bruised

I hope everyone isn't sick of me just yet.

The last few weeks of cycling have been most enjoyable. After not really making much progress on physical conditioning I seemed to take a step forward about a month ago.
You all know this already but what did it was taking a break. I was riding 5 and 6 days a week at the same level for weeks. It wasn't until I took 6 days off that I felt my energy and stamina take a good step forward.

The reward is the ability to ride longer distances without as much fatigue, and I've since been able to strap a pair of Century rides together on back-to-back weekends.

The clock is ticking down on our Summer here in WI and I'm feeling the pressure to get it in while I can. With that in mind I'm planning my first mini-tour, possibly for the coming weekend, if not then the following weekend for sure. (The nice weather forecast for this weekend is a considerable incentive to ride now, rather than wait until I'm better prepared, and risk riding in lousy weather).

Realistically, I'm nowhere near ready from a logistics standpoint; I don't have all the gear I need and my conditioning is probably a few notches down from where it should be for the ride I have in mind. But I'm going to wing-it and see how it goes.

My plan is to ride a section of the Ahnapee State Trail, running from Sturgeon Bay WI through to Casco (around 35 miles of gravel/dirt on what used to be the old freight line), then pickup the Mountain Bay State Trail from Howard WI out to Weston WI, just east of Wasau.

It's a 320 mile round trip, though I plan to cut the return journey short by having my wife pick me up in Green Bay, so the total miles would be around 255 or so.

At this point I plan to camp, but it's touch and go whether the panniers and rack I've ordered online will be here for Saturday am. If not, I'm either going to have to postpone for a week or stay in a motel for 2 nights, which I'm not so keen on doing.

I also have a decision to make about how to split up the ride in terms of daily distance. A ride to Shawano on the first day would put me at about 110 miles, which is 9 miles longer than my previous best day - however - 50+ miles of the 110 would be on gravel trails, so I suspect the energy expended riding trails versus roads is going to be up by maybe 20%. Plus I'll be carrying an additional 40lbs or more on the bike. I have an idea how the extra weight will feel, since I was considerably heavier when I started riding in Spring this year. But the effect of the higher rolling resistance plus the weight is an unknown.

Is this doable? What are your thoughts? I suppose I really won't know until I try.

The following day would be a more leisurely 55m out to Weston, all trail.

An overnight in Weston then the 3rd day would be an 85 miler on the trail, back to Howard WI, where I'd meet my wife for a ride home.

I suspect this may be overly ambitious given the nature of the road surface and the additional weight. Also, riding distances on consecutive days is something a little new to me. I rode a 33 mile route the day after my first Century and it was uncomfortable. I road a 23 mile trail route the day after my second Century and I felt just fine.

If I camp then I plan not to travel with cooking gear on this, my first mini-tour. So I'd have the tent (5 lbs) bag (3), pad, change of clothes, some food, liquids etc, and not much else other than the weight of the panniers and rack. I think I'll need to ride with a backpack filled with clothing, and I'm not really sure how that's going to go. I rode an 80 with a backpack some weeks ago but it was pretty light and I really didn't feel it. (I don't have mountings for a front rack).

I also have a decision to make on tires. I have a set of good road slicks that I used on both Centuries and they worked great. (I ride a heavy hardtail 29er MTB). But I bought a pair of cross road tires. They're wider than the slicks, are pretty slick down the middle of the tire but have grips on the edges for cornering on trails. I'm leaning towards these given that much of the ride is on a trail which I haven't ridden yet, so the principal being 'better safe than sorry'. But maybe my road tires would be just fine and would give me the higher efficiency that I'm going to need.

Anyway, I'm winging it. The trail is fairly easy to get off…. so if I run out of steam I can always reroute to a motel or whatever I need to do, so there's a safety net most of the way.

Of course I'd appreciate any tips/advice or feedback from folks who've done similar short trips/tours. Did you push it on your first tour or were you more conservative?

I hope it's ok to post this in the 50+ and not the touring section, I feel less self-conscious in here! (And it hardly qualifies for 'touring')

Cheers!

chasm54

You'd still be better off in the touring forum, it's pretty active and there's a lot of experience there.

