A pal that is a real cyclist with lycra, a lightweight bike and probably even knows how to change a spoke, once told me that when it comes to comfort in the saddle it is the first twenty years that are the worst. Well, I’m not sure if we have lucked out on our saddles, have bums of steel or are doing something wrong, but so far the saddles are serving us well. While we are definitely ready to sit on something more comfortable at the end of a long day astride them, such as a concert paving slab, none of the horror stories of sores or tender pressure points has materialized so far. We are getting through our fair share of Walgreen’s own brand nappy rash (diaper rash) cream, but I’ll not get into any further detail on that one in this PG-rated blog.
From a medical perspective, the only issue that we are both recovering from is the mosquito bites from Groom. All are itchy and a couple have become slightly infected, but they are being managed.
The most painful injury, which is my fault, was sustained from kicking a tent peg, slicing the side of my foot. Oh yes, and cracked lips from the sun, wind and heat, which seem to crack every day no matter how much petroleum jelly is applied.
The bikes continue to stand up to the punishment of quite poor roads even better than our bums. Bearing in mind full loaded, including a day’s water supply, the bikes weight in at approximately 45kgs. Then add our weight and you can start to imagine the force they are absorbing when they hit a chunk of broken road at the bottom of a hill when we are doing 30+ mph.
With the exception of the seat post, the bikes do not have any suspension. Instead, they are made of Chromoly steel which flexes and springs as we cycle, absorbing the lumps and bumps through the frame and front fork. I must admit to this being a little disconcerting when we first started to ride them, but now it feels like the character of the bike to the point I’m sure another bike, other than a Koga Randonneur, would feel completely different to ride.
I read about steel versus aluminium frames when I was trying to convince myself to buy the Koga’s, as aluminium doesn’t have the spring of steel, and for us, I’m convinced we made the right decision.
The only problem we do have is tyre wear. My front tyre, the old rear one, is badly worn. I do have a spare folding tyre if needed, but due to the weight of the bike, I would prefer a wired tyre. The next bike shop that will have what I need is in Albuquerque, approximately 200 miles away, so I’m doing my best to nurse it there, which is a challenge on the roads we are encountering.
I occasionally think we may have brought too many clothes with us. We have two sets of warm weather clothes and two sets of cold weather clothes. While there are items of cold-weather clothing we have touched in four weeks, it would only take the weather to turn cold AND wet and I think we would be glad to have them with us. Better safe than sorry, but I think we will learn from this trip.