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Categories: all aviation bicycle gadgets misc motorcycle theater Sun, 29 Jun 2008It took me a strangely long time to get my race report from the 15th done, mostly due to getting pictures sorted out. Both Cyrus and Vicki contributed photos, and I wanted to get their shots worked in as well. Posted at 23:21 permanent link category: /motorcycle Thu, 26 Jun 2008I've been slowly turning out things, and widgets and frobnitzes on my lathe. This one, I thought, ended up looking particularly good:
That's an axle for my soon-to-be cargo trailer for my Xtracycle. It's made of 1144 "stressproof" steel, and, perhaps my proudest thing, the longer section of thread was entirely turned on the lathe. I didn't use a threading die on it at all, and it accepts the 12mm castle nuts I got perfectly. Threading on a lathe is a surprisingly difficult task, particularly when doing metric threads on what is nominally an inch machine. Particularly when you have to keep resetting the cutting tool because of broken tips and such. This is one of two -- this piece is only about 4" long, and there'll be one for each wheel. It'll bolt (via the longer thread) into a plate on the side of the trailer, the wheel slides on the longer smooth part, and the shorter threaded section takes another castle nut to keep the wheel on. This is to work with the free found-onna-road wheels my friend Josh gave me. Hooray for being handy! Posted at 22:02 permanent link category: /misc Due to my being a loyal
The big orange cat is Miloš, the Siberian cat she got last year. The one in the middle, nearly invisible against the dark countertop, is Nikola, possibly the most friendly cat I've ever met. The white/snowshoe cat on the right is Pasha. So I came in yesterday morning, and there were no cats crowding around the door, trying to escape and/or sniff for food, as is their normal wont. I was surprised, and after I'd closed the door I realized that the door to the office was closed, and they must have pushed it closed while playing. Indeed, inside were three cats suddenly streaming for the door. I only come by once a day, in part because of my schedule, and in part because I'm quite allergic to cats. These three cats had been locked up in this room for who-knows-how-long. It couldn't have been that long, though, because there was no olfactory hint of litterbox (there's no litterbox in the room, if you get my drift), and they didn't immediately bolt for either litterbox or water. So, I grabbed a relatively immoveable-looking object, a file box, and set it in front of the door. It wasn't very heavy, but they'd have to work at it to move that out of the way. Problem solved. I went a fixed up their water and food, and cleaned out the litterboxes. A little bit of attention and scratching-behind-ears later, and it was time to move on. Plus, you know, the sinus itching like it wanted to crawl out of my head. Today, I opened up the door, and went it, and what do you suppose I found? Yes indeed, that office door was closed again. Miloš and Nikola were wandering around, but Pasha was nowhere to be seen. There was a certain amount of pitiful mewling going on, and I opened the door to find Pasha inside, looking freaked out. The file box had been pushed back (it only weighed a few pounds, and a couple moderate hits from Miloš would easily dislodge it, I realized). So this time I took the spare microwave oven, which Kristin has a hard time lifting, and put that in front of the open door. If they move that, I'll be amazed. As I was writing this, I found a better picture of Nikola:
And one of Nikola and Pasha as I was playing with them a few days ago:
Consider this your cat fix for the day. Posted at 10:13 permanent link category: /misc Sun, 22 Jun 2008
SketchFest brings you: 3000 miles!
