Hi All!
As mentioned, I'm back unexpectedly early from my test-tour. It was a valuable trip in terms of field testing resulting in a data "spew". The executive summary: The bike worked brilliantly as a whole, the trailer did not. I had to shortcut the bike ride and currently have the bike cached at my family's little cold-water beach cabin a hundred miles away, while I caught a ride home with the gear when friends unexpectedly dropped by. A good thing, too, as the Nomad has a broken rear mudguard and a crunchy bottom bracket.
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For the full story, grab a cuppa and read on...
Here I was, feeling disappointed because my Big Oregon trip didn't come off as planned, when really I shoud have been grateful. Just last Thursday, a lightning-sparked wildfire jumped the highway and closed all of Highway 97 at one point -- and 97 is the big N-S highway though Central Oregon. Then, the next day, another fire closed Highway 126 just east of Sisters, where I would have been, and another was reported just this side of Mitchell, which would have left me in a fix, sitting between the two without access to services. Trouble is, the tour would have taken place with largely untested equipment and the outcome likely wouldn't have been as good as it is.
As mentioned, I say this test-tour as a way to fully outfit the bike and trailer as I would for a big expedition -- and then test them both on Oregon's Coast Range logging roads in pretty severe conditions. There was dirt, heavy rock ballast, a lot of gravel, some cross-country work, and all on steep climbs and falls with 8% to 13% grades. The loaded bike weighed 138 lbs (bare bike was 45lbs, so the net wet load was 93lb) and the loaded trailer weighed 45lbs (bare trailer weighs 12lbs, so the net wet load was 33lbs). Total weight of all rolling stock was 183lb. Kitted out for riding, I added another 174lbs.
That is a lot of weight, and it made itself known early when I found my initial average speed was only about 12.5mph on level ground.
It also made itself known on hills. Thanks to the 36x17 gearing, 5-6% grades were no problem, and I managed 8% alright. What really did me in was anything above 10%, and 13% was unridable; I just couldn't get enough initial boost to get off from rest, so at those times I had to push. It is amazing how many 10%+ grades I encountered, and I wound up pushing over 11 miles. In racing cleats. My initial plan was to see if the Nomad and I could handle that much weight on fairly level desert when carrying massive amounts of water and food, and trying the lot on hills told me just what I could expect there as well as my average speed (not much compared to my usual).
EQUIPMENTSome things worked really well...•
The Nomad itself. It handled like a champ, and I really can't think of any other bike that could have handled this much weight in these conditions as well. It was nicely maneuverable at low speeds, stable at higher speeds, and picked its was along very nicely.
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The 44cm drop handlebars worked very nicely with a full front load of panniers and handlebar bag on very bad roads. No problem with steering or feeling as if I couldn't control the load and it never felt as if it could wrest the handlebars from my grasp.
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The Rohloff was brilliant. It *never* missed a shift and just kept whirring along. I used gear #1 a lot...most of the off-road work was down in Gears 1-7. My *impression* is the cranks don't come around quite as fast in my 15" low as they did on Sherpa's derailleur-geared 16" low, but I haven't worked out the reason why if the gears are essentially the same. At any rate, it is easier to catch the off pedal and mount it as it comes 'round, and this was much appreciated with my racing cleats, toe clips, and straps.
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The charging systems on bike, trailer, and solar panel worked wonderfully and exceeded all my expectations. Each worked as well as the other and I feel confident in each, though they all have their quirks and unique ways of working that have to be leveraged if maximum charging is to be extracted. For example, the solar panel should not be used during the day, when it needs uninterrupted sunlight to fully charge or top-off; it should be used to charge gadgets at night, in camp, so it can refill over the next day. Conversely, the dyno-chargers can't be operated at night, and so are at their best in daytime. The Tout Terrain The Plug2 Plus's PAT cord really does allow it to provide full charging power as low as 7.5mph, and I have learned that even if the green indicator light is blinking to indicate the load is too high, if one keeps it attached, at a certain point, the light will come on solid, indicating full charging. The e-Werk worked very nicely as well, but seemed to give full charging at a slightly higher speed, around 8.9mph.
