Experience the ultimate feeling of freedom in a healthy and sustainable manner, by renting a bicycle caravan / trailer to travel hundreds of miles of bicycle lanes and quiet roads in the beautiful and varied northern Dutch provinces. Read more about the surroundings further down. However, I sold no. 4 to make room in the shed for the next one, a sprung bicycle caravan to be made from self-developed sandwich panels.
The bicycle caravan / camper
The bicycle caravan develops structurally by always connecting to the wishes / needs of users and environmental interests. With every detail, attention is paid to the ergonomic aspect. The last need is a detachable extension of the drawbar so that bicycles with 2 rear wheels can now also use it.
The light, strong and aerodynamic construction ensures that when traveling you sometimes forget that you have a tiny mobile house with you that is equipped with many conveniences.
Easy is that you only have to extend 1 stand to place this camper.
The caravan is made of wood, because wood has a low density, is resilient, has reasonable insulation value and is relatively resistant to deformation. The inside size is 202L, 82B, 100H.
The new bicycle caravan is partly painted with white linseed oil paint. Although white generally harmonizes less with a natural environment, it does not get hot under the sun and is clearly visible in traffic.
Inside the trailer you can sit up stright and the caravan is easier to set up or take with you, which can be a huge advantage if it rains.
Inside there is also a fitted kitchen, cutlery (attached so it doesn’t move) and a table. The kitchen and table are available at any time, even when on the move.
The zwierende (swinging) hatch, with a window screen to keep out insects, can be openend from the inside (patent free).
120 liter clothing and other luggage can be stored on a luggage shelf, so that your belongings wil stay put. There are deep drawers under the luggage shelf.
You can sleep high and dry on a comfortable mattress witch an antiallergen mattress cover.
The caravan is mainly ventilated through the natural air stream which comes in through the holes in the wheel arch and up to holes just belong the roof. As with the window, screens keep the insects outside.
Even though I am from a part of the Netherland where, amongst others, i.a. a plastic solar cell is being developed by students and scientists from groups with CHE-Excellence around the Nobel laureate I chose
to make minimal use of solar cells. You can use the solar cells for LED lamps and phone.
We incorporrated user feedback in developing the new bicycle caravan. It has been improved in eight areas based on user requests.
One of these requests was a clotheshorse that could double as support for the folding.
The writer Lydia Rood has reached Noorkaap in 2017 after a long journey in sometimes stormy conditions.
The first trip, a work / holiday with the second bicycle caravan was undertaken by Berlin web designer / photographer Julia Borchardt, who by working in nature gets more inspiration. During this trip, she also learned about Dutch culture in her many facets, and has learned a little Dutch language. See her experiences: http://hereable.net/
Environment
Starting from the central village called Peize, this village is what the Dutch call an “esdorp” which means “at the edge of the swamp” in its primitive form. Today a large parts around the village up to Groningen is back to its natural shape due to climate change. There is a large variety of birds and plants and other wildlife to be admired and enjoyed in this area of outstanding natural beauty. In addition to otters, beavers, sea eagles a seal also lived for some time in this nature reserve. In addition to otters, a seal also lived for some time in this nature reserve. The provinces around Peize are:
Groningen, with all of its peaceful and many panoramic views,
fortress town Bourtanger,
Wadden (Sea World Heritage)
many “borgen”
(a cross between a castle and a country home), reidiepdal with its mounds and the university/knowledge city of Groningen, also the cultural heart of northern Netherlands with its many museums, restaurants, galleries, theatres, great variety of interesting shops and martini tower that once was one of the tallest buildings in the world 1482 with his stunning height of 127 meters. The University of Groningen is number 4 in the world according to Green Metric Ranking.
