Go Back  Bike Forums > Bike Forums > Touring
Reload this Page >

How Far do I go?

Notices
Touring Have a dream to ride a bike across your state, across the country, or around the world? Self-contained or fully supported? Trade ideas, adventures, and more in our bicycle touring forum.

How Far do I go?

Old 09-14-21, 08:42 PM
  #1  
M Rose
Full Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Aug 2021
Location: Northeastern Oregon
Posts: 249

Bikes: 2021 Trek Verve 2 Disk

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 130 Post(s)
Liked 119 Times in 80 Posts
How Far do I go?

So I’m trying to build a route for my first multi-day bikepacking trip. I won’t be sleeping in any hotels, air b&b’s, or bead n breakfasts. This will be a multi day trip through some of Northeastern Oregon’s most sonic and hellish country. In other words I’m wanting to go into Hell’s Canyon.

leaving from my house and ending at my house the route is 243 miles long with a total accent of 26,000 feet and 97% paved.

my question is how do I break this mileage up into realistic travel goals. I’m coming from a Overlanding background where we typically cover between 40 and 200 miles a day depending upon terrain and road type.
M Rose is offline  
Old 09-14-21, 10:01 PM
  #2  
downtube42
Senior Member
 
downtube42's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Portland, OR
Posts: 3,803

Bikes: Trek Domane SL6 Gen 3, Soma Fog Cutter, Focus Mares AL, Detroit Bikes Sparrow FG, Volae Team, Nimbus MUni

Mentioned: 11 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 878 Post(s)
Liked 2,019 Times in 1,055 Posts
Originally Posted by M Rose
So I’m trying to build a route for my first multi-day bikepacking trip. I won’t be sleeping in any hotels, air b&b’s, or bead n breakfasts. This will be a multi day trip through some of Northeastern Oregon’s most sonic and hellish country. In other words I’m wanting to go into Hell’s Canyon.

leaving from my house and ending at my house the route is 243 miles long with a total accent of 26,000 feet and 97% paved.

my question is how do I break this mileage up into realistic travel goals. I’m coming from a Overlanding background where we typically cover between 40 and 200 miles a day depending upon terrain and road type.
Some things to consider.

Water. How far between water sources, how much do you want to carry, are there camp sites with water. If water is scarce, you might want to design your days around water sources.

Food. Similar, though less critical since food isn't so heavy.

How much you want to do things other than ride. If you want to hit the road at first light and ride until dusk that's one thing. If you want to do any sightseeing, take photos, hang out in camp, that's another.

Fitness. How many miles can you cover in a day? 250 can be done, but that's not bikepacking it's just a long day with tons of night miles.
downtube42 is offline  
Likes For downtube42:
Old 09-14-21, 10:43 PM
  #3  
M Rose
Full Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Aug 2021
Location: Northeastern Oregon
Posts: 249

Bikes: 2021 Trek Verve 2 Disk

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 130 Post(s)
Liked 119 Times in 80 Posts
I also realize time of year is important, I’m thinking of doing this trip within the next few weeks, or next fall.

I’m going to be wanting to do some fishing, and lots of sightseeing.

Water… good point… the first 145 miles there are quite a few fresh water sources… the last 100 miles not so many, but the last half has a lot more shopping opportunities and would be mostly down hill.
Food… for backpacking I normally eat lots of trail mix, granola, jerky, oatmeal, dehydrated fruits, you know trail snacks. For dinner I might splurge and make a one pot hot meal. I was figuring on packing enough food for 24 hours and resupply as I come into small towns (also resupply water stops). Again the second half the trip is a lot more opportunities to shop or eat at a cafe.

The first campground is only 22 miles away, and is at the base of the steep incline. From there until mile 200 I can camp just about anywhere. So by the sounds of it, I should plan a 3 to 4 day trip to be able to include side adventures, fishing, and maybe a day of just relaxing.
M Rose is offline  
Old 09-14-21, 11:10 PM
  #4  
KC8QVO
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 1,173

Bikes: Surly Disk Trucker, 2014 w/Brooks Flyer Special saddle, Tubus racks - Duo front/Logo Evo rear, 2019 Dahon Mariner D8, Both bikes share Ortlieb Packer Plus series panniers, Garmin Edge 1000

Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 405 Post(s)
Liked 115 Times in 99 Posts
Originally Posted by M Rose
... the route is 243 miles long with a total accent of 26,000 feet and 97% paved.
Holy F.

