We had our first snow today... a dusting, really, that turned into a misty rain. This thwarted my plan to go for a ride and maybe pick up some groceries with the new bike trailer, so I spent most of the day researching my planned solar-charged bicycle lighting battery system (SBLBS... pronounced s-buh-luh-buh... sus... bubble... or something).
It's all very mad scientist. Two 6 volt 8 amp-hour Hawker Cyclon sealed lead-acid monobloc battery packs on the rear rack will power four 10-watt narrow beam headlights, two neon-blue cold cathode tubes on the chainstays, and an LED tail light. The battery pack will be charged from a wall charger or (this is the mad scientist bit) from a 32-watt solar panel placed on top of my bicycle trailer. I'll also be able to recharge my cell phone PDA. This means that, on my long-distance bikepacking trips in the spring, I won't need to find an electrical outlet to keep my lights and electronic devices charged.
This is basically all I've been doing for the past three days: researching, finding user groups, flinging e-mails. I've learned about deep cycle batteries, solar panels, and charge controllers. I have knowledge of end of discharge voltage (EODV) recommendations and low voltage disconnect (LDV) circuits. I have understanding... of digital watches. And soon I shall have understanding of video cassette recorders and car telephones. And when I have understanding of them, I shall have understanding of computers. And when I have understanding of computers, I shall be the Supreme Being.
Whoops. Turned into David Warner there for a minute.
It's all been very interesting and a bit manic, but that's fine with me because I could use a bit of mania, and in any case it probably isn't mania but only seems so in contrast to the unplumbed depths of black gooey blech that I have been so enjoying for the eighteen months. And it's not like I'm going as far with my project as this fellow went with his... he's got a 580-pound bicycle with a satellite uplink and a refrigerated helmet. All I want is to do is charge some lights and a cell phone.
Being off the bike has been very inertial. I can feel it creeping into my bones: just sit here... no need to move around... you're... getting... heavier. It's been especially frustrating because a major new component of the Buddha Bike (now so called because of the small fat happy Buddha perched atop the front derailleur tube) sits untried in the garage due to illness and weather. But soon I--nominally sane--will suit up in warm layers, hitch the trailer to the bike, and head out into the cold winter day to accomplish by muscle power and sweat the grocery shopping that is usually accomplished by buttock and the burning of distilled dinosaur corpses.
You know, when I put it that way... fuggit, I am sane.
And tired. Good night.
