This was for my first "real" tour, nine days in the Olympic Peninsula with my boyfriend! He's been bike-touring a few years longer than me.

My loaded bike:

The bike itself: 1985 Miyata two-ten (or as I like to put it, the introductory touring bike of 1985!), but now it's got 18 speeds. Hell, a lot of the components have been swapped out. Obviously. And mustache handlebars aren't ideal for touring (oy, my poor wrists some days) but having the wide stance feels really good on long/steep descents. I'm a (recovering) nervous descender, so that's really important to me. I'm sure I'll go back to drop bars some day...and maybe get bar-end shifters, having such a tall stem when I have downtube shifters can be a small hassle.
Handlebar bag: OMG. How did I ever live without one of these? It's so nice to be able to reach stuff whenever I want. Like food (it's fun to snack while riding). Or a map. Anyway, my boyfriend got it for me for $8 at Next Adventure, a secondhand store here in Portland. It's gotta be at least 20 years old.
Two Axiom bags. One of them is, no exaggeration, entirely food. I was so worried that I wouldn't find anything to eat out there (I'm vegan)!
Thermarest
Sleeping bag I bought at Next Adventure 10 years ago when I started tree-sitting. It's really warm. Like, way too warm for summer camping when you're sharing a small tent.

Future plans: Figure out how to get a front rack on there, and get some front bags (and smaller rear ones) so I can even out the weight distribution.
Smaller air mattress and sleeping bag
Eventually, I plan to get a Surly LHT!

Using drop bars does not mean they have to be narrow. I'm sure you could get drop bars that have the same width as your moustache bars, though some may view it as kind of weird. I use 48 cm wide drop bars.

Your bike looks like mine on its first tour - all the weight on the rear -- squirrelly handling included. I never realized how important having weight on the front is for loaded touring. Then I put on a front rack and panniers and it totally changed how my bike handled as well as how much work it was to ride. Finally, I could stand on the pedals again without running the risk of losing my balance with the rear overloaded. The bike felt like it was on rails instead of a high wire act. Putting a front rack on a bike without mid-tube eyelets is no big deal. Solutions are available from a number of vendors.

Get the front rack and panniers and try it out on your Miyata before you go spending money on a new bike. It may totally change your view of the Miyata as a keeper. Its a very good bike, if you get it fitted out right. Besides, the rack and panniers can still be ported to a new bike down the road.

Bob

I actually don't know if I'll be able to move the rack to a newer bike. It's an awesome rack, I bought it last summer, totally touring grade. The problem is that the Miyata had 6mm holes in the braze-ons for the rear rack, and new racks have 5mm holes. I had to have a mechanic drill the holes on the rack bigger in order to get it on! I'm kinda cranky that a previous owner took off the (perfectly fine) rear rack that the bike came with. Someone also put in a too-big seat post at some point, which necessitated getting the old one drilled out! You can even feel bumps from when the old seat post was hammered in. What that person was thinking, I have no idea.

The Miyata is a wee bit too big for me in any case. That's part of why my stem is so tall. When I stand over it, the top tube touches my crotch. It's pretty hard to find a *used* touring-specific bike built for a 5'2" woman. Especially in Portland. Especially when your budget was, oh, $300. (I'm currently living on unemployment benefits, just like about a third of my friends.)

I love the bike though. During that era, Miyata also made the 210 as a mixte, and oh god, I'd love to find one of those and turn it into a dedicated around-town bike--put a three-speed hub in it, get upright handlebars.

....I thought too-wide drop bars were bad for your shoulders? I have a repetitive-motion injury in my right shoulder, so that's always a concern. Some days when I'm touring I end up eating advil like candy.

Our after RAGBRAI 38 tour starting in Mount Vernon, IA where my wife went to undergrad school. Her bike on the left and mine on the right. BTW there is some serious vintage bike porn on the other side that door and I spent a lot of time in there getting way too excited!



This is pre-RAGBRAI 38 at a train station in WA



And leaving my mum's house on the way to the train station. The car rack strapped onto the back of my bike is what we used when we got to Fargo where we rented a car and drove to Sioux City for RAGBRAI. Of course we ditched the piece of crap rack (and good thing we got the extra insurance for the car rental).

