Yes, I will be updating it a bit this week with some additional information as well as a new start date

Is "Rollin' ocean to ocean" your journal for this years ride?

I will be starting the Transamerica route in May. I hope to see the two of you on the road at some point this summer

In all honesty (I was the one who commented to Ed about speed differences) I lose more on the uphills than I gain on the downhills. That's the unfortunate truth of the physics of it all. But in my personal case the total absence of butt, neck and hand pains means I can put in longer hours without discomfort.

Of course it all depends on the roads where you ride. The steepest I ever tackled on the Linear was the 20% climb at Talla Linfoots in the Scottish Borders. I was very happy with my 18/34 then! I still had to stop twice to "take pictures" (=catch my breath!)

Nowadays I carry full camping gear so my touring has become more "bloated" than "loaded"!

I get to the point where I am spinning too much. My two low combinations are 36/36 and 26/36. I can generally maintain down to about 4 mph uphill depending on grade. Once I get to 7 or greater , I can go some but end up doing some walking (or cross training as I call it). It’s all good, regardless.

Perhaps if I carry the fuel for the stove we can reach a detente. I can't ride too fast, and you can't ride too slowly. Otherwise its MAH. Mutually Assured Hunger.

As for climbing, I've found that the answer is to gear down much lower than you would on an upwrong. You can't stand up to pedal on a 'bent and mashing against the backrest makes your legs go lactic if you can't keep the cadence up. So on my old Linear I installed a "great granny" 18t "chainwheel", making it a quad setup (50-38-28-18 if I remember correctly). "But isn't it hard to balance when going so slow?" everybody asks. No, as long as I'm able to keep the cadence up above 40-50 it's no issue.

Nowadays I ride a Grasshopper SWB from HPVelotechnik and it has 20" wheels front and rear. It came with an oversized triple up front (60-48-38 I think) to compensate for the small rear wheel, but by the simple expedient of replacing it with a more standard 50-38-28 I have my low gears. Sure, my high end bottoms out at about 30 km/h (20 mph) but I'm 66 and don't have any need to push for higher speeds.

We went to Pete’s Garage which is right across the Fox River from Broken Spoke!

I don’t know if the link will come through here. In 2021 we were also lucky to have an emergency fix at a shop in Green Bay. Jacinto had a broken spoke. There was a shop within easy walking distance of our motel and they fixed the wheel on the spot.

https://www.cycleblaze.com/journals/kelly/

Kelly, I had a number of folks on FB comment that they saw no need to carry a spare as they never had a problem. Since I’ve had a tire failure, I am being cautious and bringing one. I was lucky when it happened as a Good Samaritan stopped and drove us to Green Bay, and although it was a Sunday a bike shop was open, but the stars will not always align like that. And yes, I am picky about my tires.

Torsten - you are correct, we do ride at different speeds, especially uphill. We have done 2 tours together; I rode a P-38 on the 300 mile tour and my Rans on the 800 mile tour. John will occasionally pull ahead but is most always within eyesight. He knows that I carry the camp stove so that help keeps him grounded. My consolation is that my seat is much more comfortable than his.

The fellow who sold it to me told me he had not ridden it much. I’ve put about 5,000 miles on it since I bought it.

The fellow who sold it to me told me he had not ridden it much. I’ve put about 5,000 miles on it since I bought it.

Judging by the paintwork it has not had much use.