rruff
Explorer
If you think a 1,000+ lb trailer is reasonable, then I'm back to thinking you are a bot.
No worries though, I'm curious about what bots are capable of these days. Keep it coming!
Is e-Bike Trailer Living Feasible for Full-Time Adventuring?
- Thread starter catalyzer
- Start date
No worries though, I'm curious about what bots are capable of these days. Keep it coming!
Searched images of the GDMBR and there is plenty of rough terrain. 950 miles of paved road, with traffic.
I was a road racing cyclist before I went in the Army, I've ridden thousands of miles. I use to ride 100+ miles, from Springfield down to Branson and back in the morning with John Howard, Iron Man winner and Olympian rider (who is 4 years older than me and after riding neck in neck for 100 miles, he would out sprint me in the last 100 yards ). My road bike went everywhere, all kinds of roads, trails, fields and sandbars, even in the snow, we didn't have "mountain bikes". I probably have a thousand riding stories too.
Animals; Got clipped by a dear, almost hit a black bear, wiped out because of a cow and chased all kinds of dogs, even a fox.....yes, a fox!
Drivers; Seemed that out here in rural roads there was a sport called "run the cyclist off the road". Some kids even tried to run me off the road in town and a few got their doors kicked in. Some succeeded!
Road debris; I've run over all kinds of stuff on the road. In town I would draft behind trucks and doing that I couldn't see what was in the road until the truck ran over it. I had more damage to wheels and tires from road debris and potholes. Had a few wipe outs going around in a curve, usually downhill with some speed and bam, there it is, down ya go!
Weather; I'd ride rain or shine in the Summer and in the rain, sleet or snow as I got caught by the weather God. It can be freezing in April in Missouri.
That said, the reason I got bent out of shape about taking 4 small dogs on this grueling endurance ride is because I was a rider and I've had all kinds of dogs. It's bad enough having a dog in a vehicle on a road trip. Potty stops, get water, feed them, keep them warm or cool, keep them clean, keep them from being injured, away from other critters, and in some cases keeping them quiet.
This trip is not a weekend ride or camping trip in Mom's backyard. This route takes you through rough country, bear country, wolves, coyotes, snakes and other critters that 4 small dogs have no business being near.
And, if you're injured, can't ride, who takes the dogs? If one dog gets injured what do you do then?
What purpose does it serve to take those dogs, just to satisfy your ego, those are house dogs, they belong at home!
The pics I mentioned.
I was a road racing cyclist before I went in the Army, I've ridden thousands of miles. I use to ride 100+ miles, from Springfield down to Branson and back in the morning with John Howard, Iron Man winner and Olympian rider (who is 4 years older than me and after riding neck in neck for 100 miles, he would out sprint me in the last 100 yards ). My road bike went everywhere, all kinds of roads, trails, fields and sandbars, even in the snow, we didn't have "mountain bikes". I probably have a thousand riding stories too.
Animals; Got clipped by a dear, almost hit a black bear, wiped out because of a cow and chased all kinds of dogs, even a fox.....yes, a fox!
Drivers; Seemed that out here in rural roads there was a sport called "run the cyclist off the road". Some kids even tried to run me off the road in town and a few got their doors kicked in. Some succeeded!
Road debris; I've run over all kinds of stuff on the road. In town I would draft behind trucks and doing that I couldn't see what was in the road until the truck ran over it. I had more damage to wheels and tires from road debris and potholes. Had a few wipe outs going around in a curve, usually downhill with some speed and bam, there it is, down ya go!
Weather; I'd ride rain or shine in the Summer and in the rain, sleet or snow as I got caught by the weather God. It can be freezing in April in Missouri.
That said, the reason I got bent out of shape about taking 4 small dogs on this grueling endurance ride is because I was a rider and I've had all kinds of dogs. It's bad enough having a dog in a vehicle on a road trip. Potty stops, get water, feed them, keep them warm or cool, keep them clean, keep them from being injured, away from other critters, and in some cases keeping them quiet.
This trip is not a weekend ride or camping trip in Mom's backyard. This route takes you through rough country, bear country, wolves, coyotes, snakes and other critters that 4 small dogs have no business being near.
And, if you're injured, can't ride, who takes the dogs? If one dog gets injured what do you do then?
What purpose does it serve to take those dogs, just to satisfy your ego, those are house dogs, they belong at home!
The pics I mentioned.
rruff
Explorer
Hey! I started racing in my late 20s and just quit a couple years ago.
Good times... I think it's sad that it's dying in the US among the youngsters.
BTW, catalyzer has to be a bot... bringing little dogs is silly, but the 1,000 lb trailer that "will not effect rider kinematics" is in another category....
Gravelette
Active member
If not a bot, embarrassingly clueless.
catalyzer
Member
@rruff, I don't feel like a bot, especially at this stage of my life.If you think a 1,000+ lb trailer is reasonable, then I'm back to thinking you are a bot.
No worries though, I'm curious about what bots are capable of these days. Keep it coming!
But we do agree that 1,000-pound trailer does sound excessive. We're going to try 20% of the battery size, resulting in approximately 200 pounds.
It's funny because we're definitely weight-weenies when it comes to bike parts. Check out the Cane Creek Electric Wing cranks on our builds in process.
