Packing up.

It is time to start figuring out how to get our two trikes loaded along with all the stuff for our new Malteses puppy, Tiki, and our living stuff for our 4 or so month trip to sunnier points south. This is the one huge disadvantage of Trikes, they take up a lot of stinking room! Then add in the higher weight and traveling with them in a loaded camper it's the easiest thing in the world.

But I found that the trikes load/store much easier if the wheels are off. Next it became obvious that the front fenders should come off and since their only held on with a few allen screws that was easy enough.

Once my Trident fenders came off it was equally obvious that the Kenda Kwest 100psi tires were pretty much toast. Interestingly the front tires are each more worn than the rear. I guess I'd been thinking that the higher load on the single rear would trump the steering force on the fronts, but not so:)

I suppose I could get a few hundred more miles but since my next big ride includes some long gravel sections I'd like some softer riding tires anyway. I had know I'd need new tires at some point during the spring ride so I have some Schwalbe Marathon Racer tires in house.

Next learning point was that the Trident fender mounting does more than just mount the fenders! I had pulled the fenders off a few days ago and continued to ride on the trainer, very glad I hadn't decided to hit the road:) The bearings are much dirtier than I had expected but I'll wait until Annapolis to clean and repack them. I had thought they would be sealed, another lesson.

Salsa 24T, better to climb those hills!! And some other stuff.

I bought a Salsa 24T Granny Chainring and a set of Schwalbe Marathon Racer tires from Utah Trikes. I'm waiting a bit to put the tires on but I want the new granny gear in now to make sure everything works correctly. Installing the 24T was a breeze. I was a little concerned since I haven't had the bottom bracket on a bike opened up in 30 years. I remember loose ball bearings, shims and just a mess in general. Well times have changed for the better. Sealed bearings first off, then just the removal of a couple allen bolts and the crank was off. Then 5 more allen bolts and the old chainring was off. It actually took less time to install than a new Cateye Strada Cadence bike computer.

Old chainring ready to be removed.

New 24T compared to the stock 30T. 

52T/24T is pretty near the limit of the front derailer on this trike. I had asked Tom at Trident Trikes about putting a 24T low and something higher like a 56T. He said "one or the other, not both" and I see why. Utah Trike has a really cool 2 speed SRAM DualDrive rear hub  that would give me both a higher high and lower low. But at a cool $400, the $17 Salsa 24T won my hard earned cash:)
I ran the trike on my Sportcrafters trainer  for an hour and everything seems OK. Now if the snow would leave and that 80degF weather would return, I'm ready!

Other Stuff

I've moved the Cateye heart rate monitor to the fairing next to the GPS. This was to make room for the Cateye Strada Cadence and headlight. The fairing frame is also hosting a new mirror. The mirror just replaces the one that died near Brunswick ME.

New cockpit configuration. 

The Cateye Strada worked out great. I was able to pull apart the sensor wires for the cadence and speed. The cadence is in front naturally and it can be seen in the picture to the left of the faring bracket mount base. And the speed sensor is at the rear wheel. I wanted this so the speed would work while using the SportsCrafter trainer.

And finally a bell!

I was looking for a Hello Kitty bell, but couldn't find a nice one. So I found this cool reto red bell. I decided to install a bell after much riding on MUP (Multiple Use Paths). I discovered that calling out to walkers various forms of "ON YOUR LEFT", "TWO BIKES PASSING ON YOUR LEFT", "PLEASE GIVE ROOM TO PASS",etc is pretty useless. Heck a lot of bicyclists don't get it. So I'm trying a bell.






"Adventure is worthwhile in itself" Amelia Earhart 1897-1939(probable) Pioneering female aviator.

eTrex 20 in the cockpit!

I just thought I'd show how sweet the mount for the Garmin eTrex 20 is when my fairing is installed. I just moved it to this position after missing turns on my last ride. Before I had the Garmin eTrex co-located with the heart rate monitor on the left. In this position it is right in my line of sight and if the sun light is right or back lighting is on, I shouldn't blow past any more turns.

I'm using a RAM mount for the eTrex. I've used these mounts on motorcycles(staring back when the Garmin III+ was bleeding edge tech) and boats. They are a little heavier and probably more expensive than some others but in literally hundreds of thousands of miles traveled by MC and boat they have never failed.

This fairing mount is pretty handy. I think I may use the end to mount a new mirror. Also if weather gets really sweltering the clear plexiglass comes off easily by removing the 4 screws with knurled heads.

Using the Garmin eTrex 20 GPS.

The last several days gave me some invaluable experience using the Garmin eTrex 20. We have the complete set of ACA maps needed but my plan is to let my wife have those while I used downloaded routes on the eTrex 20. Inital thoughts.

• The ACA GPX waypoint files may not be completely up to date. The NTR section 11 map 152 routes from Belfast ME to Camden ME via RT 52. The GPX files route via US 1. 
• Garmin BaseCamp  program has a distinctly 1990's feel to it. www.RideWithGPS.com has a free and much better interface IMO. 
• Garmin BaseCamp has a "Bicycling" activity setting but I don't know what the point is since CityNavigator knows zero about bike paths and will go to crazy routing to get around them. 

