I just purchased a new 48cc MegaMotors Black Bicycle Engine Kit - 2 stroke from BikeBerry.com. This is for both hiking and maintenance. It means that I'm going to be able to put about 4 extra miles down trail (in one direction) on the hike and it will probably double my mileage on any given maintenance day. It's also likely to shave off some of the mileage my car will accumulate annually. I might even have studded tires for the winter for this bike?
On the Buckeye Trail, 98% of its off road is on government reservations. What's actually permitted on those surfaces depends on the agency that owns them. Can you cover the BT with a different mode? Yes. But if you strive for the Circuit Hike Patch, be sure that you clear it with the program coordinator first. This patch can be the "least common denominator" if it's what you seek.
That's the best explanation that I give. And I knew that I had to cover it today since I mentioned putting a motor on my bicycle. There are signs in the Marietta Unit of the Wayne National Forest (The Wayne) that contradict this, but motors are forbidden on the Buckeye/ North Country National Scenic Trail there. But a motorized bike would only be used for looping since I'm almost always solo.
Showing posts with label bike. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bike. Show all posts
2016/04/07
2014/04/21
Log 2014042101
I finally learned how to true my own bicycle rim. With it in the truing stand as shown, I learned from YouTube that you turn the spoke nipple counter clockwise then turn the next one up opposite using 1/4th and 1/2 turns. I'm thinking about using 2 strips of metal that would be bolted to my kickstand's mounting bolt so I could true my rear rim on the fly.
2014/03/06
Log 2014030603
I took my bicycle for a ride today to return the kickstand and heart rate monitor back to Dick's Sporting Goods in Mentor of Lake County. I didn't exchange them because the store didn't have another kickstand long enough, nor did they have a Bluetooth heart rate monitor to synchronize with my smartphone. I got about $81 back.
Because of the rear basket being mounted and my bike being so large, I have to tip my bike towards me and try to swing my leg up over the top bar of the frame first. Well, I have denim pants on today and the heel of my boot was always snagging the bar.
It's probably the denim? Maybe it's the weight of the boots? Maybe it's that I was injured for 3 months and I'm weaker because I haven't exercised since? And then, it could be a combination of the three? But it is 31°F and it was comfortable ride with a light jacket and mechanic's gloves.
2014/03/04
Log 2014030401
Orange reflector tape was installed on the two largest bars of my Nishki Colorado mountain bike. It will increase night time visability from the sides and 3, or more way intersections and diminish my chances of being t-boned at night.
A new smartphone mount with a goose neck and suction cup was purchased at Best Buy in Mentor of Lake County today and installed. It replaced a smaller smartphone holder, that didn't have grips to secure the smartphone in place. It's design was gravity based. And it's back plate didn't go high enough for the new Samsung Note 3's height. The new mount is now sufficient for my in office use.
-A new 1 liter water bottle and cage was installed on said mountain bike. A second cage is still on order and should arrive soon.
- A new rear basket was purchased from Wal-Mart in Mentor of Lake County and was installed on the back rack of said mountain bike. This will allow me to haul cargo on the bike such as groceries and supplies.
- Two new USB cables were purchased for the new said smartphone. They were intended for use in the garage where I'm currently housesitting and in my car. Well, I opened the box and found out that they were the same as the data cables for my previous cell phone. One of the boxes is now in the trash, so, I'm hoping that I that I can get my money back for the second one if I can find those other cables.
- A universal notebook charger was purchased today from Best Buy in Mentor of Lake County, but it was the wrong kind and it didn't fit my HP's power port. I hope to take it back for an exchange.
- My new 10" combat boots made by Bates came today from Dick's Sporting Goods. They'll be replacing my current boots of the same make and model. That's because part of the outer sole at the tips of my feet are starting to separate and their tread is very worn down.
