We know that bikes are ideal for commuting—but for camping, too? Brian Campbell, a car-free vagabond who’s pedaled across the U.S. and Mexico, built his own camping cabin and attached it to his bike. The sturdy contraption snakes behind his back wheel like a sleek Airstream trailer, and offers similar comforts. Brian has lived and traveled in his hand-made mobile home for many years and, most recently, made a pit stop in Portland.
Brian built his makeshift motor home from mag wheels, Styrofoam panels, and duct tape. Regardless of the raw materials used to build it, Brian’s bike is ingeniously engineered. This man-powered moho looks more like a streamlined, metallic spaceship than a handyman special—although it’s duct tape that holds it all together.
He said his design was inspired by the moon rovers and the moon landing vehicle, the super structure and the shiny panels. The interior was sweet too, looked comfy, and had a map holder and lots of neat nooks and crannies to store stuff.
He’s got ambitious plans to build another such “ship” — this one is his third! — but he’s low on scratch and materials.
Although his machine is impressively well-designed, he says it’s showing its age and he’s not sure whether to repair or replace at this point. Nevertheless, it’s his home for the winter.
He explained that last winter he reached a breaking point. The dark, cold, wet days found him “just lying there, in my cabin, staring out, losing weight from not eating.” “I can’t do that anymore,” he said “I felt like I was in jail in that thing, trapped…”
He pointed out mold that was spreading through sections of the cabin’s foam walls and expressed concern about breathing it in. …
With a huge grin he said, “This is what happens when you build a camper that’s not big enough for a woman.”
Photo via flickr by Joseph Robertson.
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Humans are aware of the consequences… and we are still rushing to produce and burn more oil…
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