Ok, that's kind of a weird mash-up of topics. Today, I had a walkthrough of the Theatre Off Jackson, where SketchFest Seattle will be having its big fundraiser event tomorrow night (you're coming, right?). I pondered my transportation options: Ninja 250, at 50 mpg and $4.35 a gallon, or bicycle, with what amounts to free energy costs? Of course, there are other factors: I've been out of town for the last week, in San Jose on business, where I didn't have access to a bike. I did walk to work from the hotel, but that's about 1/8th of my normal amount of exercise, so I was feeling kind of sluggish. Parking in the International District (where ToJ is located) also ranges from terrible to atrocious, so even a motorcycle would have a hard time parking (one of the only knocks against ToJ actually, which is in many respects an excellent place to hold SketchFest). Perhaps playing a small part was the knowledge, lurking in the back of my mind, that my normal bicycle had about 2995 (or so) miles on the odometer before I set out, so this ride would take me over 3000 miles. It's another useless milestone, but it's pretty cool in a way. If I had ridden those miles on the Ninja, I would have paid about $225 in gas (calling it $3.75/gal average over the last year and a half). It's not really that much in terms of money, but it's pretty tremendous in terms of emitted carbon and pollution -- the Ninja has no catalytic converter, so it puts out all the smog stuffs that cars stopped puffing out the tailpipe in the 80s. Anyway, it was pretty cool, when I stopped at Uwajimaya to pass some time (having arrived early), to note that my odometer now read 3001. Posted at 17:47 permanent link category: /bicycle Tue, 17 Jun 2008Quick update; here's the race footage from the second heat of Sunday's race:
Enjoy! Full race report coming soon. Posted at 07:46 permanent link category: /motorcycle Mon, 16 Jun 2008I'll have a fuller update or race report ready later, but I wanted to just mention that this weekend was far better than the last one. I had a good time, improved my bike in a significant way, and discovered that it's making about the same power as everyone else's. My best lap time was a dramatic improvement, too: first race, I got a 2:28. Second race sucked, in addition to the fact that they didn't once pick up my transponder (thus no times). This race, I moved up to 2:18.353. Not too shabby, dropping 10 seconds in three races! The very fastest riders are running about 1:59. The bike worked well, and the camera even recorded some footage. I'll try to get my one race take posted soon; it was from the second race, but I think it only captured a couple of laps before shutting off. I have an idea how to fix the camera, too, so it doesn't prematurely shut down like it has been. Of course, I still came in last, but c'est la vie. Now that I know it's just my skill that's lacking, I'm perfectly happy to come in last. Actually, Jesse had to leave the second race after one lap, due to a busted shift linkage, so I managed to finish next-to-last, getting 10 points. Yeehaw! My friend Cyrus showed up, and took some cool pictures of us puttering around the track, which you can see here, for the moment. I'll be grabbing a couple of them to illustrate the race report, I'm sure. Thanks Cyrus! (Secret hint: I'm #923, Jesse is #808, Tamra (from my video yesterday) is #950.) Posted at 13:09 permanent link category: /motorcycle Sun, 15 Jun 2008The first day of racing went pretty well. The on-board camera even managed to record something!
That's my second race session, following Tamra, #950. The camera still croaked 14 minutes in, but at least it managed to lay down some data before it did. I think when I sent it back to GoPro, they must have flashed it with a new firmware that actually records data as it goes instead of all at the end (which means that now, losing battery contact just kills the recording, instead of losin the recording entirely). Not perfect, but a definite improvement. I never did manage to pass Tamra. She'd been concerned that she was too slow, which ended up not being too much of a problem. I probably could have passed her in several places if I was feeling aggressive, but I really wasn't, and I don't feel that skilled yet, either. Anyway, I'm looking forward to today (rather than dreading it), so that's all good news. The sun is even shining already. Should be a good day. Posted at 06:28 permanent link category: /motorcycle Wed, 11 Jun 2008Do you like sketch comedy? Do you like chocolate? If you answered yes to at least one of those questions, I need you to come around to the SketchFest Seattle Fundraiser! Yes, you too can eat high class chocky-bikky, win neat raffle prizes, and bid on better auction items! You should check out the official announcement. There will be the aforementioned chocolate (it really will be high-class; we have an artisan coming in), the raffles and so on, as well as the fantastic Becky Poole, and Ben Laurence and Paul Gude to do a bit of their show Naked Ladies, which I managed to find out about too late to actually attend (boo!). I know you, yes you, really want to help support the nation's first sketch comedy festival (all the rest of those sketch comedy festivals? They're total pretenders). I'd love to see you there -- I'll be the guy dressed in black, making sure the lights light and the microphones phone. Posted at 22:00 permanent link category: /misc
I'll be famous, FAMOUS I tell you!
