Q & A - Next Generation BikeTour

by Larry Lagarde

This past Sunday, I reported about the Next Generation Bike Tour (2 guys traveling across Canada raising awareness of alternative energy sources such as solar and hydrogen fuel cells). I had posed several questions to the Next Generation cyclists (Benjamin Sanders & Eric Vieth) and received an answer this afternoon. Following are my questions & their responses.

(RideTHISbike.com) Are you guys riding with a sag wagon or is the trip self contained?
(Next-Generation.ca) Totally self-sufficient; no support vehicle.

(RideTHISbike.com) Is the solar panel being used to create hydrogen for the fuel cell?
(Next-Generation.ca) Our solar panel is not being used to create the hydrogen, but we are using it directly to charge our electronics. In the class demo's (being performed throughout the tour), we do separate hydrogen from water (electrolosis).

(RideTHISbike.com) Can you guys send a photo showing you and the bikes fully loaded on the road as well as a photo of your camp at dusk with lighting from the hydrogen cell?
(Next-Generation.ca) Sure, we'll work on this for you.

(RideTHISbike.com) What brand of commercial bike trailer are you using?
(Next-Generation.ca) BOB Trailer, Yak model.

(RideTHISbike.com) What brand & model GPS unit are you using?
(Next-Generation.ca) Globalsat BT338. It's available commercially in the $100 range.

(RideTHISbike.com) How does the GPS transmitter automatically interface with your website?
(Next-Generation.ca) We have gotten specialized software for the BlackBerry which receives the GPS information from the GPS over Bluetooth and then relays that to a server on the internet. A lot of the software that is used for that was custom built.

(RideTHISbike.com) What would it cost for other long distance cyclists to similarly outfit their own bike with a solar panel, gps unit, etc?
(Next-Generation.ca) Our solar panel is on loan. It is a leafing-edge prototype technology, however, there are camping solar panels available at stores such as Canadian Tire and MEC which could be used in the same manner. Cost unknown. GPS: anybody can buy one. The non-trivial task is connecting it to some internet site so that it can be used to do live updates. One would have to design a way of getting the GPS coordinates to the internet. This could get costly for data traffic on many cell-phone plans. The point of our trip is more to showcase cool things that can be done with engineering. Not necessarily ones that are at the present time practical to do.

(RideTHISbike.com) Is it feasible now for long distance cyclists to use hydrogen cells or solar panels to assist with propulsion? If not, do you foresee breakthroughs that will make it feasible within the next 5 years?
(Next-Generation.ca) The bicycle is already a pretty efficient device. The problem with motors to power the bicycle is that they are heavy. Plus: then you're talking about motorcycles. There is not a doubt in my mind that i'll see a hydrogen powered motorcycle in my day.
Solar panels are tough for vehicles, because you need to have a battery for when the sun isn't shining. That adds a lot of weight to the gear required. Hence the thousands of engineers and scientists who work on designing new battery technology every day.

Short answer to the feasibility question: I see it as currently neither feasible or desirable. In the next 5 years I think we will start to see many more hydrogen powered vehicles. Some of them might be motorcycles.

My thanks to Ben & Eric for taking a moment from their exhausting day to write back. When I receive their camp photo, I'll be sure to post it here.
Larry