Shakedown Ride Just South of the BWCA

Sunday found me preparing for Monday's ride by going through gear and making decisions about what to take. Since this was a self supported ride food and nutrition would be important because there is no place to stop along the way to replenish anything. All my food and water would have to be carried.
I also spent some time looking over the maps and trying to figure the mileage as close as possible. I ended up making some changes in my route plans because I wanted to avoid having to ride on paved roads as much as possible and I was also trying to avoid repeating any portions of the route.
My ride on Sunday was 24 miles in length and was primarily intended to just get my legs going and test a few items of gear such as the Novara handlebar bag and the Osprey Talon 11 pack. The handlebar bag was nice to have, but didn't accommodate the topo maps that I wanted to use. I had to print a map obtained on the internet and cut and fold it to fit inside the window pocket on the top of the bag. My topo maps had to be folded and place inside along with some nutrition and my camera.