The attached image shows a touring companion as he recedes into the distance, and while that's perfectly natural on a downhill such as this one it's also what I see most of the time when the two of us are out on a trip. For a while. And then he disappears.

He's stronger than I am, and his touring steed, an ancient aluminium-framed mountain bike with an almost equally ancient plastic saddle, is much less comfortable to ride than my Mercury 650B, which perches me on a perfectly broken-in Brooks B17.

The discrepancy in comfort I offer as an excuse for his preferring to travel much faster than I can. But he doesn't allude to that when he explains himself. He says everyone has their preferred pace, and his just happens to be faster than mine.

Fair enough. But I've toured with other riders whose natural pace was more speedy than than mine, and they've chosen to take it easy so that we can chat. Sure, from time to time they might sprint up a hill while I reached for my granny gear. But where possible we rode side-by-side, remarking on the scenery or carrying on a conversation about whatever topic seemed most entertaining. Similarly, when I'm on a trip with someone who's slower than I am, I tend to match my pace with theirs.

I'd not previously thought much about which style I preferred. But after a recent trip of the former kind, I realised that I do much prefer the latter kind. For me it's more fun to be chatting with someone where effort permits that, and to share in remarking on sights, sounds and smells.

There is also more opportunity for taking in places of interest. "Hey, let's stop at that lookout/rural winery/picnic spot!" is not a possible suggestion when your lead rider has already whizzed past it.

I'm interested to know how fellow Thorn tourists who don't always ride solo prefer their shared tours to go.

To be clear, I'm not looking for anyone to tell me that my preference is the right way to do things: everyone has their own approach to touring, and even when one participant is mainly concerned to make pace there is still the planned lunch stop, and the yarning over dinner at the end of the day. And the leader can choose interesting spots for a shared break: I'm never that far behind.

So this is offered as a discussion for anyone who would like to share some experience. How do you handle pace discrepancies when you're out on the trail?

Matt, great to hear from you & to know that you're drinking coffee -- even if some gets spilled 

Ian,

while I've tested the Mercury with four panniers, and have a low-rider Tubus rack for the front, I've not yet toured with four panniers. The loads I've carried haven't demanded that much space, and I keep seeing reasons for saving the 2kg that the front rack and twin Ortliebs add empty.

I've done a weeklong tour with four panniers, with this setup:
     >  on the rear, I use a pair of Arkel Dri-lites.  These are sturdy and soft, weighing about 500 gms. In these, I stow cookware and food.  On my rear rack, I stow my tent in a dry-sack, rolled up & secured with lightweight clip-together cords.
     >  on the front rack, I use a pair of Arkel Dauphin waterproofs, about 16 ltrs each. These hold my clothing & sleeping bag, etc.
     >  the weight of the two pairs of loaded panniers is about equal.
     >  I use a small handlebar bag as well, 7-ltr Axiom

Love the photo, and esp the name Yanckandandah!  We visited Wangaratta on a circuit tour in 2017, Melbun via the Ocean Road to Wangaratta, Canberra & Sydney.  Nice wee coincidence on that trip:  In Melbun, I saw a paperback store, walked in, and asked if the young woman at the desk if they had a copy of Peter Carey's True History of the Kelly Gang. They did, she said, and pointed to a shelf. As I walked over to it, a voice from behind it said, "John! What brings you here??"  Was a fellow I knew from Ottawa, originally from 'Straya.  He had returned home, and was managing the store on behalf of his sister, the owner.  Small world, eh? 

Well, I'd say the cleverness came in when you elected to sell two excellent bicycles and replace them with a single Mercury, and if it was all about my recommendation then I'm delighted to hear it has worked out so well. I certainly don't envy anyone else their velocipede when I'm out on the trail. And the Merc is so damn versatile – not just in what it can do but in the way that it does it. A bike that can comfortably handle a camping load in four panniers shouldn't feel this lively when you're out on a day ride. And yet, as you observe, it's superb in both roles.

Here's an extra shot, this time from my most recent multi-day trip. Which I've intended to write up on here, but haven't so far. This was a three-night camping trip conducted almost exclusively on cycle trails in the north-east of my home state, Victoria, where they've converted a series of disused railways to bike paths. You'd think that would mean the route was mainly flat, but one of the lines they converted was long famed as the steepest in the southern hemisphere.

