3/3/20 – Load Up Day

Load up day went remarkably well. I put everything I could for the Sol-Reliant installation behind the seat, in the seat and on the floorboard of the passenger side: tools, 30-watt photovoltaic module, containers for roof kit, attic kit, and tank kit. Then I put SR2 in the bed, bolting the front tire forks to the bracket I’d made and installed. It’s truly amazing how firmly fixed the bike becomes. For safe measure I strapped the handlebars to the pipe rack. The rear tire rested in the grooves of the truck bed, so when viewed from the rear SR2 stood straight, tall and plumb. It was fixed for the ride. I could grab and shake it anywhere and it would’t move. 

Now I was ready for the big stuff. My ever ready and willing helper Kirk came around to assist in loading the 80-gallon solar storage tank on its side in the bed of the truck next to SR2. They would travel well together. Then we hefted the solar collector onto the top of the pipe rack resting just above the handlebars of the bike. We synched everything down and I was off to California! Singing “California here I come.” 

In Portland the day before it was sunny and beautiful. I got 22 kilowatt-hours from my home solar array. I only needed 2 kWh to charge all three of the bike batteries (.66 kWh per battery x 3 = 1.99 kWh). So, in truth, when SR2 and I would circle Lake Tahoe in a few days, we would be “riding on sunshine.”