Originally Posted by
Tourist in MSN
I need 3.5 mph to remain upright, those of you that can balance at very low speeds have skills that I do not have.
I have trouble starting on a hill if it is steeper than about 5 or 6 percent with a full load of touring/camping gear. My last tour, several hills were 8 percent.
Do you fall over every time you come to a stop? If so, I feel sorry for you with all those scrapes and bruises. You probably should learn how to stop without falling over. It's effective but those bandaid bills must be getting out of hand
If not, you have the skills to ride at speeds lower than 3.5 mph. It's just stopping without really actually hitting 0 speed.
On the hills issue, what did you do, build a cabin? You got home so, obviously, you got started some how. Honestly, the techniques I laid out above are pretty easy to master. My last tour (last Sunday) had grades of over 15%
with rocks and I could still get started by doing exactly what I described. I couldn't keep going all the time but I could get started.