Al's Blog-o-Sphere

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…

20 watt solar panel

USB Detector

22.5Ah battery pack

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…

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 sometime, 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…

Last June, a fellow decided to ride a bike across America to lose weight, get his life together, and impress his estranged wife that he loved her.

Eric Hites – Fat Guy on a Bike

I heard about it very early on and followed him on Facebook and his website. It was an interesting idea and I wanted to cheer him on. After all, doing something like that has been one of my ambitions as well.

I checked daily to see how he was doing at first. I expected updates to see where he was and where he was headed. Initially, his plan was to begin in Massachusetts and travel west across the country. I wanted to know where he might pass by here and maybe go out and ride with him for a day. His plans were not very organized, but he initially thought he would pass through Pennsylvania. Okay, I could travel that far. Continue Reading…