Breaking In The Troll

Every year for the past four years, I have gathered a few of my more intrepid friends to do a short self-contained bike tour in the Washington D.C. area.  It has always been some permutation of the same three friends and some or all of the Great Allegheny Passage and C&O Canal Towpath from McKeesport, Pennsylvania to Washington D.C., which provides over 300 miles of traffic free cycling with great amenities and campsites along the way, and the guides I linked to above makes planning easy.  This year I decided to use the trip as a way to test out my touring set up.


The Troll, Pre-Tree Flinging

After two beautiful days and 132 miles on the GAP with nearly perfect weather, and a third day sweltering through 84 miles on the C&O, we ended up camping out during the biggest storm of the year.  Any "ooh shiny new bike" precautions were thrown to the wind as we spent the fourth day barely cycling and mostly climbing our bikes and gear over 60+ fallen trees.  I may or may not have actually thrown my bike over one tree or ten...

One Of A Gajillion Tree Crossings

But there were many good things that came out of the trip, aside from the generally good time we always have through thick and thin.  I learned:

1. My purchase of Revelate Designs' feed bags and top tube bags were spot on and well worth the high price tag.  Not only did they provide easy and dust/grit/grime-free access to my water bottles, the insulation the bags provided kept my ice water gloriously cold in 100 degree weather for hours.
2. I will probably be able to do this trip without front racks and front panniers and am crossing my fingers hoping I can get brazeons added to the front forks for extra water storage. 
3. A one man tent is space enough for me and two rear panniers, even in history-making storms.
4. The Troll is one solid steel beast.  And I can even lift it fully loaded... multiple times.
5. Jumping logs is interesting with a fully loaded bike.  Although the handling is more squirrely, I had a blast being able to take some bigger stuff with it, including smaller fallen trees.
6. The She Wee is fun.  Giggle-inducingly fun.