Back in the Saddle: Going to California: 2011

Back in the Saddle: Going to California: 2011

Long arse 48 hours trying to repack and rehook it all back up and try it all down. But – I am out the door in 5 minutes. Spend the evening going through one more time to reduce weight. I don’t know if I mentioned this already or not but the Samsung Droid Charge has an 8 mpix camera built in, so I am leaving my nice camera behind and saving 2 lbs of weight and bulk. Not sure how I will edit the pics though. :wink:

Anyway – I shall post progress periodically – and when I get to a place where I can edit photos – then I will append or post anew.

Enjoy the music!

[youtube]cFtsWy7WqJo[/youtube]

Cheers, KF
ADDENDUM: Time - 10:57 AM
 
I yam somewheres near Spanaway; 56 miles. Chow'd down @ Taco del Mar. Ebike is a-ok though still heavy over the tail. Headwind and cool up till now. I don't think I'll make PDX though as I am hitting almost every red light in the metro.

Onward through the fog, KF :)
 
Kingfish said:
I yam somewheres near Spanaway; 56 miles. Chow'd down @ Taco del Mar. Ebike is a-ok though still heavy over the tail. Headwind and cool up till now. I don't think I'll make PDX though as I am hitting almost every red light in the metro.

Onward through the fog, KF :)
Do you have any planned camping sites along the way? If so, how many camping/outdoor locations & where? 8)

Hey, if you make it out 300 miles, then that should be a decent break-in or shakedown to go further... :twisted:

How is the trailer holding up & did the foam cure some more to improve the ride some more? :?: :mrgreen:
 
Green Machine said:
On the road...

hahahaha! through the fog!

good luck with the trip. upload pics to picasa via your phone and google account. (search picasa in the marketplace).

basic editing via photoshop express on your phone.

edit online via picnik (from inside picasa) once you get to a PC

Godspeed!
 
deVries said:
Kingfish said:
I yam somewheres near Spanaway; 56 miles. Chow'd down @ Taco del Mar. Ebike is a-ok though still heavy over the tail. Headwind and cool up till now. I don't think I'll make PDX though as I am hitting almost every red light in the metro.

Onward through the fog, KF :)
Do you have any planned camping sites along the way? If so, how many camping/outdoor locations & where? 8)

Hey, if you make it out 300 miles, then that should be a decent break-in or shakedown to go further... :twisted:

How is the trailer holding up & did the foam cure some more to improve the ride some more? :?: :mrgreen:
Ye gentle people of the ES...
I yam at present in the town of Centralia and set for the nite. Metro took f o r e v e r to plow through - about 60 miles before I could open it up or set Cruise. It really sucked the pack hard with the start abd stops. About mile 78 brought me to Tinino and I began to hit the wall. Decided to blast the last 18 miles into town and get a room.

Stats:
Start V=63.3; End V=57.0
MaxS=39.9mph; AveS=24.5
Distance=108 miles in about 6 hours

Repacked trailer at lunch break/last post and moved about 10-15 lbs to trailer and this made a big difference/improved handling. I think there was enough left in the pack to go another 50 miles but I was beat.

Got a great price on the room: $49/night. Good enough.

I have considered camping but I like a soft bed, personal shower, and the ability to lock up my bike. That said I do know most RV sites are along the way just in case ;)

Boy I am real tired and ready for my bed.
Until the end of the world, KF
 
On the road, wooho! Enjoy.

Kingfish said:
About mile 78 brought me to Tinino and I began to hit the wall. Decided to blast the last 18 miles into town and get a room.

Stats:
Start V=63.3; End V=57.0
MaxS=39.9mph; AveS=24.5
Distance=108 miles in about 6 hours
...
I think there was enough left in the pack to go another 50 miles but I was beat.

I forgot, what is your battery capacity (wh)?
 
SamTexas said:
On the road, wooho! Enjoy.

Kingfish said:
About mile 78 brought me to Tinino and I began to hit the wall. Decided to blast the last 18 miles into town and get a room.

Stats:
Start V=63.3; End V=57.0
MaxS=39.9mph; AveS=24.5
Distance=108 miles in about 6 hours
...
I think there was enough left in the pack to go another 50 miles but I was beat.