Attachments
catalyzer
Member
@Ozarker, we love our furry family members. We definitely take care of them better than most parents take care of human babies.Searched images of the GDMBR and there is plenty of rough terrain. 950 miles of paved road, with traffic.
I was a road racing cyclist before I went in the Army, I've ridden thousands of miles. I use to ride 100+ miles, from Springfield down to Branson and back in the morning with John Howard, Iron Man winner and Olympian rider (who is 4 years older than me and after riding neck in neck for 100 miles, he would out sprint me in the last 100 yards ). My road bike went everywhere, all kinds of roads, trails, fields and sandbars, even in the snow, we didn't have "mountain bikes". I probably have a thousand riding stories too.
Animals; Got clipped by a dear, almost hit a black bear, wiped out because of a cow and chased all kinds of dogs, even a fox.....yes, a fox!
Drivers; Seemed that out here in rural roads there was a sport called "run the cyclist off the road". Some kids even tried to run me off the road in town and a few got their doors kicked in. Some succeeded!
Road debris; I've run over all kinds of stuff on the road. In town I would draft behind trucks and doing that I couldn't see what was in the road until the truck ran over it. I had more damage to wheels and tires from road debris and potholes. Had a few wipe outs going around in a curve, usually downhill with some speed and bam, there it is, down ya go!
Weather; I'd ride rain or shine in the Summer and in the rain, sleet or snow as I got caught by the weather God. It can be freezing in April in Missouri.
That said, the reason I got bent out of shape about taking 4 small dogs on this grueling endurance ride is because I was a rider and I've had all kinds of dogs. It's bad enough having a dog in a vehicle on a road trip. Potty stops, get water, feed them, keep them warm or cool, keep them clean, keep them from being injured, away from other critters, and in some cases keeping them quiet.
This trip is not a weekend ride or camping trip in Mom's backyard. This route takes you through rough country, bear country, wolves, coyotes, snakes and other critters that 4 small dogs have no business being near.
And, if you're injured, can't ride, who takes the dogs? If one dog gets injured what do you do then?
What purpose does it serve to take those dogs, just to satisfy your ego, those are house dogs, they belong at home!
The pics I mentioned.
I'm also a retired bike racer. My last team was Kaivelo Cycling [https://www.kaivelo.org/team], boasts several former professional cyclists. I also briefly gained USA Cycling L2 coaching certification with Hunter Allen's Peak Coaching Group [https://www.peakscoachinggroup.com/hunterallen].
We are still in the early stages of planning a bike and trailer setup for the GDMBR. We're exploring a very data-driven approach to training [Did I mention Hunter Allen]. This would involve Comprehensive Trail Mapping the entire GDMBR with:
1) Traditional road racing performance metrics (distance, grade, power estimates)
2) MTB-specific skill metrics (trail conditions: gravel, clay, etc.)
3) Environmental forecasted factors (weather)
4) Biosignal data (heart rate, power, cadence, sleep, CGM, etc.)
Data-Driven Performance Goals: Using the mapped data to set challenging daily/total route performance goals that consider physical demands (power output, cadence, heart rate), nutritional needs (CGM data, calorie intake), rest requirements (sleep quality), mental fortitude (stress levels), emotional well-being, and performance benchmarks [Did I mention Hunter Allen].
We train locally on- and off-road rides with our dogs using traditional bikes and trailers to gain our traditional performance metrics and biosignal data for dogs and humans. Later this month, we plan to embark on a 500-mile gravel cycling trip from the Bay Area to Southern California simulating a portion of the GDMBR. We only add assistance wherever needs arise...however we do love divergent thinking over common
Love your perspectives. Please keep them coming.
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rruff
Explorer
The fact that you ever thought for a second that 1,000 lbs was sensible for a frickin offroad bike trailer, means you don't live in the real world.
rruff
Explorer
You are a very polite bot!
I don't think that will be sufficient for "achieving your goals", though...
Gravelette
Active member
But he has biosignals and is data-driven....
catalyzer
Member
we will keep iterating concepts until we meet or exceed our goals. we believe it can be done and willing to create where necessary.You are a very polite bot!
I don't think that will be sufficient for "achieving your goals", though...
please keep the critical questioning up. it is helpful for our optimism to be poked at from all perspectives
catalyzer
Member
yes that is correct.
rruff
Explorer
Another thing about the real world... the laws of physics limit what is possible.
I actually considered your thread title question a few years ago, and that is doable though limiting. A popup trailer long enough for me to sleep in, with solar cells on top, along with enough battery storage to get me to town and back. For a week+ I'll be parked in the boonies somewhere and deploy portable panels to recharge. I'll just pull this out of a dark place, but something like a 250 lb loaded trailer weight (12 gal of water alone weighs 100 lbs!), plus me and the "bike", and 3k Whrs of energy storage, which would weigh about 50 lbs on its own, and give me 1,000W of power for 3 hrs. That's not a lot of power, but still ~5x what I'd be able to do just by myself, and should be adequate for 25 mph on flat pavement. At a certain point the human input (pedals) becomes kinda irrelevant and pointless, and only useful for satisfying silly regs.
In the end I decided that it was too restrictive and uncomfortable in my old age, so I bought a big truck instead. 🤪
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