Tourist in MSN

Yeah, unexpected elevation can be quite a surprise. On my five week tour in June and July in the Canadian Maritimes, that was the first trip when I used the Android app Komoots on my phone.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...droid&hl=en_US

I have no clue if there is an Apple version.

It only works on line, so you need wifi or a cell signal with a data plan. It can estimate elevation gain for a route. On that tour there were a few times I checked a few different route options and picked a longer route that appeared to have less elevation gain. I described my daily route planning in more detail in the thread you started called Routing.

We have all had some long days, my longest day on a bike tour that I can remember was 14 hours, 7am to 9pm. I was REALLY beat that day.

KC8QVO

Thanks for the info and the details.

I use an app called GaiaGPS. I started using it backpacking for recording hiking trips and trail navigation (it actually does a decent job with trails in a few places I've gone - just in the base maps). I've mixed and matched data between GaiaGPS, Google Earth, and the older Chart Plotter I use with our boats. Pretty cool stuff. It has base map options that give topographical detail. I never consulted that on the ride - just the road map. When I was on the switch back I checked it for topo, but I had it on the road map so it wasn't giving me the elevation gradients. That is one thing I want to do after the ride - go back to the topo and look it over.

What I like doing is using off-line resources. Like this ride - I downloaded the section of the state I was going to pass through (it only gives a rectangular selector tool, though, so going diagonally is the only way to get the parts of the trip in one download) a couple days before. Same thing with the route on the bike computer - which it worked pretty well, by the way. I made a couple detours due to trail positioning and the marked Rt 50 (town portions, off-trail) being different than what I had mapped out, but didn't have any issue with the unit picking up the course when I got back on it.

As for long days - yesterday was about 12 hours. That was a pretty long day, but I had a decent amount of break time in there also.

My longest day was around 17 hours a few years back. That was 116 miles riding and a couple miles of hiking at the half way point. That was before I switched to SPD pedals/shoes and was riding platforms. That was also the last ride before my knee problems hit. I had done some rides in the 70-90mi range that year building up to that run, but that was the first (and only even still) time I've done 100 or more in one shot.

For sake of pointing it out - I did check the tablet data from the trek on GaiaGPS. Lets just say the "elevation" is scary when looking at the elevation/distance graph. Interesting to note - the graph from yesterday goes up then down - but more gradually. From about 40 miles in (31 miles before the start today) the descent was fairly steady until I hit the switch back earlier today. That was 44 miles of decent from 1056ft to 582ft, then in about 2 miles I went back up to 904. So in 2 miles I gained within 150ft of the elevation I lost over the course of 44 miles. Yowzers....

CliffordK

It sounds like you've had some fun!!!

Hills can be killers, especially loaded.

Do you still have 100 miles back home?

KC8QVO

The forecast looks like it isn't going to be conducive to riding as it turns out so chances are I'll get a couple rides in vehicles - from each direction and meet in the middle somewhere. I'll give it another day or so then make the call.

Rob_E

Ohio needs train service. It wasn't until I moved to NC that I realized how useful that is for bike trip. Still lots of places I can't get to, but the train hits most of the major cities. In Ohio you can go along the lake, or you can go to Cincinnati, but the whole center of the state is inaccessible. Too bad, because trips like yours are exactly where I use it.

DropBarFan

Bad luck with that wind, November's usually calmer. OTOH I guess the stealth camping would have been relatively easy with near-deserted trail. On November tours I've been surprised how deserted the long-distance bike trails & routes are.

Oh well, no damage done, November touring is a bit of a gamble schedule-wise I think unless one plans short miles.

Tourist in MSN

I did Katy trail in late Oct and early Nov 2010. I can't remember ever seeing another cyclist until we got close enough to St Louis for day trippers to be using the trail.