Feeling bad that I cannot afford to camp

Even if insurance compliance turns out to be a non-factor, I encourage you to use your CPAP on the trip.

If you think there is just no way you can use CPAP, try a little experiment before you register. Ride 70 miles one Saturday. Skip CPAP Saturday night. Ride 70 miles Sunday. See how you feel.

After using CPAP for some period of time, many of us find skipping a night just clobbers us.

I do this every year and been doing this with potential Apnea all this while. I am worried that I am already used to CPAP in just a week that I might find it very uncomfortable on the ride.

It's not just a matter of being uncomfortable. Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a condition that typically progresses over some years. Over this period, your body develops defenses to help mitigate apnea. For one example, you may sleep less in the deeper stages and awaken more easily. This helps prevent long apneas and low blood-oxygen desats. For a second example, the body increases hematocrit levels in order to more efficiently carry limited oxygen to the body's organs and tissues.

These defenses gradually subside with effective CPAP therapy. Thus when skipping CPAP, the clobber unlike before treatment.

I think it is too early to say that you won't be able to go. A lot of campgrounds these days have hookups for CPAP even if you are tenting. Those campgrounds large enough for 250 campers should have a few plugins.
Are there support vehicles that can be used to charge batteries? The batteries can be cheap, the hardest part may be charging them everyday. Even so, coming up with a small charging system for a small battery would be an interesting project.
Do you have a buddy going with you that wouldn't mind helping you charge a battery on his bike?
What would a reasonable budget be that you could afford?

Few updates since morning. Talked to the insurance company. In order for me to satisfy compliance requirements, I need to be using an average of 4 hrs per day for 21 days in a month. I am averaging about 8 hrs a day. So they said I should fine and should not worry about compliance. Coming to the battery questions, I am still researching options. I still have about 8 weeks to figure out a solution.

I talked to the ride organizers and they said I can charge the battery every day from the generators that they run from around 2 PM to 8 PM every day and no electricity after that. The cheapest out of the box option right now would cost me about $270 + sales tax. I did the math and figures that if I build my own battery using 18650 cells, I can get it done in under $150 with double the capacity than the retail ones. So I am leaning towards that option. Of course, I would have to buy the $80 adapter from ResMed, which I should buy anyway. I am heavily leaning towards DIY at the moment. Will keep you posted.


Sorry for making a big fuss out of this potential non-issue. As I said elsewhere on this forum, just logging on to this forum motivates in ways I haven't imagined. So thank you for being patient.

You might want to run your plans by CapnLoki, the forum battery expert - viewtopic/t114012/Choosing-a-Battery.html

ChicagoGranny wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 20, 2018 5:10 pm

You might want to run your plans by CapnLoki ...

So I've been cogitating - I've wondered about home brew Lithium packs, but frankly the hassle of battery management and charging makes this more of a hobby'er issue. If it were me I'd just figure out how to get the real thing.

The other approach might be to get a larger battery and get a support vehicle to carry it. Perhaps 2 or 3 20 amp-hour AGM packs would be the easiest. If a 20 ah pack would go 3 nights this would simplify the recharge. And they're cheap enough you could leave them behind.

One more thing - LiFePO4 cells are easier to match up to chargers and are almost as light a Lithium Ion. But I don't think that would save any money.

CapnLoki wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 20, 2018 6:42 pm

The other approach might be to get a larger battery and get a support vehicle to carry it.

This ride uses support vehicles to carry the cyclists' luggage and gear. That should make things easier.

There are SAG vehicles that carry our luggage but there is limit koff up to 40 lbs per rider. Will have to check the weight of the AGM batteries. Thanks for the suggestion. I still have time so I will exhaust all options before going DIY.

Of course I am biased, but they should have a higher weight limit for those needing medical equipment.

LSAT wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 20, 2018 9:25 am

. . .
, you must average 4 hours per night, 70% of the time during a 30 day period.

Oops, dearie. It is AT LEAST 4 hours for 70% of the time.
"Average" could get his machine snatched.
Sorry, no slight intended, sir.

chunkyfrog wrote: ↑

Sat Jul 21, 2018 3:24 pm

LSAT wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 20, 2018 9:25 am

. . .
, you must average 4 hours per night, 70% of the time during a 30 day period.

Oops, dearie. It is AT LEAST 4 hours for 70% of the time.
"Average" could get his machine snatched.
Sorry, no slight intended, sir.

I actually confirmed with care centrics that I need to have the machine on for 84 hrs month. They said that they look at total hours, then divide by 21 days (70% of 30 days).

A couple of things...

Contact the event director, explain your issue and have them send you an email that allows you to carry a 12 volt battery in the gear vehicle in addition to your 50 pounds of gear. Keep in mind that a battery doesn't bounce well and will take some attention in handling. If allowed, and at the event if questions come up just show the email.

There is a caution against bringing laptops. They state that the baggage is "tossed" in on a pile and fragile items may be damaged. Your CPAP machine is fragile. You may want to figure out a way to pad it, or include it with the battery in a luggage bag (with wheels if possible) to insure it won't get broken.

The ride is over 5 days. If you can size your battery for 2 nights and charge it each night for the limited time you have access to power, you should have enough to last the whole trip.

Looks like a great ride. Have fun!!!

you can use our host which has monthly payments available for batteries

jamesbond007 wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 20, 2018 3:59 pm

... The cheapest out of the box option right now would cost me about $270 + sales tax. I did the math and figures that if I build my own battery using 18650 cells, I can get it done in under $150 with double the capacity than the retail ones. So I am leaning towards that option. Of course, I would have to buy the $80 adapter from ResMed, which I should buy anyway. I am heavily leaning towards DIY at the moment. Will keep you posted.

Here's another option - A LiFePO4 (lithium iron phosphate, or LFP) battery. They have a different chemistry that allow for 12V packs that can be charged with a normal charger and are "drop in" replacements for lead-acid batteries. Not quite as light as Lithium Ion, but this 30 AmpHour is only 8.6 pounds. If your ride is 5 day is that 4 nights? If so this might cover it without a recharge. The electrical properties of these batteries are favorable - they can be run to near empty and recharged quickly. Unfortunatly still pricey.

https://www.bioennopower.com/collection ... blf-1230as

BTW, don't apologize for asking about this; we live for the opportunity to be of service!