cargo trailers? ---- 318 mile ride from McKeesport to D.C.

[David Gill]

For 3 years now I have been wanting to ride the ATA/C&O Towpath -
McKeesport to Washington DC, camping along the way. Need a trailer for
the gear though is first priorty.

I'm looking at the most obvious choice, BOB Yak or the IBEX as they
will attach to either uprights or bents. I have a full suspension
Cannondale MTN bike that might be great to pack trail ride into the
woods someday, I still have a cannondale road tandem, so either
trailer will work on all my current bikes at the moment.

I'm coming close to buying the YAK at REI ----they are giving 20% off
on a single item, which from what I read the BOB trailers are not
excluded.....so $65 dollars off the YAK is very tempting.......if I'm
ever going to get this ride underway, the trailer is a key part. Need
it now to start some training with weight for a month or so before
tackling the trail in July ? August?

A goal of mine is to ride to DC this year, have not worked out the
logistics yet. 4 days? 5 days? I don't know.

It'd be nice to have some company to share in the
adventure.....anybody else interested? Anybody else have this new
year's resolution?

I did the Quehanna Trail a few year's ago, backpacking, 6 days/5
nights=75 miles. About the 5th day it felt like it was too rushed,
nothing but walking and setting up camp......wished I'd spread it out
an extra day or 2. But there is a fine line between taking your time
and taking too much time, and so that needs to be worked out.

6 days/5 nights biking 318 miles would be like 60 mile days with 1 day
of train travel to get home. But that gives some time to explore
around and take some photos and see the sites along the route with
only 60 miles riding.

But if someone else is up for the adventure, we can plan it together.

Anyone also can chime in on cargo trailers, ever tow one, have one,
etc. Like I said, this is first priorty!
I like the TW bents trailer on ebay that folds flat, it's cheaper than
the YAK, but is steel and heavier in weight by almost 3 pounds. Does 3
pounds make a world in differnce in a 300 mile trip, I think that it
would a bit. I know 3 pounds in backpacking is huge when you're doing
a 6 day trip.

[Daniel Karaczun]

Funny you should ask. I've alway wanted to do this ride. However, I'm not sure I can do 60 miles a day. I just bought a Half Dome 2+, footprint and sleeping bag even though I've never done that kind of camping. I generally go about 11 mph on the ATA so that's roughly 6 hours of peddling for me each day not counting stops. If you don't mind coasting a bit, I'd go with you. Since I only work part-time at REI, I could request a week or more off without consequences. So, stretching things out could make the trip more enjoyable.

Dan K

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[Dan Sullivan]

I have a Yak, and I like it quite a bit. The main caveat that I have is that
the 70-pound weight limit can be misleading. The trailer can hold that
much, but unless the weight is very low in the trailer (as in carrying 70
pounds of bricks), the trailer will be top-heavy, and trailer's sway will
"wag the dog" as they say. Someone who didn't understand this bad-
mouthed the trailer terribly, but I think the fault was in his packing and
not in the trailer itself. I would buy (or build) low-rider panniers that clear
the trailer, and try to put heavy stuff in the bottom of the panniers as
well as in the bottom of the trailer. If there is only light stuff in the top of
the trailer, you should have a good ride. I would also pack the trailer for
a test run and take it 20 miles or so to get a feel for what the longer ride
would be like. Don't set out to go 250 miles on blind faith.

The best feature of the Yak is that the trailer follows the track fo the
bike. That means that, if the bike misses a road hazard, the trailer will
also miss the hazard (with rare exceptions).

Also, unless they have made some changes to the canal surface in the
past 15 years, you will want to have fairly fat tires for that portion of the
trip. There was a conflict between the historical preservationists, who
wanted an authentic replication of the surface the tow mules used,
which was large gravel packed into the mud, and the cyclists who
wanted a smooth riding surface. Maybe they came up with a solution
since I was on the towpath, but it used to be a butt-numbingly bumpy
ride on anything but the fattest tires.

Let me know if you want to borrow by trailer for a trial ride.