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The Ortlieb panniers worked fine, and I'm really glad I equipped them with extra lower stabilizer fins and my usual compression straps to tie them and their loads solidly to the racks.
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The Duremes did reasonably well on everything, including heavy shale ballast that sounded like shards of broken gass when I rode across it. Though the sidewalls are relatively fragile, I used reasonable care an had no problems and no flats. I followed Andy Blances recommendations in the Nomad brochure (
http://www.sjscycles.com/thornpdf/ThornRavenNomadBroHiRes.pdf pg.6) and set the pressures at 52psi front/60psi rear and found these provided the ideal measure of support while still being comfortable. Speaking of tire pressure, the Nomad is really a different bike wrt tire pressure loaded and unladen. When riding unloaded, such high pressures were extremely uncomfortable, but dropping to 29psi front/36psi rear made it feel like 53psi/60psi with a heavy load -- compliant, sure-footed, and comfortable.
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The Picaridin-based insect repellent was brilliant. I ran into heavy mosquito populations as well as deer flies, and both hovered in clouds about my face but either didn't land or didn't stay to bite if they did touch down. They seemed confused. The smell was pleasant, it wasn't greasy, and no worries about damage to plastics.
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The sun-protective clothing (buff on my head, sun-protective jersey) worked great for sun protection, but were hot and didn't breathe well. These are natural results when the fabric is woven tightly. I found riding with the jersey fully unzipped helped make it bearable in the hottest weather but of course compromised the sun protection. The new Coppertone UltraGuard SPF 70+ Broad Spectrum suncreen I put on my legs worked well also; it was effective and non-greasy after application. The powdered titanium dioxide and micronized zinc oxide did well on my nose, and the micronized zinc oxide lip balm kept my lips from burning. I'm getting a handle on the sun issues for desert riding.
• Temps ranged from 45F at night to as much as 97F in the box canyons in the late afternoon. I went through a lot of water -- 6 liters by the time I made camp the first night and 1.5 liters after. I was able to stop at some wall seeps and small waterfalls and SteriPen some clear, fresh water that tasted wonderful and was tooth-achingly cold.
The SteriPen Classic worked lwell, and purified 1 liter in only 90 seconds with no chemicals or taste added to the water and with no filter to clog or change. I was happy with its performance, but had chlorinated pills on hand as a backup in case something went wrong with the SteriPen.
Some things did not work so well for me in this trial...• Chief among these was
the Extrawheel trailer -- for my bike and use in these conditions. So, what was the problem?
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The trailer didn't always track true, and would develop...not really a shimmy, but an oscillation that would become worse with each swing, both in frequency and amplitude. It was very strange and I could never pin down the reason except to say it always occurred on pavement. For example, there were times when it tracked straight as a die at 33mph (but not always), but would oscillate like mad at only 10mph (but not always). It happened consistently whenever I posted (stood up on the pedals), so I didn't, which made descents much less comfortable. I couldn't pin it down to road surface or speed, and it happened when pedaling or coasting. My usual fast, light cadence did aggravate it, but it woud also go into these oscillations when coasting and posting, so that wasn't always a factor. Low tire pressure seemed to be a factor. I started out at 22psi and pumping it up to 60psi seemed to initiallyresult in less squirm at the tire contact patch, but in the end made no real difference. It was a tremendous disappointment and had
very much the effect of the tail wagging the dog. I didn't notice any shimmy on dirt, gravel, grass, and such, because I think the loose surface acts as a lubricant of sorts and allows side-slip at the tire's contact patch. On pavement, the lateral mechanical connection with the road is much more robust, and I think this allows the lateral oscillations to be transferred to the connecting fork and then to the bike's rear dropouts, where the q/r hitches attach.
