Solar trailer rides again!

[guerney]

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.

I know at least two people who have chronic Lyme's disease, injected by ticks while camping - bed bugs are preferable to that. Chronically fatigued for years and years.

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.

There are no photos of me around the web. Once all digital life is recorded on blockchains, we will only have to worry about the blockchains. It's not at all alarming when the Police start generating deepfakes, if you trust the Police:

Dutch police create deepfake video of murdered boy, 13, in hope of new leads

Video shows simulation of Sedar Soares, who was shot dead in 2003, asking public to help solve case

www.theguardian.com

 

[matthewslack]

I reached Drumochter seemingly in good shape, with one bar showing on the Shimano display, stopped for pictures and a break, during which the bike switched itself off as normal. When I came to switch it back on, I had a repeat of the Berrisdale Braes incident, and it turned on showing no bars, so no assistance and no solar power can be used.

I pushed on a few miles, mostly downhill, as it should be from a summit, and made camp. Tomorrow perhaps it will recover, or perhaps I will need to do a few miles on the emergency battery to get to a place where a formidable and inscrutable Scottish lady can charge me plenty to put a little charge back in!

At the summit, the solar battery was down to 35V, so a bit more patience would have worthwhile.

At the summit the totals were 85km, 887Wh used, 745 generated. In the enforced zero use time since, a further 125 have been generated, bringing the total to 870, and the battery is back to 36.4V.

Even without the Shimano issue, it was time to stop.

Tomorrow looks like being a repeat of today, and then the first half of Friday is likely wet, and then the sun comes back. Two moderate days and then perhaps some longer ones.

Quite a lot of Broom round here.



Not while I'm riding.



The summit, second time for this solar bike.



Camp with ski bench.



The evening Pullman service to Inverness

 

[guerney]

I am being charged for a short top-up charge! Two quid for perhaps 0.2 kWh. 'Heard it all before', said the very nice lady when I tried to explain how little it would cost.

I'm wondering when she had 'Heard it all before', couldn't have been all the other solar trailers surely? I bet she charges poor desperate souls with phone chargers. Stands to reason your charger uses a lot of electricity, the charger and battery are not small are they? And it's a big bike and such a big trailer I'd guess she charges 50p per phone charge, because the're smaller. Or perhaps most of the £2 is a 40 minute proportion of additional estimated insurance coverage/danger money, in case it all went up in flames? An event bound to cause at least £2 worth of damage to her fine establishment or decor therein - did she pause during negotiations to call her Actuary? We may never fathom her reasoning. It that had happened to me, I would have left a report stating just the facts on Tripadvisor and her cafe's Google Maps listing! After reviewing the cuisine and ambience etc.

 

[guerney]

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.

Because there are no photos of me on the internet (I'm always behind the camera), the only way I could be deepfaked is using CCTV images, fractally or A.I. upscaled to sufficient resolution. I'm not a high net worth individual, not worth the effort, but I bet many who are rich and powerful are worried. Tom Cruise had his face and body scanneed a couple of years ago, to protect use of his likeness - he could in future charge a licensing fee. They've all been at this sort of thing. It'll put a stop to new movie stars, if they simply deepfake old face and deepfaked voice (which doesn't need much by way of recordings, increasingly less) talent onto body doubles. Thousands of years from now they'll be worshipped as apparently immortal gods.

 

[matthewslack]

I'm wondering when she had 'Heard it all before', couldn't have been all the other solar trailers surely? I bet she charges poor desperate souls with phone chargers. Stands to reason your charger uses a lot of electricity, the charger and battery are not small are they? And it's a big bike and such a big trailer I'd guess she charges 50p per phone charge, because the're smaller. Or perhaps most of the £2 is a 40 minute proportion of additional estimated insurance coverage/danger money, in case it all went up in flames? An event bound to cause at least £2 worth of damage to her fine establishment or decor therein - did she pause during negotiations to call her Actuary? We may never fathom her reasoning. It that had happened to me, I would have left a report stating just the facts on Tripadvisor and her cafe's Google Maps listing! After reviewing the cuisine and ambience etc.

No, I got the impression there had been some ebike riders in the past who rather than ask if it would be possible to charge their batteries, had come across to her as demanding that service as a right.

I don't work like that: I ask politely, making clear I will be buying food and drink, explain how little electricity I need, and up until now that has resulted in free charging and considerable expenditure on meals.

Her approach to me was created by substandard behaviour on the part of others before me. I want my visit to count on the other side of the ledger.

 

[matthewslack]

I dared to hope that when I switched on the Shimano battery this morning, after a good night's rest, it would be feeling better. But I didn't expect...