I forgot, what is your battery capacity (wh)?
78 Batteries / 3 = 26 -> 26 * 5 Ah = 130 Ah :)

Repacking based on wot I learned. Pobably leave in 60-90 minutes.
Cheers from On the Road, KF
 
I have crossed the Columbia at Longview and am now in Oregon Country.

Brezzy, and now with a tailwind, KF
 
Kingfish said:
I have crossed the Columbia at Longview and am now in Oregon Country.

Brezzy, and now with a tailwind, KF


Woot!!! Good to hear it my friend!
 
Made it to PDX about 5:30 PM and I'm here with dnmun. Small fixes req'd nothibg serious. It's not raining :)

Stats:
111 miles in 6 hours. Still had enough pack left to go at least 40-50 mlre.

It was a better dzy and cruised about 30-33 mph most of the time. No hassles from patrolmen. I will backfill the details and pics when I get to a PC.

Until tomorrow then, KF
 
finally on his way again. headed for bend and maybe farfle will see him tonight, he thinks 10 pm but i bet it is later than that and maybe two days to bend.

his ebrake switch was bad so i looked at it and found it was just the little plastic nub that moves back and forth through the casing to the insides that was sticking so i got that freed up and it works fine again.

he had a problem with the torque arm pulling his rear wheel forward and twisting the bolt on dropout forward on the right side, so it went a little sideways to the left in front, and was rubbing in front after his long trip over the previous two days.

took the torque arm off, a little bit of sledge hammer, voila, corrective bend enforced, fixed.

last was the plastic liner inside his trailer was rubbing up against the wheel and had burned part way through so i found some moderately stiff wire, about 4' long, used to hang suspended ceiling grids, bent it so it fits inside the plastic line to keep it away from the wheel, moved some stuff around, even put his charger all the way in back so he could reach it, and gave him another little short extension cord so he can charge if he gets to within about 12-14' of the plug.
 
dnmun said:
finally on his way again. headed for bend and maybe farfle will see him tonight, he thinks 10 pm but i bet it is later than that and maybe two days to bend.
"The KF Dude" abides with dnmun... dude, you are 'the dude' too helping out with all those "minor" repairs. 8) 8) 8) :!:
What a great friend to have "on the road again" for KF... :!: :mrgreen: :D
 
he is not an abider. he is all gotta go gotta go. he wasn't happy i wanted to fix stuff, "times awasting", but i think that was the major break in problems fixed.

he is my first 'Sag Haven' customer. this house is gonna be a charging spot for EV travelers, and bike repair haven. i tried to give him a map, he said it is all in his head, but i showed him how to get to the springwater bike corridor so he get outa portland going east now without dodging cars. i tried to get him to make it a point to find places to stop and charge when he can, will see how it goes.
 
Greetings ES peoples of the Planet Earth!

I am presently in Bend, Oregon resting up for tomorrow. I have access to a PC, so here's a bit of backfill...

Tuesday:
Redmond was rainy when I left at 11:15 AM; the drizzly type that wouldn't go away - day after day. By the time I made it to Renton the weather yielded to just being cloudy and damp. Picking up the Valley Hwy (181) was terribly busy and at times scary as I was in deep heavy traffic - and hitting about every dang light. I stopped in Sumner to check on the bike and trailer where I was detecting rubbing. There wasn't much i could do here so I kept going. Got to Spanaway and stopped at a Taco del Mar for a quick meal. Evened up spending close to an hour repacking the trailer to remove weight off the back of the bike - and a lot of the source of wobble.

P1&P2.Spanaway.jpg

EDIT: Added the first image of the road trip. I took this in front of the Taco Del Mar in Spanaway.

Finally after 60 miles I was out of the metro area and hitting actual rural roads where I could open it up for speed and cruising. About mile 78 in Tenino I hit a wall and had to pull off for a goodly amount of time. This is when I decided Centralia would be a wise conclusion for the day; it was 30 miles away. Having plenty of pack, I put cruise to 33 mph and went for it. Corked around the center of town contemplating my options - I ran into a local who worked at a regular bike shop and he was completely blown away by the ebike. After a spell of friendly conversation he lines me up with a good place to stay so I go. The Ferryman's is known for thrifty cost, however the manager upon seeing my ebike gave me the highest possible discount and I snagged the room for $49.

