Month: April 2016

WHAT IS A TADPOLE TRIKE?

What is a tadpole trike? The answer might surprise you somewhat … especially if you have never given much thought to it. By definition any vehicle that consists of two wheels in the front and one wheel in the back qualifies as a tadpole trike. Actually the most proper wording is “reverse trike”, but we seldom hear that used. We usually think of “recumbent tadpole trikes” and if we want to be understood that is the term we should use. Otherwise … well, these next three images show tadpole trikes …

tadpole trike non recumbent 2

not a recumbent

Campagna_T-Rex motorized tadpole

above & below … not human powered but classified as a motorcycle

tadpole trike homemade motorcycle

VeloMetro green

considered recumbent but is a velocar with motor assist

It is not likely that we are meaning any of these, but rather this is what we have in mind …

pink Catrike Trail

Well, maybe not in pink, but hey, I like it. My point is to be sure we are understood it is best to call these critters by their proper name … recumbent tadpole trikes and not ‘recumbent trikes’ as that would also include Delta trikes with one wheel in the front and two wheels in the back.

And please … DON’T REFER TO TRIKES AS BIKES. Bikes have 2 wheels. Trikes have 3 wheels. I am so bothered by that as I never know for sure what someone is talking about when they say bike but are referring to a trike. I have to ask myself … are they really that stupid? Calling a trike a bike is like calling a truck a car. It is stupid to do so. If you are talking about a truck and call it a car how is someone suppose to know what you are talking about? It is the same thing with bike and trike. They are not interchangeable. And a tadpole trike is not a trike bike as some people also call them. Excuse me while I go out to my truck car.

Hase Kettweisel delta trike

The picture above is a recumbent trike, but definitely not a recumbent tadpole trike. Let’s be accurate with our words and then maybe others will think we have some degree of intelligence.

That’s all folks. Let’s all … KEEP ON TRIKIN’

WATER BOTTLE CLEANING

water from faucet

H2O … water … the substance of life … we can’t live without it. And sadly most of us don’t drink nearly enough of it. It is so healthy and makes a huge difference in how our bodies work … or don’t work. There is no substitute for good ol’ water. There is no other liquid we could name that is better for us than water. And keeping sufficiently hydrated while exercising is so very important. Oftentimes there is no source of water for miles and miles as we ride our trikes so we must carry a sufficient supply along with us. Of course, there are all sorts of water bottles and bags such as CamelBack to carry water in.

thermos ss water bottle

I am not here to discuss that other than to say I have tried various water bottles and concluded that they all get low marks from me included the insulated ones. They are a joke as far as keeping water cool. It is said that drinking room temperature water is best for us, but I am one of those who likes it just as cold as I can get it. So personally I use Thermos brand stainless steel water bottles as they do a far superior job keeping the water cold. The plastic insulated water bottles do good to keep ice 2 to 3 hours while these Thermos brand water bottles keep ice for 2 to 3 days. That is all I am saying on this subject.

Drinking water from any type of water bottle results in introducing bacteria into the vessel. Therefore it is important to clean the bottles frequently. And if you don’t stick to pure unadulterated water and place something else in them the bacteria situation can be even worse. I ran across a webpage about this so I am sharing it here.  It is called “7 Tips For Cleaning Your Cycling Water Bottles“.

KEEP ALERT & BE SAFE

I was just remembering back as a teenager it was late at night just after midnite when I decided to accompany a friend home out in the country a few miles from town. We both were riding motorcycles. We rode to his house and I departed from him heading back home by myself. Much to my surprise I fell asleep while riding my motorcycle down the lonely highway. I awoke suddenly when my front tire went off of the edge of the pavement. Thankfully I was able to recover and from there on I managed to stay awake. I have other stories I could tell involving cars, but I will spare you. I wanted to mention this story about the motorcycle as riding off the road could have been disastrous … even fatal … far more so than with a car.

