First Ride

mapFinally got out for my first real ride of the season today. Sunny and in the low 50’s I had to ride because it looks like rain for the rest of the week. I took the Expedition out thinking I’d just ride around the city to work the kinks out and then head home.

I ended up following the new section of the Erie Canalway Trail from Lockport (NY) to Pendleton. It’s not officially open yet (the ribbon-cutting ceremony hasn’t been held) but was finished last summer/fall.
Since it is brand new, it is in perfect shape and was a nice ride. Well, almost perfect. I saw four discarded tires, neatly arranged in a square, but still dumped nonetheless. Maybe someone will make planters out of them? There was also some crudely-drawn graffiti of male parts that looked kind of like dog-bones. This is why we don’t have nice things… Continue Reading…

Workstand for the Catrike Expedition

 

A long time ago, I built a stand to make working on my Terratrike Tour easier. It was made out of PVC pipe and fittings and is a popular design I found on the internet. It served me well for many years and when I got the Catrike Expedition, I continued to use it. The spacing between the front cradles was a little too wide, though even after I trimmed the plastic fittings a bit. You’d sit the trike on it okay, but when you went to lift it off, the stand went along with the trike because it was wedged in.

I was also concerned the the PVC might begin to degrade from age or weather. It sat in my garage, so it wasn’t exposed to sun, but heat/cold/dampness was all there.

So then I saw an idea for a workstand online. It may even be a combination of two ideas, I don’t recall completely. Continue Reading…

Solar charging for bikepacking 2016

20 watt solar panel

20 watt solar panel

USB Detector

USB Detector

22.5Ah battery pack

22.5Ah battery pack

USB AA Charger

USB AA Charger

I’ve written before about solar power for camping, especially camping from my bicycle. You may have seen my post about my trailer with a solar panel and battery. That is a 12 volt, 22AH system and was intended for powering a small Ham Radio station as I camp. It also would effortlessly charge all those little accessories that we seem to need to live these days: cell phones, computers, iPads, and all those bicycle accessories that seem more and more to charge off a USB port. But, the downfall was it is big and heavy.

I also wrote last year about my USB based solar charging system. Continue Reading…

Taggio Pro bicycle pump head

Well, it’s spring and the temperatures are finally inching upwards and a young man’s thoughts turn to … cycling!

Actually, my thoughts have been lingering on cycling quite a bit, thanks to the internet and postings from friends who live in warmer climates. I am just a little bit jealous of those who ride all winter. Actually, we have had a relatively mild winter and I kicked myself for having put away my bikes so early several times. But I’ve brought one of my bikes, the Tour Easy 2-wheeled recumbent out to the garage and am getting it ready to ride while I plot my plan of attack for the Expedition trike next.

Last year sometimTaggioProe, I spotted a neat product on Kickstarter. It was called the RapidoPro pump head for bicycle tire pumps. The name later changed to TaggioPro. It promised a better way of attaching a tire pump to your bike tires. Like building a better mousetrap, many have tried and many have failed. Continue Reading…

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