Pictures of the V3

This is in front of  the new coffee shop in Pitt Meadows.  It is on the banks of  the Fraser River very close to a multi use trail.   Unfortunately there is nothing like this in my town where you can sit outside and enjoy the view without a busy street in front of you.  Its about 15 km from the house or work. 

My Borealis V3 parked where we had a picknik lunch.

The door opened on the vent blocks so the air conditioning is operational.

A close up view of how much the door is held open. 



Strawberries

This is one of the favorite times of year for me.  Here's a picture of why

On one of my last rides I managed to buy some fresh local strawberries.  There isn't a much better way to end a ride than with fresh strawberries and ice cream.  It took some doing to find the strawberries as the first stand I stopped at did not have any yet.  The next place as sold out till the next morning and the local larger grocery store didn't have any.  The local produce seller, my last restore did have some.  Normally at time of year the local strawberries are already finished.  This year has been very cool and wet so with no sign of summer being here yet.  I heard that this is the longest wait for summer to start of 50 years.    I was getting tried and needed a short rest before climbing the hill to home so I stopped again and picked up some beer. 

Last year when I picked up strawberries I left the box open and they were half gone before I got home. 

V3 Mould Finished

I have finally finished changing the V3 mould and can now get serious about building the first one for sale. 

It took quite a while to sand the changed area so it matched the rest of the mould well.  I also had to work on some kayak orders which slowed  the process down.  I was also a bit discouraged when this side didn't work out as well as the first side.  The first side just needed some careful sanding and it was done. I had to refill the second side three or four times before it was even close.  The area altered is the different coloured spot on the mould. 

Car Driver Behaviour

Went for a bit longer ride last Sunday.  I think I have confirmed my suspicion that the best way to annoy car drivers is to ride at a speed that is a bit less than the speed limit but close to their speed.  This seems particularly true when it's a spot where they have a hard time to pass you safely.  We have two roads in Maple Ridge that I try not to ride very often as there is a lot of car traffic on them as it one of only three routes going east-west.  I stopped riding along Old Dewdney Trunk an year or so ago when I was passed without proper care.  It is a narrow, two lane road without shoulders,  a deep water filled ditch on one side and a barbed wire farm fence on the other with power poles near the edge of the road.  I was heading east, nearing a right angle corner when a pickup truck passed me forcing the on coming car to veer far to the right near the ditch.  I saw the situation developing and moved as far to the right as I could and braked  to let the truck in.  The truck was by me when I looked and saw the driver in the oncoming car.  He had big eyes and a rather pale look on his face.  I recognise this look from white water paddling where the paddler is much less than comfortable with the situation they are in. In fact, they have suffered a good scare and just barely survived.   The road I was on Sunday is part of this same route but a bit further east.  It's also narrow but only has shallow ditches on either side with power poles on one side.  I had just ridden along the previously mentioned section so I could use the washroom at a park along the road there.  As I was leaving the park a couple of roadies rode by.  I decided to see if I could catch them but they made it through the next traffic light and I had to wait.  At the next light I caught up and realized I was riding much faster that they were so I just stayed on the same road as it's the flatest route to where I was going.  I was riding along at about 40 kph with a bit of oncoming traffic when first one car and then a second passed me having become impatient sitting behind me.  Both times they probably should not have passed as there wasn't really enough space to do so safely.  By the way, the speed limit there is 50 kph but most folks drive at 60 kph  or more.  Less than a km from where I was passed there is a short bike lane where they could have safely gone by.

What does this have to do with velomobile?

The picture shows an old wheelbarrow that seems very much unrelated to anything to do with velomobiles.  It is an essential piece of equipment for my new shop in which to build velomobiles.  I am in the process of repurposing the barn at our new home into a storage facility/shop by removing the dirt floor and then replacing it with a concrete slab.  The plan is to store all our moulds and machinery in the barn while we build a new shop to work in.  The only negative so far is that Quadra Island in not too velomobile friendly being quite hilly.  There is some velomobile friendly terrain on Vancouver Island which is only a 10 minute ferry ride away.  The grocery store, post office and licquor store and  closer than they are now with more rolling terrain than the one big hill on the way home we have now.

V2 Improvements

Some of the improvements on the V3 are going to be incorporated into the V2.  The new signal controller is much simpler and more robust.  It now uses relays for the signal lights and has mostly soldered connections.  The running lights can be left on or they can be turned off to conserve power as the lights come on instantly when you restore power.  Before the chip in the control module had to boot up first and this took a few seconds.  The wheel fairings developed for the V3 will fit the V2.  The bulkhead and rear fender for the V3 will also work in the V2 as they are a lighter and better way of attaching the rear of the trike to the fairing.  The new rear fender from the V3 will require some modification to the V2 mould so it will take some time to implement.