I just did a man-on-the-street interview with a cameraman/reporter for KCPQ, the local Fox affiliate station in Seattle. He said he was putting together a story on walkable neighborhoods, focusing on Fremont and Wallingford. So, if you happen to have a TV and live in range of the station, you might check into the Q13 news tonight and see if they include my witty commentary. I'm guessing I'll be credited on screen as "Some random jerk," or "This man thinks he's being interviewed about walkable neighborhoods," or something like that. Should be good for a laugh. Posted at 13:21 permanent link category: /misc Tue, 10 Jun 2008
Some thoughts for new bicyclists
With gas prices rocketing past $4/gallon, I'm seeing more and more folks on bicycles. This is a fine thing, but I wanted to provide some advice that may not appear in some of the "new to cycling" guides out there. Traffic or not?For most practical purposes, a bicycle is traffic. We ride on the roads. When necessary, we share a lane of traffic with motorized vehicles. This means we need to act like traffic. Obviously, you can't keep up motorized speeds, and that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about mutual respect, and predictability. As you probably know from driving a car, the ability to predict what traffic around you is going to do is absolutely vital to everyone's safety -- that's why we use turn signals and follow agreed-upon conventions, whether they're enshrined in law or not. On a bicycle, you have to do the same thing. The legal ramificiations differ per state and even per city, but generally there's a set of rules to follow which is pretty similar to the rules you follow in a car. In fact, the more you act like a good driver in a car, the safer you'll be. This means many things. Among other things, it means following the directives of stop signs and traffic lights. It means giving everyone else a reasonable chance of seeing you by using lights and reflective materials. It means signalling your turns. It means, in short, being a predictable and respectful part of traffic. If you're not respectful, your actions reflect poorly on all bicyclists -- so, I ask you, on behalf of all your fellow cyclists, please follow the rules. If you don't have a good set of lights front and rear, visit your local bike shop. I highly recommend the Planet Bike Super Flash rear light, which retails around $25 most places, and is worth every last penny. For a front light, there are many choices: look for one which uses LEDs (the batteries will last much longer), and which has the widest, brightest pattern possible. If you can, aim your preferred lights at a wall -- prefer the one that lights up more of the wall versus one which has a tight, bright beam. This is the rule for "being seen" lights. If you're getting a light to see with, that's a different category. Your local bike shop will also have a great deal of reflective and brightly colored clothing. I highly recommend the obnoxious yellow-green neon color as being quite visible. Pair that with some good reflective material, and you're off to a great start. If your favorite piece of bicycle clothing doesn't have enough reflective stuff, buy some SOLAS tape from Ebay or West Marine. It sticks to anything, and is about the most reflective stuff you can get. Bicycle gear and accessoriesOnce you've got your visiblity gear sorted out, you still have a few things you'll need. Unless you're very lucky, you'll need to lock your bike up some of the time, so a good lock is necessary. The best combination I've found so far is a U lock (such as made by Master, Kryptonite, or many others) paired with a stout steel cable. These can be had in a variety of sizes, and all told should set you back less than $50-60. With this combination, you can usually lock both wheels, through the frame, and attach to something sturdy. The cool trick with the cable is that you can loop one end through the other, and cinch down on either your bike or your favorite lamp post, and secure the free end with the U-lock. The next thing you'll want (if only as a preventative against Murphy) is a flat repair kit. This consists of at least a set of tire levers, a patch kit, and a pump. They make devilishly small pumps, such as the Mini Morph Road (which I carry, and which saw me through a massive rash of flat tires early on) that are still effective. The type that braces one end against the ground is best, then you can use your weight and gravity to do most of the work. Any old patch kit should be good enough, but make sure you check the glue at least once a year, as it'll dry out even if you've never opened the tube. I also recommend getting a spare tube that fits your tire and carrying it with you -- it's often faster to lever in the new tube and worry about patching the holed tube later. I