Today was my third zero mile work day of the tour… I think I have a few opinions on the relative merits of working while on tour. First, let’s look back on the “why” part. The theory is that taking a few zero mile days, while disruptive to a bike tour, can allow one to either bike further or longer, or even take more frequent tours, so long as the work days are earning you money or otherwise keeping you from burning vacation days for your entire time away. So far, I’m finding that to be largely true.

While I can’t say the pauses in the tour haven’t been without downsides (saying farewell to others that you would ordinarily ride hundreds of miles with) it hasn’t taken away from the adventure of the ride, nor the opportunities to “reshuffle” the deck and meet new people. Overall… I think it works.

What I’m discovering, however, is my preconceived notions of what gear will be the best for the tour are slightly off. My main tool has been my iPhone 5. It has been a remarkable device for staying on top of email while on the road during breaks. Cell coverage has been good on this trip, although not perfect. I happen to have an unlimited data plan, and that’s been helpful.

The device combination that I thought would be my workhorse on work days was my iPad and a service called LogMeIn. On a wifi connection (my iPad has no cellular data capabilities) I can use LogMeIn to port over to one of. Couple of Macs I have running in Portland (my laptop I left behind in my brother’s home) and my office iMac in DC. I chose redundancy in case one went down. Having this allows me to take on tasks that my ipad alone couldn’t do easily, such as setting up ecourses or producing podcasts with audio I didn’t have on board. The idea was the ipad has much better battery life, plus if it were lost, damaged or stolen, the pain is much less than if the same happened to the MacBook Pro I left behind.

So… It works. But the efficiency drop is a bit maddening. I can do absolutely everything I could do on a desktop, but the pace is hampered by the interface wackiness (a touch interface converting to a non-touch one) plus the limits of wifi speeds on both sides. My laptop at my brother’s place is far from the router, so it’s pokey. My iMac was the better choice, despite being across the continent!

Still, my efficiency drop is so noticeable, I have decided to make a change for the next tour. Before they disappear rom the market I plan on getting a sub $300 netbook. They are disappearing for a variety of reasons I won’t go into, but I think having a “real” computer OS will up efficiencies for the tasks that require it. I’m happier in the Apple ecosystem, but I can always use LogMeIn to hitch back on a full Mac OS X computer if needed. Weight and battery life will suffer, but overall… I think for my needs the iPad is not the right second device since it replicates so much of what the iPhone can do, without offering much more than a bigger screen. I still love the iPad but not in this context… Unless I can find some apps I’m unaware of to do some of the things I do on a traditional computer.

I have another work day coming up, and I plan on chatting a bit more about what I’m doing while on tour, specifically:
– how I manage my AirBnB rentals and why that’s an important part of funding touring (a big topic!)
– my email and to-do list philosophies that lean heavily on “inbox zero” and the amazing Evernote.

What kinds of tech do you bring on tour to get things done? Just a smartphone? Full laptop? Nothing? My ideas are definitely not the only way to go… Share yours in the comments!

One of the four questions going into a tour when you’re working from the road is how to keep your electronic devices charged and happy. I suspect there are some people who can work while on tour without needing electronic devices and connectivity, but I know I need them. I primarily rely on my iPhone for a variety of needs, most notably communication, navgation and content production. It also helps with podcasts and audiobooks on those long stretches, and for Nirvana on climbs.

Seriously. Nirvana for climbs. You listen to Nirvana on climbs, right??

As we all know, there’s a finite length of time these devices can last. You have a couple of options… conserve your power, bring additional power, or generate your own power.

Conservation

I’ve found that you can really make life difficult for yourself if you insist on using all of your phone all of the time. The reality is, you tend to need it for bursts of activity rather than lengthy stretches of access. Unless you’re expecting an important call, or otherwise feel the need to be connected, you’ll want to turn off as many antennas as you can. WiFi and Bluetooth are probably the easiest calls here… unless you’re rockin a bluetooth headset, you’re going to burn juice from the battery with that on. WiFi on tour is generally going to be something you’ll only use when you’re out of the saddle… those two are easy calls. Some phones (jailbroken iPhones and Android phones) will allow a finer grain control of your GPS and phone functions, while stock iPhones through iOS 6 only give you Airplane mode or off as your next power-saving function. If you get little to no signal in stretches, I strongly recommend airplane mode… your device will be draining its battery like crazy trying to power through to get a signal, often in vain.

Bring additional power

Extra batteries for those phones that have swappable ones, or external batteries are a real help. I have a couple of these that can recharge my iPhone a few times over, and tend to plug them into any available outlet I can when stopped to build up battery reserves. The more you have, the less conservative you need to be with what you’re doing (especially helpful if you need to use the GPS to navigate while you roll!).

Generate your own juice

The real holy grail is to generate power at the same rate you burn it, or to give yourself tons of additional time between opportunities to plug into a wall. Some people are having good luck with solar, but that seems to be situational and (I know… shockingly…) requires sun. I’ve been experimenting with dynohub technology for about a year now, and have liked the results. It lets me keep more things toggled up on my phone while rolling, and gives me some peace of mind that I won’t run low when I’m tapping out an email or fixing something important from afar.

My west coast tour (starts Monday… no pressure) is on a bike with 26″ wheels, and my dynohub happens to be on a 700c base. I’ve written about my solution before over on Uncommonly Silly but today was the big build – I’m happy to say it was successful, and the 700c wheel juuuuuust fits. I’ll be without a front fender when I roll like this, so he dynohub wheel strikes me as a dry tour -only option on this bike.

Check out the gallery to see the results… I’m pretty pleased with things, and the higher front wheel is hardly noticeable:

There are other options to be sure. What do you do to keep your electronics powered up on tour? Or do you go with the flow and plug in when you can?

In a few days, I leave on my “big tour” of the year, and one that is a bit of an experiment from the PedalShift point of view.

My ride starts with a quick jaunt by bus to Tillamook, Oregon. From there, I’ll point the bike south along the well-regarded (because it’s awesome) Pacific Coast route down to San Francsico. It’s about 16 in-saddle days with camping adventures all the way down.

But here’s where the experiment kicks in: I plan to remain connected to all of my work projects while on tour. In the past, tours were my sole opportunity to totally unplug. Doing it this way, however, allows me to do a longer tour. Lots of questions…

• Will working on tour spoil or lessen the experience? Don’t know. We’ll see!
• How does this “work”? Let’s just say I need to tip one back for Steve Jobs. The iPhone allows me to manage my AirBnB places, handle all emails, even do face to face video meetings with my staff at the studio back east.
• So, you no worries about signals? Oh there’s plenty of worry about that. Lots of empty signal days on the coast! I’m planning some zero mile work days in towns I know there’s connectivity.
• What about juicing up that iPhone? I have a dynohub setup that I am hacking to make work on my bike. More to come on that, because I think a big part of being able to work remotely is ensuring power for devices. This is one way.

Have you ever worked on tour? While I know completely unplugging is preferable, I’m actually a little excited to see this work. It’s a core principle of what I’d like to develop… being able to work remotely, particularly while on tour, so I can do more of it. If it doesn’t… well, I suppose this website might have a short shelf life 😉

More to come…