26k accent over 243 mi?

Something I did not do on my first over-night trip that I should have was analyze the elevation of the trip more. There was a very steep switch back grade up about 400ft over very short distance, maybe a 1/2 mile. Then from there it was rolling hills the last handful of miles to my destination. With very mild elevation through the whole rest of the trip I had some taste of dealing with hills loaded, but not taking in to account that 400ft climb towards the end of the trek - and the rolling hills afterwards - was a major lesson learned.

Granted, when I am traveling I am heavier than most. So if you are a super light packer that will certainly give you an advantage.

However, the lesson should be very much the same. And that lesson is - understand what elevation means, in numbers - elevation gain and miles traveled - so that you have a personal idea of what "your numbers are". Only you can figure that out. Though, one thing is for sure - when traveling under human power elevation is MOST CERTAINLY a metric to determine a trip by - in no way should you look solely at miles.

That 22 miles to your "first camp" might be fine with about 300ft elevation gain. What happens when that turns in to 2,000ft of elevation gain? Now that 22 miles is a ton more grueling to travel.

So please keep tabs on your elevation and mileage.

If you have a lot of time for this trip and you have resources (food, water) available - I say pace yourself and have at it. If you make it 1/3 of the miles you expected on a particular part of the trip in a day because of the elevation - so be it. Lay low and don't bust yourself. It is far better to know where to toss the towel in than to over-do it on a particular day. If you over-do it your trip is likely done for. If you throw the towel in and recuperate overnight you can ride again the next day. Overdoing it could put you out of commission for a couple weeks. Been there, done that.

If you don't have a lot of time for the trip and are down to the wire on trip planning against the time you have available - I say can the trip and save it for later. What you should do instead is figure out "your numbers". Pace yourself on some rides dealing with the elevation and miles you are looking at on your planned trip. Load up the bike and do a few day rides to see what the elevation and miles really feels like and what it does to you.

Training rides in-season are only so helpful. Yes, the more miles you can pack in an exercise ride the better. However, a 45 mile fitness ride over little elevation with no gear is going to be a much different amount of physical exertion than a 20 mile ride with a lot of elevation gain with a touring load.

Best of luck to you and what ever you end up with - enjoy what you are out doing and what you get. Sometimes the best attitude is leaving the journey to be the destination in and of itself. Then no matter where you end up on a given day doesn't really matter. Every experience is just that - an experience. Get up the next day and go at it again. If ya want to stop in town to resupply - stop in town to resupply. If you want to check out a waterfall and cook up lunch for a bit - do so. Don't just go for the miles to say you did it, enjoy your time there.
KC8QVO is offline  
Old 09-15-21, 01:03 AM
  #5  
M Rose
Full Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Aug 2021
Location: Northeastern Oregon
Posts: 249

Bikes: 2021 Trek Verve 2 Disk

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 130 Post(s)
Liked 119 Times in 80 Posts
Originally Posted by KC8QVO
Holy F.

26k accent over 243 mi?

Something I did not do on my first over-night trip that I should have was analyze the elevation of the trip more. There was a very steep switch back grade up about 400ft over very short distance, maybe a 1/2 mile. Then from there it was rolling hills the last handful of miles to my destination. With very mild elevation through the whole rest of the trip I had some taste of dealing with hills loaded, but not taking in to account that 400ft climb towards the end of the trek - and the rolling hills afterwards - was a major lesson learned.

Granted, when I am traveling I am heavier than most. So if you are a super light packer that will certainly give you an advantage.

However, the lesson should be very much the same. And that lesson is - understand what elevation means, in numbers - elevation gain and miles traveled - so that you have a personal idea of what "your numbers are". Only you can figure that out. Though, one thing is for sure - when traveling under human power elevation is MOST CERTAINLY a metric to determine a trip by - in no way should you look solely at miles.

That 22 miles to your "first camp" might be fine with about 300ft elevation gain. What happens when that turns in to 2,000ft of elevation gain? Now that 22 miles is a ton more grueling to travel.

So please keep tabs on your elevation and mileage.