keep all these spares (except the pump) in a tail bag that straps under the seat. This keeps it handy, and they can be had in a variety of sizes. My tail bag contains a spare tube, a patch kit, two tire levers, a pair of nitrile gloves for dirty roadside repairs, and a tightly folded plastic shopping bag, which I use either for carrying unexpected loads, or covering the seat when it rains. Do it yourselfMaintaining a bicycle is ridiculously easy. In your home shop, you'll definitely want a good floor-standing tire pump, since the single most common maintenance item is topping up your tires (I always run my tires at the maximum inflation, marked on the sidewall -- it provides less rolling resistance, which makes pedalling easier). Make sure your pump includes a gauge (most do), and that it fits your valve stems. You have either Presta or Schraeder valves, and most pumps will fit both, either right out of the box, or with a little bit of reconfiguration. Avoid using a powered air compressor for bicycle tires, it's too easy to overinflate them. The next most common thing you should do (and most people don't) is to lubricate your chain. Any time you can hear your chain squeaking, that's its signal that it wants more lube. Your chain should run very quietly. Lubricating a chain is as simple as picking your lubricant of choice (and there's a lot of choice), applying it to the inside of the chain (the surface which contacts the gears), and wiping any excess off with a rag. Ask someone at your friendly neighborhood bike shop for a recommendation on lubricant. If all else fails you can even use motor oil (but use a heavy weight -- 30W or higher -- and wipe it up carefully so it doesn't make a mess). Note that for these two operations -- by far the most maintenance you'll have to do on most bikes -- you need exactly one special tool (the tire pump), one special supply (the chain lubricant), and a rag. Beyond these two things, any reasonably mechanical person can do 90% of the maintenance on a bike with a set of screwdrivers, a set of hex keys, a set of wrenches and maybe one or two "special" tools that can be had at any bicycle shop. I highly recommend both Sheldon Brown's website (may he rest in peace) and the Park Tools website for information on the more involved maintenance on a bike. If you can turn a screwdriver and follow instructions, I guarantee you can maintain your bike. If you do decide to let a shop do some work for you, ask if you can watch. Spend the time watching what the mechanic does, and hopefully you get a friendly mechanic, and he or she will explain as they go. This is a great way to learn how to do things you might have thought were difficult or impossible before. Riding in more than sun If you're in Seattle, then you're well aware that riding only when it's sunny will limit you to a handful of weeks and a smattering of days, particularly this year. Riding in the rain doesn't have to be an awful experience, though. My favorite piece of raingear is my Carradice Pro Route rain cape (I got mine from Peter White cycles). It's this big obnoxious neon yellow-green tent that stretches from your hands, over your shoulders, down your back. The thing is, it actually keeps you quite dry without needing rain pants (although you have to have fenders on your bike), and since it's open on the bottom, you don't have to worry about collecting as much sweat inside your waterproof gear as you would have taken on in rainwater. For fenders, the best thing I've found is the plastic Planet Bike fenders (again, check your local bike shop), which run about $40. They're light-weight, easy to install, and very effective. The one addition I made to mine was to add a 10" long flap off the back of the front fender, to catch more of the splash off the road before it soaked my shoes. I cut it out of a cat litter bottle (but any heavy plastic will work) and riveted it on, but even an office stapler would have it attached pretty effectively. Making it comfyIf bike seats give you a pain in the rear, replace yours! There's a huge variety available, and they range from lightweight racing torture racks to huge, padded, spring-suspended comfort saddles. Don't be shy about picking the one that actually looks (and is!) comfortable. If, like me, you find certain very important parts of your anatomy getting tingly (and not in a good way) because of your bike seat, look for a new saddle with a groove down the middle. Humans have sensitive bits right where a basic bike saddle hits us, and the ones with a groove make space for the bits of your body that really don't want to be squished. Most of your weight should be resting on your ischial tuberosities (your "sit bones" at the bottom of your hips). If your weight is resting elsewhere, adjust your saddle so it's not. Hopefully you