This is the crazy route around the Brunswick Androscoggin River Bike Path. F0B7M0 is the start of the path that then follows the river past the Rt 196 bridge

•  The workaround I found was to make a route on on RideWithGPS, download as GPX file. Up load this file to BaseCamp. It is then viewed as a track and will follow the bike path. I did try to convert the track to a route but the same garbage happened. So I just uploaded the track and told the eTrex20 to follow the track. The problem is the eTrex will not "navigate" and give turn data and the like when using tracks. So when entering the route in RideWithGPS I made sure to put waypoints near any turn. Then on the GPS I set one data field to "Distance to Next".  And voila, I know when my next turn is coming up:)

This is the tracks file of the above route. This is then uploaded to the eTrex 20.

This has been a trail and error approach. I've blown past turns and not noticed until miles later. This happened when following US1 near Damarscotta, the track was through town I stayed on US 1. The route did reenter US 1 so no real harm, this time.

Also viewing the eTrex is difficult when the sun is not behind. And for me the magenta track/route color on the GPS is hard to see with sunglasses on. So it would be nice to have routing where it would at least beep when a waypoint is reached. 

But even with all these issues it's still better than using paper maps IMO. And without back lighting the battery run time easily covers a few days of riding. I think I'll do a test with the back lighting on constantly to get an idea of how many hours a day it can be safely used.

One more Trike Improvement?

Well, I think so. This TerraCycle GX Fairing is a pretty slick piece and a bit pricey. But then there is a cost to low production run stuff.

I didn’t weigh it but I think even 5lbs would be a stretch. Initially I thought the plastic screen was too thin since it came wrapped up tight and flexes about even once mounted. But after an initial ride and it seems OK and this thinness certainly contributes to light weight.

The faring is designed to tilt forward to make entry and egress from the trike easier since the fairing extends back to about mid thigh. But I have decided to lock the fold mechanism since in bumpy riding the fairing starts moving forward and up and I’ve found I can easily enter the trike from the side with the fairing in place so there’s no need for it to tilt forward for me.

I bought it mainly for diverting the cold early spring Maine air but I’m very curious as to how much speed is gained for a given power input, i.e. can I carry a higher gear with the same heart rate. My initial ride around the neighborhood says yes but I’ll take the tike out to the Jax/Baldwin rail-trail where I can get a better test. So off to Baldwin this weekend.

New GPS

Decided that the Garmin eTrex 20 will serve my needs. This came about when I decide to install a fairing on my trike which will give many more locations for gadget attachment. I decided that on a trip like this cadence is not needed, i.e. I know when to spin faster. I have a Cateye heart rate monitor already, and Cateye Mitty 8 bike computer with basic speed/distance functions. Now that I’ll have the fairing the only things missing that the Garmin Edge 800 would supply is the power meter display which I never intended to use, and the “Virtual Partner” which is very cool but not worth the $364 extra dollars that can go towards the fairing.

Clipless peddles

I've always had toe clips on bicycles. I never fancied myself the Lance Armstrong, Walter Mitty type. Plus seeing riders fall over after long days and once even seeing a rider fall in to police officer after stopping to ask a question, I've never felt the need for a clipless setup.
That has changed. On a some bumpy high speed hills my feet have slipped nearly off the peddle. Being new to this I've just trusted the LBS and installed a pair of SunLite single side clipless SPD peddles.

Clipless peddles on TS2

I opted for single side since I still plan to use regular shoes for short rides.

2nd Gen Trail vs TS2:
The 2nd Gen Trail is supposed to come with clipless peddles while I had to spend about $40 for this upgrade on the TS2. I'll have to wait and see the quality of the 2-Trail peddles.

Intial Impressions of the Trident Stowaway 2

Tires pumped up, front tire toe in set and off I was. Wow, this is so different than riding a bike, the best comparison is motorcycle vs sports car. Which I know isn't a good comparison if you don't ride a Motorcycle or drive a sports car, what can I say, you should:)

Ready to add my stuff

I attached my three water bottles, two to the seat back and one on the frame under the seat. Attached the tire pump, collocated with the frame water bottle.  Installing the trusty Cateye Mity 8 bike computer took the most time. The TS2 (Trident Stowaway 2) has a nice accessory mount on the left kingpin but the computer wheel speed sensor tab is on the right kingpin and the bike computer wire is not long enough to cross from right to left. Thought about moving accessory mount to the right but I want it left side for the mirror(which comes with the trike but is back ordered) and the headlight. So I found that the sensor mounted nicely on the brake caliper and that results in no twisting of the wire.  Trident does sell a right side sensor mount for about $32 w/S&H.  There is no place nice to mount the handle bar bag. My under seat tool kit mounts under the rear rack over the fender. And finally my trunk bag on the rear rack!

Sensor tab on right kingpin assembly

Cateye, Headlight and sensor on right kingpin

Mount location for bottle and tire pump

Seat back location for water bottle but not tire pump.

It was only about a 5 mile ride and I really can't comment on comfort until I have about a 30 mile run. Our roads are not smooth and with 100psi tires I can feel every bump and in the recumbent position I don't have my legs for shock absorption.  But it wasn't bad. It's not jarring. I found myself playing around on sidewalks and ducking under low hanging tree limbs cutting through to paths. This trike just encourages play. I'm loving it and can't wait to get some real miles on it. Not this weekend though with snow forecast.