If you have a lot of time for this trip and you have resources (food, water) available - I say pace yourself and have at it. If you make it 1/3 of the miles you expected on a particular part of the trip in a day because of the elevation - so be it. Lay low and don't bust yourself. It is far better to know where to toss the towel in than to over-do it on a particular day. If you over-do it your trip is likely done for. If you throw the towel in and recuperate overnight you can ride again the next day. Overdoing it could put you out of commission for a couple weeks. Been there, done that.

If you don't have a lot of time for the trip and are down to the wire on trip planning against the time you have available - I say can the trip and save it for later. What you should do instead is figure out "your numbers". Pace yourself on some rides dealing with the elevation and miles you are looking at on your planned trip. Load up the bike and do a few day rides to see what the elevation and miles really feels like and what it does to you.

Training rides in-season are only so helpful. Yes, the more miles you can pack in an exercise ride the better. However, a 45 mile fitness ride over little elevation with no gear is going to be a much different amount of physical exertion than a 20 mile ride with a lot of elevation gain with a touring load.

Best of luck to you and what ever you end up with - enjoy what you are out doing and what you get. Sometimes the best attitude is leaving the journey to be the destination in and of itself. Then no matter where you end up on a given day doesn't really matter. Every experience is just that - an experience. Get up the next day and go at it again. If ya want to stop in town to resupply - stop in town to resupply. If you want to check out a waterfall and cook up lunch for a bit - do so. Don't just go for the miles to say you did it, enjoy your time there.
yes I did a triple check of the elevation gain… coming from backpacking and Overlanding, I know how important elevation change is. I think realistically I could make the first 100 miles in a day… but would feel better at the 60 mile mark. As I’m looking at my route and having driven parts of it before in a car, I have a very good idea of where my steep inclines are. I purposefully designed the rout to be uphill for half of it and downhill the other… that way if it takes me several days to get to the top, then it takes several days.

Last spring I was on an expedition along the WABDR. For those of you that don’t know, it starts out on the Oregon Washington border at the “Bridge Of The Gods” and heads north to the Canadian border. The route is decided up into 7 segments, each segment is supposed to be 1 day… so it should take about a week max. Well we left early one June Monday at the Bridge of the Gods and got to the end of section one about 3 pm. Day two started off just about the same, but as we climbed in elevation we were soon into the mud. We ended up making it to camp at 9:00 pm. Day 4 we hit snow… 2 miles from the previous night’s camp we hit deep snow that took us 8 hours to get another 4 miles up the trail. Day 5 we hit the beginning of section 4 around lunch time, too tired and worn out from the day before to continue on. Day six half the group decided they had enough and took the escape route and went back home. Meanwhile the rest of us broke down camp and trekked along to section 5. Once we got to started section 5 it was a muddy mess to the end. The trip we scheduled 8 days turned j to a fortnight…. It it was an epic journey, and I’m glad to have been able to be a part of it.

now back on track… since I have never done any bicycle adventures, I figured this would be a hell of a ride… I don’t know if I’m actually physically fit enough to make the ride this year, I don’t even know if I want to do the ride on my current bike (although it sure would be fun to see everyone’s faces when I tell the story).

KC8QVO you make a lot of great points, the biggest take out for me was to make sure im doing this for the adventure and not the miles… and to tell you the truth, it’s about the adventure. If I only make it 1/4 of the way, and I gave it my all, I would be 100% satisfied as long as I had a good time doing it. If I didn’t have a good time, then why the heck not, plan better next time and do it all again.

Off topic again:
KC8QVO your screen name isn’t your callsign by any chance? If it is, KJ7MFV here, and this trip is actually going to be a SOTA run.

73’s my friend. I have a lot more to say, but I need to digest your post a little more… it’s a lot of great info, and I thank you.
M Rose is offline  
Old 09-15-21, 07:07 AM
  #6  
c_m_shooter
Senior Member
 
c_m_shooter's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Paradise, TX
Posts: 2,087

Bikes: Soma Pescadero, Surly Pugsley, Salsa Fargo, Schwinn Klunker, Gravity SS 27.5, Monocog 29er

Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 186 Post(s)
Liked 234 Times in 166 Posts
I would plan for 50 miles a day, but not make reservations. If it is all uphill one day, or I have a mechanical issue I may not make the goal and don't want to turn it into a death march. Likewise, going downhill or having a nice tailwind mike bigger miles fly by easily sometimes. I don't want to stop at mile 50 if it isn't even noon yet.
c_m_shooter is offline  
Old 09-15-21, 07:27 AM
  #7  
andrewclaus
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Golden, CO and Tucson, AZ
Posts: 2,822