picked a bike that fits you -- ie, it's long enough from handlebars to seat, and from seat to pedals. If not, it's never going to be really comfortable. You can fake it with a longer or shorter handlebar stem, or a longer seat stem, but you really owe it to yourself to get a bike that fits properly. They make them in sizes for a reason. In any case, one of the most critical measurements on the bike is the distance from your seat to your pedals. Ideally, that distance should have your knee nearly, but not quite, straight at the bottom of the pedal stroke, and should not be so long that your hips are rocking. This is easily adjusted, so experiment with it until you've found a good height. If you don't know how, have your favorite bike shop point it out. They can also help you get it about right to start with. After riding for a while (or possibly right away), you may find that your handlebars don't fit you very well. In particular, the straight mountain-style handlebars can twist your wrists the wrong way. Don't be shy about looking around at handlebars until you find one you like. The biggest problem you'll have with swapping handlebars is likely to be cables that are too short. This is easy enough to fix yourself, but a shop can also do it for you if you're worried about messing it up. A word on safetyOf course, no beginner's guide would be complete without information on safety gear. The biggest thing is a helmet. Go get one. Wear it every time. When you wear your helmet, it should be "flat" on your head, not tilted back -- too many people wear their helmet tilted back like a sun bonnet. The bit you really need to protect is your forehead, so keep that helmet tilted forward. The thing about helmets is, you don't have any control over anyone but yourself, so even if you're a perfect rider, you can't affect whether you're falling over today. Any of those cars, pedestrians, dogs, or other cyclists might knock you over. Wouldn't you rather have a nice cushion around your noggin if you fall off? The same argument goes for gloves. I consider a helmet and gloves to be the minimum safety gear on a bicycle. When you fall, you'll instinctively reach your hands out to break your fall. Even fingerless cycling gloves will go a long way towards keeping all the skin on your hands, where it belongs. Stick some reflective tape on your gloves, and you've got a handy turn signal enhancer. Any gloves will help, but the best are leather gloves sturdy enough that you wouldn't mind your hand slipping toward a running belt sander (hint: that's what the pavement is when you're riding across it). Bicycling requires a compromise on safety gear. Ideally, you'd be wearing motorcycle gear, which will keep you perfectly protected in the event of a fall, but you'd also die of heat exhaustion. I've seen folks bicycling around Seattle with knee and elbow pads on -- it looks a little goofy, but they'll be laughing after a fall. For myself, I picked a Bell Citi helmet, which came away from a Consumer Reports test with good marks, and isn't very expensive. They also make it in safety-freak yellow with reflective straps (guess which color I have). I ride with a variety of different gloves to suit the season, and lately have been riding with a pair of Carhartt work gloves with heavy leather palms and neon orange fabric backs. They're medium weight in terms of warmth, but sturdy as heck, and very visible. Available most places Carhartt gear is sold. More informationThere's a wealth of new-rider information out there. If you haven't found it yet, Bike Forums is a great place to learn and ask questions. Just be aware that like everywhere else in life, there are helpful people and jerks, and try not to let the jerks get you down. You can also use Google to your advantage (that's probably how you found this, if you're not one of my regular half-dozen readers). I'm not going to condescend to you about why you're riding a bike. You're doing it for whatever reasons you have, and I applaud you. Go to it, and do it in safety and happiness. Posted at 21:31 permanent link category: /bicycle Mon, 09 Jun 2008I am pleased to report that the newly installed 80m dipole (this is ham radio talk, feel free to tune out, so to speak) works perfectly. My friend Mark came over this last weekend and stood with his finger helpfully on the 911 button in case I tumbled off the roof, and with his assistance, I got my 80m dipole up. Yessir, 120 feet of wire now hangs off my house. Tonight, I put it to the test. I'd traded email with my parents, who have departed on their next adventure (to Alaska this time), and we set up a time, date, and frequency. I tuned in (3820 kHz, if you're following along at home) at the appointed hour, and there, loud and clear, came, "N7DCU, N7DCU from K7CEJ." I answered back, and we were in