It was time to go home.
First – an apology. Hardly any still images taken today but there is video footage from the day at the end.
It was another great night in the Beriault Camper. Now the teething troubles are over it’s all working very well with enough room for sleeping, space to store stuff and a comfortable doorway to sit in and get changed etc. It’s pretty comfortable reading while leaning against a cushion which, in turn, is up against the back wall. All this in the towable B(eriault) B(icycle) C(amper) No. 5.
I haven’t yet tried bringing the chair in and sitting in it. This will need a fair bit of contortion so I’ll leave that for a future trip. A good thing to test when it’s raining? Or in private in the backyard!
The Possum has been back overnight. Colin had his breakfast eggs and bacon in his food box. The eggs in a carton, the bacon wrapped plus in the packet. The Possum had knocked the food box over, opened it up and eaten the lot, cleaning up after itself by eating the egg shells. Luckily Colin had some Weetbix and milk to give him energy today.
After my muesli and today’s half a litre of coffee I started packing up and getting the camper ready for towing. Colin did the same and we wandered about for some time finding things, looking for things, packing things up and placing things in campers.
Then we said our goodbyes and left.
The road out of the campsite was ridden without mishap and we headed to the “big gravel hill”. That was another story. I crawled up it switching between power levels 3, 4 and 5 managing to keep to only minor wheel slips, sometimes riding so slowly the speedo didn’t register. Getting to the top I looked around – no Colin. Leaving Bluey at the top I went back and found :
The 3 power level selection available on the Pendix motor was causing problems finding the appropriate one for the conditions. We ended up human-powering (pushing) the rig to the top.
After that it was the wonderful run mainly downhill almost into Bracknell. The sun was out making the scenery, once again, brilliant.
At Bracknell we parted company as I was on a mission to get home whereas Colin was having a rest and taking his lunch there. His battery was getting low so much leg power was being used. Colin knew of a power point at Bishopsbourne and wanted to see if it works and if he can get a bit of a charge in to help with getting home. (NB : in the end the power point wasn’t available and he eventually got home with 8% of power left – after pedalling a lot without assistance).
For me this was another great day out in Tasmania riding my trike after a delightful, peaceful stay at the Liffey Falls Campground. Not sure how Colin feels about the ride home!
In the end I got back OK with my two batteries. Both used about 80% of their charge so I still feel a 100k ride towing the camper is possible with them. Just have to choose a route with no more climbing than this one and a day with no headwind.
In case you are wondering – I can’t help out with power as the Pendix has a 48v system while the Bafang uses 36v. They also have different fittings – so sadly my third, small, battery cannot provide joint backup.
50-60k rides with trailers will be OK as long as we park on a powered site.
’til next time …………….
Tony's Tasmanian Cycling Blog 