I guess I don't see a Bob as a bad option if you're on dirt roads and pavement.  Once you get over the slow feeling (which is there even with an ultralight load), you realize that it's still not hard to cover a lot of ground.  Paula and I had some 100 mile days, and in Montana we almost matched the pace I rode when I raced the GDR in '05.  !!

Hi Scott!  Thanks for the comments.  Yes, I think if one were hauling twice the weight I had the BOB would be a good option.  But, when the trailer weighs almost as much as your gear does it isn't the best choice.  I know that now but I suppose I had hopes that it wouldn't be all that noticeable, but it was, at least to me.

To those that don't know, Scott and Paula rode the whole Divide route a few years back as a very fast tour.  Scott pulled a BOB and even had a laptop.  Paula was the fastest female to do the whole route until Trish Stevenson set the record two years ago.  So, obviously with the right rider the BOB can still cover some ground.

If you have to pick your bike up, or there are hills steep enough to warrant hiking... forget it...

You got that right!

The Great Divide Race is on right now if you weren't already aware of it.  These guys are on the cutting edge of ultralight although it could be argued that they aren't really camping but bivying.  The race updates are here:  http://greatdividerace.blogspot.com/  And thanks to Scott for doing this graph of the racers place and times:  http://topofusion.com/divide/GDR07.htm

This is sort of the Tour de France for the off road crowd.  Many of us are checking updates several times a day.

I'd also like to add to my comments on the how the trailer felt slow that it isn't really the lack of 'speed' that bothers me, it's this thing I have about being efficient.  I like to cover ground as efficiently as is practical... not as fast as is practical.  Often times I (we) say "fast" or "slow" when describing loads, etc. when I (we) really mean the amount of energy expended to cover a certain distance. 

Gary

Scott

On 6/19/07, Gary Blakley <garyblakley@...> wrote:

This may be a little off topic for this list but it's been pretty
quiet and I figure at least a few of you might be curious. Stay
tuned too for a link for some pretty nice scenery photos.