Earlier bikes had level top tubes, which makes for a less flexible geometry when it comes to fit. The best fit I get with my Miyatas is with at 56 cm frame, but it is a little snug in the crotch when standing on the ground. I bet your bike is difficult for you to mount when its fully loaded on the rear. When you get weight moved to the front, it won't be prone to sliding out from under you, if you have to lean it over to mount it. Most new bikes have a slanted top tube which gives more standover clearance.

Regarding the wide drop bars, most people associate them with having more weight on your hands, which adds stress to wrists, shoulders, and elbows. I ride with my drop bars set way higher and it makes all the difference in comfort and stress. My arms are relaxed and slightly bent at the elbows.

I am comfortable on my cervelo, which has drop bars about 3 1/2" below the saddle, but that is because I ride it at a much faster cadence, which provides substantial support of my forward weight on the pedals. I ride 42 cm wide bars on the Cervelo and 48 cm wide bars on my touring bike.

If I ever get too old and rickety to ride either setup, I'll probably switch to northroad bars with a Brooks B67 saddle.

Bob

My brand new Surly LHT, I had done about 200 km with the bike, though I had about 1600 km on the Brooks saddle.

This is on the first day of a three day tour. Camping is not feasible in this area, so I was staying in hotels.

The first day, Monday, was 150 km from Chengdu, in Schuan province in China, heading WSW to Ya'an. This took me 7 hours in the saddle, over nearly 10 hours of theday. I stayed in Ya'an for a day on Tuesday. Wednesday was 128 km from Ya'an to Leshan where I stayed for a day. This took 6 hours in the saddle, about 10 hours on the road. On Friday the temps were up to 40 C, and I rode 160 km on ****ty roads to get home in Chengdu. I was riding for 7 1/2 hours between 6 am and 4:30 pm.

This was my second overnight tour, the first was more than 10 years ago. While the distances were long for a first timer, I have been averaging 100km a week for a year, and after a three week layoff I did a couple of hundred km a week for a couple of weeks. The distances were not a problem, the climbing was fine, but it was hot. I carried nearly 6 litres of water at the beginning of the day, and was close to running out each day.

If you look at the small bottle in the cage, it is 770ml. I now have an extra vertical cage that holds 1.5 litre bottles that should make life easier.

The bottle is in an old sock. I kept the sock wet and it kept the water cool. Not sure how much cooler it was, but each time it was a relief to have cool water in the heat.

Here is a rideithgps.com map link: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/148023

z

Last stop of the day, Yreka to Truckee tour, grocery in Mt. Shasta.

Not at all sure how the jpeg ended up in the subsequent post, nor why a MobileMe jpeg url was rejected, nor how to attach the one I apparently successfully uploaded, so what the heck.

you need a url with the correct filename at the end, in this case .jpg

This is my Surly LHT, TC, on its first tour. This shot was taken just outside of Waldport, Oregon. And yes, I need to trim those kickstand legs a bit.

After this trip, I'm planning on buying a lighter (and smaller, packed size) sleeping bag, (my current bag is in the camo stuff sack), and air pad.

Hey,

this is my Red Bull Activa I, on our tour along the Loire from Amboise to the Atlantic:


Regards from Dortmund, Germany

Christian

Out on its first tour :-)

That last one looks a little like @yesiamprecious...

Loaded up during my first tour (200miles).

[IMG]
Loaded Bike 3 by individual image, on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG]
Loaded Bike 2 by individual image, on Flickr[/IMG]

This is my 1990 Miyata 1000LT (with old Cannondale rear panniers, same era) in a camping and at a stop during my first tour. After riding it for a couple of hundred miles I like it more than ever!

c. early 90's "quantum", austrailian-built 4130 chromoly, nothing stock except frame, fork and handlebars

Hey all,

Long time lurker, finally got my new Thorn Sherpa. Only cycled about 200km on it so far but its handled amazingly well fully loaded on sand, gravel, forested single track - you name it.

Here it is on my first loaded 'test' ride.

IMG_6018..jpg

IMG_6020..jpg

Which part of Canada are you from?

Haha! I guess you looked at the front panniers to know I'm from Canada?!? I'm from Quebec.

loaded up for my camping trip, This post being after it im buying some new bags

2008


2009


2010

My LHT. Traveling from Catskill, NY to Gathering of the Vibes in Bridgeport, CT.

I've been on the road since 2008, currently in Missoula, Montana on the Trans Am. www.acousticmotorbike.com

from my recent tour trough Croatia



you sir are a hero, hat off..

Here she is.My baby

I could not see the picture on my end.