Learnings from my first outing on The Bike fully laden with stuff and gear
Last weekend, following a pretty major work Christmas function in which nobody got out alive, I cycled The Bike to Auckland's Shakespear Regional Park, on the Whangaparaoa peninsula. If you have never been to Shakespear, you should; it's a nice predator-free park that offers swims, snorkelling, beach times, grass times, those BBQs, walk times, camping times and more. It's about an hour's drive from central Auckland on a good traffic day; four hours plus when it's bad.
Following my Xmas party recovery, I still had lots to do, including packing my things onto The Bike for the very first time. I filled the large 20L pannier bags, one side with clothing, the other with my kitchen. The front bag was stuffed with spare tubes, tools, my valuables and waterproof jacket. We then bungy-corded (that is a technical term) my tent and sleeping bag to the top of the rear rack.
After a quick pedal-change at Jonny The Brilliant's house, I caught the 1730 Devonport ferry and headed north towards East Coast Road, in the rain. After around four hours of cycling and a few stop offs, I arrived at 2200 at Shakespear (total distance: 65km). I camped the night with friends, before setting off around lunch time the next day, heading back this time down Dairy Flat Highway and over the Upper Harbour Bridge (total distance: 78km).
Here are my learnings:
- Stuff is heavy. The Bike plus stuff is even heavier! Once loaded, I could only just lift the rear of the bike up with one arm.
- Do not panic about the sensation of the frame flexing: that's just the frame flexing.
- Things are heavy. All the things are incredibly heavy. Heavy things move slower, that's something that Newton once established and we've all gone with ever since. Well, it's true.
- Drink water when cycling.
- Standing up to pedal requires more rhythm and concentration than usual.
- Drink more water when cycling under load.
- Drink even more water when cycling under load in the New Zealand sunshine.
- Cycling without a pack on is liberating
- Six helpings of sun cream across the day may not be enough
- Some hills simply cannot be ridden any more (think the steepness of some reserve footpaths!)
The Bike is all good, though. It climbs without fuss, holds lines and handles how I would expect on the descents. It travelled well across the beach, down metal roads and up grass hills. I think we're going to get on. I came away from this trip feeling a lot more knowledgeable and prepared for the Big Bike Ride now.
Dunc's Big Bike Ride departs from Auckland's Mission Bay, 2nd January 2015 at 9am.