Pumping Ion(s)

The trailer was ready for its next test run out and I filled two lithium-ion batteries to 90% using only winter sunlight.

Initially charging with the solar panel and the Genasun 36v boost charger was slow. The sun was behind a bit of cloud plus small amounts of leafless branch shadow from the neighbour’s trees covered part of the panels. The charger indicated “slight charge” by displaying a fast flickering green LED. But then the sun appeared from behind the cloud cover and the display changed to a slow heavy pulse indicating a good charge. It felt good to charge the batteries this way again as recently I have used house power due to a lot of grey skies.

While the batteries were charging I thought about the last couple of weeks.

We spent a few days in the south of the State visiting friends. In Huonville we went to the DS Cafe with Ken. In the Cafe was this bike :

This picture is for reader Emily as I think she had cruisers when younger. This one seems a bit fancy though – I wonder if it is actually for riding or is it an artwork.

We returned to Longford via the Tasmanian highlands. At the Poatina turnoff, pretty much in the middle of nowhere, we came across 12-15 police and vehicle inspectors stopping traffic for breathalizer and car checks. We passed both and were sent on our way. Hopefully some poorly maintained vehicles and/or drivers were removed from the roads and so won’t be endangering cyclists.

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Once back home I got to work tidying up the trailer.

I thought long and hard about the front legs. Several ideas were rejected and then, one rainy day, I was in the shed, pondering, when my eye fell on the unused bits of the Burley trailer. The side frame looked like a possible fit. How to connect them to the trailer? A cup of tea and some more thought. I had two bidon holders on the back of the trike which were made to attach bottle cages to normal handlebars. Once removed and the cage taken off – here were the two fittings needed. All I need to do now is 3D print some feet to stop the ends sinking into the ground.

On road test #2 I had noticed the hood was being jolted up and down and side to side. This sort of thing can damage surfaces over time so I wanted to work out how to hold the hood steady while travelling.

I tried using velcro then small straps. Neither worked well, so I used the idea of a wrap-around strap similar to that used with the original trailer last season. That strap had flattened the coreflute box edges due to the strap tension. This time I printed 4 corner pieces which I hope will spread the load.

At rest the hood does not move. Another test ride is required to fully check out the strap. Road Test #3.

This time we would go further to test battery usage and load the trailer to simulate a camping load.

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A trip to Bracknell

The 20k to Bracknell would be mostly into a north-westerly headwind while the return 20k would be with a tailwind. A good test for battery usage as well as trailer behaviour. Even if it’s not a full load with food, water and every piece of camping gear that sneaks in for a real camp. You know how it works – “I may need that and there is room for it if I squeeze things up a bit more”.

What did I learn on this trip?

The trailer tracks well with about 2/3rd of a load on board. In a straight line (down several hills) I held the speed back to a max of 40kph and everything felt good. I was going to try braking under those conditions but was having too much fun to pull up.

With its low profile, the wind doesn’t seem to disturb the trailer. Yes, the weight slows things down, particularly when climbing hills but that’s only to be expected. The wind came in from many angles during the ride and never moved me, trike or trailer about on the road. Colin rode behind, watching carefully, and agrees with the previous statement.

On arrival at Bracknell I was feeling a bit tired and wasn’t too keen on setting the camper up. Colin egged me on to do the right thing – so while the kettle boiled I tackled the job. The trip showed the strap holding the hood and the new anti-bulge brackets were working. During the ride there was no noise from the hood moving about and, on setup, no coreflute damage was visible. The noises in the latter part of the video were from the battery mount. Something to be fixed.

All good so far. One issue from the pre-trip checkover. The trailer tyres were a bit flat and the valves had trouble working with both my pumps. Before any serious trip I intend to swap out the tyres for Schwalbe Marathons plus a couple of new inner tubes. The difficulties with the valve/pump connection reminded me to do this job.

The trip home was as good as the trip out. I may possibly have been able to do the entire trip using the 13 ah battery but changed it out at Bishopsbourne anyway. It’s looking like a 50/60k trip involving some hill climbing will be no problem using 2 batteries. Possibly a repeat of last years trip to Quamby Corner on 3 batteries?

Now to get the vestibule sewn up and attached together with various weather proofing strips sewn and installed and we will be good to hit the road.

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The last Test

First though – what’s it like to actually sleep in the trailer overnight? I got to thinking “how hard is it to get in the sleeping bag while in the narrow space of the trailer” and “will changing clothes be doable?”

So, I thought I would find out with a camp in the back garden. The camper wasn’t quite ready for an overnight in the open though – weather strips still to be fitted. So I set up the camper in the shed as rain was scheduled !

Yes I did.

Doing all the normal camping jobs related to sleeping all went well and were quite a bit easier than in a tent. I used the shelf at the front for clothing and had a small shelf towards the back for light, phone, glasses etc. That one I knocked a few times during the night so it will have to go. It needs replacing with one higher up.

I slept under a lightweight Quilt and it was plenty warm enough. In fact I started with the shed door shut as it was drizzling outside but around 3am got up and opened the door to let some cold air in!

I had to rise at 6am to get Mrs C into Launceston for a medical appointment and I was asleep when the alarm sounded. Apart from the 3am wakefulness, not a bad night’s sleep at all.

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’til next time ………………………………