Originally Posted by
Paul J
...
We are planning to set-up our chain rings 48/36/24 to work with the 11-34 cog-set so this should be OK but we've heard a few hills will be walked. Here in South Central PA we have hills that are steep but typically none that are more then a mile.
You should do ok on gearing. I used a 11/32 cassette, my granny gear chainring was 24, 700c wheels, so your gearing will be just a hair lower than I had on that route. And I had camping gear as part of my load too, so I was a bit heavier.
In some parts of that route, you might want to worry about theft of the bike at night if left outside, not sure how easy it is to bring a tandem into your room if the motel allows it.
I have never ridden a tandem, so I really do not know what that is like, but I would think about four panniers instead of a trailer, get a front rack on your bike if you can mount one on your fork. That said, if you have used a trailer, then disregard my comment as you know more about it than me. I am just thinking that with no camping or cooking gear, you will have a much lighter load than I had.