Day 12 - By Jove, I think I've got it!

[Mark Boyd]

I was feeling good and my back was not hurting after ten miles of riding.

U 127 had a not so good shoulder construction that led to lots of shoulder problems. When the pavement is so weak that it cracks and grass grows through those cracks, the result is often pavement breakdown that leads to pothole in the shoulders. I saw a lot of that today, some of it so bad that I was forced to ride in the lane. briefly.

Yesterday,  I worked on getting the left- right weight balance problem fixed and the handlebar position fine tuned.  i'm embarrassed that it has taken me two weeks on the road to understand how important those things are and how different riding a CF bike is from both upright and recumbent bike riding.

This evening, my back and neck feel better than they have since this tour started. I know that there are some serious challenges coming in the next two days with much steeper climbing than I had deal with today, but I'm reasonably confident that they won't overcome overcome the comfort i've been able to attain with the bike properly balanced side to side and my body and the handlebar correctly positioned for riding this bike.  

During my ride today, I moved a Keen sandal from the left pannier to the right pannier and that noticeably improved the ride. This bike is much more sensitive to left-right weight imbalance than any of my other touring bikes, upright or recumbent.  The handlebar adjustment is also much more critical  for being able to maintain good posture while riding hard.

A few days ago, trying to deal with the weight imbalance, I discovered that keeping my back posture erect  really helped. That was on my ride from Madison to Columbus. Riding back the next day, which required about 3 times as much climbing, I wan't able to maintain the erect posture and had a much less pleasant ride. Tomorrow and, much more so the next day, I'll be doing rides with lots of climbing. If I can manage those rides without posture loss and back pain, I'm confident I'll be able to finish my planned tour.

Today's ride: 43 miles (69 km)
Total: 501 miles (806 km)