Test Drive: A Dress Rehearsal in Southern Illinois

April 29, 2017

In preperation for this trip Marg welcomed home a new Seven Expat in January of 2017. Her ancient but much loved Miyata that served as her touring bike had aged out at least 15 years ago. It is still hard at work in the basement as her winter trainer, but for this trip a modern machine was needed. The boys at Cronometro in Madison worked their usual magic and dialed Margaret into a frame that was delivered less than two weeks after being ordered! They said they've never seen such a quick turn around, so it must have been fated in the stars that she and her Seven come into each other's orbit. It's a beauty and watching Marg ride it confirms the guys spec'ed the frame just right.

Margaret's Old Faithful Miyata now relegated to trainer duty. Probably about .... 35 years old?

Marg's new Seven Expat. She's very faithful to her old gear, but it's hard to turn down a new bike.

We were sensible enough to realize that it would be wise to take Marg's new bike (and the both of us) out on a shakedown cruise to reacquaint ourselves with the touring mindset, so over spring break we decided to drive down to Southern Illinois and hold a mini-training camp. We did day rides with no camping, but Marg rode with lightly loaded rear panniers to get the feel for those sensations and we rode four days, averaging 60 miles a day. It was good ... even got rained on a little and fought some headwinds to get the full effect, and we pronounced ourselves fit for duty. Even moreso, we confirmed that our compatabilities still far outweighed our compulsions ... although some of those compulsions need a concrete work-around, as we'll describe on the next page.

Greatest Stray Dog Ever! Ran along with us for at least five miles, then went home.

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