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Camp in the wilderness while touring

22K views 154 replies 20 participants last post by  borisbob 
#1 ·
It is interesting for me – how do you camp in the wilderness and spend nights while touring many days … I feel best in my tent near river …
 

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#3 ·
Thirty years ago my wife and I used to camp frequently in the the national forests and national parks in Colorado and Wyoming. A site close to a stream was always nice.

These days we make bike trips that last 1 to 2 weeks, but prefer to "camp" closer to the jacuzzi.

BTW, your web site looks very interesting. How is the bike tour business going?
 
#4 ·
:D …wellllll … really while touring sometime I also would like to be closer to jacuzzi, but stay away. The camp in the wilderness keeps me in a nice “wild” form.
I really love to deal with my Home site – it brings me a great pleasure, especially in these autumn days, when the summer has remained away behind me – in the moment I put several more pics in it. What about the tour business, I would say, most of all it is a game for me I love it so much, it helped me in the years to be together with my children summer time … it seems people toured with us liked it too, because more of them are coming one more time to tour together.
Down is one of the camp places (again near a small river) - it was 12 day bike tour I and my daughter Maya did August ‘10
 

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#6 ·
:thumbsup:
The wife and I camped before having the kid. We are going to wait till he gets a little older before we attempt to get him out there.
My experience shows, that children are ready for a long tour when they are at least 14. It was the age I have begun to do it of first with my son, after with my daughter. Always when she has a free time, she still comes and tours with me … I believe, nothing better for the children …
 
#7 ·
Hopefully with a little luck I will be able to finally go camping myself with my bike. It's the main thing I am setting my old ride up for but for me will be a solo run only. Now with my girlfriend I am planning to get a motorcycle and go camping with her on that she's not so much a cycler like me. But that's ok.
 
#9 ·
I've been looking into constructing a touring bike. 14 you say Bob? I wanted to go before that!


Yeah that'd a dream of mine to I'd love to braze up my own frame someday but as of right now a pipe dream.


Hey Dean are you gonna build your own frame or buy one already done up?
 
#10 · (Edited)
I've been looking into constructing a touring bike. 14 you say Bob? I wanted to go before that!
Yes Dean …. A little earlier, why not (have in mind, we toured only in the wilderness away from the civilization) … I have begun with my son he was 13 – we began climbing 8 – 10 kilometers each week (we are not sportiest). After several months he understood what he has to do and I saw – he is ready for tour long time. Our first tour he was 14 included 1200 km for 12 days, first several days we bicycled 130 km daily. Almost the same was with my daughter – only the daily distance was 80 kilometers. Now my son does not bicycling, but daughter … always when it is possible …
 

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#11 ·
I love to camp in the wilderness when touring. I often find that I have no choice as I seem to always meander off of my planned route to see sites or simply because of a wrong turn.
I tend to find spots that are out of the way but close to main thoroughfares. I must admit that I too have become fond of being close to forms of water, but more of the "Jaccuzzi" types the older I get.
 
#15 · (Edited)
With a Camping Trailer that we Design of Course!!!

Glad you posted this.......:thumbsup:

Our company has produced many custom made trailers that are incredibly efficient in carrying a good sized load over a great distance. We have a custom design for a Camping/Touring Trailer that will be available to any cyclist in the US and Canada for really getting a good night's rest while being out there for days.

Our Tourmaster Camping Trailer is designed to track behind any bike, connected to the seatpost, and offers more freedom of movement and more stability in downhill and turning situations, than any other trailer featuring a side attachment, and will unfold to create a 30"x72" platform, that a special made tent cover that fits over, providing a dry and elevated camp for any condition or terrain.

The trailer in collapsed form will be able to carry a huge load of equipment and gear if traveling for professional reasons, and can be used as an approach vehicle for many expeditions and touring activities as well, making our Tourmaster Camping Trailer the most versatile choice for an adventurer and outdoorsman.

Check out our Work Bike Fabrication page and give us a call at 802-366-0712.
www.pedalpowerbiketaxi.com (under Work Bike Fabrication Link)
 
#17 ·
Heavy loads and a seat post mount sound questionable. Any caveats?
How does 250 lbs sound to you???? We make Bike Taxis that are rated to over 1000lbs....so maybe the "Standard" you work by is all you have seen???

I would take a look at our website and then try to reconsider our proven products already in use.........don't knock us till you try us!!!

We recommend that the seat post is reinforced with a solid aluminum rod if you are concerned.....but much safer than any Burly side attachment for sure, and will help to keep the bike standing with ease with it's central positioning.......we have pioneered this method for years.

Scary designs have prompted our company to introduce the first rigid kids trailer as well, that features an interchangeable car seat that is made by Simpson Racing. Roll cage engineering and superior products in a trailer that won't kill your kid if hit by a car, like the flimsy hollow tubed, plastic component imitations of real engineering that we have seen being mass marketed lately.......you should be "Hack"ing them...not us!
 
#19 ·
In the early 1970's, the very first product sold by the Cannondale company was a seatpost mounted, two wheeled trailer called the Bugger. It was a light Aluminium frame with 27in wheels. The 'container' section came in various configurations, e.g. as a kid seat, a golf bag carrier, or a bag for touring / utility hauling.