The same is true while riding our trikes. While riding along if we are not paying close enough attention we can find ourselves in trouble if a wheel goes off of the edge of the pavement … whether on a road or a trail. Sometimes we may be by an embankment or water or both at the same time. Having a wheel go off of the edge could all too easily result in disaster.

water alongside trail

embankment along side of trail

This can be the result …

tipping over here, boss 3

It can happen so quick and take it from someone who has experienced it. I don’t know about you, but I like to have fun when riding my trike and this just ain’t no fun!

pavement dropoff along edge

Just something as simple as the drop off along the edge of a trail or road like pictured above can be an experience. As you can see the ground slopes down off of the edge. Once a wheel drops off the edge you already have momentum going to tip you over and the sloped ground makes it even worse. By the way, I caution you if you do find yourself going off the edge it is usually best and safest to slow down if you are not already going slow before attempting to steer and climb back up over the edge of the pavement. Sometimes you just can’t get the tire to climb back up onto the pavement in which case it is probably best to get off and manually lift the trike back onto the pavement.

If you are fortunate to be riding with at least one other person it might be wise to just stop and sit still hollering for them to come to your aid. If you are on too steep of an embankment (and it doesn’t take much) you could very easily go on over if you try to get your trike moving from there or if you try to get up. Another possibility is to get help from someone passing by. It is better to be safe than sorry. Just be careful if you are along side of an embankment as that can be quite dangerous and challenging. Making much of any kind of a move things can go terribly wrong very quickly and there is usually nothing you can do to prevent going over. The old saying applies … “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”.

In the picture below I have drawn a red line where a trail is. It is a concrete surface with about a 4 inch or so drop off along the edge of the concrete. There is an embankment … long and high sloped down to the street. This trail is built along the top of a man made levee running alongside the river. You can see it in the picture further below.

Edgewater Ave. trail and embankment 3 with red line

There is pipe railing along the river side as a barrier to keep trail users from going off that side and down into the river, but nothing along the other side of the trail (no type of barrier) to prevent someone from taking a nasty tumble quite possibly (and probably) not stopping until they land out in the street. It is a very dangerous situation. I would not be surprised to hear of someone having a bad accident along there one of these days. I am surprised it hasn’t happened already. Perhaps it has and I just don’t know about it.

Anyone who knows and understands the physical science involved when a trike tire suddenly drops down it has inertia built up and the rider’s body weight suddenly shifting to one side as a result adds to the forces involved making the trike tip over quickly. Once this starts it is hard to stop it and prevent the tip over. And when there is a sloped embankment present it is pretty much impossible to keep it from happening and greatly increasing the danger.

Edgewater Ave. embankment along trail 2

Edgewater Ave. embankment along trail 4

Watch where you are riding at all times and avoid being a victim of such a fate. You will not only be able to ENJOY THE RIDE, but you will be able to … KEEP ON TRIKIN’.

ENJOYING LIFE VIA CATRIKE

enjoying life via catrike

A man and his wife from Canada recently got their first tadpole trikes and are documenting their experiences on video. Their YouTube channel is Enjoying Life Outside and hence my title … Enjoying Life via Catrike. Here is their first video … an introduction to the series they are producing. As you can see the videos are well done and interesting. I look forward to seeing more from them.

2016 NATIONAL BIKE CHALLENGE

 

National Bike Challenge 2

May is on the way as one website I saw reads. And …

May is National Bike Month

The annual National Bike Challenge starts on May 1st. I participated in it a few years ago and ended up in first place in my locality. It was indeed challenging to do so and I didn’t care to do it again the next year or since. I am well satisfied to have accomplished it once. I am talking about what was involved to end up in the lead. Regardless of how much we ride we can enter the “challenge” and not ‘compete’ to get first place. I was asked and encouraged to register and take part in it as a representative of my area knowing that I ride a lot … or at least I did then. I still ride, but not as much each day as I did then. PeopleForBikes owns, operates and maintains the National Bike Challenge website. PeopleForBikes is making bicycling better for everyone by uniting millions of riders, thousands of businesses and hundreds of communities.

“The National Bike challenge is a nationwide event uniting thousands of current bicyclists–and encouraging countless new riders.”

National Bike Challenge

All that is involved is to 1) register (it’s free) and 2) keep track of your rides and enter the mileage on their website. You don’t have to do it everyday. You can enter it whenever you get a round tuit just so long as you enter it within the time frame of the event. Just keep accurate record of it so you can enter it. Here is a sampling of what the record keeping looks like on their website. This was my mileage back in June 2012 when I participated in it.

