On my fisrt tour,I loaded my old entry level Ross sport bike with front and rear panniers,loaded to the gills.The plan was to ride from L.A. to Santa Barbara and back,some 200 mile or so round trip.

Got about 2/3 of the way when the back wheel started popping spokes.Had a shop relace the wheel and made it to Santa Barbara.On the way home it started popping spokes again,so I headed for a shop.This time it had bent the rear axle so bad that it cracked the hub...Oops!

That's when I learned about freewheels and loaded touring.