• The trailer doesn't seem to offer any noticeable difference in rolling resistance on smooth pavement, but it surely seems to have
a retarding effect going uphill or down in gravel and on really rough roads. Yes, the larger wheel is less likely to fall into ruts than the 16" wheels commonly used on "sled-type" trailers, but it still has to go over bumps and holes. To me, the effect was like I was dragging half a second bike through or over whatever obstacle I encountered. I'm sure all this was exacerbated by the 45lb load it carried, but it is rated to manage as much as the low 70-pound range.
• Where I ran into real problems off-road was when the trailer went airborne and lofted considerably on fast descents or when the "break" between bike and trailer formed a "V" with the trailer's tire resting on ground substantially higher than the bike's rear tire (easing across a shallow ditch from a campsite to the road, for example).
When the trailer wheel gains too much altitude the attachment fork fouls the mudguard stay nuts and I was dismayed to find my rear mudguard has fractured almost completely in two a little ways from the stay attachment bridge. This will mean a new mudguard pair to replace as well as my custom-cut black Scotchlite mottos and a complete taillight rewiring job and mudguard re-drilling, so it was an expensive lesson for me.
I think if one wanted to go tour-camping with a 'guardless mountain bike, the Extrawheel trailer would be a brilliant alternative to pannier racks. Without mudguards on the bike, the trailer could fly and bounce unrestrained and the oscillation didn't seem to be a problem off-road. Just goes to show the real value of field testing, as none of these issues were revealed in my intensive home testing.
I still need a way to haul my required water stores, and I could use the extra charging capacity. Having poured so much time, effort, and money into developing and electrifying the trailer for multi-modal charging, I don't want to discard it out of hand for my use, but I am presently at a loss to know how to correct the handling and clearance problems I experienced. I'll deal with the trailer in a bit more detail in a separate entry on that thread:
http://www.thorncycles.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=4953.0•
My MSR Dromedary 10l bags smell and taste terrible almost to the point of rendering the water stored in them almost undrinkable. I understand others have experienced this with Ortlieb water bags as well. MSR say this is not present a health issue, but when I decanted the water, it looked like it contained soap suds. I live about .75 miles south of a water-treatment facility, and my water has considerable quantities of chlorine and now bromine as well. The chlorinated/brominated water is known to react with these linings, and I followed the recommendation to fill the bags with baking soda and very hot water, let stand overnight, then decant and rinse, filling with clear water and allowing to dry. This worked initially, but when I took care to fill that Dromedary and another (virgin) example only with distilled bottled water, the "chemical" smell and taste became evident after only a few hours. I understnd the MSR Platypus water bags have no such taste/odor issues, but they are not as robust as the Dromedaries or the Ortlieb versions. This is a problem I need to resolve, as water stores are critical to my desert tours.
• While the Ortlieb panniers worked fine,
the handlebar bag really needs to be tilted up another 5-10 degrees. The bag attaches to its mount at the rear of the support frame, and this allows the bag to bounce vertically. On really big bumps, it was enough to whack the headlight and point it downward so aim was spoiled. I think a simple cable adjustment will do the trick.
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My little security alarm died, as did another I purchased. It seems the voice coil seizes and then it doesn't sound anymore. I will look into this further, as it provided a nice sense of security when it worked.
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The area where I traveled has essentially no cellphone service. Verizon has easily the best coverage here, but there was nothing available from the time I entered the coast range until near the city limits of Waldport, on the Oregon Coast. That meant
my 4G LTE hotspot wouldn't work either. The data bytes I purchased for it were only good for a week with no rollover and so were wasted on this trip. It worked great at home. Visiting owners of GSM phones be advised: Verizon is a CDMA network, incompatible with GSM. Forum member John Saxby advised me he had very limited use of his AT&T GSM phone west of the Missouri River and really limited use away from population centers in the rural West. I need to look into a sat-phone and its operating costs.