June milage

For those who use smartphones there are apps available to use to keep track of your mileage and upload it to the website making the task even easier.

You can read more about this event HERE.

In closing this article I need to mention that according to what I understand Scott is not sponsoring this event this year. The image I have posted up above shows Scott, but that was last year’s image. Cottonelle is the main sponsor of this event.

Speaking of sponsors …

National Bike Challenge sponsors 2016

And BTW, I don’t know if the numbers shown in the image (75,000 people, 35,000,000 miles) are the same for this year or not. Lastly, there are free prizes given away for those who lead in the mileage tallied.

TRIKE DEALERS PAGE ADDED

I just want to call your attention to a new page I have added to this blog. It is “TRIKE DEALERS” and on it you will find various trike dealers listed and what brand of trikes they sell. You will find a button for it among the others in the header of this blog. I have started it off listing a few dealers in northern Indiana where I live. I am not about to take the time and go to all the hard work of looking up dealers all over the nation to list here. However if you are a trike dealer or if you want to list a trike dealer on this page just email me (tadpolerider2 at gmail dot com) with all the information and I will gladly list it. Please include all pertinent information such as name of business, complete address, phone number, email address, website, Facebook page, business hours, and what brand(s) are sold.

Top 5 Incredibly Fast Recumbent Trikes

The following is for speedsters only. It is a video where one man’s opinion is expressed. I certainly can agree with at least most of what he selected as the fastest trikes. Of course the very last one can’t hardly be compared to the others since it is motorized. Anyway, here is what the YouTube description says:

If you like to ride fast you will want to have one of these recumbent trikes. They can go amazingly fast on pedal power alone. The last trike is by far the fastest, but it does have some … er … make that “considerable” e-assistance.

ICE VYX Recumbent Trike http://www.icetrikes.co/
HP Velotechnik Scorpion http://www.hpvelotechnik.com/index_e….
CATRIKE 700 http://www.catrike.com/#!700/c1dnt
TerraTrike Sportster http://www.terratrike.com/sportster.php
OUTRIDER USA Alpha http://outriderusa.com/

Note: Some of you may have noticed that this same video just recently posted on the Trike Asylum (TA) blog. It is just “coincidence” and not the first time something like this has happened and I am sure it will continue to happen from time to time. With both blogs being similar it is bound to happen. Sometimes the TA article posts before mine and sometimes my article posts before the one on TA. I just want you to know that neither of us are using each other’s blog for material to write about.

DROOPING CABLES AND OTHER LOW DOWN HAZARDS

drooping cables 3

This not only looks very untidy and unprofessional it is downright dangerous. Yet I see it all the time … brake cables, shifting cables, wires and who knows what else … hanging down almost touching the ground. I mean that is “an accident waiting to happen”. All it takes is for one or more of these to snag on something as the trike is in motion and “wow” … bad news for sure. Not only can serious damage result to the cables (wires or what have you), what they are attached to, and who knows what else, but it could cause a wreck and maybe even launch the rider forward out of the seat.

drooping cables 2

Such stuff hanging down should be dealt with. I use plastic cable ties to hold cables and wires up. Of course, sometimes the cables are just too long to begin with in which case they should be shortened. I caution you however to make sure that you don’t shorten a cable too much so that it is not long enough to facilitate turning the wheels all the way both directions. Also if the trike folds the cables must be long enough to allow that. In raising the cables and wires up and securing them using plastic cable ties (or whatever) the same concerns exist so make sure what you are doing is not going to cause problems. There should not be any problem finding a way to get these low hanging hazards eliminated. I have secured them to the frame, another cable, a seat strap, etc. I have rerouted cables and wires so that they are kept up above the frame. I have routed them inside the mesh seat pad on the bottom side of seat (sandwiched in between).  As the saying goes … “where there is a will there is a way”. Just make sure nothing binds or effects the working on the cables in any way. That is the lowdown on these lowdown hazards.

Avoiding such unpleasant and unwelcome surprises while riding should be a priority. Afterall, we all want to …

KEEP ON TRIKIN’

A FREE GIFT awaits you!

