Bicycle journey from Roda to Tierra del Fuego via Kilimanjaro

Hello All,

I am considering a bicycle journey for me and my wife leaving Roda and arriving at Tierra del Fuego via Kilimanjaro. This is a journey we have always dreamed about doing, but have only lately found the time. I am very, very fit and have just learned to ride my recently purchased bicycle, but as my wife cannot get the hang of it, I have purchasedc her a tricycle. We are hoping her bunions do not cause her any inconvenience. Obviouslythe constant motion, rubbing and chafing in the nether regions has been brought to my attentiopn as a possible problem. Therefore any hints /advice on alleviating discomfort will be very welcome.

Also can anyone offer any advice especially with the best route, which hopefully will be the most scenic. Try not to suggest particularly mountainous roads, as my wife suffers terribly from vertigo and motion sickness, which is accentuated when she is travelling downhill at excessive speeds. 

Thank you in anticipation,

Frank

Frank

It's March 1st tomorrow NOT April 1st

Hello All,

We have changed our mind!

We have decided to go from Roda to Zutphen in the Netherlands, a week next Tuesday to attend a Sinclair C5 reunion. We intend to use my own Sinclair C5  with my wifes tricycle tethered to the back of it. I have done my calculations and based on my Shell European road map I make it 1764 miles.  Is that about right? I have also looked at this journey from a green perspective for when the Sinclair C5s battery goes flat, my wife can tow me. No need to get a taxi!

But and this is a big but, as most of you are aware, a major fault on the C5 is unexpected brake locking of the rear wheel. This can obviously be very dangerous for my wife being towed behind, (in spite of the second hand helmet I have bought her for the journey). If the C5 were to unexpectantly brake coming down a steep hill, well I can hardly bring myself to think about it. She will already be half faint due to the height of the hill and extremely nauseous due to motion sickness. Added to all that, she could find herself wildly overtaking me, spinning me round and draggimg me backwards down the hill until she comes to her senses and applies her brakes. God forbid that her brakes unexpectedly lock. The other unknowable from my point of view, although it might be general knowledge to you readers, is commutation diode failure. This has a catastrophic effect on the C5 when it is being dragged wildly backwards down a hill. What happens apparently is that If the vehicle is dragged backwards at anything other than a very slow rate, the motor which is then rotating as a generator, forces a high current through its commutation diode, which then blows open circuit. Without this component bad arcing will occur at the relay contacts during switching, leading to rapid failure and the vehicle grinding to a rapid and ignominious halt. Now in order for that not to happen, lest it would result in my wife towing me to Zutphen, I am relying on one of you to answer this quetion, How do I stop it happening? 

Notwithstanding the above, this is were I really need some help! I need to know if the Shell route has any hills and/or sleeping policemen. I can`t tell because although I can see were those squiggly lines go to on the map, I dont know what the rest of it means. I asked my wife earlier to help me but she was asleep. I have just asked her again but she is still asleep. Any information on this matter will be gratefully accepted, because it has a great bearing on  my mph, energy conservation and wifes general demeanour.

Regards,

Frank

This message was last edited by shannon on 28/02/2011.

Hello All,

Due to the high volume of PMs I have received our jaunt is obviously generating a lot of interest and not a little excitement. I thought it expedient to answer some of your queries in this public way, rather than individually through the PMs, as I would never had the time before we set off to answer them all.

The questions in popularity order were;

Q. Are you both very excited about this very exciting venture?  A. Yes, very!

Q. How long have you been married?  A. 43 years!

Q. How many sugars do you take in tea?  A. I do not drink tea!

Q. How long do you think this very exciting venture will take? A. I originally calculated travelling at a rate of 873 miles per day, therefore taking exactly 2 days. Unfortunately I forgot about towing the wife, so I added another 4 hours. But that very question made me realise that we would be away from home for more than a night, so  my wifes tricycle will, in turn, have to tow a  trolley with sufficient bedding and a change of underwear. I will now have to add a further 3.68 hours for this inconvenience. All very frustrating. I did not realise this planning mullarkey had to be planned in such detail. So my revised calculation, taking everything into account, is 2 days 6.68 hours.

Q.  Can we buy space on your C5 to advertise our services. A. Nol

Well I must go now as the wife is stirring from her slumber and will be expecting her daily ration of  Weight Watchers Chilli Con Carne with extra lard.

Regards,

Frank

This message was last edited by shannon on 03/03/2011.

To continue the questions and answers from were I left off, having fed it and thankfully it is once again asleep, although I can hear a low growling coming from the direction of the hammock;

Q. Have you recently had any dental treatment? A. Yes! A full molar clean and removal of a backward growing wisdom tooth!

Q. Would you recommend laser eye treatment? No. I gave it a whirl, sneezed and am now blind in one eye!

Q. Do you consider David Eycke to be a charlatan? A. No His conclusions are based on sound empirical evidence!

Q. Would you consider holding a childrens birthday party in El Patios? A. Only if we could have the tables moved closer to the fire.

Q, Do you like children? A. Yes but they must be rare!

Q. What annoys you most about your wife? A, She keeps disconnecting the C5 battery. Don`t ask me why, but sometimes I catch her doing it in the middle of the night . She feigns sleepwalking when I disturb her and heads, arms outstretched, for the fridge. But it is most annoying because she knows full well that due to an unplanned battery disconnection, the LM358 dual OpAmp in the control box can fail, due to large voltage transients on the 12 volt battery supply. She knows that but she still does it,

Finally the least asked, but some would say the most interesting, question; Is there a God? A..

This message was last edited by shannon on 03/03/2011.