- A new Otter box smartphone case was purchased from Best Buy in Mentor of Lake County. It's a rugged enclosure that protects my new Samsung Galaxy Note 3 smartphone. If the cost to get the phone at Verizon only cost me about $300 out the door and a newly activated 2 year plan, should I damage the unit in such a way that it's beyond my extended warranty, a replacement of said smartphone will cost about $750 out of pocket at its current retail price.
-The new smartphone was mounted to said mountain bike and it seems to work.
-Even a service with a superior coverage area like Verizon Wireless will loose data signal in the kind of places that I go. In the second installment of the next recreation trip, I'm counting on it. This is a 31 mile bike ride from Belpre of Washington County to Chesterhill of Morgan County on the American Discovery Trail in Ohio, while it's independent of the Buckeye Trail. My purpose will be to ride ADT's independent east arm before hiking the Buckeye Trail. This will take place on township and county roads in remote areas.
I anticipate that the smartphone's GPS won't be up to the job. Anyways, the field GPS is much more battery efficient than the smartphone. If I can run them both, using the field GPS for my odometer, navigation and the smartphone for my on-board music, it should extend the smartphone's battery life.
So, I installed a custom field GPS mount to the top bar of said mountain bike's frame with a buckle, mesh strap and four zip ties. The units belt clip mounts to one of the zip ties and the adjustable mesh strap. The other three zip ties are secured to the frame for stabilization.
A new smartphone mount with a goose neck and suction cup was purchased at Best Buy in Mentor of Lake County today and installed. It replaced a smaller smartphone holder, that didn't have grips to secure the smartphone in place. It's design was gravity based. And it's back plate didn't go high enough for the new Samsung Note 3's height. The new mount is now sufficient for my in office use.
-A new 1 liter water bottle and cage was installed on said mountain bike. A second cage is still on order and should arrive soon.
- A new rear basket was purchased from Wal-Mart in Mentor of Lake County and was installed on the back rack of said mountain bike. This will allow me to haul cargo on the bike such as groceries and supplies.
- Two new USB cables were purchased for the new said smartphone. They were intended for use in the garage where I'm currently housesitting and in my car. Well, I opened the box and found out that they were the same as the data cables for my previous cell phone. One of the boxes is now in the trash, so, I'm hoping that I that I can get my money back for the second one if I can find those other cables.
- A universal notebook charger was purchased today from Best Buy in Mentor of Lake County, but it was the wrong kind and it didn't fit my HP's power port. I hope to take it back for an exchange.
- My new 10" combat boots made by Bates came today from Dick's Sporting Goods. They'll be replacing my current boots of the same make and model. That's because part of the outer sole at the tips of my feet are starting to separate and their tread is very worn down.
- A new Otter box smartphone case was purchased from Best Buy in Mentor of Lake County. It's a rugged enclosure that protects my new Samsung Galaxy Note 3 smartphone. If the cost to get the phone at Verizon only cost me about $300 out the door and a newly activated 2 year plan, should I damage the unit in such a way that it's beyond my extended warranty, a replacement of said smartphone will cost about $750 out of pocket at its current retail price.
-The new smartphone was mounted to said mountain bike and it seems to work.
-Even a service with a superior coverage area like Verizon Wireless will loose data signal in the kind of places that I go. In the second installment of the next recreation trip, I'm counting on it. This is a 31 mile bike ride from Belpre of Washington County to Chesterhill of Morgan County on the American Discovery Trail in Ohio, while it's independent of the Buckeye Trail. My purpose will be to ride ADT's independent east arm before hiking the Buckeye Trail. This will take place on township and county roads in remote areas.
I anticipate that the smartphone's GPS won't be up to the job. Anyways, the field GPS is much more battery efficient than the smartphone. If I can run them both, using the field GPS for my odometer, navigation and the smartphone for my on-board music, it should extend the smartphone's battery life.
So, I installed a custom field GPS mount to the top bar of said mountain bike's frame with a buckle, mesh strap and four zip ties. The units belt clip mounts to one of the zip ties and the adjustable mesh strap. The other three zip ties are secured to the frame for stabilization.
