It was pretty warm again in Midwest USA last night, I tried another test ride, a first run with tent/sleeping bag, just to see how hauling that went. I have never hauled anything on a bike.
It was 97 degrees and kind of windy, so I took the weight out of the panniers. I put empty milk jugs in them, to sort of give the same area for wind load. The tent is a 5-pound lightweight 2.5 person (or two adults and a double amputee!), the sleeping bag is a regular one, not particularly lightweight at all. The two together were perhaps 10 or 12 pounds.
Two bungee cords worked well, should have had them a little tighter. Tipping the bike over further than usual to dismount, I kicked the tent and it slid over a little. It felt a little top-heavy when going very slow, but with weight in the panniers down by the axle, it should stabilize more.
We rode 15 miles for a test, no real problems, but I could feel the wind. As with the weighted panniers, running one gear lower made it pretty easy. We averaged only about 9.5 mph, but if we can maintain that, everything should work out OK. Much of the Katy Trail runs along the Missouri River, where
Lewis and Clark did their first trip. There's Lewis and Clark stuff around everywhere.
There's a "Lewis and Clark Cave" along the trail where they wrote about spending the night. In the picture below, it's the black spot to the upper right. It's about 20 feet above the trail, but those roots look like a ladder to me. I haven't been up there yet, but will someday.
We're probably still a few weeks away from trying it, hopefully it will cool off by then.
