Lighting Up

Dale installed lights on the trailer box yesterday. We hope to ride mostly in daylight, but the lights could come in handy if we find ourselves on a country road after dark.

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Trip Preparations

How much preparation is enough for a bike tour? We've been reviewing routes, assembling a tool kit, tuning up the trikes, selecting quick-drying clothes, and doing some test rides. We still have more than a month to get everything ready, but previous rides have taught us that a little extra planning can save a lot of trouble on the road. (Having the right size inner tubes, for instance.)

Today's project was to hitch everything up, load the luggage, and make sure it all fits, and that nothing interferes with turning. So far, so good. The Igloo cooler holds three luggage organizers, a large bag for tools and spare tires, and a small packet for electronics. A Velo-Case and a Lone Peak seat-back bag will both fit on the rear trike, while the front trike can carry a Radical Design large seat-back bag.

There was time for some photos by Lake Harriet. I just hope the weather is this nice during the ride!

Green Travels

We are planning a greener vacation this summer, in recognition of the harm done by unlimited oil consumption, but also for the pure adventure of two 60-somethings setting out to bike a thousand miles -- from our front door to Wisconsin, joining up with the SAGBRAW group ride there, then riding to the Hostel Shoppe Recumbent Rally and home again.

We signed up for the events, reserved rooms in hotels along the way, and uploaded maps of the routes to our GPS. The next step was to get our Greenspeed Anura trikes set up so that either one could serve as the lead trike or the one pulling the trailer. We added a Weber hitch to the fork-grabber at the back of each trike.

In past years we rode a Hase Kettwiesel and an Anura linked together, but that required two sets of spare tires and tubes. Not fun when you are looking for the right one in the rain.

We're also exploring how to post to this blog from a mobile device, but getting photos to upload is proving challenging.

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