie's smiling.
I consider it a great success. 45 miles is the longest either of us had gone before, our previous was 40 and that was not pulling a load of gear. The first day we kept a 12.5 mph average and the second 11.8. The worst part was the mile of gravel road that we didn’t know about until we were on it. The good news was that another cyclist came along and chatted with us. Jamie does not like the bumps so we ended up walking half of this on the way home.
It was a lot of work circling our legs for so long, left at 9:30, arrived at 3:30, but we took enough stops that it wasn’t too bad. The first day, Jamie didn’t complain about anything other than the above mentioned dirt road until mile 35 when she said she needed another break. We didn’t go overly fast, but we made it and we rode very consistently.
I should also say that the camping was great. Perfect temperature, very quiet, fun campfire, etc. This is always THE MOTIVATOR for Jamie. She loves camping, which is great because this old boy scout loves it too.
I definitely think that we are ready for the Bike Across Kansas, which we have on our calendar for June 10-17. I’m sure this is only the first of many tours we will do, though I think we will either wait for a 3 day weekend or go somewhere a little closer next time so there is more time to play around and sight see.
The picture quality didn't turn out so well being limited to 100k. In the original, you can tell that Jamie's smiling.