Tuesday, April 12, 2011
On Hammocks
When I tell people that we are going to be camping a lot on this adventure, people are fine with it. It only makes sense I guess. Then I tell them that we are camping in hammocks. That’s when I get the strange reactions. Hammocks? Like Gilligan’s Island? Then comes the shocker. We had this crazy idea. What if there are no trees? What are we gonna do? Sleep in the dirt? No, stupid. We’ll sleep in midair, hammock style, between the two bikes. At least that’s the plan. Obviously, I see the potentially fatal flaw. 500 pounds of bike crashing down on our skulls. Well we tried it out, and it works! But you don’t have to take my word for it.
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There are a few misconceptions about Mike’s and Paul’s sleeping arrangements (and no I don’t mean those misconceptions).
ReplyDeleteThe entire set up with the bike and the hammocks is quite scientifically safe and I am promised the bike won’t topple over and crush heads and or feet. Here’s a few facts I didn’t know that eased my mind.
Fact 1: The hammock is not tied to the bike.
Fact 2: The bike acts as a fulcrum for the hammock (think the center bar on a teeter-totter)
Fact 3: The hammock is anchored to the ground by two camping stakes
The teeter-totters I've ever been on had legs consisting of two steel beams about 4" in diameter anchored in concrete. The corresponding "legs" in the picture appear to be the front wheel assembly of the motorcycle and the kickstand.
ReplyDeleteThe weak points here are the tendency to twist of the front wheel amplified by slight forces, and the potential for the kickstand to dig into the ground.
Color me unconvinced by "Fact 2:"
What do you think, John?
Anyway - have fun. At least if a bear jumps in the hammock with you he may get clobbered by 2 bikes.
You make a valid point. However I believe the teeter totter example was used to describe the fact that most of the force on the bikes is vertical rather than horizontal.
ReplyDeleteAlso, if you turn the front wheel to the left, it stays there pretty well, and I have the ability to lock the wheel to the left. And the kickstands have plates placed beneath them to prevent digging into the ground.
During the testing, while we moved around a bit in the hammocks, the only noticed movement in the bikes was a little bit of the suspension. It seemed quite stable. Although we have considered also attaching "safety" lines on the outside of the bikes to the ground.
I am by no means an engineer, and I haven't even stayed at a Holiday Inn Express recently, but couldn't you use some rope and tie the outside handle bar of one bike, run the rope underneath the bikes and tie it to the outside handle bar of the other bike. Wouldn't that provide equal force on the outsides of each bike (given their close to equal weight)so that it wouldn't be able to tip in?
ReplyDeleteI now blame Mike for fact 2
ReplyDeleteThis looks like a feat planned for the Guinness Book of I-cant-believe-you-did-that-and-didnt-kill-yourself. Bring a yoga pad for those treeless days.
ReplyDelete