Thread: What was your first overnight tour?
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Old 12-10-11 | 10:08 PM
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neilfein
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Joined: May 2007
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From: Highland Park, NJ, USA

Bikes: "Hildy", a Novara Randonee touring bike; a 16-speed Bike Friday Tikit; and a Specialized Stumpjumper frame-based built-up MTB, now serving as the kid-carrier, grocery-getter.

First overnighter was a credit-card ride to the New Jersey shore and back home. We learned a lot:
  • Online maps are misleading; paper maps, less so. (This was before I had a GPS. I love my Garmin but still carry paper maps.)
  • Packed dirt park trails are not great with loaded bicycles, particularly after it's been raining.
  • Discuss, ahead of time with your touring partner, how tightly you want to control the toute. One guy winging it on a rough route with the other wanting to follow a precise turn-by-turn makes for a rough day.

I rode a mountain bike with all my stuff on the rear rack, the guy I was riding with had a Trek Navigator with a similar setup.
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