2014/01/07
Log 2014010601
I received a letter in the snail mail today from my cellular provider. And in it, they stated that they performed an account review and had noticed that I was exceeding my data roaming limit. Considering that I've been at home port in Painesville of Lake County for the last 67 days with regular voice service and 4G data and in that time, I only put about 1,000 miles on my 2008 Chevy HHR, I would have to conclude that they were in reference to my extended time while on hiking/ maintenance for the Buckeye Trail. And I could only imagine that this excessive data roaming was accrued while using Google Maps and my turn-by-turn navigation moving from one place to another and finding amenities. I tried to get in contact with their Roaming Compliance Department in their last operating hour today, but there was no response.
On my smartphone, there's five bars that indicate regular voice service. When the unit goes in to voice roaming, there's a little icon and the bars start over for that. As for 4G, I only get that signal in major markets, like the Cleveland area. The rest is 3G service. But when the unit goes into data roaming, there isn't an icon. You would have to roughly assume that the data roaming service area is similar to the voice roaming area. But I know for a fact that they are not exact. Sprint has online maps that detail these areas, but I would have to download an offline copy for what I do, but I don't believe that is available. If I had an offline copy, I could upload it to Google Earth on the laptop that I carry on these trips to reference and know when I need to get paper directions.
So, I'm starting to formulate alternatives. One is getting paper directions like I mentioned.
- Purchase a automotive GPS, which would work with satellites instead of cell phone towers and be more reliable in more places.
- Purchase and install a smaller a CDMA repeater in the car so my smartphone can get regular data services in more places.
- Change my cellphone carrier to Verizon if their services suit my needs in regards to data roaming.
But what I'm really hoping for is a special package that I can add on. What does a cross country trucker do?
So far today, the air temperature was -13°F at home port. At -7°F, my 2008 Chevy HHR had a difficult time starting. It rained yesterday and froze on what was already hard packed snow... So, the Chevy did not move at all today. And the already weak tailgate release would not power up when actuated.
This morning was the first in last 64 days that I didn't notice my back ache. And considering that I tried pushing the HHR into a place where it might get some traction today, I still don't notice it. Depending on how I sit, I can still feel, but barely.
My personal task list is dwindling down as I've completed a bunch of items. The biggest hurdle now is I need to get about 45 days worth of pressure canning done before I can sit down and work on the 2014 Edition of the Ohio Transit Hiker's Resource. That's January's main task. In February, I need to start getting The Cramper's materials ready for when the weather breaks in Southern Ohio.
The next recreational series will tentatively start in the City of Parkersburg, West Virginia. The plan is to bicycle to the Village of Chesterhill in Morgan County on the American Discovery Trail (ADT) in Southeast Ohio. It's about a 31 mile ride. At Chesterhill, the ADT will run concurrent with the Buckeye/ North Country Trail across the south. I have the BT/ NCT/ ADT already completed from the Village of Mount Orab in Brown County to Eden Park in the City of Cincinnati.
After the ride from Parkersburg to Chesterhill, I'll need to drive across the state to Cincinnati. The 6,800 mile ADT is kind of peculiar in that it's mostly a straight line... until it reaches Greater Cincinnati. That's when the trail splits into a loop. The south side goes to Saint Louis, Missouri and the north goes to Chicago, Ill. They rejoin near Denver, Colorado.
I'll have to find a parking spot for the car and use public transit. Before hand, I'll have to get a bike box from Amtrak (because there's are better) and use it to board the Greyhound to Richmond, Indiana. Richmond is on the Indiana/ Ohio State Line and I'd cycle south on ADT's north side, while managing to divert and pick up about 2.5 miles of the south side. And then, I'll turn around and clip through Northern Kentucky before reentering Ohio in Downtown Cincinnati, end at Eden Park and then pick up my car. That ride is about 45 miles long.