For Australians on the forum, this was the Murray to Mountains trail. We did Wangaratta to Everton, then took the climb to Beechworth and from there the descent to Yackandandah. The pic is from the return journey, a lunch-and-cuppa stop on the Yack-Beechworth leg.

Curiously, while I've tested the Mercury with four panniers, and have a low-rider Tubus rack for the front, I've not yet toured with four panniers. The loads I've carried haven't demanded that much space, and I keep seeing reasons for saving the 2kg that the front rack and twin Ortliebs add empty. But I think I will use four next time. It will be nice not to have the bags stuffed to the gills, and I think a couple of kilograms each side on the front will balance the load a bit better. There were times on this trip where the front end felt a bit light.

Getting off topic, I know. But comments about the Mercury Mk3 could be helpful for people considering a Mercury 40, which seems to be very similar.

Are you feeling clever to have got your Mk3 while you could, John?

  I'd like to say I timed it all well, Ian, but really, I just lucked in.  There was this fellow on the Thorn website who praised the Mercury, and I thought, "Why not? If it's good enuf for Ian, it's good enuf for me."

I sold two good bikes to cover much of the cost:  My Raven went to a friend of our daughter, who was over the moon about it when she rode it: "I don't have to fuss with derailleurs, I just twist the grip to the right gear!" She's toured in Ireland with it.
Then, I sold to my yoga teacher, the ti-framed Eclipse light touring bike I bought here in Ottawa in the winter of 2002-03.  This was the first really good bike I ever bought, and I was treating myself, as we were going to South Africa for three years in Aug 2003. The Eclipse was a lovely bike in many ways, but I had innumerable problems getting the gearing right. (But there's often a silver lining:  my frustration about not being able to get my lowest gear on a steep uphill in the Ottawa Valley in 2013 led to my discovery of & eventual membership in the Church of Rohloff.)  My yoga teacher bought the bike for his teenaged son, who never rode it much, and then announced he wanted an e-bike. I kept quiet, though it crossed my mind to offer to buy it back...

But my Mercury (named Freddie, of course) has been a delight.  It does most of what each of the other bikes would do, and I no longer need the Raven's medium/heavy touring capabilities.  I've done overnights and a weeklong tour in West Qué (with Ron Séguin); on these, and on day rides, I find myself saying, "Dang! This bike works sooo well!" A couple of years ago, I was visiting friends in the back country of the Ottawa Valley, and on my ride out of town, I eased past two women riders.  One said, "Oooooh, fancy bike!"  I said, gallantly, "Thanks, lass!"  She smiled.

That road you have as your "regular" ride looks a treat, Ian.  This spring, I've not been riding as much as I'd like (wretched weather, heavy-duty head cold, etc.) but I've started riding across the river and into the hills and trees of Gatineau Park. (Will assemble some photos and post those.)  Today, I rode to the base of the long/steep hill to the lookout which is the turnaround for my favourite 33 kms/2 hrs 15 mins out-and-back.  The canopy of trees has blossomed in the past two weeks, and just two days ago, my wife and I saw & heard the largest wing of Canada geese we'd ever seen/heard -- there was 80 or 90 of them overhead, heading for a bay on the Ottawa River for the night; perhaps going -- where? -- further north in Eastern Ontario, I'd guess.  Absolutely magical sound, and with the trees' foliage, confirmation that summer really has arrived.

Are you feeling clever to have got your Mk3 while you could, John? I'm certainly delighted that I stretched to the purchase of mine at a time when that needed some faith.

I've been stepping up the riding after having succumbed to various distractions, among them moving house (but not far). There's a lovely 40km (25 mile) cycle route (one way) that now begins pretty much at my door, and ends at a rustic outer suburb that offers several cafes. And a train that can bring me all the way back.

There was a time when I would cycle both directions, and I'm nearly back to that. Working my way up to it.

I've attached a few pics from the ride last week. The Merc really is a superb steed for this kind of going. You could argue that just about anything would be, but I would claim that not many other options would so effectively combine liveliness with comfort, and none with so little maintenance.