![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Only a couple of inches here at most, but school was closed. (Some teachers do have come a fair distance, from areas with more snow.)
Drive in to work: http://flickr.com/photos/armb/3248863540/
Cycling in from the Park and Ride built up a lot of salty gritty slush on the bike, so I'm glad I resisted the temptation to try the new bike. (And when I got to work, the car park was half empty.)
Drive in to work: http://flickr.com/photos/armb/3248863540/
Cycling in from the Park and Ride built up a lot of salty gritty slush on the bike, so I'm glad I resisted the temptation to try the new bike. (And when I got to work, the car park was half empty.)
Blood for Oil
Mar. 5th, 2008 08:46 am
I have my electric bike battery charging now (Eddie emailed yesterday to say they were in the shop). There's still some more work putting the kit together to do, but should be sorted this weekend.
Also, how instabilities in dense traffic tip into "causeless" jams: http://technology.newscientist.com/article/dn13402-shockwave-traffic-jam-recreated-for-first-time.html
(via)
The couriers at Outspoken are taking part in a project to measure air pollution using sensors linked to mobile phones.
http://technology.newscientist.com/article/dn13130
http://www.escience.cam.ac.uk/mobiledata/
(via http://www.velorution.biz/?p=1398)
http://technology.newscientist.com/article/dn13130
http://www.escience.cam.ac.uk/mobiledata/
(via http://www.velorution.biz/?p=1398)
Electric bike kit
Dec. 20th, 2007 02:44 pm
Jamie emailed yesterday evening to say the courier company had left all his batteries in Taiwan, but I went and collected the rest of the bits (including the actual hub motor, not in the photo). Assembly instructions are a wiring diagram and a Quicktime video that claims it can be put together in ten minutes, which is optimistic even assuming that you are fitting to a new bike with e.g. existing brakes or handlebar grips to take off first, but I should get it done over the Christmas holiday.
EDIT: I'm reliably informed that I won't be doing anything to any bike until after the remaining bedrooms have central heating.
Electric Bike Kit
Dec. 18th, 2007 04:13 pmJust spoke to Jamie, and the kits should be in on Thursday.
It's still possible this will all turn out to be an expensive mistake (see uk.rec.cycling passim for doommongers), but in principle having roughly double the power for a less than 5% increase in weight should make cycling easier - enough so that I actually do the full commute more often, ending up doing as much work cycling but using the car less.
Not renewing the car insurance (due 2nd January) might be over-optimistic though.
It's still possible this will all turn out to be an expensive mistake (see uk.rec.cycling passim for doommongers), but in principle having roughly double the power for a less than 5% increase in weight should make cycling easier - enough so that I actually do the full commute more often, ending up doing as much work cycling but using the car less.
Not renewing the car insurance (due 2nd January) might be over-optimistic though.
(no subject)
Dec. 5th, 2007 07:16 pmSan Francisco Bay Area Air Quality Management District says "employees are not to ride their bikes in the course of their work duties".
I feel the need to shamelessly steal![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
filkerdave's userpic here: 
Right, off to cycle home with 20mph tailwind. Should be more fun than this morning's headwind.
I feel the need to shamelessly steal
filkerdave's userpic here: Right, off to cycle home with 20mph tailwind. Should be more fun than this morning's headwind.
Cycling in the rain
Nov. 20th, 2007 09:33 pmActually more road spray than rain. I wonder if I can trust Rain-X on my glasses. Maybe I should consider going back to contact lenses.
( picture )
Halftrack trike: http://www.velovision.com/cgi-bin/show_comments.pl?storynum=886
http://www.bentrideronline.com/index.php?op=ViewArticle&articleId=288&blogId=1
(and bike version - http://www.ktrakcycle.com/index.html (annoying Flash warning))
(We were discussing the Amazon Kindle on the same IRC channel, but I think http://james-nicoll.livejournal.com/1071748.html covers everything we said and more.)