Within Ohio, cleaning up the ADT independant of the Buckeye Trail, I'll line myself up to hike about 350 miles from Chesterhill of Morgan County to Mount Orab of Brown County. When I finish at Mount Orab (which this location is tentative), I will have completed the Buckeye Trail and be eligible for the Circuit Hike Patch. Also, I'll be eligible for the North Country Trail's "Ohio" state patch. The ADT doesn't have a state patch, all I really want to say that I've completed every major trail in Ohio. And should I wish to hike, or bike across it, I'll be well on my way with having Ohio completed.
In other words, cleaning up a few minor ends will allow me to clean up and finish everything on one course while the three trails are running concurrent with each other on the same route. That's my "plan of attack."
On my smartphone, there's five bars that indicate regular voice service. When the unit goes in to voice roaming, there's a little icon and the bars start over for that. As for 4G, I only get that signal in major markets, like the Cleveland area. The rest is 3G service. But when the unit goes into data roaming, there isn't an icon. You would have to roughly assume that the data roaming service area is similar to the voice roaming area. But I know for a fact that they are not exact. Sprint has online maps that detail these areas, but I would have to download an offline copy for what I do, but I don't believe that is available. If I had an offline copy, I could upload it to Google Earth on the laptop that I carry on these trips to reference and know when I need to get paper directions.
So, I'm starting to formulate alternatives. One is getting paper directions like I mentioned.
- Purchase a automotive GPS, which would work with satellites instead of cell phone towers and be more reliable in more places.
- Purchase and install a smaller a CDMA repeater in the car so my smartphone can get regular data services in more places.
- Change my cellphone carrier to Verizon if their services suit my needs in regards to data roaming.
But what I'm really hoping for is a special package that I can add on. What does a cross country trucker do?
So far today, the air temperature was -13°F at home port. At -7°F, my 2008 Chevy HHR had a difficult time starting. It rained yesterday and froze on what was already hard packed snow... So, the Chevy did not move at all today. And the already weak tailgate release would not power up when actuated.
This morning was the first in last 64 days that I didn't notice my back ache. And considering that I tried pushing the HHR into a place where it might get some traction today, I still don't notice it. Depending on how I sit, I can still feel, but barely.
My personal task list is dwindling down as I've completed a bunch of items. The biggest hurdle now is I need to get about 45 days worth of pressure canning done before I can sit down and work on the 2014 Edition of the Ohio Transit Hiker's Resource. That's January's main task. In February, I need to start getting The Cramper's materials ready for when the weather breaks in Southern Ohio.
The next recreational series will tentatively start in the City of Parkersburg, West Virginia. The plan is to bicycle to the Village of Chesterhill in Morgan County on the American Discovery Trail (ADT) in Southeast Ohio. It's about a 31 mile ride. At Chesterhill, the ADT will run concurrent with the Buckeye/ North Country Trail across the south. I have the BT/ NCT/ ADT already completed from the Village of Mount Orab in Brown County to Eden Park in the City of Cincinnati.
After the ride from Parkersburg to Chesterhill, I'll need to drive across the state to Cincinnati. The 6,800 mile ADT is kind of peculiar in that it's mostly a straight line... until it reaches Greater Cincinnati. That's when the trail splits into a loop. The south side goes to Saint Louis, Missouri and the north goes to Chicago, Ill. They rejoin near Denver, Colorado.
I'll have to find a parking spot for the car and use public transit. Before hand, I'll have to get a bike box from Amtrak (because there's are better) and use it to board the Greyhound to Richmond, Indiana. Richmond is on the Indiana/ Ohio State Line and I'd cycle south on ADT's north side, while managing to divert and pick up about 2.5 miles of the south side. And then, I'll turn around and clip through Northern Kentucky before reentering Ohio in Downtown Cincinnati, end at Eden Park and then pick up my car. That ride is about 45 miles long.
