Thursday, April 30, 2009

Unexpected Pleasure

I rode in this morning and it was really, really, really pleasant. With temps in the 60s, I wore shorts, a t-shirt and my reflective vest. The sprinkles from last night's rain hadn't quite stopped and the ground was wet with lots of puddles. Thank goodness for fenders.

The temperature was perfect, the mist only added to the enjoyment. It was a great commute.

One thing I like about cycle commuting is the positive reinforcement I get when I do a commute that stretches my personal envelope a little- riding in the rain, making really good time, whatever. It augments the physical high from the exercise and puts me in a better frame of mind.

Then after work today we had our company picnic. I rode the bike over to that, played a few games of volleyball (we were up 12-6 in the game that would have put us in the championship round but lost 15-13), then rode home at about 8 pm. It was a beautiful evening so I set out for the river trail.

GNATS!!!!!!!


Gawd I hate 'em.

It still didn't ruin my ride home as the sun went down. Gorgeous.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Yeah, I Know Some People Don't Like Helmets

...but this is a unique program to try to increase helmet use.


via somedood at BikeForums.net

Heavy Boots

I found this linked from a web page for a course called PHY 2060 Accelerated Physics at the University of Florida, taught by Steve Detweiler. He says the story came "from a friend ... describing some of the frustrations of explaining physics to the general public."

Heavy Boots

About 6-7 years ago, I was in a philosophy class at the University of Wisconsin, Madison (good science/engineering school) and the teaching assistant was explaining Descartes.

He was trying to show how things don't always happen the way we think they will and explained that, while a pen always falls when you drop it on Earth, it would just float away if you let go of it on the Moon. My jaw dropped a little. I blurted "What?!" Looking around the room, I saw that only my friend Mark and one other student looked confused by the TA's statement. The other 17 people just looked at me like "What's your problem?" "But a pen would fall if you dropped it on the Moon, just more slowly." I protested.

"No it wouldn't." the TA explained calmly, "because you're too far away from the Earth's gravity." Think. Think. Aha! "You saw the APOLLO astronauts walking around on the Moon, didn't you?"

I countered, "why didn't they float away?"

"Because they were wearing heavy boots." he responded, as if this made perfect sense (remember, this is a Philosophy TA who's had plenty of logic classes). By then I realized that we were each living in totally different worlds, and did not speak each others language, so I gave up.

As we left the room, my friend Mark was raging. "My God! How can all those people be so stupid?" I tried to be understanding. "Mark, they knew this stuff at one time, but it's not part of their basic view of the world, so they've forgotten it. Most people could probably make the same mistake."

To prove my point, we went back to our dorm room and began randomly selecting names from the campus phone book. We called about 30 people and asked each this question: 1

1. If you're standing on the Moon holding a pen, and you let go, will it
a) float away,
b) float where it is,
or c) fall to the ground?

About 47 percent got this question correct. Of the ones who got it wrong, we asked the obvious follow-up question:

2. You've seen films of the APOLLO astronauts walking around on the Moon, why didn't they fall off?

About 20 percent of the people changed their answer to the first question when they heard this one! But the most amazing part was that about half of them confidently answered, "Because they were wearing heavy boots."


MORE ON THE BURNING QUESTION OF HEAVY BOOTS

I decided to settle this question once and for all. Therefore, I put two multiple choice questions on my Physics 111 test, after the study of elementary mechanics and gravity.

13. If you are standing on the Moon, and holding a rock, and you let it go, it will:
(a) float away
(b) float where it is
(c) move sideways
(d) fall to the ground
(e) none of the above

25. When the Apollo astronauts wre on the Moon, they did not fall off because:
(a) the Earth's gravity extends to the Moon
(b) the Moon has gravity
(c) they wore heavy boots
(d) they had safety ropes
(e) they had spiked shoes

The response showed some interesting patterns! The first question was generally of average difficulty, compared with the rest of the test: 57% got it right. The second question was easier: 73% got it right. So, we need more research to explain the people who got #25 right but did not get #13 right!

The second interesting point is that these questions proved to be excellent discriminators: that is, success on these two questions proved to be an extremely good predictor of overall success on the test. On the first question, 92% of those in the upper quarter of the test score got it right; only 20% of those in the bottom quarter did. They generally chose answers (a) or (b). On the second question, 97% in the upper quarter got it right and 33% in the lower quarter did. The big popular choice of this group was (c)...33% chose heavy boots, followed closely by safety ropes at 27%.

A telling comment on the issue of fairness in teaching elementary physics: Two students asked if I was going to continue asking them about things they had never studied in the class.

