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Post by Nixie on Jul 3, 2009 0:36:03 GMT -5
My cooking pan carries my stove, dish towel, scrubby pad, and dish soap. Yes, I AM packing things inside other things. If I go alone, I can leave behind another pot and maybe even leave behind the mini frying pan and spatula.
I do have a front basket since I can't do front panniers. I used it for storage of items I access constantly. Unfortunately, I have nowhere to put my sleeping bag except on top of my basket, and the pile gets kinda wobbly as it gets taller. I can't wear a backpack because the stuff stacked onto the rear gets in the way.
I'll have to drill holes in my rack and move my basket further back than it was originally meant to be placed, because the way it is now, my poor buttocks rest on it and get sore fast.
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Post by Kristal Rose on Jul 3, 2009 4:03:25 GMT -5
I seem to recall bringing my spatula.
I tried giving you a link to front racks on eBay for shock forks ($8 + 14 shipping to LA).
My stack went about 2/3rds up my back. It requires those straps I keep mentioning to keep it from jiggling or working loose. ..and yes, carrying that much stuff requires real balancing skill. I'm not recommending you carry that much, just saying that you can carry something inbetween.
Don't wear a backpack, don't wear any luggage. Bad idea.
I'm saying I had a backpackers backpack (with frame) on top of my flat stuff (like tent) on top of my rear rack. A sleeping bag on your basket, and a duffle strapped behind it should meet most of your needs except you should still take better advantage of the front though.
You definitely don't want your butt rubbing against a basket. They probably expected your seat to be higher than the basket.
Tall up front, or wide up front for that matter isn't a good idea (wide is really bad for turning). A sleeping bag on top of a front rack would work, but no where else up front.
In the back, you can go as tall and wide as you want, as long as you have the skill to balance it. Obviously the less the better. Low and balanced weight is always required though.
I'm guessing your mp3 player is in the front basket.
I find my bag clerks at the supermarket have no sense for density. I ask for a pair of heaviest bags (handlebars), and a pair of lightest bags (wrists), and they only have a basic sense for what most weighs down the space in a shopping bag.
Bungee cords may be tempting for the stuff piled on your racks like sleeping bags (ok if just bag on basket), but use straps. You don't want elasticity in your stack when trying to sway the bicycle. There's more involved than it just holding together when parked.
The only thing which should contribute to wobble is the sloshiness of one of your active water bottle. Everything else should move rigidly with the frame. The main advantage to your basket (besides being a basket you can quickly throw loose things in) is that you can lash things to it. Take advantage of that.
I once carried 21 bags of groceries home. Bags were lashed everywhere (after putting all the densest things in my basket). I think I had a 12-pack of soda and 5 lb bag of potatoes on the front rack.
It did take me about 1.5 hrs in front of the market to arrange everything.
Oh, now I recall why that happened. A neighbor tried doing me a favor by taking me to the grocery, and didn't expect me take advantage of that by taking four hours to buy a ton of stuff. She ditched me, and I didn't know she expected me to call for another ride home. I had to walk home and get my bike, and the store would be closed before I could return for a second trip.
Hmm, my cats are smarter than I thought. They tore apart their cardboard scrathing post tray to create a sleeping deck on top of this damp carpet they don't want to rest on.
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Post by Kristal Rose on Jul 6, 2009 19:09:38 GMT -5
I just invented a goofy sounding but ingeniously useful camping accessory anyone can make - the shower squeegee. Take a large plastic coffee can lid and cut it into a 3/8 moon with rounded corners. The interior curve should be about that of a knee. You can hold it flat for thigts or bend it for wrists. Make sure the two corners are quite rounded and won't scratch arm pits.
The purpose is of course so you can get by with a hand towel that dries on your handlebars, and not lug around a heavy mildewing bath towel. I'll find it useful even at home.
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Post by Nixie on Jul 6, 2009 20:01:05 GMT -5
.......... What? Use a cut-up coffee can lid instead of a towel?? How does that work?
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Post by Kristal Rose on Jul 6, 2009 21:41:52 GMT -5
It's like a rubber spatula, but fits body parts better. One could just use a credit card, but the curved spatula would be less work. You scrape off all the moisture before using your towel. It works a lot better than just squeegeeing with your hands, which is still better than going directly to towel usage for keeping small towels dry.
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Post by Kristal Rose on Jul 7, 2009 0:05:29 GMT -5
It also occurred to me tonight that I could make an ecological version of my trailer from bamboo instead of aluminum. It would be a lot more work though. I hear they make bamboo bicycles now. I'm not sure how. Perhaps they are laminated. I'd have my hands full just making a selection of tubing spacers and using adjustable clamps to accomodate sightly different diameters of bamboo tubing. I might use my invented technique of setting varnish while it's soaked into the wood (cooked in place), and varnish the bamboo from the inside out. I'll have to look up bamboo bikes. They probably do just what I had in mind, using bamboo as tubing, with different spacers to butt joints. www.calfeedesign.com/bamboo.htmDamn, those look trick. I want one. $2700 just for the frame though. Hmm, they even make tandems and triplet/tandem convertibles.