Bikes: 2016 Fuji Tread, 1983 Trek 520

Mentioned: 13 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 669 Post(s)
Liked 725 Times in 422 Posts
I've done similar trips in the Rockies, starting out with an 8,000' day (80 miles), then continuing with shorter 5,000 to 6,000' days after that. With that kind of climbing, reducing pack weight is important, obviously, and water is a critical part of pack weight. I try to plan water sources so I don't have to carry much on the big climbs. Sometimes I'll dump what I have if there's known water on the descent.

Only you know your climbing abilities and limits. I've never exceeded 11,000' in one day, and I like a rest day after that. I can sustain half that pace indefinitely--where I live that's a major pass a day with some rollers. I cycled a big pass like that every day on a traverse of the North Cascades.

I hiked over the Bridge of the Gods on my PCT hike in 2004. Loved it. Lots of rain though. I've crossed Oregon by bicycle and by foot. It's one of my favorite places. A good friend lives and cycles in Burns.
andrewclaus is offline  
Likes For andrewclaus:
Old 09-15-21, 08:05 AM
  #8  
djb
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Montreal Canada
Posts: 13,191
Mentioned: 33 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2732 Post(s)
Liked 953 Times in 784 Posts
Originally Posted by M Rose
yes I did a triple check of the elevation gain… coming from backpacking and Overlanding, I know how important elevation change is. I think realistically I could make the first 100 miles in a day… but would feel better at the 60 mile mark. As I’m looking at my route and having driven parts of it before in a car, I have a very good idea of where my steep inclines are. I purposefully designed the rout to be uphill for half of it and downhill the other… that way if it takes me several days to get to the top, then it takes several days.

now back on track… since I have never done any bicycle adventures, I figured this would be a hell of a ride… I don’t know if I’m actually physically fit enough to make the ride this year, I don’t even know if I want to do the ride on my current bike (although it sure would be fun to see everyone’s faces when I tell the story).
ok I'll bite, but I'll be quite frank
you've hiked before, so have an idea of how things don't go as planned, but you go on the interwebs and ask strangers how far can I ride? None of us have any idea of how much you ride, how much or any experience you have riding in hot, dry conditions, can you change a flat yada yada yada.....
you get the drift here. You "think" you can ride 100mi 160k in a day, but lets face it, until you've ridden your bike with the weight of stuff on it to sleep, be warm, be sheltered, eat and drink, for more than 40, 50 miles in a day and not have a sore arse or knees or hands or whatever, you are just guessing here.
Your bike might not fit you really well, and riding a lot and riding loaded and riding uphill a lot can and will show up any fit issues, which can very easily end up with a physical issue that will cascade down to you just not being able to ride what you think you can do. If water supply etc is an issue with distances, its a lot different that hoping to ride to Dville 100miles away, but you have C, B and Aville along the way if you have problems.

On top of this, you also want to do this in a week or whatever, so if you aren't prepared in all the aspects, there really isn't any time to "get riding fit"

hey, I'm just being frank here with some realistic concerns.
The obvious answer is to try out a shorter bike trip before to see if all the aspects of bike travelling work for you and you actually enjoy it, but well, thats up to you.
good luck
djb is offline  
Old 09-15-21, 09:16 AM
  #9  
staehpj1
Senior Member
 
staehpj1's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Tallahassee, FL
Posts: 11,837
Mentioned: 7 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1236 Post(s)
Liked 744 Times in 554 Posts
Originally Posted by djb
The obvious answer is to try out a shorter bike trip before to see if all the aspects of bike travelling work for you and you actually enjoy it, but well, thats up to you.
good luck
That or be very flexible on the schedule and or willing to bail and have bail out options.
staehpj1 is offline  
Old 09-15-21, 09:27 AM
  #10  
KC8QVO
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 1,173

Bikes: Surly Disk Trucker, 2014 w/Brooks Flyer Special saddle, Tubus racks - Duo front/Logo Evo rear, 2019 Dahon Mariner D8, Both bikes share Ortlieb Packer Plus series panniers, Garmin Edge 1000

Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 405 Post(s)
Liked 115 Times in 99 Posts
Oh boy. Now you've opened a can of worms.