Saturday, April 25, 2009

It Cleaned Up Pretty Good

A couple of posts ago, I talked about two bikes I had acquired. One of them was a 1973 Schwinn Varsity. It is an old-school Schwinn tank of a bike at 40 pounds or more. When I first got it I wasn't sure if I could get it fixed up without a lot of money and time.

A week later, it's running great. I had to replace both tires. I cleaned up the rear wheel, shined up the chrome a bit, and lubed the freewheel (which was just about seized up when I got it). I cleaned up the front cogs a bit too. There's still some rust here and there, but from a few feet away you just see shiny chrome. Here are a few pics; for more you can see a slideshow here.













Frankly, this bike is a little terrifying to ride. It is a spartan bike; nothing fancy here. The speed it generates feels primal and almost uncontrollable. I don't suppose it's as fast as my other bikes, but it sure feels like it, and then some.

I'm glad I saved it before it was crushed and recycled!

Friday, April 24, 2009

L.A. Commuters

I tripped across this on BikeForums.net and thought it was pretty cool. I asked the photographer and he said I could repost it here.

I don't ride my bike to work everyday. I need to rest my legs sometimes, so on my off days I ride the bus to work. Few days ago, I was finishing off a roll of film (yes film) by shooting all the bikes that rode by the bus stop. This is in about a 20 minute time frame. There were a few others, but they were sidewalk riders, too close to where I was sitting for my 50mm lens to fit them all in the frame. Just thought I'd share.

Thanks for sharing, Bhop73.

Monday, April 20, 2009

Start 'em Off Young

On Saturday I did a breakfast ride with my bike club. It's the same ride we've done several times before so I guess that makes it a commute, right? Anyway, there were about a dozen bikes from our bike club locked up together.



As we came around the front of the building, I saw that we weren't the only ones who rode. There was also a charming Raleigh Spite locked up to a sign.



And what's this on the other side? A small bike...



Well, we went in and had breakfast, and as we were leaving we met the owner of the Sprite and his son. What I thought was a trail-a-bike was actually just a coupling tube that linked the two bikes together. Dad still had pretty much full control of where son went, but the son had more freedom than on a single wheel trail-a-bike. It was pretty cool.





Another bike commuter in the making!

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Fort Worth Main Street Art Festival



So another Fort Worth blogger, Rat Trap Press, rode his bike downtown to the Main Street Art Festival today. He wrote up a great ride report with lots of pictures. Click here to see more.

N+2

There's a joke that goes around among bicycle collectors: How many bikes do you need? The answer: N+1. In other words, one more than you've already got. This weekend I acquired N+1 and N+2, both for free.

The first is a 1981 Fuji Royale mixte. It is too small for me and I'll sell it after fixing it up, but it's a pretty good bike; it was 2nd highest in Fuji's hierarchy of "recreational" bikes that year. It was in a trash pile in front of someone's house. Yes.... I garbage-picked it.



The second is a keeper. It's an old "stovepipe" (~40 pounds!) Schwinn Varsity Sport, large frame. I took the dented hood from the car my son wrecked last month over to the city dump. They told me to put it "over there" which happened to be appliances and other stuff with lots of metal. At the back of the pile was the Varsity. I walked back over to the guy I had talked to and asked if I could take it. He said people aren't supposed to take stuff from the dump but because I asked no nice... sure!

Serial No. CJ526842 = March 1973 according to OldRoads.com









Originally sold by Paramount Schwinn, Harvey, Illinois- a Chicago Schwinn from a Chicago area store!



Looks like everything is there, with some rust and a little cosmetic damage. I've never seen a Schwinn seat that old in condition that good.

That's two bikes in two days. Then again they seem to come in pairs for me.

N+2

There's a joke that goes around among bicycle collectors: How many bikes do you need? The answer: N+1. In other words, one more than you've already got. This weekend I acquired N+1 and N+2, both for free.

The first is a 1981 Fuji Royale mixte. It is too small for me and I'll sell it after fixing it up, but it's a pretty good bike; it was 2nd highest in Fuji's hierarchy of "recreational" bikes that year. It was in a trash pile in front of someone's house. Yes.... I garbage-picked it.



The second is a keeper. It's an old "stovepipe" (~40 pounds!) Schwinn Varsity Sport, large frame. I took the dented hood from the car my son wrecked last month over to the city dump. They told me to put it "over there" which happened to be appliances and other stuff with lots of metal. At the back of the pile was the Varsity. I walked back over to the guy I had talked to and asked if I could take it. He said people aren't supposed to take stuff from the dump but because I asked no nice... sure!

