In the spring of 2005 six of us rode across the country, a modified trans am route, on our Easy Racer GRRs. You can read about it and see pictures at Crazyguyonabike.com, Six Warriors across the country. We all used panniers under the seat and on the seat stays and the bikes handled great. We rode the C & O canal trail which is dirt, someplaces rough and rocky, with no problems. I can highly recommend the GRR or it's less expensive brother the Tour Easy (easyracers.com) for any touring. Regardless of what kind of recumbent you get, plan on riding at least 1000 miles before starting the tour. It takes that long for most bodys to adapt to the new riding position.