PS - I didn't exactly hear the comment which makes up the title of this blog post, but I heard some very close equivalents while I was out riding for those 6 days!
- tent
- sleeping bag
- sleeping matt
- cooking items (gas cannister, little cannister attachment, pot to boil water, etc)
- food
- clothes, including rain gear
In my panniers, I had bike locks, bike repair tools, spare tubes, the large paperback book I was reading, spare bottle of water, a bag of miscellaneous things, like wallet, passport, Garmin charger, iPod Touch charger, flashlights, etc.
I guess there are two questions which arise here: a) did the Croozer work? b) would I use it again?
Did the Croozer work?
Yes, it did. On the return, northbound, journey, the left wheel was making an odd "out of true" kind of sound, but I couldn't figure out what the problem was. The spokes were fine, the tire was fine, the small axle seemed fine. And sometimes the sound would go away, so after worrying about it through the end of my day 4 ride, I mostly put it out of my mind for days 5 and 6.
It was heavy - but that is more my fault for how many items I loaded into it. When I got a head of steam up, and we had momentum, the Croozer was sometimes not even noticeable behind me. But it was noticeable, and heavy, every time you got started from a standstill, and was especially noticeable during that long 20 mile climb north from Cumberland, and on my Day 2 "rain" day heading to Rockwood, when the water on the trail turned the ride into a hard slog.
Would I use it again?
No. Not for a long bike camping trip like this one.
Physically - if you're going with a cargo trailer, you've simply decided to carry too much stuff. It's too much physical baggage to be hauling for 500km, and an extra piece of equipment that could somehow go wrong while you're on the trail.
Philosophically / Spiritually - it's too much baggage!
Very quickly on this trip, my thinking shifted from what do I need for camping, sleeping, cooking, while I'm out here? To something more like it's me and the bike, everything else is noise.
I felt like the trip was a chance to whittle my life down to something raw, something that was, on one hand, pure physical exertion, but also a time for contemplation, reflection. And - no offense Croozer, or cargo trailers in general - but the trailer just didn't fit into that equation. It was in the way. It was "junk" bouncing around like tin cans at the back of a "just married" car, interrupting my pedaling and my thinking, and no, it wasn't worth it.
What are the alternatives?
Well... downsizing just a little bit, you're looking at something like the single wheel Bob Yak trailer.
Troy, the gentleman I met at the Connellsville KOA, was using one of these.
However, if I do this kind of riding again, I'll be pretty determined to minimize down to only what I can carry in front and rear panniers, and strapped to my rear rack. Randonneur style.
Photo from the bike tourings website.
In other notes - I considered titling this post You are the Thunder!
The trailer, at times, can be totally silent, and I did find myself looking over my shoulder once or twice to make sure it was still there, because I couldn't hear it.
But, most often you can hear it behind you, and when you're going over a section of lightly washboarded trail, it rattles over the bumps and makes a noise like distant thunder. I'd start thinking "is a storm coming? is that thunder?", and then listening a bit more carefully, realize it was me, I was the thunder.
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