shumacher

From four o'clock the afternoon of the nineteenth to eight in the morning on the twenty-ninth, I'll be enjoying vacation. I have no plans, I'm just taking the vacation time because I'm about to lose it. I have almost no vacation money available. I'm thinking about a tour to blow three days or so. I can afford a night or maybe two in a hotel, a couple of nights eating out, food for the tour, and that's about it.

I have a seventeen-year-old road bike in remarkably good repair, several changes of dry/warm weather cycling clothes, a rear rack, a small trunk bag, and a set of Nashbar daytrekker panniers. I'm thinking about a trip fifty miles to the east and back, with about thirty miles on my friendly local mup. Making a trip like this is new to me, but the area isn't. My single ride distance record is 26 miles, but I'm in better shape, the weather is cooler, and my bike's fit is better. I'm going to try to keep each day to twenty five miles or fewer. This weekend, I'm going to see how that distance feels on my body.

I'm looking for some resources to help me prepare myself for this. I'll be bummed if I have to call someone to pick me up.

I'm thinking that I'll need to bring a spare tire, a spare tube, a patch kit, a chain tool, an allen wrench, some pliers, some Odwalla bars, both water bottles, sunscreen, toiletries, changes of clothes, a bottle of low-cal sport drink (so I don't get too "watered down"), sunglasses, eyeglasses, some sandals, and a pump. The mup has water fountains every five miles or so, but I'll be on my own for the first (and last) twenty miles. I might bring a little extra water in my pack.

Am I on the right track?

rwp

Yep

jkmartin

Oh man, you're going to get so much advice on what you're packing, how far you're going, and what you're going to be doing that your head will be spinning. Try to load up the bike with everything you plan on taking for your ride this weekend. Take a cell phone, plenty of water, and some food.. Learn from this and enjoy it.

shumacher

Thanks, that's kind of what I'm hoping for. I'm going to swap the rack on tonight if all goes well, and test loading the thing up. I think getting a couple of changes of clothing into the daytrekker panniers is going to be the tricky part.

Erroniousfunk

Hey Shumacher,

A quick word of warning and advise: make sure that your sturdy road bike has a low enough gearing (small enough little chainring) that you won't be wrecking your knees on those uphills. I've unfortunately seen too many friendly folks have to go back home by bus because their knees couldn't take the strain anymore. My rule of thumb is that if my quads and calves are getting tired out, I need to downshift. Standing up on a loaded touring bike to go up a hill is never a good sign!

Other than that, Have fun!!

Oh, and you said you're going on the tour by yourself, right? One pair of stinky clothes should do just fine

Peace.

staehpj1

You are on the right track. My advice is to just do it. If you don't get eveything right it isn't the end of the world as long as you have fun.

shumacher

Good advice. Lucky me: when I was in my teens buying this bike I knew I wasn't up for racing. I had touring in mind. I made sure to pick a bike with triple chainrings and a ton of braze-ons so I'd be ready. Well, it took me forever, but I'm finally going to take the thing on tour. That said, it's pretty flat here. I put the route here:
https://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united...ond/1208934805
Check the elevation. It's not so bad.

I did 23 miles on Saturday, and felt pretty decent when it was all over. I think I need to replace the saddle, because the lycra is coming off the old one. I'm hesitant to screw with the saddle before a ride, but I'll probably get twenty miles or so in before the weekend.

I still haven't tried packing everything. Maybe later tonight.

Suburban Rider

Schumacher,
Take your own advice on not screwing with the saddle before your ride. I would advise that you never make a change to your bike unless you can do it several weeks before an event. You will want time to determine if the change worked and to make adjustments.

shumacher

Well, yesterday I decided to try a little shakedown ride, having just had a tune-up done, and having loaded everything in the bike, mounted my frame pump, and new cyclometer. It was comfortable outside, with a light rain. The bike feels great fully loaded. The wet brakes were horrible when wet. I zipped out to a nearby town and was headed back when I managed to puncture both tires. I pulled what looked like a tack out the middle of the tread on the front tire. I haven't spent any time on the rear. I starting patting myself on the back for packing two tubes and wondering about the effectiveness of the tire with a hole in the tread when I remembered that my presta adapter was sitting on the kitchen counter, and that my mini pump only took schrader natively.

I took a walk.

Once home, I noticed that everything in my panniers was fairly wet, but things in my trunk bag were dry. I'll have to pack everything that needs to be dry in plastic. I'll also get some small Ziploc bags for things like my cell phone, which was dangerously wet. My shoes are still drenched. Overall, a good learning experience. I'm going to check these tires out, and if I need to, replace them with something more puncture-resistant. I'll think about packing a tire. I'll be sure to pack that adapter until I can afford a better mini pump.

What riding I did do was fun. I still have until the 28th to figure it out.

Thanks for all of the advice.