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Tibet to Burma on a Brompton

  

I have visited China almost every year in the 90s and have become quite adept at negotiating the bureaucracy and red tape required to get in and travel around. The rules and regulations seem to change every few years depending on the political climate and on other factors such as reciprocal country-to-country deals.
As the holder of an Australian passport I have found it quite easy to get a multiple entry in previous years, simply by submitting an itinerary to the Chinese consulate in Sydney. However in Xi Jinping era the regulations have been tightened up, for no obvious reason.

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Install and Remove Brompton Rack

  


As I discussed before, when transporting the bike on a flight, the rack is the most vulnerable part that could be damaged. For this reason, learning how to remove and install a rack is an important skill when you travel with your Brompton. In this video I show the steps involved as I move a rack from one bike to another one.

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Crossing Florida on a Brompton

  

Follow Pedalshift Tour Journals Volume 13 from Tampa to Cocoa Beach across Central Florida on a Brompton! Learn more about the tour and listen to the podcast at Pedalshift Project numbers 151 and 153-156.
Central Florida has a thousand personalities. Sure, we all know the theme parks, and the big cities of Tampa and Orlando, but there are also huge swaths of barely developed pastures, orange groves, irrigation canals and lakes to catch a cyclists’ eye while pedaling the miles away. A lot of people come to Florida to escape the cold of winter and return with stories and surprises. This tour was no different!

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Flying with your bike

  

We know the benefit of a Brompton is that it can be disguised into a regular piece of luggage so that you can avoid paying any extra fees but here is a useful resource that helps find out which European airlines are best when you are traveling with your bike.

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Ergon GP2 Hand Grips

  


When touring with a Brompton folder it is necessary to have some extra hand grips to give you comfort while riding. Bromptons stock handlebar grips are made of foam and are comfortable only for shorter commuting trips. In my experience while cycling long distance it is necessary to be able to shift position in order to relax muscles and make the ride less taxing.
Having used them for many years I can say that  Ergon GP2 Grips perfectly fit these needs and are extremely comfortable. The extensions allow a more extended position but also they are designed in such a way that the palm of your hand can rest naturally on the flattened surface and make for a much more comfortable ride overall.
On M-type Bromptons they need to be slightly trimmed as their length is excessive so just ask your Bike shop to do so when they fit them on the bike. They do not affect the fold of the bike and the handlebar is folded to its original position with the handlebar extensions only lightly resting on the floor.
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Touring on folding bikes. The Pros and Cons

  

I have been throwing around the idea of getting a folding bike for cycle touring. I took test rides on a Brompton and a Bike Friday but haven’t pulled the trigger and bought one yet. I have put together this list of pros and cons of touring with a folding bike to help me make a decision. Hopefully it helps you too. For an analysis of 8 of the best folding bikes for touring, skip to the second half of this article.

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Charging Gadgets on your Brompton

  



When you tour with a Brompton bike you are probably carrying a mobile phone maybe a camera, a goPro to film your tour and other electronic gadgets that need charging. If your are planning a tour where you stay in hotels overnight all you need to take is adaptors and cables to charge at the end of the day. One thing I have done in the past if I needed is stop at restaurants or cafes asking if they wouldn't mind me charging my mobile while I had my meal.

If on the other hand you like more freedom and don't want to be limited by hotel bookings, you might find that access to electricity outlets is not always available. 

How to keep everything charged

The best way to keep your gadgets charged during a Brompton tour is to bring along a battery pack together with a solar panel. Every year these become more and more powerful and efficient in storing power. I carry two products from Anker that have been of great use on my tours. Anker PowerPort Solar https://amzn.to/2rafJnx and an Anker PowerPort https://amzn.to/2qf2KAw. 

During the day while I cycle, I open the Solar Panel on top of my T-Bag like you see on the picture above. I use 2 carabiner to attach it to the plastic loops that are on the bag and carry the cable into the zip Pocket at the back of the T-Bag which is where I store my battery pack that gets charged. You will also notice from the picture that I have a registration plate hanging forward. The reason I do this is that the three panels of the PowerPort Solar should be on top of the bag to get a better exposure to light. This means that if you cycle fast and especially when riding downhill the wind will probably push your panels and often cause them to close. By putting some kind of weight hanging on the bag ( in my case a registration plate! ) you can prevent this from happening. If I do sometime stay in hotels of course I can charge the battery pack overnight but if your Solar Panel is open all day while you cycle I find that I am able to charge all my gadgets.

As I use my mobile phone for pictures, videos and to store my maps for guidance it is important to make sure that I have an efficient way to keep it powered. These two gadgets solved the problem.

For a video tutorial follow the link below.

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