Reasons to love the cargo bike: #273 - fixing the car...

It will be fun to see what kind of strange looks I get during my commute tomorrow morning, and compare them to what I encounter when I "ride two bikes" to work...

This time, the cargo in question will be one of the front wheels from my car on which the tire suffered a puncture (a 225/45-18", representing about 35 lb. of aluminum and steel-belted radial, if you're keeping score). "Why not just use the spare?," you may feel inclined to ask. It's a long-ish story*, the simple version of which is "because it's already on the car."

[Sorry for the soft focus in these pictures, but even at f2.8 and with a flash, these were long exposures, and were shot hand-held.]

The solution (Yes, the strapping is overkill, but I haven't ever lost a load):

The problem (OK, evidence thereof -- if you want to pick nits):

The complication (No PhotoShop trickeration here, that is the other side of the car):

-----------------
*: I've been having my rims refinished in a rotating one-by-one fashion (to avoid putting the car on blocks during the process), and number 3 of 4 is currently at the shop, leaving the compact spare already in service on my car...

Austin on Two Wheels

http://austinontwowheels.org/

Thank you, Austin City Council

Even though Perry vetoed a similar law at the state level, at least Austin will be slightly safer...

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Going the extra yard for cyclists: New 'safe-passing' ordinance by Austin City Council

http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/2009/11/02/1102wear.html

See also:

http://weareaustin.com/content/news/story?cid=35351

http://www.txcn.com/sharedcontent/dws/txcn/austin/stories/110109kvue3foot-bkm.276194f35.html

The ordinance (http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/edims/document.cfm?id=131661) passed the City Councli unanimously just before the last general election.

Bike-on-Bike Action

Last Friday, I had to choose between riding to work or going mountain biking after work. The low gearing, accelerated tire wear, reduced speed, and other factors made me reluctant to ride the mountain bike to work... Well, drawing my inspiration from the TrayBien, and realizing that I had a Barracuda Bike Holder in my garage, I did some light fabricating. The result can be seen in these pictures:

HPV Record -- 82.3 MPH

Story on Wired

Only 5.7 MPH more, and he can fire up the flux capacitor...

Bought the BionX...

Back in this post, I mentioned the hub motor and regenerative charging system that is the BionX PL350. Well, I have now officially ordered one, which will be used to retrofit my old early-1990s steel frame Specialized Hard Rock.

At this point in time, the trike isn't really on my list. But, since I've already been treating the old Specialized as a cargo mule, the latest consideration is adding an Xtracycle Free Radical to the mix, and really optimizing it for this role...

Le Tour with a Google Spin yet Again

The Calendar Page Turneth off of June and onto July:

• Fourth of July - Check
  
• Wimbledon Finals - Check
  
• Tour de France - Check
• Google Maps tie-in - Check
  
• Bastille Day - Later in the Month
  

Forget the Electric Scooter, Check this out

Vectrix, the makers of the electric scooter that I would love to have, are threatening to start producing something that would easily cause me to cease caring about the scooter. Check out their Electric "Superbike" and attempt to deny the coolness...

The E-Bike / Recumbent Trike Post

First, some levity -- courtesy of an oldie but goodie: The Onion's Bicycle Safety Tips

Then, ways to spend some hard-earned cash:

1. A KMX Karts recumbent trike -- I like the Viper (for $1799)
   
2. A BionX PL350 E-Bike conversion kit (for $1650)
3. All of the above!
   

New Silly Illustration

Ridin' with Lance (PDF format -- because I want to make a T-shirt)

Mountain Bike Rides

Here are a couple of maps generated from traces collected by my bicycle GPS device:

• Wolf Mountain Loop at Pedernales Falls State Park
• Last Sunday's Austin Ridge Riders "Beginner's Ride" at Walnut Creek Metropolitan Park

It's still fun to play with the toy. These simple trace logs don't include the HRM, speed, or cadence data that make it even more fun...

GPS + HRM for the Bikes

I burned my REI Dividend and 20% member coupon on a Garmin Edge 305, which is basically the be-all/end-all of bicycle computers. I got the fully loaded version with the Heart-Rate Monitor (HRM) and the cadence sensor, then went on Amazon and ordered a 2nd cadence unit for the other bike...

I have the unit configured to display seven data points simultaneously: Ride time (stop watch), Current cadence, current speed, ride distance, current time-of-day, current heart rate, and estimated calories burned.

With the GPS and this unit's barometric altimeter that increases the accuracy of elevation data, I can do crazy correlations like notice that as I climbed that easy hill, my speed stayed within a 2mph window, but my heart rate went up 15%. Basically, I'm my own science project now. This week's task: use published mechanisms to establish a good baseline for what my actual max heart rate is. I can download all of the data to my computer and do fun things like analyze my performance over time and even plot course maps using Google maps or Google Earth...