Serial No. CJ526842 = March 1973 according to OldRoads.com









Originally sold by Paramount Schwinn, Harvey, Illinois- a Chicago Schwinn from a Chicago area store!



Looks like everything is there, with some rust and a little cosmetic damage. I've never seen a Schwinn seat that old in condition that good.

That's two bikes in two days. Then again they seem to come in pairs for me.

Friday, April 17, 2009

Scoreboard

A lot of people have bike computers. I have one on my main commuter bike, but only because someone gave it to me. I use it mostly so I can see what time it is, and sometimes it's neat to see how fast I'm going. All those other things that people use bike computers for- miles ridden, cadence, average speed, heart rate- I don't need to know.

I don't worry about that stuff too much. The way I track things is how many days I commute. And even then, it's just a competition with myself. In February, the anniversary month of starting to ride to work, I had a good month in spite of the weather. I worked 19 days, cycling to work on 13 of them. March... not so much. I drove as often as I road (11 each).

Even though it's been stormy I can't complain so far this month- so far I've only driven to work 4 times and ridden 7.

I don't have the guts to sell my car and depend on my bike like some people do. I guess in that sense I'm a poseur. But I ride to work a lot more than anyone else I know.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

A Proper Introduction

This is me:


This is me commuting:


Any questions?

My name is Paul, but online I go by the name Doohickie, which is a corruption of my last name by a kid who my wife used to teach in Sunday school. He couldn't say her name when he was three so he called her Mrs. Doohickie. (Now he's in fourth grade and in the Sunday school class that I teach.)

The above pictures were taken by a guy who is making a display for Earth Day festivities at my company. I look much goofier on my bike than I feel when I'm riding.

One thing's for sure, I feel a lot healthier since I started riding last year. If I didn't commute I wouldn't be so devoted to riding; that's one of the best reasons to ride your bike to work: It's good for you!

Saturday, April 11, 2009

What a Difference a Day Makes

So today I wanted to finish fixing up the car my son crashed. Yesterday I got the radiator put in and got most of the mechanical bits of the car put back together. This morning I finished that and started the car up and it runs fine. I had a leaky transmission cooler hose and the radiator cap needed to be replaced. Once I took care of those, I was convinced the car is worth saving.

I went to the salvage yard and picked up the more cosmetic parts needed for the repair, mainly the headlights, the header panel (which the headlights bolt to) and the hood. After a couple hours in the salvage yard, I had my parts. The only problem (if you want to call it that) is that the color of the hood doesn't match the rest of the car. We'll have to live with that.

Once I bought the hood, I was worried... would it fit in my Hyundai? Thankfully the answer was yes.



So, from last month,



To yesterday,



To today,



It's not a perfect job; there are some gaps around the headlights,



And the bumper fascia isn't perfect,



But the car works, and for an 18-year-old high school senior, that's the most important thing. Oh, and the other most important thing: It can assume its normal position in the driveway, so my Hyundai can go back in the garage!

Friday, April 10, 2009

The Teenaged Driver and Collision Repair



We went through it with our first son. I was hoping to avoid it with the second, but it wasn't to be. Our younger son had his first accident on Friday the 13th (in March). He rear-ended an SUV when a school bus stopped to let students off. Apparently he didn't see the Stop sign on the school bus come out and didn't expect the SUV to stop.

The good news was no injuries. The other good news was that there really wasn't too much damage to the other vehicles (there were actually three involved- my Mercury Tracer that my son drives, the SUV he hit, and the other SUV that the first SUV rolled into).

The Tracer had more significant damage and was not drivable. It was towed to our house and put in my side of the garage; my car has been parked in the driveway ever since. Grrr. The radiator was pushed back into the engine.





Headlights busted up.



You can see the two holes from the twin exhaust in the bumper cover.



The biggest bit of damage on the Tracer is that the radiator was cracked, which is why it wasn't drivable. I've spent the last few weeks taking the broken bits off the car, fixing the things I could fix, trying to bend things back into place, that sort of thing.



I had to pull the radiator mount back from the engine and get the radiator out.



The broken radiator.



Yay, Bondo! I used Bondo & fiberglass to fix the fan shroud and air cleaner.





I got the new radiator in tonight. I have a few other things to put back in, then it's time to start it up and see how it runs. After that it will be time to get the hood and headlights fixed up.