Wednesday:
Next day I finally get on the road again at 11:15 AM (yes, twice now). Being rural all the way to Longview I was making great time. Weather was partly cloudy. Beautiful scenic drives under deciduous canopy. Stopped at Castle Rock after about 40 miles for 50 minutes to rest, eat, and tinker with the ebike trying to reduce the rubbing.

Rested, headed on in to Longview. Stopped at the Les Schwab Tires for water break and one last walk-around inspection before heading over the 2-lane bridge over the Columbia River. Midway - whilst trying to manage my station in line and dealing with the wind, a toothless road worker with one of the stop/go sighs said something to me about giving me a heads-up; on the far side of the bridge I discovered what he meant: He had stopped traffic for 1/2 mile behind me to give me a lot of lead off the bridge! That was very cool 8)

Longview1.jpg

EDIT: Looking back towards Longview from the Oregon side; this is the 2-lane bridge that I used to cross over the Columbia River.

Coming into Portland, the US 30 roadway provided at most times ample room, and for much of the way I had a partial tailwind. However the last 10 miles are pretty scary as there is hardly any room to manage with big huge trucks blowing by. I nearly missed the last intersection and almost wound up on I-405 as US 30 merges. Cut over to Front Street, finally Burnside Bridge (I think) over the Willamette and into this strange gridlock. At one intersection where bridge traffic merges onto MLK Blvd, some nut cuts me off on the right and I spill right into the roadway with another bike right behind tumbling nearly on top. Clearly a foul! Finally though - I wiggle and weaseled my way through the gridlock to find dnmum's pad.

Thursday:
I must humbly thank my good friend dnmun for his kind and sincere regards and help; he is truly a great friend to have! When I left - I headed south on 26th till I got to the golf course but from there I soon became off-track, but found the trail again. The bike trail was too bumpy for my speed, so I moved to city streets and brailed my way eastward and sadly made a poor choice and wound up climbing more hills than I had planned. However all things are "on the wheel" of Life and everything evens out - and it did a bit later:

About 40 miles out - I hit this little spot called Welches, and I pulled off at The Fly Fishing Shop where two little girls were out selling Lemonade to the passing public. As I pulled in the parking lot - dead tired - I espied an outlet! Short story is I went in and asked for the manager and told him I'm traveling cross-country on an ebike, and would he mind if I plugged in. He says "Are you going to buy some Lemonade?" of which I profusely and most adamantly said that I would - and I did. Ate a Cliff Bar and sat there for 45 minutes sucking up a whole Volt with dnmum's keenly wise addition - the extension cord.

Mt.Hood0.jpg

EDIT: OK - so how could anyone resist NOT having a glass of cool crisp lemonade? :wink:

From there I proceeded up the hill and over the first pass. It was about 56 miles to the top. I stopped for 15 minutes cos I was going to post status on ES but my dang phone kept rebooting - so I just took the picts and moved on - times a wasting. The next downslope is when I think I set a new personal speed record: 42.8 mph. :)

Mt.Hood1.jpg

EDIT: Mt. Hood as viewed from the first Pass.

Next pass was about 1/2 hour later and slightly higher. Ebrake never did work for me, but I made some great time all the way down that hill. About Mile 85 (slightly more than 1/2 way) I stopped for a water break - it was dang hot! <insert picture>. From there I proceeded to Warm Springs thinking I would stop. I kept getting shooting pain through my right foot (seat was the culprit) and the toes would go numb unless I wiggled them. Anyways - long 4 miles down into Warm Springs - but decided to solder on to Madras.

I put the cruise on Grandpa at 24 mph and dropped gears and did the thrifty climb out of the river canyon the whole time concerned about power management. At Mile 101 I thought to myself - "OK self, we only have 60 more miles to go". Coming into Madras is a modest downhill; there was gravel on the bike easement and I hit it about the time someone passed me - causing fishtail - and I damn near lots it right there into the lava cobbles that Oregon likes to use to delineate the margins of highways - read: Death for bikers. I made the save and pulled off at the first convenient place to eat - which was Sonic; never ate there before. It's now about 6 PM. Scarfed down some food, left a message with Farfle and told him I'll be another 2 hours. The pack was at +57.0 VDC, I had a good tailwind, and only 40 miles to go.

The country was beautiful if you like high desert and farming and volcanoes. Apologies - no time for pics; I am racing against the clock to beat the sun.

