DIKE ELE~RONICS

The compueers are juse part of the
Winnebiko system, though eheir direct
influence extends into every corner and
their complexity has required an on-
board microfiche documentation library.
Of nearly equal value, from the llfestyle
standpoint, is the communications gear.

My mobile ham radio stzeion (call sign
KABOVA) is a multimode two-meter
transcciver made by Yaesu. In addition
to handling packee data satellire com-
munication (see WER #50, p. 47) with
the ald of a Pac-Comm terminal node
controller, it allows me to stay in re~ular
voice contact with my traveling com-
panion, Maggie (KA8ZYW). (Sharing a
bicycie tour wiehout some form of
communication is frustrating, as anyone
who as ever squinted into the mirror
for minutes at a time well knows.) Wich
a boom microphone built inro my Bell
helmet and a push-to-talk swiech on the
handlebars, Ma~,~ie is never far away
(elfective bike-eo-bike simplex radio
range is aboue two miles).

Of course, hsving ewo-meter FM capa-
bility on the bike ;Iso connects me eo a
vest network of ham radio operators. I
store the local repeater frequencies in
the radio's memory as I approach an
area, and periodically identify myself as
an incomin' bicycie mobile. Range in
this case is upwards of 25 miles, since
repeaters are generally in high-profile
locations. This has led to a number of
interesting encounters, and the auto-
patch systems often let me make
telephone calls to non-hams direcely
from the bike.

A CB radio is also on board' culturally
useless by comparison,bue seill veluable
enaugh eo justify its weight. I can taik
to truckers, hail a passing motor home
for water (this saved my life in central
Utah), and shake my head at the idiomatic
yammerings of the residual good-buddy
subculture that hung on after the death
of the great CB boom.

System security is as important an issue
as survivel when living on a machine that
looks like a rogue IMASA creation of in-
calculable vaiue. But it's not that people
try to steal itÄmost are intimidated by
the technologyÄit's just that some let
their curlosity extend to flipping switches
and occasionally even climbing onto the
seat and bending the kickstand. To alert
me to such rude behavior, I added a
paging security system with vibration
sensors: when armed by a front-panel
keyswitch, detected motion causes it to
transmit a tone-encoded four-watt
signal that triggers my pocket beeper
up to three miles away.

Other radio-related devices include a
Sony digital shortwave for international
broadcast reception, a Sony Watchman
micro-TV, and an FM stereo. Naturally,

there is also an audio cassette deck, and
a compact disc player is planned for
under-dash installation soon. With this
load, it sometimes takes a lot more
than the usual granny gears to climb
a mountain.

Then there is the matter of power. A11
the equipment described so far, plus
behind-the-scenes control circuitry,
requlres electricityÄin six different
voltages. A pair of 10-watt Solarex pho-
tovoltaic panels serves as the primary
source, providing about 1.3 amps to the
l2-volt SAFT Ni-Cad bstteries under
ideal conditions. The charging process
can be digitally monitored from the
front panel, and the bicycie control
processor intervenes if its calculations
su~gest that the batteries are in danger
of overcharging. When too many cioudy
days occur back-to-back, a power supply
with line cord allows refueling from
house current.

Generating ehe other voltages is a com-
plex issue, but suffice it to say that new
"swirching power supply" devices have
made high-efficiency voltage regulation
relatively easy. The subsidiary supplies
are switched in and out of standby mode
as needed' and their outputs are available
on ehe front panel to power cene lights,
small radios, and similar accessories.

Other front-panel instrumentation
includes the obligatory Cat-Eye solar
bicycie computer to display speed,
distance, cedence. and so on. This is
nanked by an altimeter, a two-line l(:D
for the Etak electronic compass and
other sensors, time and temperature
display, and assorted status indicaeors.

