We are just five weeks shy of the start date for BRAN and I can tell you today, I am NOT ready. The Nebraska weather this year has been horrible for training. Too cold, too wet. I only have about 6o trail miles under me this year and that’s under the daily average ride for BRAN. However, I’ve been out three of the last four days and steadily improving to the point I think I can be ready if I can get out several times a week.
That said our forecast this week is for rain and even snow showers. Come On Mother Nature! It’s the first of May!!! I’ve got to get into shape.
The other thing that has me optimistic I can do this ride this year is the sheer lack of hills for most of the first few days. As the ride follows the path of the orignal settlers of this region, it fallows the flat land area, the area where trains have built their tracks as well, along side of most of the roads we will travel. I traveled much of this route by car several years ago just for a change of pace from the interstate and although not as majestic as some prior years of BRAN, there is enough visually to make it enjoyable.
For me, though, much of the joy of this event is not in the riding, but in each destination. The local town folk really love having us in their communities. It’s not only an economic boost for them, it’s someone new to talk to. The food is probably every day grub, but if you just finished a 80 mile ride, it tastes like a gourmet restaurant every single time.
I’ve pretty much determined the trike I am building will not be ready in time. I don’t want to rush it and I really need to road test it a few hundred miles before I take it out on a trip like this. But trust me, it will be spectacular.
Here’s the BRAN route this year:
- Sunday, June 2nd – 64 miles Kimball to Chappell
- Monday, June 3rd – 57 or 72 miles Chappell to Paxton (shorter route bypasses lake and less hilly)
- Tuesday, June 4th – 77 miles Paxton to Gothenburg
- Wednesday, June 5th – 76 miles Gothenburg to Kearney
- Thursday, June 6th – 72 miles Kearney to Aurora
- Friday, June 7th – 72 miles Aurora to Brainard
- Saturday, June 8th – 49 miles Brainard to Strategic Air & Space Museum
Total Miles – 467 miles
Much of the route is along the historic Lincoln Highway, which is celebrating it’s 100th anniversary. Click here to download a PDF of the BRAN brochure.
The no weld recumbent trike build is coming along great. Sorry I’ve not posted but the fact of the matter is I have been so busy working on the trike in my spare time I have completely forgotten about my blog. The best part is, this has to be one of the best hobbies or projects I’ve ever undertaken. Before I build a certain part I will spend hours and hours examining how it will connect, how it interacts with other parts on the trike, and then research the web for ideas and materials. I’m actually about 95% done with the frame, just need now to put all the moving parts on the trike. Here’s a picture from a couple weeks ago with some tires I had on hand (these will not be the actual tires).
Several weeks ago I mentioned my intentions to build a recumbent trike. It’s begun!!!! And I’m making good progress.
As my welding skills are nearly nonexistent, I searched for plans that would allow me to build a trike without welding and found a great guy in the Netherlands who has been helping me with some great ideas. What I liked most about his trike plans is that you really don’t need any special tools. Hacksaw, drill, some wrenches and you are set.
That said, my bike build is going to be a little harder as I’m going to try something different and am about halfway there. In retrospect, I should have built one just like the plans and then modified it to my needs. And what are my needs, a lightweight, sturdy, comfortable trike that I can take on all day rides, like BRAN and RAGBRAI.
So what am I up to? Well, when done it will more of a Frankentrike. The rear of the bike is from an aluminum Schwinn mountain bike. The middle has parts from two of my kids old scooters and the front is a do it yourself aluminum trike of tadpole design.
The above is what is left of the Schwinn mountain bike frame. About any any type of mountain bike that has a pivot point like this one will do, but I liked this one as it had a really sturdy rear section for the rear tire.
The above is a picture of the front crossbeam of the trike showing the unique steering knuckles which imitate a kingpin. The bolts are all temporary and I will put the correct sizes on later. Everything now is just the creating and testing modes and I’ve changed my plans in my head a few dozen times since starting. That’s not a bad thing, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the stimulating time I’ve had dreaming up how this bike will work, what I need to do to make it comfortable and making it as light as possible. Not everything has gone perfect, but the beauty of a bolt together bike is you can take off any part and put on a new one.
Speaking of errors, the above shows how my tires are both leaning in. That was not my intention, but the good news is they both lean in an equal amount on each side. This is acceptable on a trike of this type and should not be a problem. The tires on the above are actually from a Schwinn kids bike trailer that I had converted into a cargo trailer to tow behind my two wheel recumbent bike. I’ve never used the trailer, but am thinking they will work nice for this trike. The 9 mm axles, though, are too small and will not hold the load of the trike and user.