business. Their signal was stellar, far better than the last time we talked, when they were in Fiji, at the hairy edge of reception even at full power with a high-gain antenna aimed their way. They had a hard time hearing me, but mostly because they were moored in a marina -- marinas appear to be fantastic sources of broadband noise (which has nothing to do with internet access). We're going to try again this Thursday at 8, and conditions should be much better, as they'll be anchored far from civilization. I'm tremendously pleased with how well this has all worked out, and am looking forward to many more contacts with them using the good ol' standby, 80m. If you're interested in following their adventures, send me email at ian at dangerpants dot com, and I'll get you on the list. They're sending out a message about once or twice a week detailing the trip. You can see the collected messages from their previous South Pacific trip over on their website, svsequoia.com. Posted at 22:32 permanent link category: /misc Sat, 07 Jun 2008Have you ever considered which parts of your life are narative moments? I mean those moments where, in the book of your life, it takes up many pages, maybe even a chapter. It might not be a long span of time, but is some part of your life that's important. This thought occurred to me recently as I was riding my motorcycle back from Portland to Seattle. I'd had a pleasant weekend with my parents, and the weather for my return ride was excellent, if a trifle cold. I thought as I was riding, This is a great moment in my life. I often find that riding a motorcycle brings about that kind of mental state, at least when riding without crowds and traffic. Then I thought to myself, But is this a narrative moment? Or something like that. I imagined the different ways I could write up that time, in the story of my life. The short version might read: Ian hopped aboard his motorcycle, waved goodbye to his parents, and rode up the driveway. Four enjoyable but uneventful hours later, he pulled up in front of his house, the pleasure of the ride suffusing the remainder of the day with a warm glow. Pretty straightforward, some detail, but definitely not a narrative moment. The other way I could do it would be, to take just a moment and demonstrate what I mean, something like this: With a growing sense of anticipation, Ian turned his bike northward on Highway 7, passing through Milton after he stopped to change his lightweight spring gloves for the heavier but warmer winter gloves. Riding immediately became more enjoyable, as some feeling returned to his cold fingers. Milton behind him, the road stretched, straight and open for a half mile. There was a car ahead of him, going just enough slower than the speed limit to legally pass, and of course one of the interesting tidbits of Washington law was that when passing, it was legal to exceed the speed limit by as much as 15 MPH, as necessary to safely complete the pass. He was surprised and delighted as the twisty section of Highway 7 arrived more quickly than he'd remembered -- the engine's eager howl increased in pitch as he rolled on the throttle, taking it into the rarified upper atmosphere of revolutions per minute. The first curve approached, beautifully banked, with perfect pavement, and no traffic in sight ahead or in the mirrors. The bike responded instantly to his commands, and railed around the corner as if skating on razor blades. The engine changed pitch again, as he set up for the next corner. Slide over to hang off the other side of the bike. Set the entry speed. Accelerate into the curve. Nowhere near the limit of traction, but right around the limit of people-do-stupid-things-on-public-roadways, and there-could-be-gravel-around-the-next-bend. It never paid to exceed the stupid-driver limit. The pavement floated by under the tires as Ian shifted for the next corner. Obviously, that's only a short section of the narrative-moment version of that ride home. That second example spanned maybe 5 minutes of riding. Both versions are true, and both are accurate. Both rank as reasonable memories of that ride. At the time, it was definitely a narrative moment. I could have written a book about those four hours, just detailing the feel of the bike humming along, the scenery, the bizarreness of rural Washington, and so on. It was an amazing ride. It was also a completely normal ride, and not really the kind of thing that strikes me as unusual any more. So my memory of it now is basically of the footnote variety. It's still interesting to think about. What will be the next important narrative moment? Posted at 11:09 permanent link category: /misc Categories: all aviation gadgets misc motorcycle theater Written by Ian Johnston. Software is Blosxom. Questions? Please mail me at reaper at obairlann dot net. |
