Do you plan to go light, i.e. light packing or so-called "credit card" touring? Or will you be self-supported, with tent and possibly cooking gear?
Either way, I bet your low gear isn't low enough. Most tourists recommend a low gear in the 20-25 inch-gear range. You need it at least this low for loaded touring. Probably get away with it a little higher if you're packing light.
If you're planning to load up and go self-supported, you need to either add stronger wheels or tow a trailer. Caution: if you're going to load up with panniers, the short chainstays on this bike may give you heel interference.
Does this bike handle well at very low speeds, with the intended load? How about at 40 mi/hr? You might change the fork for better stability; my daughter replaced the alloy fork on her CAAD3 with a straighter carbon fork, that gave her more comfort and more stability. Note that loading on both front and back is usually more stable than rear-only.
Without any more info, I'd think your best choices are:
- Use the bike mostly as-is (gear it lower), plus a trailer, or
- Rebuild the wheels and gear it much lower, and use four smaller panniers
And by the way: start out short. Take an overnight, then a weekend, then a week long tour. This will help you to perfect your gear and help you to learn about touring.
