Pics coming ... meanwhile, the Swift held up better than I did! I made it from Olympia to Kelso (100 miles of riding), but saddle sores got the better of me. I thought I was on top of everything that could do me in, except I forgot to apply chamois butt'r before I felt chafing. By the time I realized what was happening (about 75 miles into Saturday's ride) it was too late.

But it was still fun. Rather than the Friday afternoon start I had planned, I started Saturday (which added 20 miles to my ride for that day, and may have helped do me in). Had a GREAT ride almost the whole way, with temps no higher than 90F, and managed to figure out a route that is IMO much better than the STP Classic route, at least from Centralia to Castle Rock, with wider shoulders and MUCH less traffic. On many occasions I went 5 minutes between cars passing me, and I often had 5' wide shoulders. I'll be happy to provide details to anyone who's interested.

On Sunday I put in another 20-ish miles to get to Kelso. I went straight to the Amtrak station, figuring my butt had no more than 20 miles left in it -- and I was 60 miles from home. Too bad, because the rest of me was raring to go: not sunburned or dehydrated, plenty of energy, muscles weren't too sore, neck and back weren't stiff, no pain in the hands or feet. Oh well ... $20 later and I was racing home at 75mph on a Cascades train (cushier than Amtrak's long-distance routes) with a drink in my hand.

The Swift was great though:

• Seemed as fast as my 700c bike with cyclocross semislicks. Overall my pace ended up slower than I'd have liked, but I think that was mostly due to the air drag of the pannier and sleeping bag, not the bike. Hills that would normally gotten me up near 40mph had me topping out in the lower 30s, so I'm sure my load cost me a mph or two on the flats.
• Smooth ride (at least with 1.95 tires at 100psi). Again, no harsher than my steel 'crosser. Even chip seal wasn't too palpable.
• Stiff. Even with a rack-attached load, in hard hammer climbs out of the saddle the Swift seemed plenty efficient. I won't dispute the experience of tFUnk or anyone else who's found it a bit flexy, but personally I couldn't feel that pea under the mattress.
• Quick to pack up and reassemble. Although the folded size isn't exactly tiny, Amtrak staff didn't blink an eye. For the short (50 minute) trip back to Portland they didn't even bother checking it into the baggage car -- they just had me set it inside the train car next to the doorway. I timed myself on the reassembly: even having removed the front wheel and pedals, I was able to ride off on my assembled and loaded Swift in a mere 7 minutes after walking out the door of the station.

One upgrade I need to make to my Swift is a new, longer chain. My new 34t low gear stretches it to the absolute limit, and incurs an enormous amount of drivetrain drag. Fortunately this route was relatively flat and I didn't use it much. I'm just hoping a longer chain doesn't end up dropping off the ring more readily in the tall gears.

Also, I find it a significant annoyance to have to substantially deflate the front tire (I'm running a fat-ish BMX tire) in order to get it past the brake. Sure do like a disc brake in front. Hey bendembowski, how much hassle is it to remove and reinstall a front drum-brake wheel?