Paderolis
100 W
Very awesome!!!! Thank you for sharing the videos you have shared, stay safe!!
4500+ Miles US Ebike Tour - August 2014
- Thread starter grindz145
- Start date
TucsonTNT
100 µW
From Twitter: Troy Rank @grindz145
4177 miles, surpassing the current gwr record for longest motorized bicycle journey! http://instagram.com/p/sQFfONNkwu/
4177 miles, surpassing the current gwr record for longest motorized bicycle journey! http://instagram.com/p/sQFfONNkwu/
Hero_004
1 W
The prodigal son has made it home! Congratulations Troy!
jkbrigman
10 kW
Troy - the impact you've made is immense - right now things may be quiet, but it will become more visible over time, showing that ebikes are a legitimate and meaningful mode of transportation. This is big, man, big. Bigger than Laguna Seca, as-big or bigger than Pike's Peak. May your Guinness World Recond stand proud!
You have done more than anyone else to cause me to turn a critical eye to my own ebike and the way I use it (or don't use it enough). Now, making my ebike more usable every day is my prime objective - you've plainly well set my hair on fire to make it a better ride so I can put it to better use. You have inspired me to improve my ebike, take small XC's (I have two planned to be done by the fall) and I hope I can do 1/10th as good a job as you have with twitter, glympse, instagram and videos. Dude, you have mad skills with cinema verite'....
It was an interesting surprise to see you head for Boxy Bikes on your next-to-last-day. Great folks there and a really great way to end the trip. I watched his video and I like those guys, hope I can go there one day!
THANK YOU for letting us follow you on twitter and Glympse! Dude, you had us all glued to our computer screens for almost the entire month of August!
PLEASE consider following up with a few podcasts on the trip itself - now YOU are the newsmaker and we want to hear all about it!
You have done more than anyone else to cause me to turn a critical eye to my own ebike and the way I use it (or don't use it enough). Now, making my ebike more usable every day is my prime objective - you've plainly well set my hair on fire to make it a better ride so I can put it to better use. You have inspired me to improve my ebike, take small XC's (I have two planned to be done by the fall) and I hope I can do 1/10th as good a job as you have with twitter, glympse, instagram and videos. Dude, you have mad skills with cinema verite'....
It was an interesting surprise to see you head for Boxy Bikes on your next-to-last-day. Great folks there and a really great way to end the trip. I watched his video and I like those guys, hope I can go there one day!
THANK YOU for letting us follow you on twitter and Glympse! Dude, you had us all glued to our computer screens for almost the entire month of August!
PLEASE consider following up with a few podcasts on the trip itself - now YOU are the newsmaker and we want to hear all about it!
dogman dan
1 PW
Way to go. I don't have to imagine how hard it was, I know what a 60-80 mile day feels like for three days. 150 mile days for a month. More than twice as hard I'm sure.
If nothing else, you earned the leather balls award for doing it on a regular saddle.
I do think one thing has come out of this, It should be a more enjoyable ride to limit miles to 100 a day. Though what you did was epic, I think others planning a big ride might be better off to think in terms of 100 miles a day or less.
If nothing else, you earned the leather balls award for doing it on a regular saddle.
I do think one thing has come out of this, It should be a more enjoyable ride to limit miles to 100 a day. Though what you did was epic, I think others planning a big ride might be better off to think in terms of 100 miles a day or less.
rborger73
10 kW
Hero_004 said:
Hero I'll be around your area if I can get all the details together for my trip. Heading from the Pittsburgh Pa area to John Kerr Reservoir. The lake we went to every year till I was 17. Haven't been there since then. 41 now so it has been some time. Around 500 miles each way. Trying to get everything planned and set for it. Test to see how I handle it so I can plan for my trip next summer. The plan for then is East coast, to West coast, then back to PA. I'll start a thread for the North Carolina trip soon as it looks like it will happen for sure. We are living in an exciting time for it to even be possible.
rborger73
10 kW
mlt34 said:
Ya I'm 40 miles or so NW of there in New Castle. I'm pretty sure I'm the only ebiker till closer to Pittsburgh. I'm trying to get a few friends to come along and drive ahead and make camp and make it a more group adventure. I won't be able to do that probably when I do the trip next summer. Unless I find someone with a trust fund and some free time hehe. Planning on doing the trip next summer for charity but haven't decided on one yet. Some sort of pledge per mile thing maybe. Lot more pieces have to come together before I make any promises hehe. Might be my last chance to attempt something like this so I really want to go for it. Troy is a big inspiration.
grindz145
1 MW
Many more videos to come. Uploading day 13 now. Thank you all for your support. It was absolutelycritical. II had a great time and had a wonderful surprise welcome home party yesterday. It was an incredible ride only possible on an electric bicycle. I'll have a bbunch of stuff to post soon including my energy use metrics etc.
Thanks again everyone. Such a great time. And if nothing else I've demonstrated what's possible with ebike touring using no special infrastructure.
Thanks again everyone. Such a great time. And if nothing else I've demonstrated what's possible with ebike touring using no special infrastructure.
dnmun
1 PW
i was more than a little worried. last guy who left from oregon going east cross country on an ebike got hit the first day as i recall.
a 74 year old guy just got killed, hit and run, outside of portland today. he was riding in support of cancer prevention since he had spent 6 years in chemo to kick the cancer and a young guy was texting and ran over him and never stopped.
riding in traffic on the highway is just too much risk imo. even in town and this is a bike town too.
a 74 year old guy just got killed, hit and run, outside of portland today. he was riding in support of cancer prevention since he had spent 6 years in chemo to kick the cancer and a young guy was texting and ran over him and never stopped.
riding in traffic on the highway is just too much risk imo. even in town and this is a bike town too.
