HobbesOnTour

Fair play to you!

I think you're downplaying what you achieved, which is a shame.

You packed up and you got out there! I'll bet there's many, many people reading this forum who have never done that, so well done!

One lesson to take from the experience is some better planning. Elevation and weather forecasts, specifically!

You do seem to be obsessive about distances, though! 😀 It doesn't matter all that much that you've ridden 3000 miles before. Loading up the bike and heading out on a tour is different - or should be different at least!

​​​​​​it's not the miles per day you cover that count, it's the smiles per mile.

I think a few short, one or two day trips with no pressure will be of great benefit.

Well done & best of luck!​​​​​​​

KC8QVO

Thanks for the thoughts.

I have been busy with some other activities and haven't paid much attention to the forum here. That said, I did another 62 miles last Friday. It was a "day tour", as I call them - still loaded with gear (clothing layers, food, camp stove, etc), just no over-night stuff. When I set out I had 20 miles to go to hit my "annual" goal (I got a late start to heavy riding this year - September) of 500 miles. So I got an extra 42 miles past my goal in. Doing the math of miles per month if I had been riding heavy all year like this I would have been in the 2000 mile range - my highest rate to date (though I know that is small potatoes compared to a lot of others out there - a guy I used to work with didn't tour and still did 4,000-6,000 miles a year, for example).

I do agree with the planning. As to the weather - I took my chance there. I will fully admit, though, that I completely neglected the elevation. I knew it was hilly in the area around the end of the ride, but it never occurred to me that the trail being by the river was so much lower than the average terrain of where I was going. So that is certainly a lesson to take away from this run.

I would be interested in doing the whole trail at some point. However, I am not sure what my schedule has in store and I am not sure what kind of riding shape I'll be in come next year or when next year. Too many variables. I will make it a point, though, to ride more of the trail system.

djb

Re "neglecting the elevation", hey it's just a typical thing to learn from, and don't worry, we've all made this mistake and all kinds of other ones. I personally have made some real dumbass ones, but that's life. learn from mistakes so that it's more enjoyable next time, whenever that is.
Doing a Google map or whatever route will usually show elevation gain, so now you have a reference for climbing and distance, as well as the stuff you took (try to weigh it at some point) and the "gotcha" factor of headwinds.

again, you got out there and did it, so definately look at this positive.

KC8QVO

As far as elevation goes - I do use an app called GaiaGPS on my tablet that has topo. However, for riding I use a street map that does not have elevation gradients. My idea going forward, as I half way did for this ride, is to download the map section(s) for where I am going to be ahead of time so they are local to the unit (no data to update on-the-go). That was part of my mistake, but a small part, because by the time I questioned the elevation it was much too late, but I did not have the topo map to toggle to in the tablet - it was never downloaded. All good lessons!

indyfabz

While I don’t ride with a GPS unit, if I’m concerned about elevation I map out the route on Ride With GPS. I sometimes makes notes about major climbs and take them with me. It’s only one sheet of paper. Or if I’m using cue sheets for each days I’ll put the notes on them.

djb

back in the day, good maps like Michelin maps in Europe would have little chevron arrows on a road line to show climbs and descents. 1 chevron was a bit steep, 2 was med , 3 was steep. Was still nice to have a heads up and know when climbs were coming, to prepare mentally.

using modern mapping stuff, I like to see the total elevation gain for the day, so at least you know that you'll be climbing 500 meters, or 1000 meters or whatever, and then you can judge what sort of day it will be and plan a realistic distance for the climbing involved.
And you quickly learn what X gain is doable in X kms for you personally, and how to judge time and effort depending on one or the other.
Wind as you know will throw in a monkey wrench into plans, just as having a bad day (little sleep, feeling off for whatever reason-a cold, tummy issues, whatever)

indyfabz

I remember those. I spent 7 weeks touring Andalucia back in 2000. Used the terrific Michelin map for the territory to plan and navigate. I tried to avoid roads with more than one Chevron, but it was not always possible. There are a few hills or one hundred in that part of the road.

I also tend to make on line maps for individual days as well because it is nice to have a better idea of what's in store for the day. One thing you can do with RWGPS is select a portion of a total route's profile and highlight it. I will give you the climbing, descending and average grade for the portion you select.

Here is most of what I have on tap for June:

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/31562518?beta=false

If you put the cursor anywhere on the profile, hold the left mouse button down, drag the mouse to the right then release the button it will highlight a section and give you the stats for that section. Hit De-Select to clear.

HobbesOnTour

You're loading up your bike & you're getting out there. That already puts you ahead of a whole lot of people, if you want to look at things that way. Personally I think mentality is more important than physicality for touring so I wouldn't be a fan of people putting themselves down.

I'm bewildered by your focus on distance and clocking up miles and especially extrapolation. I couldn't enjoy what you are doing. But each to their own!

Good luck!

djb

neat, I've never used this program, I'm a bit of a luddite with this stuff, but when at a computer will look more closely.
I'm generally happy with general elevation gains, doesn't have to be exact, maybe one day I'll get more used to using stuff like this.
looks like a fun loop.

indyfabz

So am I. As I alluded to, I still use PGS--Paper Guidance System, a/k/a cue sheets, for some trips. Much easier than a GPS unit to start a campfire with.