Solar trailer rides again!

[matthewslack]

It looks like I might finally get a rest tomorrow. I have used all that I generated today plus last evening's bonus, covering 108km using 910Wh, whilst generating 640. Battery ended the day just under 36V, and there is no evening blue sky tonight. Tomorrow's forecast is grey, so it quite possible that I will only generate enough for forty miles or so. I will likely start late, dilly dally around in Inverness a while, gathering charge, before seeing where I can get to. Depending on route, Wednesday does not look much better.

Today, however, went very well. After the morning glitch, the hill was fine. Only 10% maximum, albeit steep for more than a mile, and heavy grey sky, so only generated 5Wh during the climb whilst using 57. The continuing hill plus headwind required level 2 assist, and by 15km gen stood at 14Wh, consumption at 160. Not sustainable for long!

I made Brora, found Linda's excellent cafe and had a leisurely breakfast. Almost an hour later, the sky had brightened and I could continue fairly well. Inevitable A9 as far as just beyond Golspie, then the old road via Embo and Dornoch to the Dornoch Firth crossing, where for a very few miles to Tain once again the A9 is not avoidable.

A few bad tempered drivers, resenting my presence even in what were rather quiet conditions. They of course were unaware that I had not been on the main road most of the time. No reportable incidents on those sections, but the owner of a dark green Y reg Volvo estate is likely to regret his overtake around the outside of a bend into the face of two oncoming motorcyclists and a stream of cars just before Brora.

I badly need half a day of admin time to get the camera footage downloaded and submitted.

The end of the day saw me close to the Nigg ferry, which I shall take across to Cromarty in the morning.

For the second time, I met someone who saw me camped on the side of the A9 last week. He was strimming under hedges, I stopped to take a picture of a very varied hedge section, and we had a long chat about my bike, and many other things.

I had a rattle develop, which was a rack bolt unthreading itself, caught in time, and have some loose spokes in a trailer wheel. Halfords for a spoke key tomorrow.

Lush coastal farmland



Amazing Broch right by the A9, most people pass unaware of its magnificence.





Overtaking opportunity if green, Volvo and Y reg



More land art



Coastal strip, Embo.



An industrial facility: Nigg energy park.



Beautiful campsite in wildflower sand dunes



Near an industrial facility



And a beach

 

[matthewslack]

@matthewslack - Sorry to bring this up but, are you absolutely certain that your solar solution is legal? Your bike and solar charging trailer are one electrical system. You're not charging one battery while using the other, using two separate systems. I suppose the police would object if the panels were instead a diesel or petrol generator, constantly charging on the road?

I think using law meant for a very different situation to create a technicality would sink in the face of the obvious sustainability of this mode of transport.

But technically, no I am not sure, but enough people have done it before in so many other countries that I have no worry about it.

 

[guerney]

I think using law meant for a very different situation to create a technicality would sink in the face of the obvious sustainability of this mode of transport.

But technically, no I am not sure, but enough people have done it before in so many other countries that I have no worry about it.

I thought it was important to ask, given that you will be chatting to the Police about those close passes. I'd deffo be prepared, lest those chats take an unexpected turn!

 

[matthewslack]

I thought it was important to ask, given that you will be chatting to the Police about those close passes. I'd deffo be prepared, lest those chats take an unexpected turn!

Don't be worrying, chats have already happened both roadside and in the police station. No issues.

 

[guerney]

Don't be worrying, chats have already happened both roadside and in the police station. No issues.

At this rate you'll be tempted to never go home! You'll forget you once had a home, job and other life and will simply continue your enjoyable solar powered odyssey, with seas and oceans being your only limitations. I sincerely hope you do, without being thumped with telephone directories in a small room at a cop shop (they don't leave bruises). Thankfully, telephone directories are much smaller these days.

 

[guerney]

I stumped up for the latest GoPro, partly because I could not get secondhand at an attractive price, partly because the 10 has new features that seem like a big development step, and partly because of the £200 discount available at present. I plan for it to last years, so the upfront cost will be spread.

Front and back facing is the ideal, I am contemplating a second camera.

I also fall back on the expectation of a good secondhand price if I change my mind.

The GoPro 10 looks more capable at night than it's predecessors - this chap has left various settings on automatic, but with a faster shutter speed and higher ISO (if available). Looks to me highly likely that car number plates would be clearer than they are in this video, in which his slow (automatic) shutter and too low ISO blurs them. Low ISO is preferable for general photography and video, but for number plates at night - noisy but clear outlines of alphanumerics is better evidence.

Front and back facing is the ideal, I am contemplating a second camera.

You would have snapped a pic of that deer in flight. The Hero Black 7 link I sent by PM isn't all that great, compared to that GoPro 10 discount.