Originally Posted by M Rose
Off topic again:
KC8QVO your screen name isn’t your callsign by any chance? If it is, KJ7MFV here, and this trip is actually going to be a SOTA run.
Yes on the call sign.

SOTA = "can of worms".

I have not done much in the way of SOTA adventures, but I do take radio gear with me. I just don't make it a point to go to high places and register for SOTA. I know a lot of people that do and would like to do it at some point, it just doesn't fit with my types of adventures the times I am out - I would have to make SOTA "the" adventure, as in the root/goal/main idea and my roots/goals/main ideas are not conducive to it.

That doesn't mean I can't enjoy some RF on-the-go.

Therein lies the "can of worms". By nature - if you are taking radio stuff with you then you are taking more with you than 95% of the people on this forum. If you are a light-weight traveler then you may be able to be on-par with the lower end of the weight spectrum of bikepacking loads. Then you are adding radio stuff so out goes your "light weight" packing. Yes, there are a lot of options to get radio gear down quite a bit in bulk/weight. However, no matter what you do you are going to have more "stuff" than someone that is not taking radio stuff.

By the way, I know a whole SOTA kit based off an Elecraft KX2 that is for sale (rig, battery, antenna, bunch of other accessories). If you would be interested (or anyone else here for that matter) shoot me a PM. The guy that is selling it changes gear more than anyone I know so I venture a guess the rig is not very used and like new. Edit: was recently sold.

On the subject of gear - here are some pictures to describe what my HF set up is. It isn't just "radio" - I have a conventional 12v power system for all my electronics - including 120v AC with a power inverter. The hard part - recharging. Solar works, somewhat. However, on this trip the day I had the solar panels set up was only 1 of 3 opportunities to get some sun over the whole 12-13 day trip (rain, mist, fog the rest of it). Of course, it being sunny was while I was trying to get some miles. So it was hard to stop and soak up sun with the solar panels and eat in to my miles for the day. That is one of those trade-offs that only you can make on-the-go and is something in my case that can dictate where I end up on a particular day. I am working on coming up with an idea to generate power off a wheel on, probably, a bike trailer. That way I can make power under-way and not only when stopped. With a bike trailer, also, I could rig up solar panels so it is conceivable I can get solar power on-the-go also (but the panels up would add drag acting somewhat as sails).

Panels combined are around 17-20 watts in full sun.



Rig is on the char (thats a Flex Chair from REI, by the way - fantastic chair so long as the legs don't post hole in soft mud or sand). Rig is an Elecraft KX3 - does 160-6m stock, added 2m so technically I don't need an HT, but I find an HT a lot more convenient for VHF/UHF operation - which I use on-the-go (the black mast in the picture above is a mount for a VHF/UHF HT antenna - and high mount for the flashy light you see).



Antenna is a jumper dipole. This one is made from 18g Silky Wire from The Wireman. It is the best portable antenna I've made. About 10 years ago I experimented with small speaker wire making a version of a jumper dipole. It worked extremely well and was very small/light. However, the speaker wire was sold copper and after some time of use I spent more time repairing broken wire than I did operating it. The 2nd version I made with 26 gauge Silky Wire. This worked for a few years. Then I got to thinking about Field Day and having a "do everything" antenna. So I bit the bullet and did up a bomb-proof version of the "jumper dipole". This one is made from 18g Silky Wire - extremely stout wire (Silky Wire is stranded copper clad steel - the tensile strength is ridiculous and it is still pretty soft and supple, with a tough teflon jacket so it doesn't get damaged and slides through trees). This version of the antenna covers all HF bands 6-160 meters. 40 and 80 are 2 segments - SSB and CW. 160 is 3 segments since the band is wide. It does need tuning stubs, which I have yet to make (I just trim it with a tuner - internal on the KX3, if I take it, otherwise I have a z11pro or a manual T tuner for my K2). When I built the antenna I used an analyzer on it (RigExpert AA-600) to fine-tune. However, environments and elevation can make a difference in the resonance - which is where the tuning stubs come in. Since I set the antenna up and tuned it at home I have never had the SWR end up right on the money when I've used it in practice.

On-the-go I use RG-174 (LMR-100). I swapped that out with RG-58 for Field Day this year, but it does add some bulk.