The picture above shows the Sturmey Archer drum brake hubs I bought special for this build and they come with a 14mm axle. The mounting part extends past the brake cable and my diagram shows the bracket I plan to build to hold the hub in place correct.
As you may have noticed I’ve not blogged in nearly six months. And, sadly, I’ve not ridden much in that time either. I simply did not get in shape and our summer was so miserably hot it was not wise for me to rush my training for RAGBRAI, the bike ride across Iowas, which I also cancelled. From those people I know who went, I hear my decision was a wise and health one, the heat was unbearable.
I also got sidetracked when in June I bought an 1983 VW Rabbit Convertible which took a significant amount of my time and resources. It’s a beauty, fun to drive and my first convertible. Ironically, my first thought riding it with the top down was that it reminded me of riding my recumbent on a fast downhill ride, feeling the wind whirling around you, naturally cooling you off.
(If you can't tell, my other love is restoring and driving old VW's)
The downfall of all of this is a real loss of my physical conditioning and gaining more weight than I want to share. As biking is the only physical exercise I enjoy I really need to get back involved, but with a few inches of ice and snow on the ground, I’ve picked the wrong time to get motivated. I’ve never been a cold or cool weather rider, I really prefer the heat, but mostly I’m scared I’ll take a spill on a patch of ice or puddle of mud.
For months I have been looking for a safe solution and an incentive to get back on the bike and finally I found it, riding a recumbent trike. Unfortunately, good recumbent trikes are only made by a handful of companies in the US and do not come cheap ($1500-$3000). Many riders build their own out of old bikes, but even though I own a welder, I’ve not had enough practice to safely weld all the critical joints. Frustrated, but undaunted (I’ve always wanted to use that phrase), I sought out inspiration and ideas from the all knowing and all seeing GOOGLE. I came across a do it yourself (DIY) recumbent bike that one can build with no power tools (but they do make the job a little easier). It’s light weight aluminum and all of the moving parts can be salvaged from other bicycles at relatively low cost. The aluminum I can easily find locally or on ebay.
First I’m going to build a prototype, probably out of wood, just to get the size and design finalized, but I’m already scavenging for parts. Goal is to have the prototype done in January and the first build of thew working trike done in February. I say first build as the beauty of this trike design is you can easily modify and redesign at any time along the way.
So, stay tuned. There will be a lot more posts here as I plan, build and test the new trike. The goal is to have a working and dependable trike for my bike ride across Nebraska (BRAN) in early June. Wish me luck!
And as always, I appreciate your comments and support!
Suffice it to say, I am home. Barely!
I posted this and never quite explained what happened so am updating with details. I did indeed make it as SAG support vehicle all the way from start to stop (beginning and ending in Beatrice, NE), but just as I was coming in to Beatrice the last day I could hear a knocking noise that got louder and louder. As my ending was rebuilt a couple of years ago and had less than 2,000 miles on it I did not want to risk blowing the engine. Plus, it was about 100 degrees, so I knew the engine would be running hot anyway.
Once home I discovered a bolt that was put into an opening in the engine had worked its way loose and I was hearing the internal noise of the engine. Had to ultimately pull the engine and take it to a shop for them to fix it. A lot of hot, heavy work for one bolt.
Today was my first day of as a SAG (Support and Gear). I thought this would be easy compared to riding and today I wonder why on earth I thought that! It was hard, hot work on my feet for hours. It seemed like it was constant people which surprised me given the total is 184 riders.
Right off the bat we ran out of water. We had about 10 gallons but it went quick. We panicked as this was unexpected. Fortunately one of the riders suggested we drive the 5 miles to Humbult for water, which one of us did. Basically we were out in the heat from 9:00-2:00. And to top it off I got bit by a tic as we were setting up. Sure hope I don’t get that Key Lime disease. 😉
But there was an unexpected surprise today. The couple they partnered me with I knew from when my son was in scouts. Matter of fact, their son is best friends of my nephew. What a small world.
Tonight we are in Auburn, Nebraska, staying at the city park. Free use of the pool and their showers. The showers were ice cold, almost too cold for all of us overheated visitors, but it felt good just the same.
I hear we did have one person who needed emergency care. She made it to camp, set up her tent, then collapsed. I believe I heard it was dehydration and really low saline, so they transferred her to the Lincoln hospital right away.
Last night in Beatrice, NE, was nice. A bit hot but comfortable after I opened all the windows on my VW camper. Tonight will be a bit warmer with barely any breeze so I’m not sure how that is going to go.
Pulled pork tonight at the United Methodist church. I’m really interested in something cool and refreshing to go with that. Iced tea would be wonderful.
