Touring: How Far Should I Ride Each Day?

I read a great article the other day over on bicycletouringpro.com

His main point was that the average bicycle tourist should plan to ride about 40 to 60 miles each day.
That statement got me thinking about our Frank to Fred Plan.

Here are the miles we planned to ride.

Day 1 - Franklin ID to Layton - 80 miles
Day 2 - Layton to Lehi - 62 miles
Day 3 - Lehi to Nephi - 52 miles
Day 4 - Nephi to Richfield - 75 miles
Day 5 - Richfield to Panguitch - 80 miles
Day 6 - Panguitch to Fredonia AZ - 75 miles

On five of the six days, we planed to ride more than the recommended maximum.
Day 1 doesn't really count as a touring day, because none of us will have panniers.  In fact, I plan to ride my Cannondale the first day.   We will have someone drive us up to Franklin and we will ride to our homes near Layton.   The next 5 days will be with panniers.  However, I don't plan to load up like the guy in the picture.  We will be buying food along the way and staying in motels.  I think I can get everything I need into two panniers on my Surly LHT.

That being said, those last three days are going to be tough days.  We will need to take his advice and take it easy while we stop and smell the roses.

It looks like the plan is shaping up for us to leave on Labor Day (1 September 2014).
If you are interested, please let me know.  For this inaugural run, we are going to limit the riders to just a few people.