Halftrack trike: http://www.velovision.com/cgi-bin/show_comments.pl?storynum=886
http://www.bentrideronline.com/index.php?op=ViewArticle&articleId=288&blogId=1
(and bike version - http://www.ktrakcycle.com/index.html (annoying Flash warning))
(We were discussing the Amazon Kindle on the same IRC channel, but I think http://james-nicoll.livejournal.com/1071748.html covers everything we said and more.)
Autumn colour
Oct. 31st, 2007 09:11 amI took the cycle path across the fields from the Park and Ride for a change. We don't get the glorious colours that New England does, but there's something about the crispness of the morning reflected in the quality of the light.
Also, some plumbing photos to share my pain.
Also, some plumbing photos to share my pain.
Wicken cycle route
Oct. 15th, 2007 09:57 pmMostly, I don't have a lot of time for Sustrans. But this looks nice (and I used to work with Mike who wrote the CCC article and has been doing a fair about of surveying for the project).
http://www.camcycle.org.uk/newsletters/74/article9.html
http://www.sustransconnect2.org.uk/schemes/project_detail.php?id=44
http://www.camcycle.org.uk/newsletters/74/article9.html
http://www.sustransconnect2.org.uk/schemes/project_detail.php?id=44
Hub dynamo
Aug. 16th, 2007 08:04 amThe bad news is that H Drake, the friendly helpful bike shop conveniently close to work, are moving out of town and concentrating on non-bike-related parts of their business.
The (transient) good news is that they have sale prices on their remaining stock. While I can't justify £900 for a Birdy City even if it is £300 less than usual, I did buy their hub dynamo demonstrator - there are more efficient hubs than the NX22, and better B+M lights than the Dlumotec coming soon (or some really nice homemade lights out there with Cree XR-E LEDs and sawn up E6 reflectors), but at £55 for the lot and given the chances of my actually putting something better together by autumn, I thought it was worth it.
(There's a Shimano light-sensing switch there too, but not wired in.)
The (transient) good news is that they have sale prices on their remaining stock. While I can't justify £900 for a Birdy City even if it is £300 less than usual, I did buy their hub dynamo demonstrator - there are more efficient hubs than the NX22, and better B+M lights than the Dlumotec coming soon (or some really nice homemade lights out there with Cree XR-E LEDs and sawn up E6 reflectors), but at £55 for the lot and given the chances of my actually putting something better together by autumn, I thought it was worth it.
(There's a Shimano light-sensing switch there too, but not wired in.)
Ka, electric bikes.
Jun. 15th, 2007 05:51 pmThe Ka's exhaust died last week, so Monday it went in for a replacement and the service I'd been trying to put off until the MOT was due (I had changed the oil). Vaguely starting to think about what we'll do when it dies - the rust on the door sills is only cosmetic now, but I suspect it won't last more than two years. By which time both boys will be at secondary school, so I won't be taking them to school before commuting.
I did call in on the electric bike people on Mill Road again recently ( Read more... ). But while I'm nowhere near being able to cycle the whole way every day yet, I have done 1000 miles so far this year, according to what I've recorded on http://www.bikejournal.com.
I did call in on the electric bike people on Mill Road again recently ( Read more... ). But while I'm nowhere near being able to cycle the whole way every day yet, I have done 1000 miles so far this year, according to what I've recorded on http://www.bikejournal.com.
Highway Code Parliamentary petition
May. 15th, 2007 09:48 pmhttp://www.camcycle.org.uk/campaigning/issues/highwaycode/petition.html
David Howarth MP is to present a petition to Parliament on Friday 18th May. You don't have to be a Cambridge constituentM to sign the petition, but it does have to be done soon (and on paper.
(This is different from the online petition http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/roads4bikes/)
David Howarth MP is to present a petition to Parliament on Friday 18th May. You don't have to be a Cambridge constituentM to sign the petition, but it does have to be done soon (and on paper.