Next town was Redmond, OREGON. I left Redmond, WASHINGTON only two days before. Kept on motoring - no breaks. Finally found the road to Farfle's and got to within one lot of his location - but my cell service let me down and I could fetch the address, so I picked a neighbor and they helped me locate Farfle once my cell service came back.

Thus at 8:30 PM - after a small 1/2 hour delay - I arrived at Farfle's.

Stats:
  • 162.7 miles in just under 6 hours driving time. Overall - about 8.5 hours with all stops and delays.
  • Pack Voltage: Started at +63.3V and ended at +55.7V; includes 1 volt picked up at Welches.

I finally got the pack on the charger at 9 PM, but out of fear of overcharging I pulled the plug at 11:30 PM.

Friday:
Got up at 5 AM and restarted charging. About 9 AM we headed over to "The Shop" and Farfle made me one of his custom clamp-on torque arms for the left side. It is really nice work. In the meantime I removed the ebrake and replaced it with two mini switches that I brought along as spare parts. Got the whole thing installed with deluxe fasteners - placing the ebrake on the top of the stack this time. Tested it - and the dang switch flakes again! Brake light works - but the ebrake won't engage. Now it's 12:30 PM - and I still need to top-off before I leave - although together Farfle on his recumbent eTrike and I head to his place of work: Bend Electric Bikes.

Bend0.jpg

EDIT: Farfle's Shop with Farfle showing off his cool recumbent; my rig is to the right.

Bend1.jpg

EDIT: Where Farfle works. Note that the business is moving to a new location soon so check with the website for the latest information.

Farfle works at the only EBike shop in town. The saga of charging took the rest of the afternoon. However there is lots of time to visit and learn and play with Pedalics and see the wondrous social river activity. I swear if I could live in any other part of the world - even for a few years - it would be Bend, Oregon! At the shop we replaced the Magura Throttle for another Halls Throttle. The Magura has a sweet spot - and the rest of it is dead zone; kinda pesky without the throttle mods which open up the spectrum. By 5:30 PM - no amount of positive thinking could convince me I was going to make Klamath Falls by midnight on a Friday evening, sooo...

I get to take a rest-day here in Bend - and I have no complaints. My host is of the finest kind, just as was dnmun. ES peoples sure have a lot of heart, and I humbly thank you most earnestly!

I have traveled just over 400 miles so far. Klamath Falls is a little over 140 miles away, and there is about a 1,500 foot climb out of Bend in the first 10 miles - then mostly flat after that. I think it could make for a nice early morning speed run, Ja! :wink:

It might be a while before I can report again. The destinations that lay ahead are:
Saturday - Klamath Falls, OR
Sunday - Burney, CA
Monday - Greenville, CA
Wednesday - Graeagle/Johnsville, CA


Thank you for all your support!
Cousin KF
Edits: Included missing business info.
 
I am in Klamath Falls now. It is very warm. Ended up stopping every 20 miles or so just to water-up.

Stats
Left Farfle about 7:50 AM for a short 5 mile drive into Bend. Stopped at Shari's for Steak n Egg breakfast, then finally left Bend at 8:50 AM. Arrived in Klamath Falls at 3:30 PM some 148.3 miles later.
AveS = 29.0
MaxS is buggered; says 555. Second CA says 446. These devices get lost sometimes.
Trip Time = 5:06:04
Total Adventure Odometer = 560.3 which puts me past last year's total :)

I am one grubby boy so I'm off to clean my scaley skin and then hit the pool!
Cheers from One the Road. KF
 
K-Falls is the hell hole I started my college at.

There is a dinner at base of OIT that I've spent about 100evenings in doing homework, yet I can't even remember the name of it now. Lol
 
liveforphysics said:
K-Falls is the hell hole I started my college at.

There is a dinner at base of OIT that I've spent about 100evenings in doing homework, yet I can't even remember the name of it now. Lol
That is so funny :)
I just finished snorking down a wheelbarrel load of food at the Sizzler; good enough.

It is defintely warmer away from the lake. Dang pretty country all around. I just wish I had more time to explore. Years ago I checked out the petroglyphs out at that tufa formation.

And then there's the Modoc War around the turn of the last century. So much history here - both good and bad.

I am staying at the Cimarron Inn; room is about $59/nite.
~KF
 
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