Tag Archives: training

Loaded training run, hard lesson learned…

June 16, 2011   Chuck Gough   1 Comment

 

Chuck and Tom Loaded

Sunday we did training run fully loaded run as one of our last steps to prepare for the full tour. This coming Sunday we will have another simular run, or at least I hope it is with the exception of the end of last Sundays ride.

Last Sunday we travelled to Massillon to ride the Old B&O Railroad Trail to Butler. Down and back was to be about 37 or 38 miles. We packed the bikes with all of our equipment and supplied we expect to take and I added about 15 or so extra pounds as well so I was up to 60 to 65 pounds. I felt maybe the extra weight would help since this was a very flat trail. The first three days we have scheduled on our trip from Pittsburgh to Cumberland Maryland will be a long slow uphill battle.  Anyway I think it helped simulate the extra force of gravity we will be going against. My legs and knees were starting to really feel a bit of the grind after 25 miles or so. We kept a pace of about 8 or 9 mile per hour. We stopped a few

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First fully loaded Training ride

May 22, 2011   Chuck Gough   No comments

Tom and some other friends did a poker run this morning that I was unable to go on.  I had a lot of yard work to get caught up on so I can go on vacation next week. Anyway after I got some things planted and everything so I took the bike out and started fiddling with it. I also tested out a old car rack on our Escape to see how it worked and if it will be strong enough to haul two bikes to the beach and back next week. I definitely want to take my bikes to the beach to get in some early morning training each day.

Anyway after tinkering around with the rack and the bike I decided to load up the panniers and my gear for the trip and test it out. I wanted to see how everything measured up and see how the bike handled. I ended up heading down to the towpath and rode  about 10 miles to test it out fully loaded with some extra weight. Ended up I had 58 pounds total on. I think this is probably at least

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First test ride with panniers

April 23, 2011   Tom Bilcze   No comments

Nice spring day for a ride and I headed to the Little Beaver Greenway in Leetonia. Panniers added about 35 pounds. They seem to be holding well. The ride is a little more challenging with me being in a gear lower most of the ride. I am also testing my mobile posting using Blogpress and my iPhone. This post will tell how well it works.

Tom

YouTube Video

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The journey begins… sort of

March 21, 2011   Tom Bilcze   1 Comment

Image courtesy of Microsoft Office Image Gallery

95 days… It’s hard to believe that Chuck and I will be departing on our Gap/C&O Canal Trail cycling journey in just a little over three months. The constant planner and organizer that I am, I’ve been reading just about any cycling touring journal on the Great Allegheny Passage and the C&O Canal Trail that I can find on-line. I’ve read the official printed trail guide a couple of times. I am becoming more comfortable with the ride as I become more knowledgeable.

This trip has really opened my eyes to touring by bicycle. There are some good web sites where people share their personal touring journals and their knowledge on touring. I like Crazy Guy on a Bike. Although not real glossy, it has some of the best journals. These web-base diaries are perhaps the most helpful thing I have found-to-date on traveling long distance via bicycle. There is nothing like reading a person’s real life experiences on the trail. Most people are brutally honest. I especially like journals where people admit to things they did wrong. It helps me not make the identical mistake.

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  • Tom and Chuck

    Tom and Chuck

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