 

[matthewslack]

Just before 8am and generating 40W under a fairly heavy grey sky. Solar noon BST is 1pm. I can expect to average this or a little better from now, 5 hours before noon, until symmetrically 5 hours after.

My energy budget for the day is therefore about 400Wh, good for 40 slow, flat miles on level 1. I'll wait until I have the first 100Wh or so in the tank before leaving.

 

[guerney]

My energy budget for the day is therefore about 400Wh, good for 40 slow, flat miles on level 1. I

I couldn't do that, especially dragging a trailer. Solar trailers are clearly a younger and fitter man's game. I'll stick to my AirBnBs (the mega cheap ones), charging every 45 miles or so - or 90 with two batteries. But where cheap AirBnbs are most common, is rarely as wonderfully scenic.

 

[matthewslack]

I couldn't do that, especially dragging a trailer. Solar trailers are clearly a younger and fitter man's game. I'll stick to my AirBnBs (the mega cheap ones), charging every 45 miles or so - or 90 with two batteries. But where cheap AirBnbs are most common, is rarely as wonderfully scenic.

So are you going to tour with a lightweight trailer, or bags on the bike?

 

[guerney]

So are you going to tour with a lightweight trailer, or bags on the bike?

I was going to use my newly purchased used Carry Freedom small Y ebay bargain, but after seeing your shocking close passing photos... I'll pack a light rucksack! Won't be camping, therefore I can travel much lighter - no cans of baked beans etc. My usual toolit, inner tubes etc. My journeys won't be scenic, that's for sure lol. Keep the pics coming! Make me jealous...

 

[matthewslack]

Three hours, 137Wh, so 46W average. But now my overcast has developed shadows, and I am seeing occasional bursts of 220W, so time to pack and go before I commit the faux pas on s low energy day of not harvesting every watthour available.

 

[matthewslack]

I was going to use my newly purchased used Carry Freedom small Y ebay bargain, but after seeing your shocking close passing photos... I'll pack a light rucksack! Won't be camping, therefore I can travel much lighter - no cans of baked beans etc. My usual toolit, inner tubes etc. My journeys won't be scenic, that's for sure lol. Keep the pics coming! Make me jealous...

30 days of Airbnb would buy me half a new Trek Rail 9...

 

[guerney]

Three hours, 137Wh, so 46W average. But now my overcast has developed shadows, and I am seeing occasional bursts of 220W, so time to pack and go before I commit the faux pas on s low energy day of not harvesting every watthour available.

View attachment 47552

I recall someone had a tent on a flooded campsite which floated with it's ground sheet - he was punting himself about looking like a turtle, had his head sticking out of one end, laughing at the rest of us flooded out folk. I still don't know what tent that was. Was also fire-proof. The joys of camping.

 

[guerney]

30 days of Airbnb would buy me half a new Trek Rail 9...

My journeys aren't as long, or frequent - quite a lot of cheapo AirBnBs are about £8 to £15 a night, in built up areas.

 

[matthewslack]

My journeys aren't as long, or frequent - quite a lot of cheapo AirBnBs are about £8 to £15 a night, in built up areas.

£75 not uncommon here, but holiday area.

Met someone who mentioned 'Warm Showers' network, like couch surfing for touring cyclists.

 

[jimriley]

£75 not uncommon here, but holiday area.

Met someone who mentioned 'Warm Showers' network, like couch surfing for touring cyclists.

Be careful with your search terms for that one (shocked emoji)

 

[matthewslack]

Another really good day, starting late to charge in morning sun, with three significant breaks to keep consumption down to generation rate, and riding on until a perfect camping spot turned up just before 50 miles. Energy was just about as low as I like, battery just below 36V, so good progress squeezed from an unpromising start.

In the end I used 741Wh and generated 764, covering 78km at 9.5Wh/km, 15.3 per mile. Far better than the 400 Wh I feared, which was just as well as this was a very hilly 49 miles.

My camp is on a rise in the Sustrans route 7, between the A9 and the railway line. Just before forest, so I have breeze to keep the midges away and an open horizon for evening and morning charging.

The ride started with the battery up to 41V, and the current down to 0.2A in good bright conditions, so full, and I could have usefully been away earlier. But then I would not have met the same people along the way!

So over the two car Nigg to Cromarty ferry, then exceptionally scenic through the farmland of the Black Isle to the Kessock bridge for the second time.

Met a great group of Geordies on mixed e and non ebikes out for a ride on their holiday, and then five touring cyclists halfway across the bridge. Tight pass, but managed.

Nearly an hour charging under lighter skies in an Inverness car park whilst buying a spoke key and visiting a cafe, then Sustrans route 1 right from the city centre.

