Flutterby™! : TAG and more 2006-10-08 20:55:59.595787+00

TAG and more

2006-10-08 20:55:59.595787+00 by meuon 6 comments

Nancy and I just got back from "TAG". 1000+ cavers camped together for the weekend, I did a 150+' drop, cave and climb Friday, Nancy and I did a simple, mostly walking stream bed cave Saturday. We used a new pair of Apex lights, which were awesome. TAG's known for it's huge Saturday night bonfire, a 30' by 30' by 30' pile of logs. Nancy said it well, "it's a nice bonfire, it's nothing compared to Burning Man". we had a nice weekend, and I got to do some real vertical caving, which I have not done in a while. felt good. Got interested in Casita trailers, we saw two at TAG and they seem to fit what we would use one for, including a )^( trip and some weekend event and non-event usage.

And when we get home, an e-mail directs me to, and I drool over: A Human/Electric Hybrid Twike.

A great extended weekend..

I lusted over, and test-drove a Corbin Sparrow in '99, but there were a few too many things I questioned about it to plunk the money down (and a few months later I bought one of the first original Prius cars to come off the line). Maybe the Twike has solved those problems.

But I still want a Tesla. :-) (And I will absolutely test-drive one once they arrive next year!)

I'd say $26k is a lot higher than lofty. It strikes me the price is a bigger problem than the regenerative braking system. But then, somebody has to be first. These may be the Duryeas of the industry, which still awaits its Model T.

I'm completely not getting it, 'cause my attempts at coming up with pricing for a vehicle like that aren't anywhere near what they're charging. On the other hand, maybe it's the Segway effect, "If they're getting $3k for 20 miles at 12MPH, and we're getting 100 miles at 60MPH, then we should be able to charge twenty five times..."

In the "completely impractical" department, Charlene's brother has a '50s era truck in his garage that's been stripped down to the frame, beautifully repainted, and is awaiting a front transaxle, an engine installation, and some love. But he's tied up with various other projects. If I had a garage and a line on some good electric forklift motors, I think that'd make the most ass-kicking electric conversion ever. A pickup truck that'd do 80-100 miles would be most of what I've used a car for in the past year or two.

On a different note: Meuon, how's that light set for distance? A good head mounted lamp would be really nice in the biking domain...

I've yet to use them for bicycling.. but probably will this week, I'll let you know.

It didn't get real dark last night, but warKitty commented on how bright my apex was.. and it was on low/wide. On high, with the center focused beam, even at dusk, it was amazing. Very directional focused and bright white, not very blue-ish. It's a great biking headlamp, brighter and more focused than my Bruxton 3watt as well.