My Tour of the North - Six days, 400 miles

[mr.electric]

That was the most entertaining description of an ebike ride I have ever read. It would not be such a great story with out all the break downs. It just makes you want to tighten down the pedals and cranks with an air gun.

 

[Sancho's Horse]

No! Nooooooooooo!
No.
Ok.
Thanks!

 

[JennyB]

No! Nooooooooooo!
No.
Ok.
Thanks!

Oops, wrong squid!

 

[Sancho's Horse]

I would love for there to be a whole section on ES just dedicated to these little micro-tours. Not just for people in the sparse beauty zones, such as myself, but it is how people see, which is almost more important than what they see.

Even your squid comment, a total hoot.

 

[JennyB]

I would love for there to be a whole section on ES just dedicated to these little micro-tours. Not just for people in the sparse beauty zones, such as myself, but it is how people see which is almost more important than what they see.

Even your squid comment, a total hoot.

Autocorrect strikes again It should have been "wrong EQUID."

The name Sancho always reminds me of that paragon of common sense, Sancho Panza. His Rucio, though a noble animal, was not (strictly speaking) a horse.

And yes, I'd like there to be such a section too.

 

[Sancho's Horse]

That self same Sancho Panza. And his "horse" was a donkey, unless you are of the Quixotic persuasion, which ebiking seems to attract. I really enjoy people preparing to slay the windmills, and the coming back to reality (its how real progress gets made). Been far too busy to put together an avatar, but I will.

 

[TylerDurden]

JennyB,

Thank you for the thoroughly enjoyable read and visuals.

Kudos for the successful journey!


Wrong squid!! :lol:

 

[JennyB]

Lovely read, lovely ride!

Can't wait for your next tour...

Maybe next time I'll take the bike on the bus down to Cork and ride back. Killarney, Dingle, the Burren, Galway, Westport, Sligo... 8)

 

[999zip999]

Thanks girl nice to be back home. So when is are next trip. I know you must have plans. Thanks. Good read.

 

[JennyB]

Thanks girl nice to be back home. So when is are next trip. I know you must have plans. Thanks. Good read.

Avis is coming over again first week in September. For various reasons I don't think another tour is possible then, but it's still early enough in the year - 14 hours of daylight - for at least one really long dawn-to-dusk ride.

The farthest I've ever been on a bike in one day was 130 miles from Cork to Athlone, but that was in a good main-road peleton on a charity run. I'll probably not beat that, but I certainly have lots of routes to choose from!

 

[veloman]

Those roads look like such a joy to ride. It really makes me want to leave the city area and just flow through the country side in fresh air.

 

[wayover13]

Most cafes and restaurants have outlets in the serving area, but I found few "Justin Junctions" outside. To tour here you really do need to have removable batteries.

In the US where we tour, we have yet to encounter a grocery store that does not have at least several (sometimes more, depending on the size of the building) electrical outlets at regular intervals around the outside walls. This is our standard lunch break: we stop, hook up to an outlet for charging, then head to the deli department to make our lunch selections. One could thus easily traverse the US, getting all the "free" (though you are patronizing the store by buying their products) charging needed along the way.

 

[wayover13]

It was great to read about your trip and to see some of your data on battery usage. I have so far not managed to connect with anyone else who is doing long-distance touring using electric assist--all the while going on the assumption that it's enough of a no-brainer that there certainly must be others doing it as well. Are you in contact with anyone or any group who does this? Do you know others on this forum who are touring distances with electric assist?

We haven't done much riding in the rain with our assist system, owing largely to the near-drought conditions we've had here during the past couple of summers. But we've thus far not seen any electrical issues the few times we've had to ride through a bit of rain; I hope it stays that way.

On the crank arm loosening/pedal loosening; I'm going to guess that you may have changed crank arms prior to your trip (you mention using a single, as opposed to triple, chainring for the trip) and did not torque them down sufficiently, correct? Perhaps the same for the pedal, since you may have swapped pedals between two cranksets? I've never had crankarm or pedal loosening myself. I did strip out a pedal not long ago, but I think that's because the previous owner of the bike had cross-threaded the pedal. I also broke a left crankarm once, when starting from a dead stop, but that was likely a defective item (set of cheaper 1970's TA cranks I had on my old touring bike).

 

[JennyB]

It was great to read about your trip and to see some of your data on battery usage. I have so far not managed to connect with anyone else who is doing long-distance touring using electric assist--all the while going on the assumption that it's enough of a no-brainer that there certainly must be others doing it as well. Are you in contact with anyone or any group who does this? Do you know others on this forum who are touring distances with electric assist?

I was inspired by Justin and Kingfish (see E-pic Topics) but I don't really know anyone else who does this. It possibly only makes sense if you come from a cycle-touring background and already know that you actually like long hours in the saddle, and that 20mph may seem painfully slow when you're just sat there, but it's quite fast when you're pedalling! :lol:

In my prime I used to think that 80 miles was about right for a long day ride, or 40 miles a day for an extended tour. Now, nearly 40 years later and more than 40 lbs heavier, I find I can easily go half as far again. 8)

 

[Warren]

It is sad that most older bicyclists will quit doing long distance riding without having heard of e-assist. Most of the commercially available stuff is beach cruisers for people who don't ride bicycles, and most of the homebuilt stuff is lightweight motorbikes.

 

[JennyB]

It is sad that most older bicyclists will quit doing long distance riding without having heard of e-assist. Most of the commercially available stuff is beach cruisers for people who don't ride bicycles, and most of the homebuilt stuff is lightweight motorbikes.

The market here won't be about complete bikes, or power, or stealth, but good-looking, quiet, reliable, legal components. Something that is easily fitted and tuned without cluttering the bars or having to swap out good parts for cheap junk. The new hubs from Justin and Falco look to be headed in the right direction. 8)

 

[Warren]

Agreed. Most older cyclists already have very nice bikes, and only need a small, legal kit.

Your half Kwh pack, with the 5 amp charger is the perfect setup for touring. I have exactly double on my bike, a 36 volt, 30 Ah Ping, and two 5 amp chargers, in parallel, at home. Great for long day trips, where I always charge at home. But my big pack would eat up too much luggage carrying capacity. And for the weight of a single 5 amp charger, you can refill over a long lunch.

 

[JennyB]

Agreed. Most older cyclists already have very nice bikes, and only need a small, legal kit.

Your half Kwh pack, with the 5 amp charger is the perfect setup for touring. I have exactly double on my bike, a 36 volt, 30 Ah Ping, and two 5 amp chargers, in parallel, at home. Great for long day trips, where I always charge at home. But my big pack would eat up too much luggage carrying capacity. And for the weight of a single 5 amp charger, you can refill over a long lunch.

Yes, it works out very well up to around 200k, which is as much country as I want experience in a day, even if I'm driving. If anything I'd like a lighter, more compact battery and better than 1C charging. Then I could stop for a nice cup of tea and a quick charge for say, half an hour in every three, keep going as long as I wanted, and still beat the guy who rides straight through, fuelled by powerbars and energy gels!

 

[Eskimo]

I did my longest ride today to date. 45 kilometres. Consumed 7 Ah from 48V 10 Ah pack. 48V 10 Ah pack gives me around 50 kilometres nicely. There"s no hills really.
Been in Dublin couple of times, when i lived in Manchester. That ferry trip, and then short train ride. Here"s not so unusual sight on our MUT"s Sometimes one pile on every 100 feet. Police horses.