Well, for a start, the tour has a name. Since I’m riding to Missouri that’s one Mo. it’ll be my third time in Missouri so that’s mo’ Mo. I’m going beyond Missouri that’s mo’ riding. Since I’m dealing with the Appalachian and Ozark Mountains, we have mo’ mountains. If successful I’ll be adding three mo’ states (Kentucky, Arkansas, and Oklahoma) to my 50 states hunt.
The plan is to ride south to Ashland Virginia where I will pick up the Transamerica Trail. I’ll head west on the TransAm all the way to western part of Missouri thereby completing my personal TransAm. (I did the other two thirds of the Trail in 2019 and 2022.) After that the plan is to ride south to northwest Arkansas and then west to Tulsa, Oklahoma (and maybe Oklahoma City). How I’m getting back is anybody’s guess.
Saturday
For the first time in a week, I managed eight hours of sleep. Gabapentin is my jam.
The weather was lousy outside. Rain. Humid. Dank. Perfect.
I spent the afternoon, amassing the stuff I need for the tour. I started by emptying my saddlebag. It must weight 10 or 15 pounds! Spare tube, tire levers, patch kits, and pump were transferred to the “tour” pile. The bag became the “home” pile.
Next I grabbed a bunch of white kitchen garbage bags and some zip lock bags. I use the former as a liner for my allegedly water proof panniers. The latter contain small items organized by use.
My right rear pannier was first to load. Sleeping bag, sleeping pad, pillow, camp towel, camp washcloth, rope, clothes pins, and maps and medications I won’t need for the first ten days. I’m also packing a wire mesh bag for my food for camping in the mountains.
The left rear pannier contains clothing (for off bike and on), swim trunks, rain gear, a floppy hat, toiletries and daily medications, and sandals. Rain gear is in a separate bag. An empty bag is reserved for dirty clothing. I’ll also add a small bag with electronic stuff like cables, plugs, and batteries tomorrow. My back-up prescription glasses go in the bottom.
The front panniers are smaller. The front right pannier contains anything I need for bike maintenance. Tire changing stuff goes in one zip lock. Spare tubes in another. Tools (allen keys), a wrench, a master link tool, go in yet another. Small items like valve stems, my fiber fix spokes (a cord that can substitute for a broken spoke), and such go in a third. I also stashed a couple of cables in a small insert built into the pannier.
The front left pannier contains stuff I will need easy access to. Mostly this is food, my lock, sunscreen, butt cream, a back up water bottle when needed. (I decided to leave my water bladder at home.) I also included one small bottle of pickle juice and and another of electrolyte tablets.
The handlebar bag will hold my phone and headphones, wallet, dog defenses (whistle, horn, and mace), a pen, my map(s) of the day, prescription sunglasses, a power pack, a headlight, some pickle juice, electrolyte tablets, and snacks.
Finally, I will have a dry bag containing my tent, stakes, ground cloth, and collapsible cane.
Now you see why it took four hours to organize all this stuff. It will weigh a lot; it always does. In my experience the weight isn’t much of a problem – I’ll be going about 10 miles per hour – except for the hills. My biggest concern is how my body will hold up. I’ve done a number of 50-mile rides in recent weeks but my back and neck issues are utterly unpredictable. Lord knows, how they will hold up to tent camping. Even when in good shape, I have struggled to sleep well outdoors. Advil, Advil PM, and Gabapentin will help in that regard.
Sunday
Today I loaded The Mule with all the bags and went for a one-mile test ride. I tweaked a few things as a result and all seems fine. My last task is to go for a ride to a bike store for done butt cream packets.
It being a nice day I decided to ride Big Nellie. On the way to Old Town we rode across the now officially opened Dyke Marsh Bridge.
Day one promises to be very long, 70 to 85 miles depending on where I stay tomorrow night in or near Fredericksburg Virginia.
Watch this space.
A Few Spokes Shy of a Wheel 
May the wind be at your back.
Here we gooooo!!
Wow, how come such long mileage for the first day of your ride? Looks like you’ll have good weather! 🙂 I’ll be following along in your postings. Be careful and have fun! 🙂
The problem is I need to get around Quantico. That adds about 10 miles. There’s a campground after Fredericksburg that is pretty decent but it was an 88 mile ride from home in 2017. I tried for a Warmshowers host but they were out of town. So it’s either a long haul to the campground or a hotel along I-95. There are tons of them in the area.
Oh, ok. Well, I guess you could do a hotel … depends on how you’re feeling near the end of the day. 🙂
Have a great tour. We are in Albany getting ready to ride the Erie Canal Trail.
It’s a great ride. Have fun.
Bon voyage 🥳🥳🥳
I bought a batch of tubes & ran into several faulty valve stems. Never heard of that as a problem before, but I guess I’m not the only one since spare stems are on your packing list. ¡Buen viaje!