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The external bearings on my Shimano Deore bottom bracket started to make "crunchy" noises, but with no discernible play. I have a Phil Wood replacement here at home, and didn't want to damage the integrated spindle if the bearings have indeed gone bad; better to swap out the BB than replace the lot.
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The GoPro HD Hero2 camera does not take good/usable video when mounted rigidly to the bike when riding off-road. The vertical movement is greater than the frame rate can mask, and the result is called "jello" -- the result looks like a Salvador Dali painting, and even heavy post-processing doesn't put things right. The solution is to isolate the camera from vibration by wearing it on either a helmet mount or chect mount in those conditions. It would help to leave the camera out someplace where I can quickly grab it rather than digging in the panniers for it. Bears and other wildlife won't wait.
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THE JOURNEYI stopped in Alpine (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpine,_Oregon ) on my way out of town. My Uncle Harvey had a farm there until he declined after his tractor flipped over on him at age 94 (he was legally blind at the time he operated it) and died a couple years later. His nephew still runs the place as a tree farm. While stopped at the city park, I met recently-retired Gary Weems, who maintains the city park single-handedly -- paying the water bill, mowing the grass, cleaning and repairing the restrooms, and he was measuring the picnic tables for new wood when I met him. A remarkable individual who just wanted to give back to the tiny community of 171 people where he had lived for 20 years.
I spent the first night on a logging road in the Coast Range. I quickly discarded my first choice in campsites, a skidder-loader landing midway down exposed ridge, because it was catabatic and would have proven cold in the night (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katabatic_wind ). Instead, I retreated to what had been a pullout on the single-lane road and had a nice camp in the forest.
Given my slow speed with the weight in the hills, the trailer's handling and mudguard-whacking problems, and the crunchy bottom bracket, it seemed unwise to sign on for even more severe and remote roads. My planned route up East Buck Creek Road and FS Roads 58 and 54 were through slide-damaged areas and away from water sources. When I got to the Five Rivers intersection, I decided to bail out for Highway 34 to the Coast. Even in the name of Science, Danneaux is good for only so much, and pushing up more hills wasn't going to add to the data store.
I spent the second night at a public boat landing, far at the back of the park. There was a fire ring there, but beyond was a screen of brush and young trees, and behind that was a small meadow. In this ideal spot for for stealth camping, I set up the tent and was just unstuffing my sleeping bag when I heard a noise, looked up, and saw a guy whacking the brush with a large stick, near the firepits through the screen of trees and brush. We saw each other about the same time, introduced ourselves, and he said he was preparing the site where he met friends annually for a crawfish boil. He and his four friends were exceptionally nice and quiet neighbors who usually work 19-hour days doing this:
http://www.crowdsupply.com/rigado/lumenplayAfter arriving at the little Yachats cabin, I was surprised to hear a knock on the door and saw it was my longtime friend Mike and his wife Jan. They had been out visiting antique shops and -- on a whim -- thought they might catch me there. Their small van was partly full of antiques but still had room for everything but the Nomad. The plan is to drive the Honda back to get the Nomad today; the bike should fit inside the small hatchback if I fold the seats and remove the bike wheels.
In the course of riding, I surprised a yearling bear around a corner, saw a bobcat a hundred meters away, encountered a dozen or so deer, and had some pleasant chats with interesting people I met along the way. I got my last "new" bike in 1989 and my touring setup had remained stable for decades. This test-tour points out the value in vetting any and all new gear before embarking on a really long trip where repairs and resupplies are unavailable. In just three days and two nights, I got a wealth of data to make my setup more reliable and better suited to my needs. Good stuff and a little adventure between Friday and Sunday! I'll order a new set of mudguards from SJSC, but in the meantime, with a new Phil BB and duct tape on the broken mudguard, I should be back on the road shortly.
Best,
Dan.