Wednesday, April 08, 2009

Riding with my Doppelgänger

So there's another guy that rides to work in the strip mall where our office is. He works in another building for another company. Anyway, we've seen each other once or twice and even said hi. When my coworkers see him, they think he's me a lot of the time. We both ride hybrids. I notice little differences, of course, like the flat bar on his bike versus the Origin8 Space Bar on mine, the fact that he uses toe clips with straps and I just use clips without straps, and I have a pannier while he uses a backpack. Most people don't notice details like that; they just notice the overall aspect of a guy on a bike.

Today when I got to the second traffic light on my way home, I saw another cyclist waiting at the light. It turned out be this cycling doppelgänger who works in the next building over. I caught up to him and we rode most of the way home together. He lives about a mile from me.

We had a nice chat. He revealed that he was the infamous rider whose brakes failed coming down Hooters Hill and ran into the back of the car of a guy that works in my office. It was his son's bike and hadn't been ridden in a while and he didn't realize the brakes were shaky until it was too late. He was glad he was wearing his helmet!

I drove that day and rolled by the scene just as the police and paramedics arrived. Upon going into the office, many people were asking me if I was the one who wrecked.

That was several months ago. I'm glad Keith recovered and continues to ride. I guess the important lesson to be taken from his experience is to make sure your equipment is working and is properly maintained!

You can tell it's springtime around here. Besides running into Keith today, I've noticed many more riders out and about. The other day, at the same intersection where I ran into Keith, three cyclists went by on the street I cross... during one cycle of the light. I felt like waving and yelling HI! but then again, it's a busy street and I know they need to pay attention to traffic.

I started commuting in February last year, and for the first several months it was only an occasional thing. I was absorbed in my own riding and not really looking around for other cyclists. I've been riding a little over a year now, and I'm starting to realize there is a seasonal component to cycling, even here in sunny Texas. Far more people are on bikes right now. I suppose the economy may play into that somewhat, but still, I think it's good seeing people riding their bikes.

Thursday, April 02, 2009

My Commuting Bicycle, Then and Now

When I started riding my bicycle to work in February 2008, I got by with what I had, namely a Nishiki Olympic 12 that I had bought new in 1984 and used for commuting in Los Angeles during the mid-80s. I hadn't ridden it much the previous 20 years so it was still in good shape. The only thing I did to it was add a trunk bag to the rear rack. It got me where I wanted to go.



On my second bicycle commuting attempt, I went down and bent the frame on the Nishiki. Although it was still roadworthy I was on the prowl for a new bike. In August 2008 I got a good deal on a hybrid. As it turns out, it was another Nishiki, this time a Sport XRS. This turned out to be a better bike for commuting, and with some extra modifications it is even more well-suited to the job.



The bicycle itself is better for commuting. As a hybrid, it has wider tires, upright handlebars, and low gears (21 of them). Also, being 10 years newer than the Olympic 12, the Sport XRS has some nice modern touches including cantilever brakes and indexed shifters. No more hunting for the right gear; a quick twist of the wrist, a click, and I'm there. Added together, all these features make this bike is far more nimble and visible in traffic. This really is a good "city bike."

I didn't stop there, though. If you look you'll see other differences compared to my Olympic 12. The Sport XRS has full Planet Bike Freddy Fenders, panniers on the rear rack (one of which holds much more than a trunk bag), and four lights, two in front and two in back. Between dusk and dawn I leave one headlight and one tail light on constantly, and put the other one at each end in flash mode. During daylight hours I just put one light on in front and in back, both in flash mode.



I added a bell on the handlebars to help communication with pedestrians and other cyclists. Although the bike came with a flat bar (mountain-bike style), I made it a little more comfortable by adding an Origin8 Space Bar which is more comfy on my wrists.

So to sum up... I started out simply. You can too. Any old bike can be converted into a commuter. But if you are buying a bike for commuting, consider your ride. If you'll be facing traffic, consider an upright bike. If you have a longer commute (mine is about 15 miles round trip), a road bike might be better. Either way, take into account that once you start commuting, you'll want to add to your bike to tailor it to the job, adding storage, lighting, etc.

Another bike on OTSG

EDIT... I just noticed that this is my 100th post on Doohickie. Yay me!

Another one of my bikes was featured on Old Ten Speed Gallery. This time it is the Nishiki Olympic 12 I crashed in February 2008. Here's a pic from before the crash.



That crash precipitated my new hobby of picking up classic and vintage bikes.

Wednesday, April 01, 2009

Happy April Fools Day

Bike more, drive less.



A little bit of April Foolery from New Belgium Brewing Company.

via BikeCommuters.com. But please, don't drink and ride!

Happy April Fools Day

Bike more, drive less.



A little bit of April Foolery from New Belgium Brewing Company.

via BikeCommuters.com. But please, don't drink and ride!