Thanks or the reply and the thoughts over on BikeForums. I’m glad I’m inspiring… I’ve been working towards faster / lighter touring for awhile now. I’m not an experienced tourer to begin with – but this seemed like a natural (and more civilized) progression from randonneuring – long rides, no sleep, shelter in convenience stores.

Loving the Dak’s as I do, I’m now going to bed reading assorted maps of the Daks, looking for those dirt roads and the assorted options.

Just as a tangent, have you ever considered riding the D2R2 in the Berkshires ?. 120 or so all on dirt, ton’s of climbing. Supposed to be one of the harder rides in the NE. There’s also something similar in Vermont that somebody put together this year. Good training rides.

Be well

Steve B.

Again, just a comment from someone who toured a tiny bit and didn’t really find my footing/conditioning/adjust to the weight for several days.

The IF should stay as a stripped down go-fast. But I can’t grok the idea of a lively-feeling loaded bike, even if it only has 17-18 lbs…having water on your back is a big deal too…harder to stand up and fling the bike around.

I think the weight play less a role than the feel. Guess I’m used to how lively my IF feels, even with a similar load. The Fargo doesn’t, and it was tough to stay on top of a gear in it…

all said with the best intentions of course ( N+1 rule still applies)

i know. i know about the bike. but i do entertain it.

would love to get back in september for a longer route – 300 miles, but break it into 130(ish), 100(ish), and 70(ish) days. need to see how back to back to back centuries feel, and need to make sure that day 1 and day 3 have plenty of climbing. i might have to wait for next year though, and settle for another ~200ish trip this year.

had the saddle interface been better (or my bladders not leaked) i think i would have finished much stronger. that said, i was very surprised by how i bounced back after getting calories and hydration back in line on day 2.

more real food. more real drink(s). variety. the baked in bread ham and cheese thing that i ate at a local roadside market in woodgate, about 50-60 miles into day 2 was awesome. first breakfast at camp, second breakfast 12 miles later, first lunch 16 miles later, and second lunch 30 some miles later… made for a speedy recovery.

and, the temps dropping really helped.

Great write-up. I’m impressed you pulled it off, though it sounds like an extra day would have perfect to dial down the mileage and give you body some time to heal up.