Tuckerville and Tri Girl do a tour

[sfa]

Thanks for the tour report. Sounds like a nice tour, in spite of the heat, the hills and the trailer issues!

I always say that cycle touring prepared me better for childbirth than any of the childbirth classes I took--the one thing you take away is that sometimes you just have to put up with a miserable situation because you got yourself into this and there's no easy way out.

That dog is awesome!

Sarah

[Grog]

How fun! Thanks for the report!!

[Zen]

Hey, what kind of mirror is that?

And what was wrong with the trailer? Do you think it was you or the trailer?

[Mr. Bloom]

Same kind of mirror I use...but eventually superglue is needed.

Cool Ride! It does look that was quite a hill you hauled that trailer up!

[Tuckervill]

Pulling the trailer was not the issue. Getting it off the ground when it was fully loaded was. If you jackknife it, it holds the bike up. If you didn't jackknife it, it pulls the bike over, even with the kickstand (especially with the handlebar bag on). So, I had to jackknife it whenever I stopped.

I never figured out an easy way to get it moving after jackknifing it. It wasn't overloaded. I was only carrying 33 lbs of gear, and it's rated for 45. I didn't like the torque I felt it was putting on my rear wheel, skewer and frame whenever I tried to stand it up.

I keep thinking someone with better experience could show me a little trick or something. Or that this Nashbar version works differently than the real BOB trailers. I once saw a guy in CA in the middle of nowhere with a BOB trailer. He was seriously going across country. His trailer was standing up and so was his bike, in line with each other. You just can't balance your gear that well. My bike is a tourer, so it's set up for the load. I just don't know what gives.

I'm seriously considering putting training wheels on it, though. If anyone knows what I'm doing wrong, I'd really like to be enlightened. I was cursing that thing at the foot of the dam!

Karen

[Zen]

Same kind of mirror I use...but eventually superglue is needed.

well, I'll just google "mirror Mr. silver uses + superglue"

Karen, If you join up with Yahoo Groups there is a C&O Canal forum, I bet someone there knows whats up.

[Tri Girl]

The mirror is from cycleaware. It pops on and off the helmet at will.

What part needs the superglue Mr.? To hold the mirror on the flexy arm (darn thing comes off easily) or to hold the flexy arm to the helmet?

[Tuckervill]

I did some googling last night, Zen. There are some kickstands for the BoB trailer on the market. Don't know if they would fit the cheap version. There is also a double kickstand for the bike that attaches in the same place as the regular one. That one would definitely work.

I think the people who use them without kickstands just lean both trailer and bike against a wall. However, it took a lot of planning ahead to get to a point where I could keep it from falling over. Wide arcs are required. Sometimes you just don't have room for a wide arc. There wasn't a "sweet spot" where it felt balanced, except when I was moving. Once it started falling, it was going over. Even just trying to dismount the bike was a challenge to keep it from falling over.

I finally did start holding the rack instead of the back of my Brooks to wrestle it up. That's a hard habit to break, not grabbing the saddle!

Karen

[Mr. Bloom]

What part needs the superglue Mr.? To hold the mirror on the flexy arm (darn thing comes off easily) or to hold the flexy arm to the helmet?

I have to glue the knob to the helmet...Once there firmly, I put the flexy arm on it and it works great.

I've only forgotten my mirror on two rides in the last year...and I felt naked and vulnerable without itbut that's probably TMI