Strolling Amok

Pops goes on tour.

Archive for the category “E-Bike Pack Mule”

20 Mar 2015
3 Comments

Oh, Snap!

Bugger! I told you these trails are rocky and washboarded! The original fender support bracket snapped.

Bugger! I told you these trails are rocky and washboarded! The original fender support bracket snapped, taking the headlamp with it.

While down in Yuma, Arizona, I was barreling down a rocky trail at speed when the Aurora’s headlamp tried to bail out. Fortunately, it was held by its power cord and I stopped before it could get sucked into anything. With its own bracket bolted to the original front fender bracket, the poor thing spent its life wobbling up and down on each little bump. The fender bracket coating makes it feel like plastic, but it looks and hefts like aluminum at the break. All that constant flexing induced fatigue, and she let go when she’d finally had enough.

Keeping the fender support bracket was simply the easiest thing to do after the front fender itself abandoned ship while the Mighty Furd was carting the Aurora sideways at Read more…

Posted in E-Bike Pack Mule, Mod Squad and tagged
03 Feb 2015
10 Comments

The Last Ten Percent

A milestone, literally. 1001 miles on the Aurora's odo.

A milestone, literally. 1001 miles on the Aurora’s odo!

After nearly finishing up a local solar project, it’s time to try to get back in development mode with the Evelo Aurora e-bike. The title of this post relates to the design maxim, “the last 10% of a product’s development takes 90% of the total project time”. In other words, there’s a big difference in the time it takes to make something work, and the time to make it work really well. I decided to take an impromptu bike ride, motivated by a local fifth wheel packed with yapping mutts having an anxiety disorder. I wanted to keep an eye out for an alternative campsite just in case the noise became intolerable. Well, while I was wandering about, I decided to tour the north shore of Senator Wash Reservoir beside the Laguna Dam LTVA.

This is merely an approach to the north shore area, well outside it. Easy going down, but not so much coming back up!

This is merely an approach to the north shore area, well outside it. Easy going down, but not so much coming back up!

The goal of this trip was two-fold. One, evaluate the Read more…

Posted in Campsites, E-Bike Pack Mule, Tourista! and tagged , ,
28 Nov 2014
18 Comments

Cyclist as Prey

You turn your kids loose, don't you? How about this other family member? Nice doggy!

You turn your kids loose, don’t you? How about this other family member? Nice doggy!

This year is different at the LaPosa West LTVA. This year, the animal hazard I have to be concerned about is unleashed dogs. Motorcycles can pass them by at low speed without a second look, but bicycles seem to kick in their “chase and bring it down” instinct. I’ve had two attempted attacks in as many weeks while biking down this campground’s main trail, and my deference in treating them as someone’s pet instead of what they are – animal attacks – is wearing thin.

The first was a smallish mutt with legs too short to do much more than 15 MPH, which allowed me to throttle up the Aurora e-bike and keep the dog just alongside the Ibex trailer on the dirt and gravel trail. But it did manage to stay there for a good quarter mile, while some lady jumped out of her motorhome and tried in vain to call it back. That camp is a potential problem because there seem to be three other dogs, a pit bull, one that resembles a mastiff, and one that’s just as large but is a mutt or some breed I can’t identify. Oddly, the pit bull is the only one who doesn’t seem to care when I pass by – if he’s the only one staked out. It seems bored. The others charge their leashes, and it will too if the others are outside at the same time. Pack mentality.

The second episode, a mile from the main area, involved the silent type and just appeared, only barking and growling as it pulled alongside a hundred yards or so past where its owner camped. The owner had been outside with it as I rode by and, from what I could tell, did nothing but watch with amusement. This one was an undersize tan and black shepherd mix (a slightly smaller version of what’s in the photo above) and posed a problem as I returned from another campsite just after sunset. It was a two-pronged problem, the first being that it could outrun me as

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Posted in Daily Life, E-Bike Pack Mule, Navel Gazing and tagged , ,
26 Nov 2014
2 Comments

You Can’t Get There From Here!

If there's no traffic, I like to gawk at the scenery. I liked this just for the play of sun and shadow on the slopes.