Within Ohio, cleaning up the ADT independant of the Buckeye Trail, I'll line myself up to hike about 350 miles from Chesterhill of Morgan County to Mount Orab of Brown County. When I finish at Mount Orab (which this location is tentative), I will have completed the Buckeye Trail and be eligible for the Circuit Hike Patch. Also, I'll be eligible for the North Country Trail's "Ohio" state patch. The ADT doesn't have a state patch, all I really want to say that I've completed every major trail in Ohio. And should I wish to hike, or bike across it, I'll be well on my way with having Ohio completed.
In other words, cleaning up a few minor ends will allow me to clean up and finish everything on one course while the three trails are running concurrent with each other on the same route. That's my "plan of attack."
2013/11/29
Log 2013102401
I checked out of Basecamp Alpha again and have now established
Basecamp India at the Ring Mill Campground in the Wayne National Forest -
Marietta Unit. Prior to this, I picked up my mountain bike at
Threesixty Bike Shop in Zanesville of Muskingum County. I test drove it
before leaving and everything seems to be in working order.
I'm writing this from a McDonald's in New Martinsburg, West Virginia, which is the closest to Basecamp India. I stopped over at the Noble County Sheriff's Department to ask about where the Craig's List Killings took place. And I was informed that it happened on Don Warner Road, which intersects the BT. As to where exactly, the SD wouldn't elaborate.
I'm writing this from a McDonald's in New Martinsburg, West Virginia, which is the closest to Basecamp India. I stopped over at the Noble County Sheriff's Department to ask about where the Craig's List Killings took place. And I was informed that it happened on Don Warner Road, which intersects the BT. As to where exactly, the SD wouldn't elaborate.
2013/10/31
2013/10/23
Log 2012102201
I have been on the road for 47 days so far. I think that beats my last record by 10 days.
After getting my bike repaired in Cambridge, I dropped it off without test riding it out of the store. Well, I pre positioned the bike a day later at Campground H on the Stockport Section - Buckeye Trail in the evening. The next day, I got off to a late start, but it was only a 15.6 mile hike and about 1/3rd of it was on-road. So, departed Basecamp Alpha anyways on foot.
The remainder of the Belle Valley Section was easy, even on the off-road. And that's partly because the portion of off-road trail on Belle Valley was recently built. And for the most part, the trail surfaces didn't usually angle parallel to my feet. The only thing that I didn't like there was that the grass surfaces were not benched. Benching is used when the trail is coming around a hillside and rather have the hiker walk on a tilted surface, they dig under level it out. There's probably a reason why they didn't do that. I must admit that I've never maintained a surface under those conditions before.
The Belle Valley is the 18th section that I've completed. Currently, the Stockport, Road Fork, Whipple and West Union Sections are in progress. However, RF & Whipple are connected and I could finish both up in one hiking day.
The Stockport Section in AEP is older and looks like the segment needs a adopter, or they're filling in with other maintainers, or they have a maintainer whose adopted a large off-road segment and hasn't gotten back to groom parts of the off-road yet. I think I've mentioned before that Whipple Section off-road was difficult to navigate. Stockport 1 - 3 was not like that. It just looked like it's missed 1 maintenance session. For all I know, somebody's coming back to maintain it and I just got there before hand... it happens.
So, I got to my bike, got on and realized that the new chain wasn't holding gears. And that's when I realized that I had a 16mi, 5 hour walk back to The Cramper in addition to the 15.6mi that I already hiked. Well, I'm no expert at tuning a rear dérailleur, but I got my screwdriver out of my swiss army knife and managed to lock it into 7 HI.
That night, I got back to camp in 2 hours, instead of 5 thanks my "handy work." Well, this after noon, I gave up on trying to tune the transmission. So, I took the bike to a shop in Zanesville. And the technician looked at it, tuned the tranny, but when I got back to pick it up, he showed me that the top of the chain was sagging. Turns out that the previous technician over looked that there was an extra link in the chain and I had Zanesville take it out.
But he also alerted me that the gear cassette might have needed to be replaced. This all 7 gears on the rear wheel. I took it for a test drive and found that after the link was removed and transmission was tuned, that it still wasn't holding any gears. So right now, the bike is still at the shop, having a new gear cassette installed and tomorrow we'll see if my old seat post, which is wider than the one currently installed, can be modified for use with my noseless seat?