THE BIKE ITSELF

Everything described so far has to be
light, protected from vibration, kept dry
even in the nastiest weather, and easy
to repair on the road. Those r~quire-
ments are aUded to an aiready stringent
set of demands on the bicycie' (or the
taral system (including my body) weighs
4CO pounds. It must be pedaled up
steep grades yet stop quickly; it must
not oscillate under any conditions; it
must withstand the ongoing abuses of
weather and grime and shock and salt
and overlooked maintenance.

It had to be a recambent. of course.
Long-distance touring while hunched over
one of those old-fashioned diamond-
frame machines has always seemed
masochistic. a ritual pursuit that drives
aesthetics to the most remote fringes
of a traveler's awareness. People can
overcome almost anything' but why sub-
mit willingly to hundrebs of hours of
acute discomfort?

The recumbent riding position not only
allows ~reater power to the pedals, but
also eliminates all the traditional cycling
sore spots (shouiders. neck, crotch, and

W~OLE EARTH REVIEW SPRING [987

ass). As an added bensfit, I can actually
see the lands l'm riding throughÄlook-
ing around from my lswn-chair-on-wheels
while those on diemond frames stare
down at the road. And on top of all
that, the recumbent can carty more (try
220 paunds plus rider on a regular bike).

But none of the few commercial r~-
cumbents offered the right combination
of features and quality, so in the summer
of 1983 i began building one in my old
suburban Ohio basement. I quickly
learned that fr~me building is a complex
art form and turned for help to Franklin
Frames of Columbus, an outfit with
long experience in making tandem bike
frames. "Fley, cen you give me a hand
with this?'' 1 asked, gesturing at my
crude brazing job.

"Uh . . . maybe we shouid start over."

Good advice. The resulting machine was
designed for [ull-time, heavily loaded
touring, with thick-wall, chrome-moly
tubing, triple r~ar stays, tandem-seyle
crossover drive, wide-range gearing
(later expanded to 36 speeds>, and a
48-spake undished rear wheel with disc
brake. The handlebars are under ehe
scat. with a linkage of stainless steel
tobing connecting them to the front

	lork and its 16-inch custom wheel. A	~,~,. Migiau'

stock seat from Infinity Recumbents
was mounted with machined aluminum
blocks, and the entire machine was fitted
with brare-ons to support my unusual
neebs. i took it from thereÄusing the
bike as a substrate for the trappings of
my life, changing form every year or so
as new technolo~es become av~ilable.

And 11,000 miles later, it's still rolling
Äa bit worn in places, modifled here
and thereÄbut as solid and dependable
as ever.

All of this taken together yields a re-
markably liberating system, providing
not only the tools to work anywhere
bot enough media interest to keep the
writing business growing. The whole
affeir is a cultural door-openerÄat-
tracting interesting poople in every town
and keeping me well provided with story
materiaJ and personal satisfaction. It's a
freelance writer's dr-eam: a self-sustaining
existence of tax-deductible, full-eime
research and subsequent storytelling.
For a confirmed generalist, the com-
bination is so addicting that ending
the journey may be impossible.

I'm often asked how far, how fast, how
many states, how long. The frequent
questions along these goal-oriented
numerical lines are hard to answer prop-
erly on the street; I am here. Period.
Tomorrow I might be somewhere else
(probably turlher south since it's winter),
but maybe 1'11 still be hereÄ- who
knows' If you think too much about
where you're going, you lose respect
for where you are. ~

	27 (iATE FIVE ROAD	SAUSAb~TO, CA 94965

6.~

~ - _ 1
~1
~k~' T;31

_1

Whersver you sre,
and wherever i am,
we re neighbors in
da~aspace. If you
want to laik atom i1
(or add yourseh'10 my
hospitai~y databas0,,
I can bs rsath0d
through my heme ntf
work addressed as
"wardy." Ihr GEnie
sign-up info, ull
800-638-9636.) 1 also
chsck Into Compu-
S0rvo wery few
wesis (my id til0r0 is
72757, 15} and have
just begun tenblive
long-distance elpiera
tlon of The WELL
(again, as `.wordy'
Dial 415-332-6106}
Throw another logon

	1	~