Last note on the antenna - the fixed segments you see below are 6-80m. I like to get on 75m a lot so it was important for me to have that band all the time. I separated 160m so that is removable and I can drop a lot of weight/bulk by not taking it along.




On the above trip I was able to talk to the group back home on 40m LSB with just a few watts. I started out at 1 watt and was able to get back to one of my friends for a while. He has a better equipped station. Then a few others chimed in and I went up to 3 watts to ease up their copy. That is with the antenna set up as a low inverted V. A balanced, resonant antenna can put out a good signal.

Always keep that in mind. The more signal you can get out with a smaller amount of power the less battery juice you will consume. Spent some time dialing in your antenna set up. What effort you put in to your antenna options will pay off in efficiency - your ability to work contacts on less power.

One last note on the radio gear - aside from the jumper dipole antenna (strapped to the outside) - the radio and accessories (for just the radio, not the power system) take up about 1/3 to 1/2 of one of my front panniers. The accessories ride in a quart size zip lock bag and the radio is stuffed in on the rack side of the pannier so stuff in the pannier can protect the front/controls.

Battery is a 12Ah LiFePo4 - the heart of the power system.

See my video below for a walk-through of everything. There is an electronics section that describes stuff more in depth - the timestamps for the sections are listed in the description below the video. Otherwise, it is a real long video.


Originally Posted by M Rose

KC8QVO you make a lot of great points, the biggest take out for me was to make sure im doing this for the adventure and not the miles… and to tell you the truth, it’s about the adventure. If I only make it 1/4 of the way, and I gave it my all, I would be 100% satisfied as long as I had a good time doing it. If I didn’t have a good time, then why the heck not, plan better next time and do it all again.
Thats the right attitude to have. Only you know what kind of time you have. If you can give yourself somewhat unlimited time and have some plans for acquiring food and water - I say have at it. If you've been backpacking for a while then you likely have a pretty good leg up on what it takes to have/get food/water. You are going to consume a lot of calories while under human power - and even more calories when you stack in a lot of climbing. Are you going to pack that with you? Are you going to acquire it on-the-go? If you take it with you - at least for a good portion of the trek - where are you going to put it and how much does it weigh? In the back-country I find water usually fairly easy to come across so I can substitute weight of water with a filtration system (I use a Katadyn 10L gravity filter - its transformed my camp life enormously - as long as I have a water source I have relatively unlimited water for even a couple people - its as easy as filling the bag).

What I did before I did my 1st big trip last Fall (I did the Ohio to Erie route in 2 segments, see video above - #15 was the 1st, #16 was the 2nd) was I loaded up most of what I thought I was going to take and then did a test ride earlier in the week before I planned to leave. I did about 30 miles. The test ride was several things - it was testing of packing - how to get stuff on the bike. It was testing of bike handling, balance, etc. And it was testing of equipment/gear/parts. On that ride I did stop several times to tweak things. It gave me a big leg up on confidence in tackling the trip - the issues I did come across I was able to work them out close to home and the exercise of working out the issues was a confidence booster in being able to overcome challenges later on the trip. Aside from a broken major part I had everything covered for being able to keep on keepin' on - including a spare tire. There wasn't anything that broke, of note. I did have a couple flats and I broke my chain. But those are easy to deal with on-the-go so long as you have the stuff to do the repairs (like quick links for the chain and a chain tool).

Keep the ideas flowing and the planning going. And of course, get out and get some trips in - even if they aren't your "ideal" trip right off the bat. Build up to it.

I have another thread going in the utility forum on a trailer project, link below, if you're interested. At some point I want to build up a complete custom trailer. What I am messing around with right now is to experiment and try different things so when I get to doing my own design from the ground up I have a better base line of where to go with the design. It is the same theory as my test ride before my trip mentioned earlier - I can work out some things before I get to the final result.

https://www.bikeforums.net/utility-c...gth-frame.html

Last edited by KC8QVO; 09-16-21 at 08:36 AM.
KC8QVO is offline  
Old 09-15-21, 02:51 PM
  #11  
mev
bicycle tourist
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Austin, Texas, USA
Posts: 2,279

Bikes: Trek 520, Lightfoot Ranger, Trek 4500

Mentioned: 13 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 462 Post(s)
Liked 250 Times in 171 Posts
Originally Posted by M Rose
my question is how do I break this mileage up into realistic travel goals. I’m coming from a Overlanding background where we typically cover between 40 and 200 miles a day depending upon terrain and road type.
How much flexibility do you have to delay the exact choices of where you stay each day - until you are on the trip; or adjust afterwards?

