Electric Bicycles are awesome. No arguments with that. Until you run out of charge, or maybe if all your electrics get soaked in tropical rains perhaps.... but I had not imagined that flying with the bikes would be a problem!
Here is our first dilemma. Lithium batteries are not permitted on the plane... Plane crashes have been caused by exploding Lithium batteries, and they are strictly forbidden if exceeding a certain size. Our bike batteries are way too big.
We likely need to ship the batteries separately as Dangerous Goods, probably via slow surface mail, to Vietnam. Sigh. I am working on the logistics. We may be able to ship spare batteries* well in advance to a hotel in Hanoi,Vietnam, so in case we fail to safely/legally take the batteries on the plane we at least have batteries waiting for us. If we get the batteries across we have spare batteries for the ride and therefore longer range.
Charging batteries may also cause a problem. Imagine us stopping for lunch at a road side cafe in Asia and plugging in 4-5 exhausted batteries (each drawing 1+Amp) we are likely to blow a fuse! Same in makeshift little hotels in rural Asia, we are likely to blow a fuse or two if we need to recharge 2 batteries each!
It is great to see the challenges mounting. It shows me that Cystic Fibrosis is really just another little issue in a heap of other ones! CF I've had all my life, I can deal with that. Overcoming challenges on a 5000km expedition from Vietnam to Singapore will be new and unique ones!
Still looking for sponsors to help us with some of these possibly costly hurdles! Email: sponsors@coughing4cf.com!!
* Each battery costs $300+ so spares are a serious luxury!
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