The Endless Carless Summer

I've gotten desperate in my effort to find a way to get to Emily and Nolan's wedding without taking a car. It's not looking good, and I'm rather depressed about it. Here's my latest hail Mary, an email to Amtrak: How strict is the 2-inch tire and 50-lb. weight limit for trainside checked bikes? I have an e-bike that weighs 60 lbs. and has 2.4" tires. Would it fit? Also, I need to travel from Durham, NC to Aberdeen, MD, and though the Carolinian isn't scheduled to stop in Aberdeen, could it stop long enough to let me and my bike off? Short of that, could it slow down enough to allow me to jump off safely with my bike? I would catch the NE Regional that leaves from DC to Aberdeen 50 minutes after the Carolinian arrives, but it doesn't take bikes on board. Or could an exception be made for me on that train? It's the 192 NE Regional that travels from DC to Aberdeen Saturday, 7/22 from 5:20 PM to 6:26 PM. Thanks for your consideration.  I hope whoever...

I did my first big trial run on the Super Commuter earlier this week. I have to say I was a little disappointed. I thought I’d be able to ride from Rock Hill to Greenville in about 4½ hours, averaging about 23 miles per hour. Surely it wouldn’t make a difference that I was pulling a trailer and an extra bike—I have a MOTOR, and motors are impervious to workload. Or so I thought. After speeding out of town on SC highway 5 in sport and turbo modes (the ones where it’s fairly easy to maintain 25+ mph—any who’ve ridden SC 5 between Rock Hill and York will understand), I did some math in my head about 15 miles in and realized I needed to get 60+ km out of the 500 watt hour battery I was using first or run the risk of running down the smaller two spare batteries I was hauling in the trailer. Running out of battery short of my destination at my brother’s place in Greenville on unfamiliar roads, probably after dark, maybe in rain, definitely with a 60-lb. bike and a 30-lb. trailer and ...