Will add pictures soon. They are on my camera and I need to transfer and probably reduce. Check back later for pics.
Picture of my decorated VW at Day 1 of SAG support
Side view of SAG Day 1
One of the most exciting and scarey parts of this trip is taking my 40 year old VW camper bus. It’s not been this far out of Omaha in probably 15 years. I’ve learned unless you completely replace everything replaceable you have a pretty good chance of something going wrong. Well, I have a lot more parts to replace so we shall see how it does. I’m writing this the first afternoon of the first day and happy to say we made it this far. But….. I’mleaking a bit more oil than normal which does concern me. Bought 3 quarts of oil today just in case.
What I had not expected is that I can’t find the grade of gas I need. This old style engine (carborator, no fuel injection here) needs high octane and no ethanol or it vapor locks. I filled half the tank today with low octane gas and hope it can make it tomorrow.
Life’s activities and a drawn out failed root canal and ultimate tooth extraction (the week of BRAN) really got in the way of training this year. It was with great sadness that I had to cancel my first NUMB ride, which starts June 24. But as luck would have it, a few days after cancelling I received an email asking for SAG (support and gear) drivers and I quickly jumped at the chance.
I’ve never done SAG support before but know just how appreciated they are from my many rides, so I’m excited to be a part of this ride somehow. So instead of the two wheels of my bike, I’m taking six wheels. But not just any support vehicle, I’m taking my 40 year old VW camper and my 39 year old pop up camping trailer to haul all the gear. What you say, I must be nuts? Okay, that’s questionable, but I do have a crusty old VW that is mechanically sound and (new engine, tires, brakes and lots of other costly repairs).
In the instructions I received it says “Make your SAG unique! Come up with a theme for your little oasis.” Well, I jumped at the challenge and think you will find I have some things to entertain the weary riders. So please check daily, starting tomorrow, for my daily updates to my blog. Yes, it’s been sadly neglected without any rides this year, but this should be a fun adventure and I’m really looking forward to it.
I passed the 4,000 mile mark since I started riding my bike back in the summer of 2009. Wow, it sounds like an awful lot of miles, but it’s like I always tell people, it’s just one pedal push after another. If I looked at the large numbers of any trip I’d probably not go, but I try to break down all my rides into mini rides. For example on my daily rides I try to get to the next park or the next trail. On the state wide trips I just try to go to the next SAG stop.
To put that 4,000 miles in perspective, it is the same distance as if I had ridden from Omaha to Sacramento, CA, to Seattle, WA, and back to Omaha.
(Edited June 22: Cancelled my trip this year due to lack of training and conditioning)
I have plenty of excuses why I did not do RAGBRAI last year. Gear problems and lack of training where high, but the biggest reason I did not go was the 100+ heat index days the first two days that included a lot more hills than I am used to. For 2012 I am not as concerned. Still having some shifter problems, but I’m stoked to be in my best shape ever and the elevation (climbs) for this trip are much more manageable regardless of what the temperature is. Here’s the Ragbrai route for July 2012:
Sunday, July 22 (54 miles, 1,583 feet of climb)
- Start Town: Sioux Center
- Pass-through Towns: Orange City, Alton, Granville, Marcus
- Overnight Town: Cherokee
Monday, July 23 (62 miles, 2,062 feet of climb)
- Start Town: Cherokee
- Pass-through Towns: Aurelia, Hanover, Schaller, Nemaha, Sac City
- Overnight Town: Lake View
Tuesday, July 24 (81 miles, 1,724 feet of climb)
- Start Town: Lake View
- Pass-through Towns: Auburn, Lake City, Lohrville, Farnhamville, Gowrie, Dayton, Stratford, Lehigh
- Overnight Town: Webster City
Wednesday, July 25
- Start Town: Webster City (77 miles, 2,018 feet of climb)
- Pass-through Towns: Kamrar, Jewell, Story City, Roland, McCallsburg, Zearing, Saint Anthony, Clemons
- Overnight Town: Marshalltown
Thursday, July 26 (84 miles, 3,576 feet of climb)
- Start Town: Garwin
- Pass-through Towns: Clutier, Garrison, Vinton, Shellsburg, Covington,
- Overnight Town: Cedar Rapids
Friday, July 27 (42 miles, 2,272 feet of climb)
- Start Town: Cedar Rapids
- Pass-through Towns: Mount Vernon, Springville, Viola, Fairview
- Overnight Town: Anamosa
Saturday, July 28 (69 miles, 2,890 feet of climb)
- Start Town: Anamosa
- Pass-through Towns: Hale, Oxford Junction, Lost Nation, Elwood, Delmar, Charlotte, Goose Lake
- Final Destination Town: Clinton