REMOVING, PERFORMING MAINTENANCE & REINSTALLING CATRIKE FRONT WHEEL BEARINGS

sealed bearingsThe wheel bearings that come on Catrikes (as well as other brands) are the “sealed” type which are suppose to be “maintenance free”. I have never opened one up to look at it. I guess I just assume and trust that the manufacturer did a proper job and the finished product is of highest quality and done right. Well, according to this new Catrike owner he says it ain’t necessarily so. He purchased a new 559 model and requested of Catrike that they ship it directly to him as he wanted to be the one to assemble it and set it up. I can’t say as I blame him as some dealers have sure messed up during the process. Anyway, one of the things he did was to carefully check everything as he unpacked the shipping box. What he found was very discouraging and troubling. Apparently Catrike is not doing a very good job when it comes to the packaging and shipping of their trikes. He found numerous problems and messed up parts from not being properly packaged. The first trike he received he sent back because of this. The second one he received was nearly as bad.

removing seal in bearing

Anyway, on with the story … he checked each and every sealed bearing by removing the seal. What he found was not good. The vast majority of the bearings had issues … no grease, very little grease and rust. This clearly indicates that there is a serious problem with quality control where the bearings are being produced.

bearing with seal removed

He has made a video about this in which he tells about what he discovered and then has detailed instructions on how to remove, inspect, clean, lubricate and reinstall the wheel bearings. He is also producing other videos as time goes along.

A FREE GIFT awaits you!

LET’S GET TOGETHER … YEAH YEAH YEAH

Hayley Mills had a hit song, “Let’s Get Together”, back in 1961. Of course, it had nothing to do with cycling, but never the less it comes to mind when I think of the subject here. I don’t imagine that many of us are in a position to do this, but we are all invited to a gathering as recumbent riders at the 2016 International Recumbent Meeting in the Czech Republic sponsored by Azub. On this website there is a form to fill out if we plan on attending. Here is a video of last years event and here is the video description:

“As every 5 years AZUB is going to organize a big event in Uherský Brod this September as a little celebration of AZUB`s 15th Anniversary. Many of you may remember great meetings in 2005 and especially in 2010 when we welcomed over 200 riders in Uherský Brod and we hope to host even more people this year.

Of course, that the meeting is open to recumbent riders with any recumbent, not only AZUB. It does`t really matter what you ride on. Important is the way you do it. Or better to say that important is that you like recumbents. That means that we will welcome recumbent riders with any recumbent and also their partners, children and friends with classic upright bikes, kick bikes, tandems or whatever.”

I am somewhat confused by what I read about this event. It says one place it is every 5 years and another place it is an annual event. I don’t know what is correct. If you know perhaps you can comment and straighten me out.

I am sure it would be interesting and fun to attend. But alas, I will have to settle for watching the videos available.

Here is Azub’s webpage, Recumbent World, where you can register your existence and location as a recumbent rider. You can let others know they may have someone near them who they may be able to contact and ‘get together’ for riding. Their motto is … ˶ Find each other. Ride together!  ̋

There are lots of local area groups listed for the purpose of “meeting up” to ride together.

 

 

HONK IF YOU ARE AMISH

Amish horse and buggy

HONK IF YOU ARE AMISH

That is meant to be sort of a joke for you see most Amish buggies and wagons don’t have horns on them. However I think the real intent of this “non-joke” is to try to get those Amish folks who have cars they keep hidden in the daytime and only take them out at night to be caught off guard and get them to honk if they see the bumper sticker which says this. I have something in mind concerning riding our trikes around horses, but before getting to it I want to say this about the Amish … The really sad part of it all is they are in legalistic bondage of their own making and don’t even realize it. They live without modern conveniences thinking that in doing so it is pleasing to God and makes them more acceptable to Him. They fail to understand that God does not care about the things we have. What He cares about is the things that have us. He is a jealous God and is quite insistent on having first place in our hearts and lives. And He deserves no less. And just like the Israelites the Amish find ways to “cheat” and get around some of their man made regulations. It is really quite laughable. They just don’t “get it”. Some of the stuff they engage in is superstitious. They can’t have electricity or “landline telephones” because it comes into their homes via wires. And wires are a no no because they are told that devil can enter their house thru wires. (How ridiculous!) Yet they can have gasoline engine driven generators, solar panels, cell phones, etc. as there are no wires coming into their homes from the outside world. They can’t have electric motors so they use pneumatic motors ran off of an air compressor powered by a gasoline generator. They need to spend more time prayerfully reading God’s Word (the bible) for enlightenment and understanding instead of blindly following their man made religion. Regardless of what any of us are doing in our lives there is nothing more important than our eternal souls and whether or not we miss out on God’s great love for us and what He has for us thru Jesus Christ. You can read more about it HERE.