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Post by Kristal Rose on Jul 7, 2009 4:02:31 GMT -5
Food thoughts:
(cooked) Powdered veggie burger mix is wasted in combo with mac n cheese. Stick to tuna or chili for such, and just make burgers with veggie burger mix.
It dawns on me that fresh food like fruits and veggies are underrated for camping. Sure they weigh more than dehydrated foods, but one has to carry water anyhow unless they are sure their destination has water, and biking requires plenty of hydrating. Might as well carry wet food between water stops.
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Post by Nixie on Jul 7, 2009 4:23:23 GMT -5
Veggie burger mix? Oh, yuck. I'm allergic to half of those things. Soy allergies.
I'm pretty much just gonna get food as I need it. I'll probably never be more than two days away from a store. I will carry some things that'll last a long time, like rice.
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Post by Kristal Rose on Jul 7, 2009 5:00:11 GMT -5
What all are you alergic to anyhow. It might help me figure out. I was sure I was allergic to mustard, sesame, and sunflower seeds, but loaded on dressing wih those at D.'s and had no problem.
Soy remains a suspect though.
Try cooking some rice on your camp stove at home (outside) first. You might change you mind on that one. Oh wait, I seem to recall hearing you say 'minute' rice.
Even on Highway One in california, I was actually several days away from any store except a tiny campground market 6 miles up the road. Those places aren't cheap. They all always carry those cute micro boxes of breakfast cereal though, and hot cocoa of course.
I tried things on the way I never thought I'd try, like live oysters (at the live oyster stand in the middle of nowhere of course) and abalone I wumped and cooked on the woodstove myself. I also brought along my spices in tiny ziplocs and made great apple fritters on that wood stove.
No opinion on the bamboo bike?
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Post by Nixie on Jul 8, 2009 0:45:31 GMT -5
The bamboo bike looks like... well... just another bike, but more expensive because it's not mass produced.
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Post by Kristal Rose on Jul 8, 2009 6:23:59 GMT -5
I guess I'm more into wood finishes and hemp lashings. I ran into a site with about 30,000 threads on bamboo subjects.
I wonder what the life span of a bamboo trailer is. It would cost the same as an aluminum one with nylon connectors. Well, $70, not $130. Still though, if it only lasts two years I'm better off not proving out ecological living.
If you could make it down here, I'd be glad to pay for your train ticket back up. They let bikes on the Amtrak. In fact, maybe by that time I'd be ready to go up. We could both go up by train, and I could bike back down. September; it would still be tolerable heading down by then. Heading North in October wasn't ideal though.
You could even look for work once you got here, have some interview clothes sent down.
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Post by Kristal Rose on Jul 11, 2009 5:19:23 GMT -5
I had more thoughts on the laptop.
If you are travelling with a firm destination, don't bring one unless you wish to work in the evenings. If you are living on the road, no hurry anywhere, and earning your way, bring one.
BICYCLE OPERATION - Everyone should do as habit, but many are unaware of anyhow.
Braking: Apply rear brakes more than front brakes, and before front brakes. This is especially true if there is more weight in front or inclined down a hill. If a rear wheel locks up and skids, recovery is still posible. Avoid requiring brain transplants. Front brakes are capable of more braking power though (more vector force on front wheel). Lie low and to the rear if you need to utilize that braking power.
Shifting: Always be in the right gear to save energy and body stress. The right gear is one in which you are pedalling at your fave pedalling speed with moderate pressure. This proper gear changes as you accelerate or change inclination. Gears should never go "Ka-chunk"; That's like hitting your gears with a hammer. There should never be much pedal pressure when changing gears. You should however always be pedalling while changing gears. To avoid "Ka-chunk" there are two methods: 'anticipation' and 'accelleration'. 'Anticipation' means to shift into a gear just before you need to be in that gear, before you will require increased pedalling stress. Downshifting to your 'dead-start gear' as you approach a stop sign is a classic example of anticipation. When approaching a red light which may turn green, one downshifts gradually while braking to always be in the best gear if the light turns green at that moment. 'Acceleration' is used when you did not have a chance to anticipate a gear. It means you pedal faster just before shifting so that the gears are no longer under load in that same gear.
Rapid gear changing: Without much pedalling, rapid changes of gears ('dumping gears') can only be done in one direction, otherwise the cables and derraileurs risk damage. Dumping gears is in the cable pushing direction. For the rear cluster, one can dump into a higher gear. For the front cluster one can dump into a lower gear. When pulling a cable, advance one hgher front gear, or two lower rear gears at a time at the most.
This is basic bicycling any bicyclist should have well rehearsed and not have to think about any (any more than motorists think about clutch pedals), but I've met casual adult bicyclists who didn't know this stuff, so I mention it just in case.
If you might head down and want a train back, it's no problem for me so long as I know a month in advance, and don't go buying something I'm in no hurry for.
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Post by Kristal Rose on Jul 11, 2009 19:44:29 GMT -5
Oh right, I forgot other thoughts on the laptop. Presuming you bring it, bring two flash drives too. One as a backup of anything you bring from home and might need on the way, and one as a backup of anything you create on the way.
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