Bike F.A.Q

Bike F.A.Q

how many km do you ride each day

Depends on the day - some times 190 km other times I might only do 5 km they decide that I'm going to spend the rest of the day there - most of the time around 50-80 km a day (depending on wind and hills and if I need to be some where at some fixed point in time (like at a horse event where I'm helping out at)

When did you start traveling by bike

Um full time on the road from around 2005? Part time a few years before that (after getting hit by a truck on the bike  in 2008 my memory is some what hit and miss (lost around 3/4 of my memory (head injury from getting hit by the truck) - one of 7 head injurys that I know of?)

Where did you start riding from

Well I grew up in Hamilton until around 2005? So let's just say Hamilton

How old are you -

 you know it's not nice to ask a woman her age -  so let's just say I'm some where in my 30's

How far do you ride each year

Well it depends on the year though most years it's around 10,000 km a year or so

How many km have you done so far in your life?

Who knows?  Perhaps 80-100,000 + km

Do you ever do fun rides or races

No I don't race - with the way my disabilitys are I tend to have a set top speed most of the time around 15-25 km/h there dont seem to be much that I can do about it - it's more just the way my body is - on a side note doing every day things can be hard work including that I tend to burn around a 1/3 more energy then others doing the same things as I have to work that much more harder to get my body to do what I want it to do (tend to have a high food bill at times : ) - I'm not fast but I can ride for a long time

As for fun rides I do some times do then - as my average ( daily) rides are as long or longer the many of the fun rides out there I'm getting into doing the longer rides like the 2x, 4x and 8x taupo rides around the lake (with each lap being 160 km (riding though the night with around 1300-1500 m climbing each lap (can't remember the number of m climbed) as well as some of the other long rides like one near fielding and also one near picton  as I find them more enjoyable (more of a "fun" ride and less then a race)

Why did you start bike touring

I wanted to see what's around the next bend in the road/trail  and where the road would take me : )

When will you stop bike touring (and settle down and get a real job like every one else)

Um one day when i decide I no longer wish to do it (as for the 2th part well I can't do many jobs because of the way my life is also because of the way my disabilitys are as for settling down in one place - well I have tryed a few times over the years but it never seems to work - some times its other people that's the issue other times its just the road calling to me to keep traveling : )

What do you do in winter - keep riding - if I start getting cold I find a hill to climb or try to pick up my speed to warm up  - and yes a have full gear for all times of the year - winter sleeping bag and good tent (lost  count of how many tents I have gone through over the years on the road)

Bike Friday questions

What happened to your bike?

It shrunk in the rain : )

Why are you riding a bike with such small wheels & how much did it cost

- it's my bike Friday pocket larma - a folding touring bike with 20" wheels that was custom made for me in 2008 in  the USA (with the bike being set up in a none standard way (because of how I ride) with the bike being payed for (hand made bikes are not cheap) by people in the horse world doing fundraising  for it (to replace a bike that went walk about at a A&P show (I spend my time helping out at different horse events all over nz (been doing that for the last 12? Years helping out at around 10-12 events a year (can be long hours and tends to wipe me out for a few days after (at times I need to take a few hours break in the day time - more so in the heat (my disabilitys and how weather don't go together well :  (  )

Is that hard to ride -
no its around the same as most other bikes

Do you need to peadel more or work harder with the small wheels ?  -
no its all in the gears - though it is set up for low gears - hill climbing over speed

Can I have a ride

- NO - it's set up just for me so there's a high risk of some one breaking it or coming off also it my main way of getting around kind cannot drive a car (just the way my disabilitys are   (mostly my dyspraxia including my body awareness issues) so i really don't let others ride it

Why do you have a bike trailer

Partly so I can carry more suff (or having different options for carrying my suff) but also it's the hard case for the bike - the trailer frame and wheels come off with the bike folded up the bike and trailer parts all fit inside the case (so no bike fee on planes/bus's because it's a airline size case (don't matter what's in the case- besides how heavy it is)

Why do you have so much gear

This is my home all year round also because I help out at horse events I have extra gear for that (I used to have even more suff like camera's and laptop (did horse and landscape photography for a few years) what I no longer carry with me)

You got to much gear/suff you would go a lot faster /climb hills more easily with less suff

Maybe maybe not - at any rate it's my suff to cart up the hills (having very low gears do help) and I stopped worries about my speed on a loaded bike years ago

When are you going to get a real bike

Well I do have a 26" wheel

Mt bike what I sometimes do use - I tend to find it a lot more harder to ride on so it don't get used much (the Mt bike got last used on my tour aotearoa ride as there is a few places where the Mt has a bit of a edge over the bike Friday - mostly off road as it has front suspension and more hight with the rear gear changer ) but my bike Friday is much easier for me to ride (I tend to fall off it less as well) for me riding a road bike would have far more down sides and very few up sides  (also would have to be set up like my bike Friday (like with the hander bar set up)

What happens when it starts raining

I get wet : )  I do have a good rain jacket : )

Where are you sleeping tonight?

A very good question um next question please : )  or ask me tomorrow as by then I should have a better idea : )   

I have been known to stay in all sorts of fun places over the years - much of the time I decide on the day when I'm staying (it's mosty in city's that I have to pre-planned where I'm staying the night : )