Imagine my delight when it showed 1 bar, and the same 24km of range as I had at the top of Drumochter yesterday. The show is back on the road without need of the emergency battery.

Today my objective is to get ahead of this:



I have a dull morning here at the camp, with the pass in cloud, brightness down the way, and occasional light drizzle.





Meanwhile the trains continue to keep Inverness and points north supplied.





Battery is fairly low, so expecting a 40 to 60 mile range today. Not quite Edinburgh.

 

[matthewslack]

Gentle level 1 ride to Pitlochry and a good breakfast at Escape Route bike shop and cafe. When I had eaten, old Mr Shimano played his trick again. The helpful bike shop folk let me put it on charge whilst I went shopping for stove fuel and food.

Special mention to the Hardware shop, where in a highly tourism orientated town, I got the best value meths for the stove since I bought some at the Ullapool hardware shop some years ago.

Very dull with showers, so could be the shortest day yet. I gained 100 Wh at the camp, but since setting off until now, which includes my stopped time, I have used 148 and generated 111. 53 of those during the stop.

On the plus side, that is 32km on 148Wh, 4.6Wh/km, 7.45 per mile. Very easy going so far.

This morning's bathroom



Not my country residence



The other door



Slight naughtiness



Riding in the rain



Shimano rescue

 

[StuartsProjects]

This morning's bathroom

View attachment 47624

Not my country residence

View attachment 47621

Now that looks familiar; in times gone past I spent a week kayaking in the area, including the Tilt which goes past Blair Castle.[/QUOTE]

 

[matthewslack]

A very learny day, with a couple of Sustrans Route 77 foibles, and ending with a rather public camp on the banks of the Tay near Perth.

82km on only 369Wh from the solar battery, but clearly with a little help from the slightly rejuvenated Shimano battery, as it no longer shows a healthy two bars and is back down to one. Let's call it 420Wh. So consumption was a mere 5.1Wh per km, 8.2 per mile.

The generation was low because of heavy overcast, light rain, and tall trees on one or both sides of the route for much of the day. I did grab a 20 minute blast of 200W mid afternoon, but this is what I can get from my 330Wp array on a very dull day.

I had a worrying moment shortly after leaving the bike shop after a few short sharp climbs using level 2, when I checked the data logger display and the Shimano status, and it appeared that the Shimano was doing all the work. I couldn't find anything wrong, and even got out my multimeter for the first time to check solar battery voltage was getting to and through the big diodes. No faults found.

Nervous of flattening Mr Shimano again, I rode for quite some distance using no assistance as much as possible, and checking readings every few km, ekeing out what I had to hopefully get to Dunkeld, and hopefully out of the rain.

The readings started to make sense, with Wh appearing on the solar consumption channel, and I think the explanation is partly the quality difference between the high grade cells in the Shimano and the rather lower grade in the cheap, generic solar battery, and partly that there was negligible solar input to the battery, and even at 36V in no load state, it sags under even modest load down to the voltage of the Shimano battery at 80% discharged.

Lesson learned: the solar battery needs to be fairly full to run in dull conditions.

I continued with slow speed and low to no assistance, the afternoon brightened up a bit, but the numbers tell the story. Total generation for the day is 365Wh! 52 miles on that seems like a victory.

Tonight and half of tomorrow is rain, and my battery is low. Probably a late start, short day. Then the sun returns for three days or so, and progress may speed up.

Rather attractive bridge leaving Pitlochry on R77, just wide enough.





Rather attractive gate exit from bridge, just not.



Sustrans, you are 'aving a larf! Uphill in my direction.

I don't mind moments like these, as I am finding the routes to be excellent. This whole A9 corridor from Inverness to Perth is a revelation to me, having driven the A9. I never knew so much alternative road existed, never mind the cycle path parts.





Afternoon sun.



Wildflower meadows beside the R77 as it rolls into Perth beside the mighty Tay. As good and extensive as I have seen anywhere. OK, no corncrakes, but for flowery beauty not far off the machair in the Uists.



There's a tent there somewhere!

 

[matthewslack]

Enjoying a morning snug in my tent, sitting out the morning rain. The battery is charging at around 40W from a moderately bright rainy sky, so I should have enough to get me me the just over 30 miles to the Forth Bridge, where so far there are only three.

 

[matthewslack]

The rain stopped quite early and I was away by noon, with for the first time in days, a full batter, the rain having fallen from a bright sky.

Progress was slow, as I encountered many curious citizens of many curious places and conversed extensively.

Perth was a delight, another place I have driven past many times but never visited before. We'll gloss over the two flights of steps on the cycle path out...