You will have some constraints like how many days you are gone, but if you have ability to see how things unfold and adapt to weather, surprises about terrain/route or similar events that might be useful.

When I do longer trips, I don't know exactly where I will stop every night. Instead, I have an overall "budget" of how much time I have and keep track of how well I am doing against that budget. When the time frame gets shorter, say a week, I am a little more constrained. However, often I still try to start each morning with potentially multiple stopping points, "A", "B" or "C". This means I do need to have enough food/water or other things to match those possibilities. It also means I have done some advance planning to know where I might find water or motels or other things. However, unless it is peak season or otherwise constrained, I won't pin down exactly those things with advance reservations.
mev is offline  
Old 09-15-21, 07:29 PM
  #12  
kevmcd
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2021
Location: Portland
Posts: 99

Bikes: 1983 Woodrup Giro Touring w/ Huret Duopar, Campy high flange hubs, Deore Dyna-Drive crank pedals and brakes 1987 Bridgestone MB2 bafang mid-drive added in 2015

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 64 Post(s)
Liked 24 Times in 17 Posts
Originally Posted by M Rose
So I’m trying to build a route for my first multi-day bikepacking trip. I won’t be sleeping in any hotels, air b&b’s, or bead n breakfasts. This will be a multi day trip through some of Northeastern Oregon’s most sonic and hellish country. In other words I’m wanting to go into Hell’s Canyon.

leaving from my house and ending at my house the route is 243 miles long with a total accent of 26,000 feet and 97% paved.

my question is how do I break this mileage up into realistic travel goals. I’m coming from a Overlanding background where we typically cover between 40 and 200 miles a day depending upon terrain and road type.
I grew up in Pendleton and go back every year but I haven't done any bike touring there for almost 40 years. I just looked at the ride from Athena to Elgin on Google maps to refresh my memory on what the climbs were like. I think they are off my list for good.

There's a lot of great scenery around there. Take bear spray with you (but you probably know that). I recommend doing a couple of 2 or 3 night trips this season to iron out the details but sometimes the best plan is to just go for it.

I remember driving to Pendleton with my girlfriend to do a ride and when I went to the back of the car to start unloading the bikes I discovered that I had lined my rear wheel up with the tail pipe and the tire and tube was a liquid chocalatey mess dripping onto the pavement. It wasn't easy to find a tire and tube in Pendleton at that time. I think I got one at a k-mart or bi-mart and the tire I bought kept peeling off the rim as the tube expanded on the hot pavement.

As another poster noted packing light is important. But maybe with modern equipment and gearing breakdowns aren't as much of a problem. (it is a problem with the age of my bike and knees).
kevmcd is offline  
Likes For kevmcd:
Old 09-16-21, 11:49 AM
  #13  
M Rose
Full Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Aug 2021
Location: Northeastern Oregon
Posts: 249

Bikes: 2021 Trek Verve 2 Disk

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 130 Post(s)
Liked 119 Times in 80 Posts
Originally Posted by kevmcd
I grew up in Pendleton and go back every year but I haven't done any bike touring there for almost 40 years. I just looked at the ride from Athena to Elgin on Google maps to refresh my memory on what the climbs were like. I think they are off my list for good.

There's a lot of great scenery around there. Take bear spray with you (but you probably know that). I recommend doing a couple of 2 or 3 night trips this season to iron out the details but sometimes the best plan is to just go for it.

I remember driving to Pendleton with my girlfriend to do a ride and when I went to the back of the car to start unloading the bikes I discovered that I had lined my rear wheel up with the tail pipe and the tire and tube was a liquid chocalatey mess dripping onto the pavement. It wasn't easy to find a tire and tube in Pendleton at that time. I think I got one at a k-mart or bi-mart and the tire I bought kept peeling off the rim as the tube expanded on the hot pavement.

As another poster noted packing light is important. But maybe with modern equipment and gearing breakdowns aren't as much of a problem. (it is a problem with the age of my bike and knees).
my wife is from Pendleton. But the ride from Athena to Elgin along 204 would be a cake walk compared to the ride I’m planning. The steepest part is going to be from Imnaha to Salt Creek Summit along the Wallowa Mountain Loop Road (FS 39). Almost straight up the backside of Hell’s Canyon.

