Yep.....mine. I had purchased some new camping and touring gear over the months and decided to do an overnight trip to test it out. I Googled "campgrounds near me" and chose one 23km from home that I could do as a loop. I like to explore places I've never been before and I thought this fit the bill.
It was awful! An awful, horrible, terrible ride!! I lost count of the number of STEEP hills/mountains that I had to push my FULLY LOADED bike up! Sure there were a few downhills, but they just didn't make up for the brutal inclines. Push 20 steps then rest for a few minutes! Somehow, I managed to miss the turn off to the campsite, and because of the blasted hills I was NOT back tracking, so I continued on and eventually found a decent enough spot on the side of the road. It took me just over 4 hours to do 23km!!!! I was seriously doubting myself! I thought "I can't do this! (bicycle tour)". I set up camp and found that I'd forgot a pillow. GREAT! I found it really difficult to get to sleep as my head was pounding and hot from the exertion of the journey, and I really needed a pillow!
Day 2 was a bit better, but not much. 20km in 3 and a half hours.
18 months ago I went on, what lasted as a 3 day riding and camping trip, with my daughter. I was far less fit and our bikes were MUCH heavier than my ride is now....... There were hills but NOTHING with the inclines like I encountered on this overnighter. I saw some nice water spots but didn't enjoy the views at the time because I was struggling so much physically.
Lessons learned:
ALWAYS check the topography before deciding on a route!
DON'T FORGET my pillow!
DON'T put too much weight on the front of the bike ie 1.5L water bottles
Some pics
Day 1 View of the sun going down from my campsite
Day 1 my camp setup
Day 2 views on the way home
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