What was Good. What we woild do differently

THE GOOD THIINGS

Small panniers with alloy seatposts. Handled everything well

Aero bars. Great for changing hand positions and especially for climbing

iPhone with mapping and GPS. Allowed us to locate help and accomodations. With photos and web searching we were well connected and felt safe

An extra beaded tire was needed

Straws in water bottles

Zip lock bags great for all things

Spare chain ( or at least a few links)

Not bringing full on waterproof leggings. As long as the core was dry and warm, only needed shorts or wicking leg tights even in cold rain

Booties for shoes. Light and useful for cold and rain

Long and short fingered gloves

Headsweats brand white bandana. Kept head warm in mountains and protected from sun. Mopped up sweat and was easy to rinse and reuse at end of day

Carbon Fibre road bikes very reliable The SAVE design for our Cannondale Synapse were very forgiving and helped on the poor Ontario roads. A high strung racing bike might have beat us up more

Didn’t”t need a bike lock, just careful placing and securing

WHAT I WOULD DO DIFFERENTLY

Bathing trunks with pockets to use for off bike and swimming rather than pocketless spandex shorts

Regular Gatorskin Continental tires not good. Hardshell version better

Any tubes marked “lite” Precarios stems. Stick with standard latex always long stem

Both riders should have same pedales and cleats with spare bits. I wore speedplay pedals that were not good for periodic romps in the gravel and dirt. They are definitly for pure clean blacktop roadies. The SPD pedals are simple and clear debris easily. Fortunately we didn’t” have any pedal issues

Bring a Swiss type multiple tool that had spoon fork attached. Only had the blades and all important corkscrew