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Life in the Empire

A thread dedicated towards possible solutions rather than the rather pessimistic fare we engage in with much of our other communication.

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9 psi?   That is really low - even for mountain bikes. Don't understand the physics.

Fat tires- some people like them- others aren't so sure.  But that's two-wheels.  Now i got balance issues... and break way more easily.  Weight is not as much of an issue with a quad.  

 

As a mountain biker I don't have to be convinced on the merits of fat tires. Those uber-skinny tires the road bikers use would drive me crazy.  But the ultra-fat tires that have been coming out are something else There is a trade-off with lower psi - it does grab more (could have used that on my last ride through wet forest) - but it also requires more torque to plow through the terrain.  The cost/benefit ratio isn't positive when the surface is relatively smooth with good traction. With my weight on two wheels I have had issues with flats when I didn't have another air.  Jo, being much lighter can ride with much lower psi. But that was on standard fat tires and on two wheels.  I could see four wheels being different.

I also have mad love for the NuVinci hub (rear).  Mostly because i hates derailleurs- noisy- grindy- yecch.  Put one on my Cannondale hybrid (26x1.5).  The smegger does weigh 5.4 lbs... and you can definitely feel it.. but to me the silence/ no-grind/ no chain-falling-off etc. has been well worth it.  

Now- the quad has a Schlumpf (mountain) crank on the front.  The quad weighs 80 lbs. ... but the super-low front gear makes it much easier to overcome the inertia of thing- and since it has 4 wheels- maintaining minimum speed (for 2-wheel balance) isn't necessary.  The combination of "infinite" gears has to be experienced to be believed.  

It's "magic!"  

So you basically just have to sit, pedal and point the quad in the right direction......seems almost too easy.

Seems to be an idea whose time has come...  

schaeffler biohybrid photo

An Experiment in Backyard Sustainability   and if you want to see the past 40+ years of your life in 24 1-hr segments, check THIS ONE out on "auto-play."  

   

Somebody else was tinkering with the same idea and made it real:  

And they did it at least 2 years before.  I already thought of most of that stuff... including the "canopy."   Instead, shifted to the 4th wheel... and the Bafang mid-drive.  No hub-motor.  No mc-style rear end.  

Yours looks more like a sports car. The three-wheeler looks a bit like a futuristic golf cart with stegosauraus nose.

how can we actually save the doomed? none of them ever actually hurt me. i have the good wholesome honest liberal idea about giving everybody a hand up and a fair shake. but we are about to get FUCKED

It may not do much good but it sure feels more meaningful than trying to hold onto that corpoRAT job I had.  Theoretically heading towards bankrupt where expenses exceed income but for 8 months I've been doing data collection and analysis for an NGO in the poorest rural areas of the country.  The project is about teaching people to make beehives from scrap and farm honey to supplement their diets & incomes and improve crop yields and generally just get some slight "sweet solution" out of what remains of a once brilliant biosphere.  It's quantitative stats - like where exactly the huts and hives are located (forget eurocentric forms with street addressess or anything else that appears on perferctly normal (to us) bureaucratic & record keeping forms, and how many hives have bees & stuff like that.  The interesting diversion is qualitative (it used to be called "soft" by bean counters who lacked imagination to come up with metrics for it) assessment of project on community life.  Ongoing learning process.  I'm about to head off tomorrow for another week without water & electricity and my 12V battery to keep my computer & smartphone active to redesign all the forms and data structures I thought were a good idea until now .... like drawing a chicken instead of asking if they keep poultry ....

We also have a meeting with our corporate sponsor who may or may not continue sponsoring us for another year.  It will be sad if they don't but it's been a precious 8 months learning that I can make someone's year by simply phoning them and giving them attention by showing that I'm interested in their existence & how their bees are doing.

Not sustainable income wise .... but what exactly is sustainable on this planet .... at least I know the prognosis of my path & am enjoying travelling it.  That is sure to wear off when my money runs out but I'd redo it a thousand times rather than emulate the snobbish elitism of those who are in debt to their eyeballs maintaining servants, swimming pools, hedge cutters, leaf blowers and mercedes benz cars.  I think I have slipped from solid middle class to being lower class whatever my family might like me to try to aspire to.

Very good to read of your path.

I'm still trying to figure out who I can be here in Tallahassee, Florida.  Currently still trying to move in - building shelves and such - I've made some initial efforts towards a performing project with people around the country via internet but I haven't landed on what it is I'm to do.

Jo has a big job as Chair of the School.  The job is too big and the Dean is a complete Trump of a guy but the Chairs recently met with the Provost to share their stories of abuse...maybe something will be done. She is making more than either of us made together in the past so money isn't a worry.  Just have to figure out how I fit here.

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