I did an overnight practice with my wife before I did a 6 day tour solo. I learned that I needed a sleeping mat also, but actually more for the comfort than the warmth. I also learned adding all that stuff on the back of a road bake makes the handling crazy, and tried to cut some weight back. Unfortunately it didn't teach me that my rack was going to get messed up 5 times a day, and now I'm switching to actually getting a real touring bike with eyelets for my tour this year.