Went for a long distance test ride

[Jay64]

I got the controller replaced on the Raleigh build. (Burned it out trying to keep up with Tostino on his fastass bike. :lol We evaluated the location in the rear rack bag and determined that it probably over heated due to lack of air flow. So I repositioned it on the rails going from the seat post to the rear rack. I wanted to test it out and I had been eyeing the Pinellas Bike Trail. I had recently realized that there was a section of it that cut diagonally towards my work and it avoided majority of the stop lights along the way to my work. I had been guestimating that it would probably be take about 1/2 hour to get to my work even while only going about 25 mph. That is the same time it takes me in my truck. The distance in my truck is about 10 miles. Eventhough there is a section that cuts diagonally, it also goes past the main cross town road for a bit before it cuts across town.
So this evening I went out for a test ride to see how it would go and how fast I could get there. As I headed out, I went up the main avenue which is the most direct route to the trail. Unfortunately that strip of road has a ton of driveways cutting across the sidewalk, and each intersection, the downramp/upramp from the sidewalk actually is around the corner a few feet, so it is hard to just maintain a speed. Lots of stop and go, and big bumps. Right as I was nearing the trail point, I hit a series of hard bumps. All of a sudden the motor started cogging really hard, an actual hard vibration that went all the way through the bike. I stopped and checked it out to see if something was obviously wrong, or disconnected. I tested it and it continued, for about 30 seconds, and then went away, never came back for the rest of the trip. :?
Finally got to the trail. This thing is awesome. Wide enough to drive a car on, has overpasses for major intersections. Most of it was tree lined, felt kinda like being in the middle of a nice park. The part where it takes off diagonal to the actual main road way, it crosses over the "bayou", which is really cool. Just a bike trail bridge out over the water. I wasn't sure if my battery pack would make it the whole trip, so I wasn't full throttle for most of the way up there. I was kind of thinking that I would probably have to pedal on the way back. At one point it was pulling a bit over 800 watts while accelerating. When I was at speed sitting upright it was about 750 watts. I decided to do some more testing. I tucked as low as I could go, dropped the watts down to 550 watts. I was pretty impressed with the drop just from tucking.
I ended up getting to my work in about 35 minutes. That was pretty cool. It will take me about the same amount of time to ride the bike as it takes with my truck. Stayed there for about 1/2 hour talking to some co-workers. A lot of them were interested in the whole concept. I think if I start riding it to work, I should be able to get a few people converted. On the way home I tried to ride a little more on full throttle. I ended getting home in 30 minutes. I was suprised that I was able to get all the way there and all the way back on power. I guess having the long runs of no stops really helped a lot more then I realized. I think if I do the mods that Tostino did on his motor and I can get the top speed a lot higher, I should be able to get to work faster then in my truck. There are a lot of points along the trail where there are absolutely no entrance/exits/cross streets or anything. And there were points where there was no one around. I think I would really be able to open it up in those areas and make up some time. Obviously, I would slow down whenever I came across other users of the trail. One problem is I heard that you are not supposed to ride on the trail at night, and a lot of times I get off work at 11pm. Seems kinda lame that you can't use it after dark. I guess it is for safety reasons, having no street lights and being pretty isolated some people might get into trouble running into the wrong crowd. I've never been concerned with any of that, but I am also pretty sure that if the bike is capable of 50 mph, I won't have to worry at all about any seedy characters. :lol:
I'm hoping to get the Phat Chopper going good. Might actually try to do a large windscreen for that one, might ruin the asthetics of the look I was going for, but I think it might do great things for the range.
I guess the whole trail is about 35 miles, that would be cool to get enough range to try and ride the whole thing one day.

 

[dogman dan]

Sounds like a nice trail. If nobody uses the trail at night, why would a mugger be there waiting? Might carry some pepper spray though, or whatever is legal there for riding that late, on streets or trail. My guess is you'd be more vulnerable at night on the street, where they could chase you with a car.

I'd sure as hell take the bike when I didn't get off that late, if I were you. Sounds like a pretty good route for the trail part of it, just like the trail I ride is.

 

[icecube57]

Long distance rides are the greatest. Im planning to do a 100m ride. Or 200m round trip at the end of September. Or basically after my wedding and pray to god that HK has 6s lipos in. Im going to be pimping a 44v 25AH possibly 30AH pack for the long haul. I used swblutos simulator and figured I can get over 160 miles pedaling with my motor with enough breathing room to be lazy. Im going to stay at a motel and charge my pack with my meanwell. I figure its going to be about an 7-8 hour ride one way. I could ride back If I didnt have to charge. The trail is continuous and paved with a max probably 1-2% grade. http://silvercometmap.com/ You may have to zoom the map out a little bit to see the full length of the trail. Im excited.

I use my local trail until absolute dusk which is around 9pm when its pitch black. No lights on the triail unless you count the moon. Then its pretty much obscured by trees. Its that advanced darness where the lumenator has a hard time throwing enough beam to light up into the path. It looks like you are riding in a tunnell with no end. Then you gotta fight with the gnats spider and spider webs and frogs hopping across the path. The rabbits that dart in front of you and the occasional deer. Not good times. The lumenator tends to piss people off even aimed down and off to the side its just furking bright when the contrast is that big. Bright light pitch darkness. Some people still try to walk and ride at night and they would be road kill without the light. It seems like you move so much faster at night. Lack of depth perception i suppose.

 

[dogman dan]

Yeah, you gotta have a good light to ride at night even if it does piss off the others. I let my light battery get weak one morning, and suddenly there was a guy walking down the bike lane wearing all black. I tried to dodge him, but slammed his shoulder with my shoulder at 27 mph. He spun around standing up, but I went flipping. So don't over drive your lights. There's dang ninjas out there walking.

 

[Jay64]

Man, I lost this thread. This sub category fills fast. :lol: I'm working with a few different lights and mounts at the moment. Got a really good one, but it is crazy expensive, so working with a few other cheaper ones to see if I can get close. I can buy 4 of the others from the price of the one good one.
I'm kind of worried about having a bunch of good lights on my bike and then having to park it at the bike rack while I'm at work. They would be so easy for someone to just walk off with. And it seems like it would be a huge hassle to have to dismantle part of the bike every time I got in to work, especially if I am getting there right on time.