Anyway, being in northern Indiana I don’t have far to go to encounter Amish people and their horses and buggies, etc. And occasionally I do go riding out in “Amish country” where I contend with the horrible conditions of the roads that they have destroyed with their wagons, etc. I used to have some pictures of this, but alas, I seem to have lost them. Anyway, here is one I found online. However, it is not really a bad surface like I am talking about.

damaged road surface from Amish wagons

road apples

And then there is the problem with horse manure all over the place. That is always so nice to deal with too. I really don’t understand how they get away with any of this. I think lawmakers need to crack down on them and force them to do something about the horse manure and destroying the roads. Non Amish folks are required to use catch devices with horses and so should the Amish. Also if they are going to insist on a lifestyle where they destroy the roads taxpayers paid for they ought to have to pay a special tax to repair them since they alone are doing the damage.  Those of us who drive our cars and trucks on those roads deal with damage occurring to our vehicles as a result of the bad road surfaces. But that is not what I am here to write about just now. I just had to get it off my chest so to speak.

Amish horse and buggy accident

Mixing it up with motor vehicle traffic is always a great concern and it is usually the Amish folks and the horses that come out on the losing end. It is a bad situation. But again, that is not what I want to address here. As cyclists we want others to  “Share the Road” and all of us need to share the road with whoever is out there regardless of what we are driving or riding.

Amish horse & buggy warning sign

Amish horse acting up

What I do want to talk about is some concerns we cyclists need to be aware of if we find ourselves riding and sharing the road with these folks. Horses can be skiddish and frighten when they encounter certain things. I have discovered that my flashing headlight often upsets them and can cause them to rear up and go crazy. In doing so they greatly endanger themselves, the Amish people on the buggies/wagons, anyone nearby which includes us. I had one horse go totally out of control and the Amishman struggled trying to  get the horse to settle down. He ended up having the horse pull off the road into the driveway of another Amish farm and kept going a ways down the lane away from me. I felt bad that I had caused this. I could not help but think … what if that buggy would have been filled with young children or women who didn’t have the experience and expertise that the Amishman had. That scene could have turned out much different … even tragic. So now when I go riding out in Amish countryside and see a horse and buggy/wagon coming toward me I reach out and turn my headlight off until I get passed them. It definitely has helped eliminate this scenario from being repeated. I would say that there can be other problems our trikes can cause … such as our safety flags or just the sight of something horses are not familiar with, but so far I have not seen any get too out of shape over anything other than my flashing headlight. I have had them come up behind me and pass me where my flashing taillights have been on, but that hasn’t seemed to disturb them.

CATRIKE MAINTENANCE & REPAIR TIPS

NOTE: the website this article is written about no longer exists sorry to say. In its place all I can offer is the Catrike owners manual.  My suggestion is to do an online search for whatever you are looking for. You could use the wording found in the Topics below.

**********

While looking up something else I came across a webpage which I thought I would share here. It is entitled “Index to Catrike Maintenance Posts” and has numerous links to articles about various subjects concerning performing maintenance and repair on Catrikes. Here are the various topics listed:

Basic Setup and Maintenance

Catrike Performance Trike Official 2004 Manual

Catrike Performance Trike Official 2005 Manual

Catrike Performance Trike Official 2006 Manual

Catrike Performance Trike Official 2007 Manual

Catrike Performance Trike Official 2009 Manual
Catrike Performance Trike Official 2010 Manual

removing the master link on the chain, and replacing it (page 18 of the above manual).
checklist of initial setup items
removing a front wheel
replacing front wheel bearings
replacing rear wheel bearings
adjusting rear derailer (link to Sheldon Brown’s instructions)
adjusting disk brakes (link to Park Tool page)
replacing disk brake pads (link to Park page)
Bruce’s advice on adjusting Avid BB7 brakes on Catrikes
installing front fenders
fixing a flat tire in front, rear wheels
installing teflon bushings in front headsets