Frisia with its many beautiful lakes,miles of stretches of beaches including the islands of
Terschelling, Vlieland, Schiermonnikoog and Ameland, it’s many bicycle lanes within the nature reserve areas,
Gaasterland (which boasts fresh air, woods, pastures and an abundance of recreational waters, all of which entice hikers, cyclists and pleasure craft sailors to come and spend an active holiday here) and many historic old towns,of which one of them(Sloten) being the smallest town in the world.
Drenthe, A haven for cycling holidays, with its forests,
dozens of
prehistoric dolmens,
fens and hundreds of miles of good bicycle lanes.
East Frisia, quiet, green, and with plenty of ater, is 47 kilometres or 30 miles away.
Why a sustainable and healthy holiday?
Many of us, including myself, work all year round in a busy, stressful office environment only to spend parts of our holiday either stuck in traffic jams
or in stuffy, busy aeroplanes en route to our destination. Once we arrive, we go on to see sights we wold usually ignore in our own habitat, completely oblivious to the natural beauty we pass by every day. These overseas trips can also be very harmful to the environment, with the release of NOx particulates and hundreds of kilos of CO2 into the atmosphere, furthermore, we also suffer from all sorts of health problems, because of our stressful lifestyles, unhealthy eating habits, and lack of exercise, even during the holidays.
Rent or buying
To keep the threshold for use low, the bicycle caravan was for rent, including gas and electricity (instead of money, it can also be paid in products, such as a work of art).
10% deposit of the rent with a maximum of 25 euros. At cancellation the money goes to Omogolo Wildlife Trust (100% of each donation goes to projects).
If I can improve to an existing bicyclecaravan nothing more then this bicyclecaravan after thoroughly try it out by the potential buyer be purchased. What has now happened with no.4.
Thus, the first bicycle caravan a new owner in Tirol. In no time he rode with a mountain bike and caravan to Tyrol.
In the summer of 2016, Andreas made some trips in the alps with the bicycle caravan, a col of Hors Catégorie was not a problem for the bicycle caravan due to the light construction. Here is Andreas on the 2100 meter high Jaufenpass / Passo di Monte Giovo. In April 2017, the most important publisher in the field of art, architecture and design, Phaidon published a book about mobitecture containing this bicycle caravan. The first bicycle caravan has been created, in order to have a concrete product for doing market research.
For my sadly deceased dog Joy I had made a removable dog house in the third caravan. While driving she could look out through the window in the loft, through the window of the caravan. At the campsite, the light dog house is easy to remove from the caravan and the dog can sleep in its own house. A theologian and writer from switzerland with her dog will travel together in this caravan.
For additional information, you can contact.
JC “In a way I probably immortal”, “You will only see it if you get it”, “You have to shoot, otherwise you can not score.”
Club 27: Janis, Alan (vocal, harmonica, electric guitar, tambura and tree protector), Amy, Jim, Jimi, Brian, …..
People who fortunately did not leave us: Franz/Frank (composed and sings all voices on this song), Nina, Keith, Stafani ……
People who left something behind: Skip James, Harry Muskee, Filippo Brunelleschi, Leonardo da Vinci, Paul Butterfield, David Bowie
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This is really great to see! I recently bought an electric bicycle Skeppshult and want to tow some kind of camper. /Stockholm
Hallo, it makes me very exited to see this bicyclecaravan!
37 years ago, my husband made a bycyclecar for our tandem.
We used it for campingpurpose, cycling in the Netherlands.
The car was as” big ” as the byclecaravan
My husband, unfortunatly, died.
I think for sure he would have liked to make this caravan.
I wish lots of pleasure with it!
What a fantastic blog truely great reading took me a long time to find something of interest to read. Great subject of which I am interested in,can’t wait to buy a trailer to get started. Keep up the fantastic work. aaa+
Hello! I’m interested in buying one of these. How much would it be? And can it be shipped to Canada? Thank you 🙂
I live in the USA and have been wanting to tour the country with a bicycle and small trailer. Your trailer is perfect and I would like to know how I can get the plans to build an identical. Thank you in advance for any information.
