An item on my bucket list for a while has been to ride from here
(Milwaukee) to my alma mater, Carleton College, in Northfield, MN.
It's just shy of 600k, and it can involve any mix you'd like of gravel
and pavement. It took me a while to assemble the equipment and the
courage, but I finally did it. A week and a half earlier I had done a
9 hour 200k and felt pretty good about it. So, I mounted my new front
wheel from Peter White, plus a set of tan Pari Motos from Sean at
Rawland Cycles (located, not coincidentally, in Northfield, MN). A
couple of commutes confirmed that the Pari Motos deserve their
reputation. They feel lots faster than the Fatty Rumpkins they
replaced. Mostly I've been riding Maxy Fastys, but I wanted more
volume for this trip.
It was a memorable experience. I was able to complete the ride in 28h
30m. I'm working on a full report with pictures, but I need to figure
out the best way to put them on the web. It was a long ride. It's a
long report. If you want to see just the pictures, they're at
http://gallery.me.com/teddurant#100040
Main take-aways for this group are:
Pari Motos are da bomb. Close to half of the 600k was on gravel/
crushed limestone, and they flew over it, had no flats, and show no
sign of wear.
The Travelo, a Bleriot Protovelo, is a fabulous bike for this sort of
thing.
Vaseline is your friend. Don't spare it.
Tevas are good, but I'm not sure they're a good idea for that much
distance.
Home-made fruit&nut bars with a bit of candied ginger (and chocolate,
of course) seem to work really well for me.
Riding on a tree-lined rail-trail at night is creepy and boring and
not really much fun.
The Hardees on the UM-Winona campus is open 24 hours and has very
interesting people in it at 2am.
Happy riding!
Ted Durant
Milwaukee, WI, USA
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