For now I'll confine myself to commenting on a couple of your assumptions. Forty pounds of gear is a lot, especially when you aren't taking cooking gear. You're only going to be away for three days, how much gear do you need? For comparison, my longest-ever tour lasted two months, not two nights. I had about forty pounds of gear including tent, cooking gear, water and so on. at the end of it I reckoned I could have got by on less. In the touring forum there are ultralight tourers who go out for weeks at a time with far less stuff than I carried, search it and you'll find threads about their packing lists.

The related point is, ditch the backpack idea. As mentioned above, you really don't need much gear for a short tour, there's plenty of room in two rear panniers once the tent is on top of the rear rack. And riding long distances with a backpack is pain, it's sweaty and uncomfortable and you risk getting a sore back.

Biker395 

Winging it is OK ... part of the adventure.

And you're more adventuresome than I. My first mini-tour was what is lovingly referred to as "credit card touring." That meant carrying a minimum of everything, and relying on the credit card for food, lodging, and everything else.

Someone with more experience than I on loaded touring may chime in here, but the only thing I see in your plans is that your mileage goals might be a little optimistic, depending on your condition and weather. Have alternate plans to account for that, and I think you'll have a great time.

Don't forget the camera.

berner

I agree with chasm in that 40 pounds is a lot of gear. I believe you can pare that down by 10 to 15 lbs. with no loss of utility. Most people bring way to many clothes although this time of year having an extra warm layer is a good idea. Over time you will also find the lightest gear available. For example, I went from a 2.75 pound sleeping bag to one weighing 1.75 pounds. Have a great ride. You will owe your wife big time after this.

bruised

Thanks for the feedback.

I'm sure I've overcooked the weight estimate. The problem is I don't have all of the gear here yet and the weights for some of the items I've ordered aren't shown on the web.
The tent I know is 5 lbs. The rack I'm guessing at 1lb. The Pannier set around 2. The bag will be around 3 and the sleeping pad 1. My front bag, full (tools etc) is 3. I'll need a footprint tarp, flash-lamp, batteries and few other essentials, so I figured 3 for those. Then food, water and clothing. I'll want to carry enough food for the entire first day as the campsite shop will be closed when I arrive and I won't want to cycle anywhere after setting up camp. (It's in a pretty remote area). That's quite a bit of food to get me through a 100+ mile day without the jitters - then fluids on top.

So maybe I'll be closer to 25-28lbs when I set off. I'm thinking that 10-15 will not be possible given the fixed-weight items I have to contend with.

If I can avoid the backpack I certainly will. The panniers haven't arrived yet so I haven't had any kind of pre-ride setup to see what will fit where.

I may be being a bit too cavalier about the details, but I'm thinking that even if I have to curtail the distance it will still be a lot of fun and a good experience. The underlying logic is that if I can get one trip under my belt before the riding season comes to an end, thus discover for myself what works and what doesn't etc, then I'll have the whole Winter to acquire the gear and resources needed to get next years' riding trips off to a flying start.

Like I said to my wife, 'what could possibly go wrong?' (she just gave me one of those looks).

Jim from Boston

Another nicely written post; not tired of your accounts. At least it’s readable

I don’t have anything to add, except I do agree that it’s an ambitious itinerary in terms of mileage and equipment at least, as well as on trails. You didn’t post about the camping facilities…? stealth, or reserved for example. You probably would be bombarded with replies in the touring section. I think there is so much individuality that one has to learn from experience, and as such, a lot may not be pleasant.

My first tour was a fifty mile one-way jaunt and return the next day, on a beautiful October weekend on paved, mostly rural roads to my uncle’s house on a lake in a nice suburb. I did it at age 20 with no training, on a five-speed Schwinn Suburban with upright handlebars and open wire baskets over the rear wheels. That trip fired up my enthusiasm for cycle touring, eventually to a self-supported and self-guided cross-country tour.

bruised

Hi Jim,

Thanks for your comments.

The campsite is a reserved site with good facilities. But it's a smaller affair; no clubhouse or anything fancy. Last weekend's mini-camp at the Century ride in Sheboygan gave me a reasonable insight on what to expect. Though I hauled everything by car, I at least know what I can get by with for a 2-nighter on the trail.

Hey, it should be fun and I'm looking forward to it. Anything that gets me out of raking leaves has to be good

That's a nice picture you painted for us with the memories from your youthful first tour.

Cheers!

capejohn

That's a lot of daily miles on gravel and dirt. Have a great time on your first tour.