Dear David,
Thank you, unfortunately I don’t use a building plan. I do it by heart. See photos, sub-site news.
Regards,
Rudi
Sadly this is in English. I am very interested in this bicycle camper. I build wooden boats in my spare time and I like the idea of wood. Can one of your campers be shipped to the USA where I live? Or could I buy a set of plans and build one myself? Ian Lewis.
Dear Ian,
I can very much appreciate your response to the Dutch language.
I’m going to build a new one this winter. Normally I do it by heart. Now I’m going to make building plans. It seems better to me that you are going to build one than that he goes to the USA via a lot of dirty fuel oil.
I will think about the conditions under which you will receive the building plan.
Regards,
Rudi
Hello, can I get one of these sent to the USA?
Dear Jevon,
Sustainable transport fits with the sustainable concept. For example, if a sailboat goes to America, it can be transported with it.
Regards, Rudi
Hello,
Great article. Are you able to provide plans for this? Our class would be very interested in creating something like this for our earth stewardship program.
Thank you!
How high is it?, in metric sizes, how wide?, how long?
Dear Rick,
Inside 202L, 82W, 100H.
Outside 126H
Great,
Rudi
Dear Rick,
Inside 202L, 82W, 100H.
Outside 126H
Great,
Rudi
Looks amazing!
A few questions if I may:
Do you sell them, and if so, how much?
How much does it weigh?
And do you sell plans for a self-build?
Dear Bruce,
The caravan that is now built is intended to be built on request by people who are disadvantaged in the labor market. They use state-of-the-art machines. They want to calculate a cost plus price. I think the first estimate may be too optimistic (1500-2000 EU).
Great, Rudi
Rudy, on this page at the bottom is the caravan version, that I like with the wheels inside the camper walls, but exposed, what is the size of those wheels? please.
Dear Ric, The first 2 caravans were 20 inches. In the third I did not want visible wheel arches (wheel arches in the mattress). I experimented with 14 inch wheels. The wheels of 2 brands turned out to be too weak. I applied 16 inches on the 3rd and new. Regards Rudi
Thankyou Rudi, as you probably can surmise, I am going to build one, slightly different, but hot by much. If I was in Europe, I would buy one from you. I am having some problems with some advisors here (good friends) in Australia, that it would be impractical for our roads, and it may be, but will test it after it is built before I add solar, an lithium battery and other gear, on our roads here especially around our 1,2,3,4 trailer length semi-trailer trucks. This is what the guys are worried how those trucks will handle having a much wider 820mm and longer 2200mm trailer attached to a normally not much wider than 600mm bicycle. We do have the metre matter laws, but the are neither obey not enforced as well. Time will tell but I will be living in it for good with an attached tent if I stay long term somewhere. I am also bringing my dog along, as he comes on all my tours. Thankyou very much for your advice.
Hi I am very interested in renting your bicycle trailer. Could you please give me some information on rental. Are you still renting out the trailer despite COVID restrictions?
Dear Kirsty, The bicycle caravan can be rent in Peize including Gas, Light and a little bit Electra used for 1st week € 89, and then weekly € 59.
I’ll put a towbar on your bike.
With kind regards, Rudi
Hello. I am very interested in renting your bicycle trailer. Could you please give me some information on rental. Or is it possible to make some leasing aggreement.
I need the van just in spring time, and get buy it that way all together:
Or have you some advise me to get it, I want?
Best regards
Pauli Mahlamäki, Ylivieska Finland
Dear Pauli,
The bicycle can be rent in Peize including Gas, Light and a little bit Electra, tow-bar, used for 1e week €89, and then weekly € 59.
Sincerely, Rudi
Beste Rudi,
Wat een ontzettend gaaf ontwerp! Ik ben zelf een student aan de Rijksuniversiteit Groningen en ik moet met 4 andere een fiets caravan ontwerpen. Wij hebben een enquête gemaakt die wij graag ingevuld willen laten worden door mensen die er belang bij hebben of het leuk vinden om ons te helpen. Bent u wellicht bekend met een platform die ons hierbij zou kunnen helpen? Zo niet, zou u de enquête willen invullen, dan hebben wij in ieder geval één iemand met belang die het heeft ingevuld.