I won’t be bringing bear spray. I’m not an advocate of bear spray… In my personal experience bear spray only makes matters worse. I want to neutralize the problem, hence I have bear
and cougar tags… and I have the proper bear deterrents.

I think this year if I can go at all it will be a shorter trip. I was hoping to have a bike this year to be able to make the trip, but because someone vandalized my daily I had to spend a big chunk of my new bike money repairing it instead.
M Rose is offline  
Old 09-16-21, 04:02 PM
  #14  
kevmcd
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2021
Location: Portland
Posts: 99

Bikes: 1983 Woodrup Giro Touring w/ Huret Duopar, Campy high flange hubs, Deore Dyna-Drive crank pedals and brakes 1987 Bridgestone MB2 bafang mid-drive added in 2015

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 64 Post(s)
Liked 24 Times in 17 Posts
Originally Posted by M Rose
my wife is from Pendleton. But the ride from Athena to Elgin along 204 would be a cake walk compared to the ride I’m planning. The steepest part is going to be from Imnaha to Salt Creek Summit along the Wallowa Mountain Loop Road (FS 39). Almost straight up the backside of Hell’s Canyon.

I won’t be bringing bear spray. I’m not an advocate of bear spray… In my personal experience bear spray only makes matters worse. I want to neutralize the problem, hence I have bear
and cougar tags… and I have the proper bear deterrents.

I think this year if I can go at all it will be a shorter trip. I was hoping to have a bike this year to be able to make the trip, but because someone vandalized my daily I had to spend a big chunk of my new bike money repairing it instead.
204 is a cake walk with regards to great scenery. It would make a good overnight loop for you to "iron out" your gear (pun intended). You could return along the Umatilla river and maybe convince the folks at the Bar M ranch to let you take a swim in the Bingham hot springs pool.

As I remember the ride starts with a steep meandering open cheat grass hillside which allow some glimpses of multiple Cascade volcanos 100 miles to the the west. As you reach the summit of the Blue Mountains you can take a break at the Tollgate store near Spout Springs ski resort. Then there is a dramatic downhill into the lush high pasture land of the Wallowa valley. Maybe my memory of the ride is unrealistically beautiful, but I like it that way.
kevmcd is offline  
Likes For kevmcd:
Old 09-16-21, 08:03 PM
  #15  
M Rose
Full Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Aug 2021
Location: Northeastern Oregon
Posts: 249

Bikes: 2021 Trek Verve 2 Disk

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 130 Post(s)
Liked 119 Times in 80 Posts
Originally Posted by kevmcd
204 is a cake walk with regards to great scenery. It would make a good overnight loop for you to "iron out" your gear (pun intended). You could return along the Umatilla river and maybe convince the folks at the Bar M ranch to let you take a swim in the Bingham hot springs pool.

As I remember the ride starts with a steep meandering open cheat grass hillside which allow some glimpses of multiple Cascade volcanos 100 miles to the the west. As you reach the summit of the Blue Mountains you can take a break at the Tollgate store near Spout Springs ski resort. Then there is a dramatic downhill into the lush high pasture land of the Wallowa valley. Maybe my memory of the ride is unrealistically beautiful, but I like it that way.
that would be backwards for me, I live in La Grande.
And even if I didn’t live in La Grande, 204 ends in Elgin when it intersects with HWY 82 in the Grande Ronde Valley and the most Norther town of Union County. Heading up 82 into the Minum River Gorge out of Elgin and then opening up into the Wallowa valley is quite beautiful…

I wouldn’t ride from La Grande to Pendleton, HWY 30 doesn’t run between Perry and Meachum anymore, so I would have to ride on the freeway. So I don’t know how to make a loop to the west without starting out on a very steep (15%) grade on gravel and adding about 100 miles to the trip zigzagging a crossed the blue mountains until I get to Meachum to hit HWY 30 into Mission where I would have to ride the deadly 11 to Athena/Weston to hit 204.

I have ideas for shorter rides over easier terrain heading southeast. I’m looking at. New trail I found between Union and North Powder that would cut the mileage in half.
M Rose is offline  

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off


Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.