If there’s no traffic, I like to gawk at the scenery. I liked this just for the play of sun and shadow on the slopes.

From where I’m camped in Quartzsite, Arizona, the spectacular Ace Hardware store in Blythe, California is 28 miles away. On a bicycle, that’s a fur piece. I knew my carcass would never survive a 60-mile jaunt at this point, but I have been curious about whether the only non-Interstate route there was passable for an oldster on an e-bike. A do-able route would open options for resupply, since Parker, Arizona is even further away. But Google Maps shows kind of a frontage road alongside I-10 from Quartzsite to Blythe, so the questions became: is it passable, and what’s the limit on my seat time these days? I pretty much got good indications on both. It started out as a rather routine routing evaluation, and boiled out as an adventure.

If you're willing to sign in with the camp host to monitor your 14-day stay, Dome Rock Campground is close to Quartzsite, and the price is right.

If you’re willing to sign in with the camp host to monitor your 14-day stay, Dome Rock Campground is close to Quartzsite, and the price is right.

Dome Rock Road heads west out of Quartzsite, and is a nicely-paved two-lane that wends its way through some decent 14-day boondocking areas. About 10 miles out, Dome Rock Road pulls up to the I-10 Exit 11 interchange, and effectively ends there. There was no dirt trail continuing on, so I had to look around for anything heading westward. I was stumped for awhile. I had just passed another BLM camping area entrance, and backtracked to go in and look around. Voila. A dirt trail that was fairly Read more…

Posted in Daily Life, E-Bike Pack Mule
17 Nov 2014
10 Comments

Evelo Exploration

After an initial dip into a narrow wash, the start of the path looks fine, if a bit soft. The bike tire trail ahead is mine, from an earlier look-see.

After an initial dip into a small wash, the start of the path looks fine, if a bit soft. The bike tire track ahead is mine, from an earlier look-see.

Saturday, I decided at mid-afternoon to explore an ATV trail I’d seen earlier. It begins about a mile south of the LaPosa West entrance, along the main trail, Old Yuma Road. It simply heads down into the main wash at a marked point just north of a set of dumpsters the BLM always has in place. ATV trails are usually too violent for anything but ATVs and Jeeps, but since this crossed a wash, I figured, how bad could it be? I still had some walk points though, both from steep dips and patches of sand, dust or gravel several inches deep.

This whole area is a wash, actually, and this is the overflow part of it. The sand and dust frequently gets thick enough to cause steering loss and a "dig in".

This whole area is a wash, actually, and this is the overflow part of it. The sand and dust frequently gets thick enough to cause steering loss and a “dig in”.

Not to complain, though. The mini-adventure of it was the whole point. How far could I get along this thing? What would the nature of the problems be? As it turned out, the most common issue was that Read more…

Posted in Campsites, E-Bike Pack Mule and tagged , ,
14 Nov 2014
14 Comments

Standing Pat

An unnecessarily elaborate way to camp, but a wonderfully convenient and enjoyable way to live.

An unnecessarily elaborate way to camp, but a wonderfully convenient and enjoyable way to live.

Having purged tanks at the LTVA dump station Thursday, and stocked up with fresh food on a run to Parker Friday, I’m now ready to get back in the groove and see how long I can leave the Mighty Furd unused in camp. That should be awhile, perhaps longer than it should sit unstarted. I’ll be wiring in a little 10-watt solar panel to keep its battery topped up and desulfated, if only I can track down the special and now spare solar controller reserved for that task. See, I tucked it away someplace safe while it was at the Ford dealer, and now the challenge is to figure out once more where that safe place was. Ever do that? I have to conduct such searches every now and then. It’s here somewhere!

Although the Defiant is decently leveled out nearly a football field away from my nearest neighbor here at the LTVA in Quartzsite, it was necessary to use one of two long boards that I keep specifically for that job. Getting the trailer level is necessary since the fridge/freezer depends on it for efficiency, and the various cabinet doors as well as the bathroom door will want to swing this way or that if it isn’t close to perfect. Using boards under the tires can become a nuisance to set up as well as store however, and one cracked in half Read more…

Posted in Campsites, Daily Life, E-Bike Pack Mule, Mod Squad, The Defiant and tagged , , ,
14 Oct 2014
6 Comments

Roll-Down Trailer Windows

The window. Fixed.