Catrike headset adjustment, servicing bearings

cleaning a chain, and lubrication

Troubleshooting section:

rear wheel squeak: lube rubber weather seal
Bottom bracket not horizontal when trike is on flat surface: loosen boom clamp, reorients boom, or file guide tooth
after removing a front wheel, my brake pad rubs: adjust brakes, per this link:
shimmy in steering: purchase teflon bushings from catrike, install
chain routing
brake cable routing
shifter cable routing
setting toe on front wheels of a trike

Upgrades:

Facing the bottom bracket edges

Discussion of After market items and FAQs:

Jerry’s flags
Locking brake levers. These are great!
What is Schlump and other drives?
what would Schlump or Roloff give me over the stock gearing?
Terracyle idlers discussion
Super bright (240 lumens) flashlight for use as headlight, tail light
what size bearings does my (year) (model) Catrike use in the front, rear wheel?where does one get replacement steel or ceramic bearings (link, or part number)
ceramic bearing installations in front hubs
options for mounting both a light and a speedometer
list of all tools needed
chain guards, bash guards: Purely Custom, with Catrike Logo available, and many colors, Trice (Utah Trikes) Chain Guard Ring
– Cables: how to order replacements, how to cut to length, how to install end pieces on housing and cable, what tools are needed
– Chains: how to order (how many chains needed/length), brand, types
– Articles on component upgrades (brakes, shifters, derailleurs, etc)
– Common accessories: what has worked well (lights, racks, bags, pedals, mirrors, etc)

– Arizona Whip lighted flagpole

– Tactical Flashlights for lighting system

*********************

As you can see there is quite a lot there. So check it out. You just might find something useful in performing maintenance and repair on your Catrike. And if you have some other brand of tadpole trike you still might find something helpful and equally applicable for the trike you have. With proper maintenance and repairs we can …

KEEP ON TRIKIN’

A FREE GIFT awaits you!

TADPOLE TRIKES CAN PROVIDE A 2ND CHANCE

We hear/read the testimonies nearly everyday … how a tadpole trike has literally transformed lives. Many have had various debilitating injuries and medical/physical issues arise which have greatly taken away from their former vibrant lives including the ability to safely ride a bicycle. Yes, tadpole trikes can and often do make the difference. People experience a second chance. They have a …

new lease on life

One well known triker is Catherine Brubaker. From her YouTube video description:

“Catherine Brubaker is a fighter. After suffering Traumatic Brain Injury (twice) she has come back and is a real inspiration to everyone she meets. Now she is embarking on a real challenge- a cross country ride on her recumbent trike from Washington state to Key West. She’s joining others on the ride and needs your help to make this dream happen.”

Catherine's 5390 mile ride to Florida.jpg

Of course, this is past history now. She completed the epic ride spoken of in the video and is still riding her trike and fighting the good fight. Go Cat, go!

As I understand it from watching the next video below both she and Dan (mentioned below) made this ride together from Washington to Florida.

Here is another video, a newer one, which features both Catherine and Dan Zimmerman. Dan suffered a stroke. They are currently planning another ride … from Washington to Massachusetts, a distance of 3814 miles. She and Dan are will be riding thru 15 states on this next journey together starting in June 2016. It is called “Sea to Sea Tour”.

Dan Zimmerman & Catherine Brubaker

sea to sea tour map

Perhaps if you live somewhere along their planned route you can come out and show your support when they are near you. Perhaps you can ride along with them for part of their journey (assuming that’s okay with them). Check out the planned route and schedule HERE. (They will coming to within about 40 miles from me. I hope I will be able to go there and see them.) You can read more about Catherine and what she is about HERE.

HERE is Catherine’s Facebook page where you can follow her as she pedals away. Catherine says “I gained hope through riding my trike”.  And Dan has the same testimony.

