Not on an Atlantis for me, but on my Marinoni Turismo a rear only load is
horrible on steep climbs and also when walking the bike (it's like
wrestling a python then). I found rear panniers, front panniers on low
riders and a smallish handlebar bag to work best. I had to play with the
fore-aft
Larry:
If you can get all your gear into the large Berthoud bag and 2 rear
panniers, you'll *probably* be fine. Handling will be better if the front
bag weight is supported on a rack rather than hanging from the handlebars.
"Mid-size panniers" covers a lot of ground but you're using back pack
I have found that a for my Atlantis low front load work the best for me.
Anything that is high (on a rack) and heavy gives me a pretty hard shimmy
without a low front load to steady things out.
If you have the opportunity to maybe borrow a rack, pack up some books as
training weights and ride
