Eugene to Crater Lake & Return - July 2020.

It's the day before my trip starts.  I'm excited, have an extensive packing list and am hopeful that my calculations on battery use, solar capacity and the capability of my solar generator - are close to correct. It was certainly some dull pencil, back of the envelope calculating and I think I even wet my thumb and held it up in the air for good measure.

My goal is to ride 35-50 miles each morning, riding after breakfast, take a break before lunch time, maybe a short siesta, then the last 10-15 miles in the early afternoon, before making camp.  If I hit my destination each day before 2:00, I should have enough solar charging and heat gain for my Nemo Helios shower, to have a fully charged bike and be clean, before making dinner and settling in each day. 

My ride is a 2019 Riess & Muller Supercharger with dual 500Wh Bosch Batteries.  I'm towing a Burley Nomad with the cargo rack, with a 100W Sunpower flexible module, plugged into a 440Wh Expert Power Solar Generator (inverter, solar charger & battery pack in one).  The generator is a tad heavy at 8.8 lbs, in terms of overall loading of the bike and trailer.  But when you consider the bike at 62 lbs, me at 220 lbs and the trailer at another 19lbs - plus gear and food, there's nothing light about the entire setup.

I purchased aluminum box tubing and high-impact plastic connectors from Esto.  There's one cross section offset from the middle, intended to line up with the rails on the Burley cargo rack.  The panel will jut out a good 20" from the back of the trailer.  With the tilt function of the rack, I should have better generation while traveling south, also creating a bit of a low pressure area behind the trailer.  So important when you're hitting 14 mph (such a comedian). 

But actually, there's over 7,400 feet of elevation change on the route there, which will be southern in direction, so I'll need ever watt I can get to keep things charged and running smoothly.  I'm augmenting the trailer setup with a Goal Zero charger on the front rack, to charge my iPhone, which will be running CoPilot GPS navigation, as I ride.  I'll be posting updates on my Facebook and Instagram accounts, when I have access to do so.  Both can be found searching for HowellHaus.