Originally Posted by staehpj1

I would have said the same thing, but when I left the pack on after a short stretch of actually needing it I didn't mind it at all. My expectation has always been that a pack while riding would be miserable, but I liked having my money, phone, and ID go with me when I just got off the bike and went inside a store restaurant or whatever. The real question I have is at what point will it go from that state of being nice to have there to being a pain. I suspect that will occur at some weight. I do not know if that will be at more or less than the 4.5 pounds or so that my pack will weigh. Temperature is probably also a factor. It was cool for most of the tour when I wore the pack. In the heat I may hate it.

So I think I am likely to keep the rack for this tour and experiment with wearing the pack, but maintain the option of putting it on the rack. The pack has to go because on this particular tour I want the option of using it for peak bagging and maybe overnight hikes.