The window. Fixed.

Just before a major trip to town yesterday, I discovered that the window on the trailer door had somehow slipped down about an inch, opening an impromptu 1/4″x12″ fresh air slot at the top of the window. That explained the draft during the cold, high wind here the day before. Repairs would have to wait though, since a combination laundry and grocery run would prevent taking the time to disassemble the thing and figure out what would be needed to fix it.

So today, I removed the screws squeezing the inner and outer plastic window frames together. Ugh. Small pins molded into both frames that retain the edges of the glass had sheared off at the bottom, letting the glass slowly slide down from its own weight. I’m not sure why, though the door has had an unhappy existence in terms of sag, and takes some shoving now

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Posted in Daily Life, E-Bike Pack Mule, Mod Squad, The Defiant and tagged , , , , , ,
12 Oct 2014
4 Comments

Re-tired

Back in action, with new tires.

Back in action, with new tires.

The Evelo Aurora e-bike is back on its feet after I pulled a senior moment and blew out a tire and flatted a tube a week ago. I know, whoop-dee-doo. But that downtime underscored just how reliant I’ve become on the e-bike to handle the nine-mile trips toward town for everything from haircuts to idle exploration. Yesterday was the repair and first trash run to discard the old tires and the carton that the new ones came in. The new Michelin Country Dry [2] (yep tricky name) tires have a series of small lugs all ’round, which puts them right in paved and fire trail territory for intended usage. They recommend 29 PSI for general use, with a maximum of 58 PSI. I put them at about 30, and the ride is predictably cushy over rough stuff. Battery range will probably benefit from higher pressures, but I thought I’d run them low for awhile.

Compared to the tall, aggressive lugs on the ancient Maxxis tires the bike had been wearing, they do appear and act different at first blush. They have a slight hum on pavement, but not annoyingly so. Hard dirt and especially sand feel more secure than the Maxxis tires did, which may prove a godsend on certain trails near Yuma later this year. But, they are more prone to side-slip on a sloped mix of loose dirt topped with gravel, or when rolling over loose stones. Once the gravel gets above a certain stone size, there’s no difference. It’s a trade-off I can deal with.

I goofed when ordering the self-sealing Michelin tubes, and what arrived were

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Posted in E-Bike Pack Mule and tagged , ,
06 Oct 2014
6 Comments

A Tired Tire Day

This thing has been parked by the street since I've been here, for sale.

This thing has been parked by the street since I’ve been here, for sale.

I’ve been passing an old but fine Chevy K-20 pickup each time on my way to the grocery, hardware store or laundromat in West Wendover, NV. So I thought I’d post some pics. No price was posted, and it’s been there quite a while, so either he’s getting nothing but calls offering “$300 an’ my seester”, or he’s unjustifiably high on asking price. Hard to guess, because there just aren’t that many people in Wendover and West Wendover combined. By the way, the title for this post does not refer to its tires, which Read more…

Posted in Daily Life, E-Bike Pack Mule and tagged , , , , ,
01 Oct 2014
2 Comments

Tough Enough

One excursion after the long ride down, just to snap my campsite.

One excursion after the long ride down, just to snap my campsite.

I decided to wring out the Evelo Aurora e-bike yesterday after a 6-mile trash run to a dumpster. There are trails here and there that climb some of the peaks around camp here at Bonneville, so I figured, why not do a little exploring at the one closest to my camp? These trails in no way resemble the “working” trails I expect to revisit over the coming winter, the trails that connect me with towns and their resources. Today’s ride just kinda falls into the “exploration” category.

This is the trail as it looks from camp. Nice, smooth, and gentle.

This is the trail as it looks from camp. Nice, smooth, and gentle.

Well, I found out why not explore the trail closest to camp. I expected the aggressive slope, but recent heavy rains chose the trail to drain down, and very consistently. The rain tore out deep ruts, and formed abrupt shoulders that trapped you once your Read more…

Posted in Campsites, Daily Life, E-Bike Pack Mule and tagged , ,

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