And you can read more about Dan’s life and cause HERE. You can also make financial donations to help their cause on these websites. Catherine’s GoFundMe

donate today

Yes, tadpole trikes can provide hope and a means of a new lease on life. May we all …

KEEP ON TRIKIN’

THE PEDAL INN, A HOMEMADE INSULATED CAMPER (NOMAD LIVING)

Pedal Inn 1

The Pedal Inn

Over the last few years I have seen pictures of quite a few bicycle campers people have built. This is the most recent one I have come across. It is unique in that it is low cost and highly insulated … so much so he reports that his body heat alone will raise the temperature inside by 30 degrees when the temperature is 20 to 30 degrees outside. Using an alcohol heater set on it’s lowest setting he says it will raise the temperature to 70 degrees in only 10 minutes. There is one problem he reports that he needs to work on … condensation … he needs some additional ventilation.

HERE is a link to his blog where you can read about this camper. (I purposely chose this url in case anyone is interested in reading what he has written beyond this camper and about his recumbent bike and trike writings.)

Pedal Inn 12

Black Gorilla tape holds the 1 inch thick insulation boards together. Here is a closeup look at the insulation board.

insulation board

He says it is amazingly strong and light weight. He guesses it weighs somewhere between 20 – 30 pounds total. That is very light considering its dimensions.

Pedal Inn 2

14 square feet ain’t much, but when you are pulling this rig with a bike or trike ya’ gotta’ keep it to a minimum. The over all length is 7′. The first 4′ it is 2′ wide, 38″ at the highest and 33″at the lowest. The last 3′ is 22″ wide by 26″ high. The two windows are each 8″x15″ and are scavenged plexiglass.

Pedal Inn 4

There are 2 shelves for storage of clothes, canned goods, toiletries and a folding chair, among other things. All in a space that he wouldn’t be using anyway, as it’s too small for any other part of him other than his legs.

Pedal Inn 8

He has a fold down shelf for a cookstove.

Pedal Inn 9

Pedal Inn 14

The door is simply hinged using Gorilla tape and the latch is made out of a metal clothes hanger.

Pedal Inn 17

Sleeping inside of a sleeping bag I am sure he is toasty warm protected from the external elements in his motorless camper. And come summertime the insulation should help keep it somewhat comfortable since it will reflect the sun’s rays as well as insulate. All he needs to do is make some screened windows so air can flow thru it (which he mentions on his blog).

Pedal Inn 11

I have previously written an article about nomad living and the various trailers folks have come up with. Unfortunately that was back on my first endeavor with this blog which I decided to close and delete so it is gone forever dreadful sorry Clementine. I can’t say WordPress didn’t warn me. It was just a bad decision on my part which I will probably always regret. Anyway, I thought I would post some pictures here of some other camper trailers. Most of them are homebuilt, but one or two are factory made. Please remember that when viewing images on WordPress blogs you can place your cursor on the images and left click your mouse to have the images open up in their own window and usually appear larger. To return to this page just use your browser’s BACK BUTTON.

bike camper 1 bike camper 2 bike camper 3 bike camper 4

bike camper 6 bike camper 7 bike camper 9 bike camper 10

bike camper 11 bike camper 12 bike camper 8

bike camper 13 bike camper 14

For those who are interested in a “micro camper nomad life” check out this video  by Paul Elkins:

And here is another one of his videos about another micro camper he made:

He sells plans for some of the stuff he has come up with. Visit his website for the plans HERE.

And HERE is his main website.

Here is a video he made showing some of the various things he has made.

Paul has made other micro campers which he features in videos. Check out his YouTube channel.

AZUB FAT TRIKE

Azub Fat Trike

According to what I read Azub had no intention of getting into offering a Fat Trike model. They already had great sales going and didn’t need to add this model even though they were aware that fat tire trikes are becoming quite popular. My understanding is that they were asked to make one for someone and they agreed to do so. And that led to manufacturing and selling them in their lineup of models. The Azub Fat Trike has 26 inch wheels all around. It is built on the T-Tris frame with the rear stays being widened to accommodate the fat tire. The rear stays section was purposely made short to keep the length of the frame as small as possible for best off road usability.

Azub fat trike rear stays

Azub fat trike front wheel axle

Azub fat trike wheel rim

The trike lists for $4291 and has several options available which you can check out HERE. With their top of the line/most expensive options the price goes to $6144.

