Newbie mountain biker and tent camper from Portland, OR

[dbisers]

Hi everyone,

I've been looking at teardrops off and on for a while but after having just got back from a fairly rainy trip tent camping in Yellowstone and my desire for one these has really increased.

As for me: I live with my wife in Portland, OR. I was lucky enough to grow up in a really outdoorsy family and got dragged along on rock climbing, backpacking, canoeing, etc. trips around Pittsburgh, PA. My outdoor passions now are centered around cycling (mountain, cyclocross, and road) and backpacaking. I'm also a designer, I just got a graduate degree in Architecture from U of O and have always been a DIYer and tried to build before buying. I've got a diverse set of fabrication skills from working on bikes and constructing buildings and am fairly fearless in trying new techniques. Once the workshop I'm building in my backyard is finished I think a trailer will be my next project.

My ideal teardrop would be let me camp out at mountain bike races comfortably and tow behind my 2003 Ford Focus and be elegant and efficient. In addition to the standard sleeping area and galley I'd like to have provisions for and outdoor bike workshop (possibly fold out work table, storage for tools and folding workstand, lighting, canopy) and a shower on the outside. I'd like to make this as light weight as is reasonable but still fairly cheap, this seems to lean toward foamie but having just seen some compound curve wood designs (a la wooden boat building) this has piqued my interest.

This looks like a great group of people, if anyone has seen some builds that were focused towards supporting messy outdoor activities with customized storage I'm all ears. I'd also be interested in helping out and learning from people building around Portland.

Thanks,

Dave Bisers

[Junkboy999]

Hey Dave

Welcome to the forums. Yep camping in the rain bites while in a tent. Even the popups. I still remember the day camping with my family and Dad always saying Don't touch the canvas it will leak heheh
I'm sure someone from your local will chime in here, and I know there are a lot of TD owners up and down the west coast.

Your trailer can be anything you like it to be. I have see mobile Bars, mobile blacksmithing shop, toy hauler for RC planes, and one that held a motorcycles inside.

Here is a build you might like.

TD for 2 with a garage for bikes.

GL with whatever you decide to build.

[drhill]

Welcome to the forum Dave.

I am a mountain biker as well and my son is a racer. I was motivated to build a teardrop after a couple race weekends at Silverstar near Vernon BC. Seems every night the wind picks up there and destroys at least a few of the tents (racers camp in the parking lot). My build is anything but light. If you look at my build journal I built basically a 5' x 10' flat deck trailer with stake pockets to install sides and haul all sorts of stuff and also a removable teardrop pod for the biking and camping trips. The bare trailer with spare is 585 lbs. Not a light weight but 14" tires and 3500# axle and 2500# springs. The tongue is about 5-1/2' long so that a North Shore style bike rack can be mounted.

Below is a picture of a race weekend. The rain let up for a few brief moments over the weekend. Note the plastic 2 gal sprayer under the table in the picture. That is handy for rinsing the dishes after washing, for cleaning off muddy bikes to work on them and for taking showers in places like Moab. There is a 4 bike rack on the trailer in this shot.


Here is a shot on a nice sunny day in Fernie BC. Again camping in a parking lot. There is a 6 bike rack. The rack itself is rather heavy and with 6 bikes, a couple tents, bedding, food and drink and water for 5 for a weekend, the total weight was a whopping 2400 lbs with 300 lbs on the hitch. (there is a scale along the way)


I do like that trailer with the garage for two bikes. But only two would be a limitation for us at this time. Have fun planning!