I'm currently investigating the possibility of cycling the independent east stem of the American Discovery Trail. My measurements show that Belpre of Washington County to the Buckeye Trail junction is only 31 miles. A 62+mi trip by bike, or hike and bike is certainly possible in a day. What bothers me is that it's nearby right now. The question is do I want to cease that day?
Tonight, I didn't get the outer shell on The Cramper just right. And now that my corners are exposed, the electric ceramic heater won't heat beyond 61F. Usually this unit at 47F outdoor temp can heat my bunk upto 72F+. The old tarp wasn't wide enough to cover the corners. I guess that I know now that it really did need to be upgraded.
After getting my bike repaired in Cambridge, I dropped it off without test riding it out of the store. Well, I pre positioned the bike a day later at Campground H on the Stockport Section - Buckeye Trail in the evening. The next day, I got off to a late start, but it was only a 15.6 mile hike and about 1/3rd of it was on-road. So, departed Basecamp Alpha anyways on foot.
The remainder of the Belle Valley Section was easy, even on the off-road. And that's partly because the portion of off-road trail on Belle Valley was recently built. And for the most part, the trail surfaces didn't usually angle parallel to my feet. The only thing that I didn't like there was that the grass surfaces were not benched. Benching is used when the trail is coming around a hillside and rather have the hiker walk on a tilted surface, they dig under level it out. There's probably a reason why they didn't do that. I must admit that I've never maintained a surface under those conditions before.
The Belle Valley is the 18th section that I've completed. Currently, the Stockport, Road Fork, Whipple and West Union Sections are in progress. However, RF & Whipple are connected and I could finish both up in one hiking day.
The Stockport Section in AEP is older and looks like the segment needs a adopter, or they're filling in with other maintainers, or they have a maintainer whose adopted a large off-road segment and hasn't gotten back to groom parts of the off-road yet. I think I've mentioned before that Whipple Section off-road was difficult to navigate. Stockport 1 - 3 was not like that. It just looked like it's missed 1 maintenance session. For all I know, somebody's coming back to maintain it and I just got there before hand... it happens.
So, I got to my bike, got on and realized that the new chain wasn't holding gears. And that's when I realized that I had a 16mi, 5 hour walk back to The Cramper in addition to the 15.6mi that I already hiked. Well, I'm no expert at tuning a rear dérailleur, but I got my screwdriver out of my swiss army knife and managed to lock it into 7 HI.
That night, I got back to camp in 2 hours, instead of 5 thanks my "handy work." Well, this after noon, I gave up on trying to tune the transmission. So, I took the bike to a shop in Zanesville. And the technician looked at it, tuned the tranny, but when I got back to pick it up, he showed me that the top of the chain was sagging. Turns out that the previous technician over looked that there was an extra link in the chain and I had Zanesville take it out.
But he also alerted me that the gear cassette might have needed to be replaced. This all 7 gears on the rear wheel. I took it for a test drive and found that after the link was removed and transmission was tuned, that it still wasn't holding any gears. So right now, the bike is still at the shop, having a new gear cassette installed and tomorrow we'll see if my old seat post, which is wider than the one currently installed, can be modified for use with my noseless seat?
I'm currently investigating the possibility of cycling the independent east stem of the American Discovery Trail. My measurements show that Belpre of Washington County to the Buckeye Trail junction is only 31 miles. A 62+mi trip by bike, or hike and bike is certainly possible in a day. What bothers me is that it's nearby right now. The question is do I want to cease that day?
Tonight, I didn't get the outer shell on The Cramper just right. And now that my corners are exposed, the electric ceramic heater won't heat beyond 61F. Usually this unit at 47F outdoor temp can heat my bunk upto 72F+. The old tarp wasn't wide enough to cover the corners. I guess that I know now that it really did need to be upgraded.
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