Enquête:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfDARFGEkwwy2oJwF0dnBrAFYVO7z1BTezszjRK1BDBx1MoZw/viewform?usp=sf_link
De rede dat ik nog een reactie plaats is omdat ik het verkeerde mail adres erbij hat genoteerd, dit is de goede. Ik hoor graag van u terug en bij voorbaat dank.
Met vriendelijke groet,
Daan
Beste Daan,
Succes met jullie project en ik hoop dat deze wetenschappelijke benadering tot nieuwe inzichten leid.
Groetjes Rudi
I’d love to buy one I don’t know how much they cost or where I can get it here in the United States California my name is Paul s markle my e mail is sarahlover71@outlook.com or you can also reach me at paulskipmarkle50@gmail.com either one is fine you can also reach me at 1 760 594 6221 is my cell phone # thank you p.s I’m homeless and I think it would be a good deal 4 me
Dear Paul,
At the moment I am not able to build one. I have tried to outsource production. This did not work because the assembly is too precise. I put you on the list of potential buyers.
Rudi
Hello,
I would like to thank you for your project and your social implication. I am an architecture student writing my thesis about mobile and nomadic architecture and i would like to have some additional informations regarding your bicycle caravan which i would like to include as a reference if you are okay with it. First of all, how long in hours did it take you to build one and how many people are required to build it.
Kind regards
Are these bicycle campers for sale? How much?
Dear Rosalind, I only sell this when I see enough points for improvement for a new one and I feel like building a new one. Sadly, that’s not happening this year. Regards, Rudi
I am very interested in renting your bicycle trailer. Could you please give me some information on rental? Are you still renting out the trailer despite COVID restrictions?
https://vintage-caravans.com.au/product-category/external-walls/
Dear Emma, rent from Peize including Gas, Light and a little bit Electra used for 1e week € 95 and then weekly € 59 (You may also pay in services or products, for example something artistic).
A detachable borrow towbar can be mounted on site. Super light bicycles made of, for example, carbon are less suitable for pulling.
I want to try the caravan for a few days, before I decide to take it on a real holliday. Is that possible?
Groeten, Hilde.
Liebe Hilde,
Dies ist von Peize aus möglich. Weitere Kommunikation bitte über bicyclecaravan@gmail.com
Mit freundlichen Grüßen,
Rudi
I love your design. Your sense of proportions is perfect.
HOW MUCH IS THE FIETS CARAVAN?
It weighs about 39 kg,
Rudi
Bonjour! J’envisage la construction d’une caravane pour velo très prochainement. Mais je serais ravi de pouvoir en essayer une avant de m’engager dans la construction. Votre caravane est-elle encore disponible à la location. Si oui, je suis certainement amateur! J’attends votre réponse avec impatience! Merci déjà
C’est possible jusqu’à fin juin, salutations rudi
I love this design. Here in Canada at the moment, we’re experiencing a high volume of homelessness. And I’ve always thought of something like this. This is something I could actually live in. And still be able too move it around with ease..
My question is.. How much one of these would cost, and ship to Ontario Canada.. I’d love to know more about these @ I think they’re genius..
Dear Darrell,
I’m a year and a half away from my retirement and I have a varied exciting job in which I can use my energy, so there is no time to build a new one. However, I am cautiously developing parts such as a sustainable insulating sandwice plate. By the way, I think that a bicycle caravan that meets your wishes should be built in Canada. Groetjes, Rudi
Bonjour
Quelle épaisseur de contreplaqué avez vous utilisé pour maintenir le poids total à 40kg?
Cordialement
Georges
Georges,
3,6
Rudi
Merci
Georges