Dry run before a tour

[toekneep]

How many of you do a dry run fully loaded before a tour? We have got into the habit of doing it and it's surprising how often it reveals an issue. We don't go far, just a few miles to check the bikes, balance of the loads etc. The last time just a few hundred yards from home I realised I had inadvertantly pincehd a brake cable with the front bag mount. We also do a complete pack at least two weeks before we leave to see what we need to buy to replenish stocks. Or do you just load up, cross your fingers and go?

 

[Auntie Helen]

Yeah, I often do this - I pack and repack for about two weeks, do the dry run and then remove some things usually (also looking at weather forecasts).

I remember the day before my last tour I realised that I could buy some waterproof bag liners for my showerproof (VERY expensive) Radical Banana Bags, so ordered them for next day delivery. They arrived at 5pm, we left at 6pm, so cutting it fine, but they worked out excellently. It was just a shame I hadn't thought about them earlier.

For me, the dry run is about getting used to different (larger) panniers and how best to fit them on my recumbent.

 

[MikeG]

I do a lot of travelling in Africa, including a trans-Africa drive in the 90s, and I always do what we know as a "Wells Fargo start". Apparently the old horsedrawn delivery service in America used to travel just a few miles up the road on the first day and then camp for the night. That was enough to reveal anything which had been forgotten, or anything which was broken, whilst they were still within easy reach of home. So a Wells Fargo start, or a dry run, on a bike tour makes good sense.

We did a loaded-up ride before we did our LeJog 3 years ago, but carrying a few bricks and bottles of water as ballast. When it isn't stuff you need, the psychology of it makes it feel like they weigh a ton! But the good news was that when we put our actual stuff in the panniers we felt like we were travelling very light indeed in comparison.

 

[Cush]

Always, even when I am just planning to be away for a couple of nights. Normally two weeks before I am due to go I do a thirty or forty mile run with a mixture of hills and flats, with the kit I intend to take with me. It gives me the chance to see how fit / unfit I am and whether I have every thing I need or how much I can dump and how it all fits on the bike and most importantly to see if the bike needs any last minute work done on it i.e brake adjustment being the favorite.

 

[bikepacker]

Short answer is never but as I tour most of the year I often go for 2 or 3 day tours during winter. As for the added exertion of riding a loaded bike, riding up Hatfield Bank on the way back home from Tesco, with a weeks groceries, usual keeps me in trim.

 

[JPLL]

I don't normally have a dry run, but maybe I should as it woud allay those "this is all too much / I can't possibly do this trip" fears which I always have at the beginning of trips. Those fears only last a day or so when I realise that I can do it and its not too hard after all. I try to plan a couple of short days at the beginning of the trip to ease myself into it.

 

[Crankarm]

Nope I don't. I ride enough with heavyish rear panniers most of the time anyway. It's only adding front panniers and a bar bag if I tour fully loaded. Maybe change the rear cassette for a 12-25 to take account of hills and the extra load instead of the usual 11-21.

 

[HorTs]

Before LEJOG I did a one nighter (50 miles there 50 miles back) just to see what problems might arise.

 

[Gravity Aided]

Being limited to day tours anymore, almost everything is a dry run. Still carry all the gear sometimes, just to make sure I still can. Like @bikepacker , I also do the main trip to the market(Kroger) and return loaded with the shopping.

 

[Blue Hills]

Maybe change the rear cassette for a 12-25 to take account of hills and the extra load instead of the usual 11-21.

Cripes - you find a 25 fine for hills? That puts me, and maybe a few others on here, in their place. How loaded are you talking?

 

[toekneep]

Cripes - you find a 25 fine for hills? That puts me, and maybe a few others on here, in their place. How loaded are you talking?

I wouldn't leave home without a 32!

 

[vernon]

I wouldn't leave home without a 32!

I wouldn't leave home without a Rohloff and a Gates belt drive.

 

[Cush]

I wouldn't leave home without a Rohloff and a Gates belt drive.

Wish I had waited a year and saved the pennies to get a Rohloff instead of getting the Alfine 11 when I did.

 

[bigjim]

I wouldn't leave home without a 32!

Quite right too. There's a 34 on the back of mine.

 

[Crankarm]

Cripes - you find a 25 fine for hills? That puts me, and maybe a few others on here, in their place. How loaded are you talking?

Pretty loaded, generally two heavy rear panniers 48litres each and if touring a pair of front panniers and a bar bag. It also matters what size ring you have up front ………..