-ds

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Sincerely,
Dan Sullivan, director
Saving Communities
631 Melwood Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213 (USA)
412-OUR-LAND
412-687-5263
<dire...@savingcommunities.org>

[Dan Sullivan]

On 26 Mar 2010 at 14:45, Daniel Karaczun wrote:

> Funny you should ask. I've alway wanted to do this ride. However, I'm
> not sure I can do 60 miles a day. I just bought a Half Dome 2+,
> footprint and sleeping bag even though I've never done that kind of
> camping. I generally go about 11 mph on the ATA so that's roughly 6
> hours of peddling for me each day not counting stops. If you don't
> mind coasting a bit, I'd go with you. Since I only work part-time at
> REI, I could request a week or more off without consequences. So,
> stretching things out could make the trip more enjoyable.

Although the scenery is splendid, the rail trails are almost mind-
numbingly flat. If your seat is adjusted right (so the front edge of the
seat doesn't intermittently cut off circulation at the back of the legs), it is
far easier for a recumbent rider to do 100 miles of trails than 50 miles of
Pennsylvania roadways.

The Maple Sugar Festival is at Meyersdale this weekend. It's very short
notice, but Meyersdale is right on the trail. Maybe we can organize a
trip for next year. As I recall, they feature such things as an all-you-can-
eat sausage and pancake breakfast and some of the richest maple
sugar candy you ever tasted. Our trip slogan could be, "Exercise
without losing weight."

http://www.pamaplefestival.com/

-ds

[Daniel Karaczun]

I like it. Exercise without losing weight! Works for me!

[David Gill]

Hey Dan

If you think that 60 miles a day would be too much, maybe we plan a
seperate shorter trip in early summer. I'm flexible. We could do a U-
turn style trip....ride so many miles down, camp, then either ride
more south or come home....make it a 1 night or extend it to a 2
nights.

The trail is so close yet I have never been on it. I'm an avid photo/
videographer, so I wouldn't mind stopping at everything interesting
along the way and explore. That would give you a chance to get off the
bike and stretch. Darr Mine I think is along the path somewhere if I
remember right, (mile 9?) I'd like to stop there and photo opted a
lot, and I'm sure there are 20 other places I'd stop for photos too.

> > For more options, visit this group athttp://groups.google.com/group/pittsburgh-recumbents?hl=en.- Hide quoted text -
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> - Show quoted text -

[David Gill]

Thanks Dan for your YAK input. What are your thoughts on the IBEX with
the shock? Worth the extra cash and extra trailer weight?
Have you had your YAK out on really bumpy roads with gear and think
the shock would help? I'm thinking whether or not that down the road,
spend the extra money now on the Ibex, I enjoy mountain biking a lot,
the Ibex might be great behind the mtn bike on dirt/rock/tree root
trails for overnighters. I ride single track a lot too, so I like the
1 wheel idea versus a 2 wheel trailer. But the extra weight of the
IBEX for street/paved riding might not be worth it. And REI doesn't
carry the Ibex and I couldn't get 20% off of a purchase.

By all means I would test ride a lot as in training! Weather
permitting, I ride 18 miles roundtrip to commute to work. My thoughts
are to load the trailer with my gear and start hauling it behind for
the extra weight training for at least a couple of weeks prior to my
passage ride. If I recall correctly, my 6 day backpack with food,
tent, etc was around 60lbs. But I can move some of that weight off the
trailer and put on the bike in panniers too. And I always seem to
overpack! So I think the overall weight limit would be ok. Heavy stuff
is fuel for my backpack stove. Which I found a stove called Kelly
Kettle, which boils water without the use of man-made fuel, you use
twigs, pine cones, etc to boil your water. If I picked up one of
those, that would cut out like 6lbs in stove fuel.

> > For more options, visit this group athttp://groups.google.com/group/pittsburgh-recumbents?hl=en.

>
> Sincerely,
> Dan Sullivan, director
> Saving Communities
> 631 Melwood Avenue
> Pittsburgh, PA 15213 (USA)
> 412-OUR-LAND
> 412-687-5263

> <direc...@savingcommunities.org>- Hide quoted text -

[Dan Sullivan]

I never looked at the shock version. I guess if my bike had shocks I
might consider shocks for the trailer.

-ds