(This is different from the online petition http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/roads4bikes/)
Symphony for Singing Bicycles
Apr. 30th, 2007 07:41 pmThis looks like it could be interesting. Or maybe just weird.
http://thebikeshow.net/2007/04/30/date-for-your-diary-symphony-for-singing-bicycles-7-july-2007/
http://thebikeshow.net/2007/04/30/date-for-your-diary-symphony-for-singing-bicycles-7-july-2007/
IanWINOLJ has some new bikecams.
(And here are a couple of blog entries from someone else using what I think is the same hardware - one two.)
(While this would be nice to have, I'm not about to rush out and spend that sort of money on bike cams right now.)
(For anyone wondering "What's an ogg file of Theora video and how do I play it?" Wikipedia helps)
(And here are a couple of blog entries from someone else using what I think is the same hardware - one two.)
(While this would be nice to have, I'm not about to rush out and spend that sort of money on bike cams right now.)
(For anyone wondering "What's an ogg file of Theora video and how do I play it?" Wikipedia helps)
Bike petitions
Apr. 18th, 2007 05:43 pmPrompted by crazyscot's mention of the first one:
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/roads4bikes/ (more background)
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/No-cycle-helmets/ (more background)
[EDIT: and while it was mentioned on the filk list a while back, I see http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/licensing/ about music licensing is now on the "5 most popular" list.]
And while I'm here:
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/roads4bikes/ (more background)
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/No-cycle-helmets/ (more background)
[EDIT: and while it was mentioned on the filk list a while back, I see http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/licensing/ about music licensing is now on the "5 most popular" list.]
And while I'm here:
Outspoken, Arts trike.
Mar. 6th, 2007 05:42 pmI've seen the Outspoken delivery bikes several times recently, including once right on the edge of town by the P&R.
I must try and take up their offer of a test ride sometime. Not that I plan to buy an 8 Freight, but it could be fun to try one.
(Hmm, their website seems to be down. Here's a CCC newsletter article.)
Also the Arts Theatre had a trike with a big advertising board on the back which was stopped not far from work one lunchtime a few days ago - it appeared to be a custom build (very long wheelbase), but the rider didn't know the history. I didn't have a camera with me at the time. (It was advertising The Seafarer at the time, and the rider had leaflets to hand out.)
I must try and take up their offer of a test ride sometime. Not that I plan to buy an 8 Freight, but it could be fun to try one.
(Hmm, their website seems to be down. Here's a CCC newsletter article.)
Also the Arts Theatre had a trike with a big advertising board on the back which was stopped not far from work one lunchtime a few days ago - it appeared to be a custom build (very long wheelbase), but the rider didn't know the history. I didn't have a camera with me at the time. (It was advertising The Seafarer at the time, and the rider had leaflets to hand out.)
I cycled in yesterday. Had I looked at the wind map showing a 23mph headwind before setting off, I might not have. That "faired recumbent with electric assist" idea is looking attractive. But expensive, and I have a car....
(Power needed to overcome air resistance is proportional to airspeed^2 * groundspeed.)
(Power needed to overcome air resistance is proportional to airspeed^2 * groundspeed.)
Zipties for bike snow tyres
Jan. 19th, 2007 03:57 pmI doubt we'll get any snow here, and all my bikes have rim brakes, but just in case anyone on my friends list has rear hub/disc brakes (or a fixed-gear bike with no rear brake) and snow:
http://bikeportland.org/2007/01/17/ziptie-your-tire-for-better-traction/
(And for deeper snow, which we have no chance at all of here, a half-track ski bike conversion: http://www.ktrakcycle.com/)
P.S. According to this BBC report, this year I've already cycled further than the average cyclist does in the year - as have most of my co-workers, I suspect. The rest of my family are more average though.
http://bikeportland.org/2007/01/17/ziptie-your-tire-for-better-traction/
(And for deeper snow, which we have no chance at all of here, a half-track ski bike conversion: http://www.ktrakcycle.com/)
P.S. According to this BBC report, this year I've already cycled further than the average cyclist does in the year - as have most of my co-workers, I suspect. The rest of my family are more average though.
