The Tour Approaches

The planning proceeds for our Lake Michigan circumnavigation (or partial circumnavigation, since we'll be skipping the lake south of Muskegon and Milwaukee, also known as Chicago. I have ferry reservations for June 22, and away we go!

I have yet to load everything onto my bike and give it a test ride. I am still hoping to use baskets . . . insane perhaps, but I like the idea. I rode home today with two gallons of milk in my front basket, for a total weight of 16 pounds (which is more than I propose to carry, and it was 16 sloshy pounds). It was odd, but not impossible. Not even unpleasant, really. The turning was very slow, but very stable. Would it have felt much better with the load down eight inches? I don't know. It would have been forward a few inches, also, which I think is at least as bad as being high.

Given a choice, I would rather have a load that has a high but narrow center of gravity than one that has a low but wide (far forward and backward) one. I never liked the whippiness of rear panniers. I don't know about front ones because I never used them.

Well, I'll just need to load the bike up and take it for a spin to see how I like it. Perhaps I can then try it with low front panniers, too. Or not.