Night Tow Test On An Incline

 

Song:  Amazing Journey

Group:  The Who

It was around 7:15 PM on New Year's Eve.

As there was no rain...

I thought it a perfect time to run a night test of the lights 

and the towing capability of my trike as I towed my younger sister up 

an incline from down the street and back up to the top of the hill.

As my 750 Watt Bafang gave me much power on a straight away...

I had to see not only the power it still had when under heavy load...

but of how much of a power drain it would be.

As my younger sister's trike is the only one of ours which has no e drive...

when we go places where there is a steep incline for distance...

she won't be able to pedal up it for long.

And so...

why I always include my shock absorbing tow rope on my trike.

But...

before we actually hit the trails...

I had to know the handling capabilities of my trike under load...

as well as the effects towing would have on my sister on her trike 

as she was being towed.

As this was our first night operation...

we also had to see the throw of our lights...

and the visibility of our trikes from the rear.

There should be no problem.

As I headed down the hill first...

when I glanced in my side view mirror...

I had at first thought my sister's trike was a car behind me.

We stopped near the bottom of the hill...

and I linked up her trike to mine with the tow rope.

I have five separate drive assist modes...

and I could have towed her in the first level assist...

although I would have had to have remained in the lower gears.

The pedaling became easier with each level of assist up I went...

until in the uppermost assist level...

I was in a high gear and going almost too fast for my sister.

We are at the top here.

As my sister did no pedaling the whole way up...

and the incline is steeper than on most trails we plan to go on...

I could have towed her for several miles up this incline...at least.

However, we won't know for sure until our next tow test at Lake Tahoe.

They have a three mile incline on one of the trails.

I will tow her the whole way...

while paying particular attention to the battery drain.

I plan to do this before towing my mother behind me on the same trail to ensure

there will be no problems.

It took me but a few moments to unhook her trike from the tow rope.

This particular tow rope stretches to twice its length under load

so as to absorb the shock of speed change ups.

Everything worked perfectly...

with the exception of my hands.

I had not thought it was cold enough for gloves.

I was so wrong.

My hands are still defrosting as I write this.