A tough route then, with two monster climbs, first from 12 to 260m in a bit under two miles, and then from 117 to 282m. Add a headwind of 30 mph or so at times, and it was not easy going. Good and bright though, so level 2 as much as I wanted, with the battery never going below 39V until evening

The bridge crossing was challenging in the cross wind, but worth it for the views of the other bridges. Then into Edinburgh, mostly finding the cycle paths, and a good tour around all the central streets amongst my adoring fans. Or were they all there for something else?

Down the length of the Royal Mile, then a quick charge by Salisbury Crags, and out to Musselburgh and the first bit of grass that would have me.

101km, battery down to 36V, but three good days forecast ahead.

The trip total has just gone over 1,000 miles.

Sustrans mirth in Perth.



Just one of several avenues I am pursuing.



The fine Tay bridge.



The best of the Firth bridges



Runner up



On the Royal Mile



Noone in at Palace of Holyroodhouse



Long shadows during evening charging



Another challenging piece of cycle path



Sunset at Musselburgh

 

[guerney]

For when it gets hot and sunny again - I find this sort of neck-guard cap soaked in water and placed uner my helmet, helps ward off heatstroke:

 

[matthewslack]

An early start, away by 8:30, following Sustrans R76 sign by sign to Eyemouth for lunch, and onward to the Northumberland coast. It seems large parts of this route are not officially supported at present, although most of the signs are in place, some with the number covered over.

Disconcerting at one point to be greeted by a sign saying 'no route for 29 miles. Busy road, take care.' But there was a perfectly good cycle path from that very spot, beside the A1 for a short way before a sign back into the lanes. I used the OS app which showed the route that wasn't there quite clearly.

This is a tourist style route rather than an alternative to the busy road for the traveller as a substantial additional mileage and extra climb is added compared to the main A1 mileage. It seemed about 30% extra, so my 92 miles do not equate to anywhere near that in crow flight.

Those 92 miles consumed 1187 Wh, so 12.8Wh per mile, 8 per km. Generated 962 during the ride, with another 193 since I stopped for a total of 1155. The battery is nearly full, as it was when I started riding as a result of good sun over breakfast.

Tomorrow I may ignore Sustrans and freelance as I do have a destination and there is only so much round the houses extra distance I can manage. I want to drop out somewhere near Preston, from near Bamburgh, so weighing the alternatives.

Long legs in the low morning sun



Unexpected ford



Beach at Eyemouth



Single track for several miles between Berwick upon Tweed and Lindisfarne.



A very quick dash there and back across the causeway to Lindisfarne as the tide was due.



Very impressive first sight of Bamburgh castle

 

[matthewslack]

An even earlier start, away at 7:55, from my roadside camp. Rather public, so not keen to linger.

Easy going to Alnwick, too early on a Sunday for shops, then onwards on roads north of the Wall, but so straight they must be Roman to Rothbury, very attractive centre, and a place I have not been to before.

Major climbs out of both Alnwick and Rothbury so now an enforced recharging break having consumed 550Wh in three hours and 54km. Quite bright, but it comes and goes, from a peak of 8A down to only 2 at times. My consumption so far has averaged 185W, and generation only 80, so I need to be careful. Not so much hill on the next section to Hadrian's Wall and Hexham, so should be OK.

Ready to roll



Empty Alnwick



Arrow straight roads

 

[matthewslack]

End of a long and hilly day, limited by generation: low 35V battery forced me to stop. Fingers crossed I haven't taken much out of the Shimano battery, but won't know until I attempt to switch on in the morning.

The routing was basically the straightest non-main roads, heading for my chosen route across the Pennines, which starts with Coverdale. After Rothbury, I dropped down to the Wall, then followed it west a few miles, then down to Hexham. Then another huge climb out of the town followed by large undulations to Blanchland, then search for a camp without any more steep climb.

Fantastic remote moorland, many quality old stone houses and farms, and outstanding village of Blanchland.

In 139km I climbed 1200m, used 1360Wh and generated only 1030Wh. The battery started full, and ended as low as I care to go. Now charging well in evening sun, and tomorrow's forecast is very good, so I may well be starting again with a full battery. I could do with it as there are probably just as many hills tomorrow.

Tiny bridge.



Opportunistic charge as sun shows itself for a while. I saw 10 amps at one time, at 37V, so 370W. More than the nominal rated array maximum. This happens when the sun through a cloud gap reflects off the edges and is more concentrated than normal.



Blanchland



Fine farmland and moorland.



Really nice camp turned up when needed.



Northumberland county council cyclist safety sign

 

[matthewslack]

A monster day of climbs, but close to perfect conditions so energy generation kept pace.

