Originally Posted by
KC8QVO
Holy F.
26k accent over 243 mi?
Something I did not do on my first over-night trip that I should have was analyze the elevation of the trip more. There was a very steep switch back grade up about 400ft over very short distance, maybe a 1/2 mile. Then from there it was rolling hills the last handful of miles to my destination. With very mild elevation through the whole rest of the trip I had some taste of dealing with hills loaded, but not taking in to account that 400ft climb towards the end of the trek - and the rolling hills afterwards - was a major lesson learned.
Granted, when I am traveling I am heavier than most. So if you are a super light packer that will certainly give you an advantage.
However, the lesson should be very much the same. And that lesson is - understand what elevation means, in numbers - elevation gain and miles traveled - so that you have a personal idea of what "your numbers are". Only you can figure that out. Though, one thing is for sure - when traveling under human power elevation is MOST CERTAINLY a metric to determine a trip by - in no way should you look solely at miles.
That 22 miles to your "first camp" might be fine with about 300ft elevation gain. What happens when that turns in to 2,000ft of elevation gain? Now that 22 miles is a ton more grueling to travel.
So please keep tabs on your elevation and mileage.
If you have a lot of time for this trip and you have resources (food, water) available - I say pace yourself and have at it. If you make it 1/3 of the miles you expected on a particular part of the trip in a day because of the elevation - so be it. Lay low and don't bust yourself. It is far better to know where to toss the towel in than to over-do it on a particular day. If you over-do it your trip is likely done for. If you throw the towel in and recuperate overnight you can ride again the next day. Overdoing it could put you out of commission for a couple weeks. Been there, done that.
If you don't have a lot of time for the trip and are down to the wire on trip planning against the time you have available - I say can the trip and save it for later. What you should do instead is figure out "your numbers". Pace yourself on some rides dealing with the elevation and miles you are looking at on your planned trip. Load up the bike and do a few day rides to see what the elevation and miles really feels like and what it does to you.
Training rides in-season are only so helpful. Yes, the more miles you can pack in an exercise ride the better. However, a 45 mile fitness ride over little elevation with no gear is going to be a much different amount of physical exertion than a 20 mile ride with a lot of elevation gain with a touring load.
Best of luck to you and what ever you end up with - enjoy what you are out doing and what you get. Sometimes the best attitude is leaving the journey to be the destination in and of itself. Then no matter where you end up on a given day doesn't really matter. Every experience is just that - an experience. Get up the next day and go at it again. If ya want to stop in town to resupply - stop in town to resupply. If you want to check out a waterfall and cook up lunch for a bit - do so. Don't just go for the miles to say you did it, enjoy your time there.
yes I did a triple check of the elevation gain… coming from backpacking and Overlanding, I know how important elevation change is. I think realistically I could make the first 100 miles in a day… but would feel better at the 60 mile mark. As I’m looking at my route and having driven parts of it before in a car, I have a very good idea of where my steep inclines are. I purposefully designed the rout to be uphill for half of it and downhill the other… that way if it takes me several days to get to the top, then it takes several days.
Last spring I was on an expedition along the WABDR. For those of you that don’t know, it starts out on the Oregon Washington border at the “Bridge Of The Gods” and heads north to the Canadian border. The route is decided up into 7 segments, each segment is supposed to be 1 day… so it should take about a week max. Well we left early one June Monday at the Bridge of the Gods and got to the end of section one about 3 pm. Day two started off just about the same, but as we climbed in elevation we were soon into the mud. We ended up making it to camp at 9:00 pm. Day 4 we hit snow… 2 miles from the previous night’s camp we hit deep snow that took us 8 hours to get another 4 miles up the trail. Day 5 we hit the beginning of section 4 around lunch time, too tired and worn out from the day before to continue on. Day six half the group decided they had enough and took the escape route and went back home. Meanwhile the rest of us broke down camp and trekked along to section 5. Once we got to started section 5 it was a muddy mess to the end. The trip we scheduled 8 days turned j to a fortnight…. It it was an epic journey, and I’m glad to have been able to be a part of it.
now back on track… since I have never done any bicycle adventures, I figured this would be a hell of a ride… I don’t know if I’m actually physically fit enough to make the ride this year, I don’t even know if I want to do the ride on my current bike (although it sure would be fun to see everyone’s faces when I tell the story).
KC8QVO you make a lot of great points, the biggest take out for me was to make sure im doing this for the adventure and not the miles… and to tell you the truth, it’s about the adventure. If I only make it 1/4 of the way, and I gave it my all, I would be 100% satisfied as long as I had a good time doing it. If I didn’t have a good time, then why the heck not, plan better next time and do it all again.
Off topic again:
KC8QVO your screen name isn’t your callsign by any chance? If it is, KJ7MFV here, and this trip is actually going to be a SOTA run.
73’s my friend. I have a lot more to say, but I need to digest your post a little more… it’s a lot of great info, and I thank you.