October is often a month where cyclists park their bike for a few days. I, on the other hand, am happy to be able to pursue my hobby again without any problems.
After a few days with the MTB at the beginning of the month in beautiful and sunny autumn weather, I used a private appointment in Dietz (near Limburg an der Lahn) to test a new setup. The nearly 200 km home could certainly have been done faster with the road bike without luggage, only with battery light, but it was not about speed or time this time. Instead, I wanted to try out how my gravel bike would ride with a full pack.
A few days before the test ride, I started packing and mounting all the equipment on the bike. Since it should be as realistic as possible, I really packed everything that I would take on a multi-day tour. From sleeping bag and sleeping pad to tools and spare material, to the required clothing.
The whole thing was stowed in a saddle bag, a frame bag, and two drybags on the fork. In addition, a small top tube bag in which all electronics were stowed.
Overall, everything worked as desired. But it still needs to be slimmed down. Uphill you stand with the weight of over 25 kg without food like a bucket. Since it was very wet, and very slippery due to leaves and dirt on the road (if any), I also took it easy on the descents through the Westerwald district.
Due to the heavy rain on Friday afternoon, I started about two hours later than originally planned. Gladly I would have had at the Rhine still something brightness. Because the route along the Rhine from Vallendar to Linz is unfortunately not very good to ride. Crammed between railroad and motor road, with many hooks on the bike path, as far as available, the highest attention was required.
From Linz, where I took the ferry across the Rhine, it went noticeably better and faster. On the one hand, because I finally had my Lupine lamp properly attached and aligned, on the other hand, because I have driven the route from Sinzig home many times.
Through Ahrweiler, over a few vineyards, it went via Rheinbach and Euskirchen further to Zülpich, and then straight to Weisweiler. After I had passed the power station, it was just about 25 km home.
The approximately 190 km I accomplished with an average speed of 23.6 km/h at an average of 160 watts. I was very surprised how relaxed and fresh I was. For multi-day tours a good first indication of how many watts and what speed you can possibly reach over a long time.
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