Continuing the 'head south fairly straight avoiding big roads' strategy took me over the high ground from Tyne land to Weardale, then Teesdale, where I thought about an eye test, then two beautiful Yorkshire dales towns of Richmond and Leyburn, which deserve to be explored not just passed through, to my chosen route through Coverdale to get to the southern edge of the National Park, before heading west tomorrow towards familiar ground from Preston via Liverpool to Snowdonia.

I thought Coverdale over to Kettlewell at 503m was going to be the highest point of the whole trip until I checked the map to estimate climb for the day and realised I had already been to 511m crossing from Stanhope to Barnard Castle. Two 500m passes in one day!

A slight problem with my new trailer axle diverted me to a town with bike shops, where tomorrow I will hopefully find a 20" tyre, which should get me the just over 100 miles to Wales, where I can have a proper go at it.

The numbers: 145km, 90 miles, 1640m of climb, ignoring small undulations, 1510Wh consumed at 10.4 per km, 16.8 per mile, 1420Wh generated and a full battery this morning stayed full until the last couple of hours, and ends the day at 38.5V.

Northern moorland, very impressive on such a beautiful day.





Coverdale barn with a face



Dales scenery: walls, walls, walls, barns and walls





Lunch spot in Richmond



One of the many lovely villages



Impressive Bowes Museum in Barnard Castle



Amongst the monster climbs were even steeper descents. These I can only get down!



And if that wasn't enough

 

[Benjahmin]

Bet you wish you had regen braking on that one !
How are you getting on wild camping now you're back in England with no right to roam?

 

[sjpt]

When we were lucky enough to live in that part of the world we had a DAF with variomatic transmission and horizontally opposed twin cylinder engine (*). The engine sound variation as we descended those hills was like an aeroplane coming in to land on the village below.

(*) as a colleague said, just like the one on his motor bike but not as big. It worked well though.

 

[matthewslack]

Bet you wish you had regen braking on that one !
How are you getting on wild camping now you're back in England with no right to roam?

Three nights in Englandshire so far: one wide grass verge clearly use by campervans, so not much guilt, one really good car park where people park to walk in deep rural Northumberland so quiet compared to e.g. Lakes, and one enforced 'waiting for the bike shop to open' in Skipton last night where 'needs must' would have been my answer if challenged. Flat grass the only trace left.

 

[matthewslack]

The last camp of this leg of the journey sets me up for the Runcorn bridge in the morning, and another rather good forecast which should make light work of the north Wales coast.

Joint longest day at 149km, 92 miles. The battery stayed full until 6pm, I simply couldn't use the power the panels could have produced, given the much flatter day. 1110Wh generated is what the data logger says, but most of the day, the charge controllers were operating in constant voltage mode, at 41V, limiting current and so not harvesting all that the panels could supply.

The last 42km from the third puncture of the day at 17:30 on the runin to Liverpool waterfront saw 310Wh consumed and only 93 generated. The previous 107km were run on 1020Wh, and 1020 were generated in that part of the day.

Interesting that Wh per km, at 9.5 for the first stint is not so different to previous hillier days. I was running in level 2 all day, and maintaining a good speed. The urban miles through Liverpool were ridden more gently, which shows in 7.4Wh per km.

Other than energy numbers, the story of the day is tyre replacement, several punctures, routing issues and the worst drivers since the first day.

My replacement solid axle has been battered by hundreds of miles now, with plenty of potholes, bumps and rough worn out tarmac, and at some stage has bent, causing tyre scrubbing again. I noticed in time to divert to bike shop town Skipton, where one of the two was open and had two cheap and cheerful 20" tyres, which will get me to a rendezvous with my new axle assembly.

But before that, my very slow rear puncture on the bike, which has needed a bit of air every day woke up flat. And then within a few miles of setting off, the replaced trailer tyre punctured, not from the outside, but from a spoke nipple on one of the spokes that keep working loose breaking through the rim tape.

Setting off after that repair, I missed a tiny lane turning and before I knew it had climbed a fair hill, and did not want to go back down!

Against my usual routing principles, a short section of busy A59 and then back to the lanes seemed the best option, which apart from the impatient drivers was OK, until my turnoff, which had a 'Road Closed' sign on it! So a mile and a bit of main road became more like four. After I escaped, things calmed down, and the miles rolled by increasingly easily, until the final puncture in Liverpool. The same trailer wheel, the same hole. The patch had not stuck well enough to handle the high pressure of hitting repeated bumps, and the terrible surface quality of the otherwise welcome cycle paths beside the A59 just popped it off.

Then a quick visit to their Graces, and down the road to Widnes.

Welcome sight of an open bike shop



Impressive bridge remains



Impossible bike path in Preston



Deja vu 1



Deja vu 2