RE: [Part 1] Three-Day Two-Night Bike Camping Trip
Hi Rob, so happy to see your tour report on here :) It looks like you had an amazing adventure, both challenging and entertaining! Also glad you had a partner to join you on tour - traveling together is always better as you can both motivate each other during the difficult times :) Besides that, it allows you to gain a better pace, since whenever one of you gets tired, he can hide behind the other one and rest a little bit (less resistance).
Once the elevation started to change, it was up and up and up. Then it eventually started getting into hills I came ill prepared for, being used to biking around flat Buffalo. But I persevered, switching into low gears, and getting off to push if I had to.
Riding uphill is a whole different story compared to a flat surface, huh? 80 km feels like 120 km :) To me personally, mountainy trails are the favorite ones, but I own a road bike, so again, there's less resistance involved.
I think I finally understand something about the importance of weight when bicycle touring. I packed way too much, especially for a 3-day outing.
To me, the only way to tell what's necessary and what's not is by actually taking to much luggage :) Over time you gradually get rid of the stuff you don't need!
I think I will ditch the u-lock.
These are goddamn heavy so I feel ya! But then, as you said, bikes get stolen without a proper protection. I'd rather add a couple kilograms to the overall weight, than worry that I'll wake up to no bike at all, especially when I'm far from home!
Anyways, thanks for sharing your story and tagging it with #insaddle :) Looking forward to seeing how'd the rest of your trip go!
PS. How'd your dogsitter do? :) From your comment I'm assuming she did a good job.
Thanks! The key to riding with someone is to stick to your pace. I forgot to mention how difficult I made it for myself to try to keep up with my friend while going up hill. The more I tried to catch up, the more tired and slower I got. Also, if I happen to be the faster one on the trip, I would have to be courteous enough to either go slower or wait when I get too far ahead. One thing to also remember is that if I'm waiting 5 minutes for someone to catch up, that doesn't mean I should immediately start pedaling as soon as he has reached my resting spot. It's only fair to let him also have a rest break before starting to pedal again!
Everyone tells me how you always end up going to the post office by the third day. Happened to me on my trip last year.
I guess the lock depends on whether I plan to ride around without all my bags. When fully loaded, I usually have to get a cable lock out anyway because the ulock won't reach far enough. I need to look up some reviews on that Ottolock as an alternative.
My dogsitter had no problems at all! She said her dog bosses him around sometimes but I think that's exactly what he needs to get him to behave! She said she can watch him again next time.