IIRC, the touring / utility bag was designed to haul about 65lbs, but I'm sure I exceeded that weight by a little when hauling two kids back there.

For touring, it suffered from the same problem as all two wheeled trailers. If you got too close to the edge of the road, one of the wheels would drop off onto the gravel creating a control problem.

The seat mount felt unstable to me when slowing, as if the trailer was trying to pass me up whenever I applied the brakes while carrying speed. I could picture it jackknifing while slowing on a downhill, and especially a downhill curve. My recollection is that the feeling with the seat mount was much more pronounced than with a skewer mounted trailer like Burly or BOB. The unstable feeling was probably due to the seat mount being higher than the skewer mount, and the distance between the attachment point and the wheels being longer.
 

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#20 · (Edited)
I would take a look at our website and then try to reconsider our proven products already in use.........don't knock us till you try us!!!
PedalPower, you certainly have some nice designs for utility and commercial trailers. But you might want to study the market a little more before spending a bundle developing a trailer for cycle tourists.

Cycle tourists, like back packers, are weight weenies. Some cut the tags out of their underwear to save weight ... and if they bring a paperback book, they tear out the pages as they read them. Most cycle tourists can ride cross country and camp in relative luxury with under 50 lbs of stuff, counting racks and panniers.

Edit - added for reference: My tent sleeps two and weighs in at 4 lbs 8 oz. I would have a hard time justifying a trailer weighing more than a 13 lb BOB or a 14 lb Burley
 
#21 · (Edited by Moderator)
Let the bs advice fly guys.........all day long if you want!!!

Most mountain bikes that I know of, and use in our service, are designed to take huge jumps and land with a massive force on the frames....let's see 175 lbs. dropping off a 5' ledge.......I'd say that is more force than you were expecting a bike to carry huh? In a touring mode, not a single problem in the world.

Notice how this forum isn't restricted to guys in tights riding a carbon fiber frame? That's why we are called Pedal Power, not Provocative Power!

The loads are distributed over the rear 20" wheels and you barely feel the trailer behind you as you take off....The load is barely pushing on the frames, I'd say maybe another 50 lbs. on the frame when fully loaded on a Pedicab model. Our cargo trailers and kid's trailers trail and track light lightning.

And research comes from people who study other peoples' work for advice....I study other products for their faults and steer away from that mentality of the herd!:cool:

Do you think it is safe to put a kid in a flimsy "ultra lightweight" trailer??? Then attach the trailer to one side of the thinnest pat of a bike's frame??? Wow, I see that the pack is the only place you want to be riding in, but watch out for the wolves trying to bring a mass produced, hollow tubed trailer into the safety first crew's view, cause I know they are death traps for children.

If they are so F**Kin concerned with weight, then why try to make a side attachment??? Does anyone here study a science related to mass and motion? Don't think my kids are going into one of those Burly's :mad::mad::mad::mad:
 
#23 · (Edited)
PedalPower, you certainly have some nice designs for utility and commercial trailers. But you might want to study the market a little more before spending a bundle developing a trailer for cycle tourists.

Cycle tourists, like back packers, are weight weenies. Some cut the tags out of their underwear to save weight ... and if they bring a paperback book, they tear out the pages as they read them. Most cycle tourists can ride cross country and camp in relative luxury with under 50 lbs of stuff, counting racks and panniers.

Edit - added for reference: My tent sleeps two and weighs in at 4 lbs 8 oz. I would have a hard time justifying a trailer weighing more than a 13 lb BOB or a 14 lb Burley
Who's spending a bundle in R&D??? Not me.......nothing but ingenious designs here integrated into fabrication by a bombproof metallurgic master of a fusion of elements.

Added for reference...if you put your kid in a trailer that restricts the steering and turning radius, then you obviously don't care about navigation or road safety, and if it is so lightweight, how is it going to survive an impact with a car, and what happens to your kid in a nylon seat with a hollow tubed frame with plastic elbows and riveted joints, when you get slammed, hypothetically speaking. Hope you have a good insurance carrier.

Guess you guys don't want to try to get past your plateaus in strength training and are looking for a real "weight weenie" to play around with! LOL
 
#24 ·
I think you guys should realize that Dean, the guy who started this site, had invited me here because he felt we were a company good enough to be represented here, and I think that you guys need to realize that there are a ton of different bikes out there, and get out of your cynical mode of conflict resolution tactics of discussion.

Let's just say we are prepared to prove our theories in design, if you would like to challenge us to live demonstration or safety industry testing, if you would like to pay for it, and we would hope that there is a little less of a downplaying of our work, until that day you read all about it in your favorite magazine......but until then, having a turned up nose with a keyboard doesn't impress me.

Eat your wheaties.
 
#25 ·
Dirt jumping does not impart the same forces on the frame that 250 pounds of trailer can exert on a seat tube. More importantly, if you want to present your business in a positive way, it doesn't help to use profanity and be argumentative. Members have asked valid questions, and made comments in a polite manner. Your response has been less than professional.
 
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