Good morning,
I was running around town yesterday shoveling sidewalks and doing errands, a total of less than 10 miles in total probably, but this is the result. My bike is covered with snow and salt, shifters are frozen and non-working and large-scales/long-term corrosion is likely to reduce the life of this bike. I've long had ideas about improving the all-weather capability of a bike, but I'd like to hear from readers of this blog about your ideas. Please feel free to post them in the comments. As far as I'm concerned there's no such thing as bad weather for biking, just bad bikes for weather. Let me know if you've got a good one - whether you've built it or just thought about it.
In other practical matters, I'm posting this photo of the powered trailer that Laird Knight brought by the shop a few weeks ago. He built this from a trailer and gas-powered assist motor he got from Ebay, and parts that he scavenged from our bins. This motor allows him and his wife to carry all the family cargo when they go on rides with their 3 kids, without working very hard. The rig can achieve up to 30mph on level ground, and help maintain a good climbing speed up hills in traffic. I took a ride on it and, although I generally prefer electric (or no) assist, it was an unmitigated blast to ride. When you think about it, this is a vehicle that gives you most of the utility of a car (in good weather at least) while weighing less than 100lb - vs a car or motorcycle that might weigh 1000-6000lb. For short-distance travel in good weather (even with our local hills) this makes a lot of sense - and you can still get a workout whenever you want to by just turning off the engine. Feel free to send comments or pictures of similar rigs you've seen.
Good morning,
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