Kingfish
100 MW
Congratulations Troy on your safe return and on a well-earned honor! 8)
You've raised the bar a goodly notch! I look forward to reading the details of your magnificent adventure.
Though we live on opposite sides of the Great Divide, I raise my tall glass in your general direction and toast you and your support on a job well-done!
There is no need for me to wish you safe travels; you have done it!
ES Admins, can we officially move this thread to that special E-pic place please?
Awesome effort, I salute you good Sir! KF
You've raised the bar a goodly notch! I look forward to reading the details of your magnificent adventure.
Though we live on opposite sides of the Great Divide, I raise my tall glass in your general direction and toast you and your support on a job well-done!
There is no need for me to wish you safe travels; you have done it!
ES Admins, can we officially move this thread to that special E-pic place please?
Awesome effort, I salute you good Sir! KF
Eskimo
1 kW
What a ride.
And what a way to spend a vacation! :wink:
I would have been dead if riding over 150 miles every day with my bike.
Young blood rules.
And what a way to spend a vacation! :wink:
I would have been dead if riding over 150 miles every day with my bike.
Young blood rules.
Ykick
1 GW
Proud to say I know about you and this amazing journey! Welcome home Troy!
dogman dan
1 PW
Looks like I can't move it there, it will take an administrator I guess. Sticky will keep it right on top here for now.
grindz145
1 MW
[youtube]GpvAZSjmOlA[/youtube]
grindz145
1 MW
dnmun said:
I'm death proof ...
Just kidding, there are issues for bike safety. To be honest, and in my experience with motorcycling, biking can actually be significantly more dangerous because of the lack of good infrastructure in some places.A dump truck ran me off the road in Ohio and I ended up with a bit of road rash from the grass and I broke off my mirror, but all in all everything went OK. Thanks for your concern !
melodious
100 kW
I'd never give off bad vibes when your on your road, but since your at home, safe and sound...
@ 7:00 minutes into video blog, rear tire tube change
chain/derailleur mess 
was very entertaining in a dramatic real life kinda way.
If you had only one thing to change in your setup/plans/strategy/whatever, what would you have changed
@ 7:00 minutes into video blog, rear tire tube change
chain/derailleur mess was very entertaining in a dramatic real life kinda way. If you had only one thing to change in your setup/plans/strategy/whatever, what would you have changed
grindz145
1 MW
melodious said:I'd never give off bad vibes when your on your road, but since your at home, safe and sound...
@ 7:00 minutes into video blog, rear tire tube change
If you had only one thing to change in your setup/plans/strategy/whatever, what would you have changed
Haha i had to shake my head when i watched it, but i figured it was honest to leave it in there. I was so frustrated.
Navigation was the biggest issue on the whole trip. If i were to do it again, I would do much more recon and planning. Of course it's easier to do that now that I have learned a great deal by doing it.
Kingfish
100 MW
Recon is important. 8)
For 2011, I had already traveling most of the route and was quite familiar with the main journey. However seeing it at 28-32 mph was like watching it all through a distinctly different lens: The Road, the fauna and flora, the People you meet, the charity, and the assholes... every sensation is amped-up to a whole new level of awareness, partly due to circulation and respiration, and partly to having that automobile shell removed to expose your psyche to the physicality of the present moment.
It has mellowed my outlook and I want to do it again, but not the same way.
Troy, what was your final distance?
Cheers, KF
For 2011, I had already traveling most of the route and was quite familiar with the main journey. However seeing it at 28-32 mph was like watching it all through a distinctly different lens: The Road, the fauna and flora, the People you meet, the charity, and the assholes... every sensation is amped-up to a whole new level of awareness, partly due to circulation and respiration, and partly to having that automobile shell removed to expose your psyche to the physicality of the present moment.
It has mellowed my outlook and I want to do it again, but not the same way.
Troy, what was your final distance?
Cheers, KF
grindz145
1 MW
Kingfish said:Recon is important. 8)
For 2011, I had already traveling most of the route and was quite familiar with the main journey. However seeing it at 28-32 mph was like watching it all through a distinctly different lens: The Road, the fauna and flora, the People you meet, the charity, and the assholes... every sensation is amped-up to a whole new level of awareness, partly due to circulation and respiration, and partly to having that automobile shell removed to expose your psyche to the physicality of the present moment.
It has mellowed my outlook and I want to do it again, but not the same way.
Troy, what was your final distance?
Cheers, KF
Total distance is about 4400. I have to tabulate the GPS files in order to get an uber-accurate distance, but that's what I'm working on now.
If anyone knows of any good applications for measuring KML file data (other than google earth) let me know
I work with KML all the time and have libraries that can read the data and calculate distances. It's certainly not a commercial application, but I'd be happy to process the files and give you the distances if you want.
On the recon, what would you have done differently, knowing what you know now?
On the recon, what would you have done differently, knowing what you know now?
grindz145
1 MW
[youtube]_z1aiRwZ4QY[/youtube]
grindz145
1 MW
amberwolf said:Google search
http://www.google.com/search?q=applications+for+measuring+KML+file+data&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US
finds this link:
http://africasoils.net/labs/mobile/a-comparison-of-apps-for-conducting-surveys-part-2-distance-and-area-measurement/
Does that help?
Thanks for the help, I'm really looking for an application that counts mileage from KML data. I already have one number from the app that created the KML data, but I would like to confirm with another app if possible.
grindz145
1 MW
fbl100 said:
Thanks! I might take you up on that. Just beware my KML file is greater than 60MB
I would have definitely spent more time zooming in on google maps and street view to determine if the road was worthy, figuring out a route, and calculating efficiency while fully loaded. I should have performed some testing at various speeds with the full tour setup to create a better model. It was way off and it made me think that I could do more miles than I really could.
