Originally Posted by
bautieri
While the surface was not paved, it was still very smooth. The surface is like stone ground into a fine powder. It makes for a nice surface, BUT, it gets everywhere. Even with full fenders. A loaded bike like that handles quite differently. First, all the weight is over the rear end making your front want to wheelie with only slight effort. Your handling is effected quite a bit, cutting sharp corners isn't going to happen. Your front tire is also prone to understeer in loose gravel. Once again, this is because all the weight is in back.
Going at it again, for this specific trail I would choose larger diameter slicks rather than cyclocross tires. The cross tires preformed well, but kicked up a ton of dust/general crap. Something like a set of Big Apples might keep dust down and provide a bit more sidewall suspension than the cross wolfs. I also think I would opt for a trailer, or pick up a front rack and bags for extra storage.
There are plus and minus for a trailer. Plus is that you don't have the weight on the bike and you can drop the trailer if you need to - say at the campsite if you want to ride into town. Minus is that it encourages overpacking and it limits 'mixed' trips - you can take your bike on commuter trains, but not a trailer.
BTW, the C & O and certain other rough trails will be very hard on a two wheeled trailer. Better is a single wheeled trailer like mine, that tracks behind the bike's rear wheel.
Front racks will improve your bike's handling. The usual ratio I've read is 40 per cent of the weight on the front, 60 per cent on the back.