First post on these forums - thought i would share some recent experiences on summer touring in Canada recently (i am still here, though getting as little cool for rides). I look forward to reading about peoples rides back home for when i return!
My first tour - i had gone on a couple prep rides - was over 600km in four days, my second ended up being over 850km. My longest single day was over 230km fully loaded and i have ridden over 200km with singificant climbs.
Based on my experiences, 440km with a rest day is achievable. The climbs do add to this as do the aims of the ride. If you want to experience or see things on the route rather than as a means to get from A to B, you might want to ride each day (no rest day) at a shorter distance).
I ride with a trailer (very similar to a bob) and would definitely recommend them (single wheel only). They do bounce when empty. I have not expereinced any problems at all - included spoke issues. I do have quite strong wheels however
I ride a Cannondale F400 XC bike - very lite (aluminium) and strong enough. A little more resistance than a touring bike, though i like to get onto trails as well and will get some in when i return to Australia with it.
My set-up and details of some of my rides/tours can be found at
http://bike.veganarky.net if anyone is interested.
I can answer any questions...