Azub FAT trike on frozen lake 8

I wrote an article previously about this trike. The picture above is part of that article. Fat trikes most definitely outperform traditional tadpole trikes, but even so, they have their limits and this frozen lake expedition was super challenging. Much of the time was spent off of the trike trying to push, pull and lift it along over the difficult terrain. Even tossing it over crevices in the ice was involved. It wore him out physically as each day was quite challenging. There are pictures of all of this in the article.

Azub FAT trike on frozen lake 11

I am sure most of us won’t be trying anything like this, but if you enjoy exploring off road a Fat Tire Trike might be the cat’s meow for you. Just be safe as things still can go wrong aboard one of these.

TIRE PRESSURE … READ ALL ABOUT IT

sidewall tire pressure

Another website article I came across recently is about air pressure in tires. The title of the article kind of catches your attention … “4 Ways Your Tire Pressure Is Wrong“. Those 4 ways are: 1) You don’t actually know your pressure, 2) You’re using the same pressure front and rear, 3) You’re not checking it regularly, and 4) It’s probably too high. It is an interesting read. Well, you may not be able to read ALL there is to read about tire pressure, but you can certainly read about it.

pumping up bike tire 3

There has been quite a bit of chatter recently about tire pressure and whether or not there really is anything to what we have long heard and believed … that the higher the pressure the less rolling resistance and the longer a tire will last. Now there are those saying it ain’t necessarily so … they we have been wrong about this. These folks say tests have shown this. I am among those who are not convinced. It sure seems to me that the higher the pressure the less rolling resistance and the tires will last longer. Anytime I have ridden with my tires at a considerable lower pressure (still within the range of the tire) it doesn’t roll as easily and I can’t go as fast. They say that “the proof is in the pudding” and that someone with experience is not at the mercy of someone who only has an argument to offer. It is going to take more than mere words and claims to change my mind about this. Anyway, keeping our tires properly inflated will help us to …

 

KEEP ON TRIKIN’

A FREE GIFT awaits you!

GOOGLE’S SELF DRIVING BICYCLE (only available on April 1st)

This video has fooled a lot of folks as it is so well done and looks so real. But this is April 1st and Google has been pulling April Fools pranks on us for the last few years. What do you think? Did it fool you? I am taking the 5th myself. My mother didn’t raise a fool.

Some are saying … “shut up and take my money”. 🙂

Google does have self driving cars and they have been quite successful thus far. It is only natural to assume they could also pull this off. Ya gotta admit it sure looks real.

Here is another self driving bicycle …

ALL ABOUT BIKES (AND TRIKES)

I recently came across a webpage I found interesting and decided to share it here on my blog. It is part of a website of GOPBC.org (Georgia Organization of Parents of Blind Children). The title of it is “All About Bikes – for Parents of Visually Impaired Children“.

They write: “A much more detailed article about a great many cycling options for visually impaired and other special needs children and also a lot of information of general interest about unusual bikes, trikes, etc. There are lots of photos … “

Here are the contents:

Introduction
Safety First
Conventional Bikes vs. Recumbents
Common Bike Designs: Touring, Mountain, Hybrid
Suspension: Solid, Hardtail, Full
Child Carriers & Child Trailers
Tandems: Conventional & Specialized
“Active Trailers”; Trail-a-Bikes, Tag-Alongs and Similar Solutions
Passive Trailers for Kids & Utility Trailers
More Unique Tandem Bikes: Child Sized, Side-by-Side, Back-to-Back, etc.
Trikes for Kids
Trikes for Adults
Tandem Trikes and Convertible Trikes
Special Needs Setups including Wheelchair / Bike Tandem Combinations
Quad Bikes: 4 wheels for 1, 2, 3, and passengers
Truly Long Bikes: Inline options for 3, 4, 5, and even 6 passengers
Kiddie Cranks, S & S Couplers, and various unique bikes
The Biggest of the Big– 7 & 8 passenger solutions
Hauling Solutions– how do you get the bike where you want to ride it?
Answers to common questions
Links
The final word

As you can see there is lots covered so it is a good general read about bikes and trikes.