Zoe and I just finished our annual overnight trek to Givens Hot Springs.  50 miles from our doorstep to the springs.  The weather this year was spectacular:  endless sunshine, highs in the upper 70’s, though a bit brisk in the early ride out from Boise at about 45 degrees.  Temps change fast in the high desert.

As usual, I had a mildly ulterior motive for the trip:  see how the latest technology pans out in hopes that one of these days I’ll be on another big tour.  This time around the tech consisted of the following:

• Nokia 6.1 Android phone
• Strava app running on phone to measure total distance, for upload to LoveToRide web site
• CycleTrip running on phone to provide route guidance
• Anker PowerPort solar charger
• Anker PowerCore 10000 (10000 mAh Li-Ion battery pack)
• Schmidt SON dynamo hub
• Sinewave Cycles Reactor dynamo charger
• Shimano Ultegra Di2 rear derailleur

The general idea is this:

• Charge the battery pack from the sun during the ride and at camp
• Use the phone throughout the ride, extending its life via the dynamo hub / Sinewave charger
• Overnight, top off the phone from the battery pack
• Repeat
• Top off the phone and battery pack whenever the 115 VAC power grid is available
• Occasionally charge the Di2 battery from the Anker battery pack or 115 VAC grid (if necessary)

Here’s how it all went down, without tapping into the power grid after initially charging everything at home:

Trip Waypoint	Phone Battery	Anker Battery	Di2 Battery
Leaving Boise	100%	4 out of 4 bars	2 out of 4 bars
Kuna (20 miles)	86%	4 bars	2 bars
Arrive Givens	Still working (can’t remember %)	3 bars (after charging Zoe’s phone in Kuna)	2 bars
Leave Givens	100%	2 bars (after charging Android phone and downloading and watching an episode of “Anne with an E” in our tent, and charging Zoe’s iPhone)	2 bars
Arrive Boise	5%	4 bars	1 bar
Charge Di2	n/a	Still 4 bars after charging	4 bars

Notes

• The phone was always displaying the CycleTrip app with adaptive brightness (meaning 100% brightness in these sunny conditions).  The display never turned off because I had CycleTrip Display mode set to Always on.
• Turning off display except during turns should dramatically improve phone battery life during ride.
• CycleTrip (an app I’m writing) performed well.  Not quite ready for prime time but close.
• Charging Di2 from the Anker battery appeared to work, though I’m a little suspicious that the Anker battery didn’t lose a single bar of battery life  (still 4 out of 4 after charging).  Di2 says 4 out out of 4 bars though.  And the Anker battery has way more capacity than the Di2 battery so probably makes sense.

Conclusion

When the CycleTrip app intelligently turns off the display (on the list of feature enhancements), I should be able to run the phone and Di2 indefinitely with only occasional access to the power grid.  Di2 has worked so well that I don’t even think I’d pack a spare battery.  As always, here’s my battery performance since installing Di2:  https://seasonalcommute.com/di2-battery-life/