On the map this is one of those routes that makes you look twice, question where it takes you, and debate whether to follow it. It takes three sides of a square to begin with, but as usual with Sustrans routes in my limited experience, there is method in the detour. I am camped at 300m above sea level, and the route uses that extra distance to keep the climbing reasonable. At the same time it takes in prehistoric sites and great views of railway infrastructure. So as usual I am grateful to Sustrans and very glad I followed it.

My third long stop was at the Clava cairns, where more good conversations with people on holiday in vans and a lovely guy living mostly in his. I nearly rode on by in pursuit of the 50 miles, then caught sight of the stones through the trees. Well worth the stop, and a good lump of charging too.

Just before there is a major Sustrans junction: the beginning of route 7 to Aviemore and on through the mountains, and the continuation of route 1 around the Aberdeenshire coast. I seriously considered an eastern route given the dull skies earlier, as better brightness might have compensated for the extra miles. But now committed to the Slocht and Drumochter passes tomorrow. It doesn't seem so daunting now that I am already at 300m!

A small ferry



Rigs in the firth



Too large to argue with



Close pass



Ancient bus



Decision point alpha



Very old stones



Impressive railway architecture



Award winning repair project: the Moy viaduct, a wooden structure on UK railways



Deja vu on route 7. Just fits through

 

[guerney]

£75 not uncommon here, but holiday area.

Met someone who mentioned 'Warm Showers' network, like couch surfing for touring cyclists.

There was a thread somewhere recently about the "Warm Showers" network - not as friendly as it used to be apparently, with people insisting on payment. Warm showers in Staines sounds particularly unpleasant.

Ten AirBnBs at £75 is of course about the same price as a very big generic battery for your TSDZ2, or a smaller battery from Jimmy the Battman, who's relatively expensive work and products I have no experience of. Copper interconnects, for lower temps. Or a couple of generic batteries from EMV2, which I also like the look of; sacrificial cell groups seems like a very good idea.

I will of course be checking wifi connections at any AirBnB I stay at, looking for transmitting hidden cameras and microphones (technically illegal hacking of illegal monitoring equipment), and sweeping with a red laser to reveal lenses, then burning hidden camera sensors with a green laser (technically illegal damage of illegal monitoring equipment). I don't want photos of my blobby bits posted all over the internet, and certainly not after a warm shower (no emoji is shocked enough).

 

[matthewslack]

Enjoying a leisurely lunch at the Highland Folk Museum, accumulating charge for the Drumochter summit ahead.

65 km this morning with 537Wh consumed, but only 340 generated whilst riding. Happily evening and morning sun contributed a further 153 for a total since arriving at camp last evening of 493Wh. All square.

The next 12 miles involve a steady climb if 200m, and I can estimate the energy required by two simple ways. Either I can multiply miles by the upper end of my typical consumption rate, 12 x 16 = 192Wh, or I can use the lower end of the range and directly add the energy needed for the climb calculated from first principles.

The climb energy is 140kg which is 1400N, and it is being raised through 200m, so that is 280,000J which is 78Wh. Add 12 x 10 for 198Wh.

Near enough the same, and rather more than I would want to take out of the battery right now. So patience, a slow level 1 ride in the early flatter part of the route, and then carefully up keeping an eye on battery voltage.

This morning is the first time I have travelled slowly through this part of the world. Most people zip past on the A9 and miss it all. On a lovely day in early summer it is easy to see why this is now a national park.

Promising sky.



A bridge of unusual design.





I would expect nothing less.



Views, not necessarily in order.





I do like a good hedge.



Another major Sustrans junction.



Ruthven Barracks, built to be seen for miles in all directions.

 

[WheezyRider]

There was a thread somewhere recently about the "Warm Showers" network - not as friendly as it used to be apparently, with people insisting on payment. Warm showers in Staines sounds particularly unpleasant.

Ten AirBnBs at £75 is of course about the same price as a very big generic battery for your TSDZ2, or a smaller battery from Jimmy the Battman, who's relatively expensive work and products I have no experience of. Copper interconnects, for lower temps. Or a couple of generic batteries from EMV2, which I also like the look of; sacrificial cell groups seems like a very good idea.

I will of course be checking wifi connections at any AirBnB I stay at, looking for transmitting hidden cameras and microphones (technically illegal hacking of illegal monitoring equipment), and sweeping with a red laser to reveal lenses, then burning hidden camera sensors with a green laser (technically illegal damage of illegal monitoring equipment). I don't want photos of my blobby bits posted all over the internet, and certainly not after a warm shower (no emoji is shocked enough).

These days I'd been more worried about bed bugs of the biting variety when staying away from home. They've become a lot more widespread in recent years and are very difficult to get rid of.

With Deep Fake tech nowadays they can strip your clothes from your wobbly bits at the click of a mouse. A lot of banks and other places use Terahertz radiation to strip search you as you go in. Then, if there are photos of you around on the web, they can stick your face on whatever wobbly bits they like.