Yippee! I'm free!



>from my
>rear wheel generator to front headlight. I gotta get me a hub
>generator, and a front wheel built around it.
>
>
>cheers,
> Tom


Does that take a lot less energy than a friction type generator?
I'm using a system that uses a battery in the water bottle shape (specialized)
actually works pretty good so far.
 
In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] (Fx199) writes:

> Does that take a lot less energy than a friction type generator?


I don't have any actual practical experience with 'em. But the word
I've heard is, when they're switched on, drag is negligible; when
they're switched off, there's some slight drag, but nothing really
to speak of.

But I do use 'friction type' generators (rear wheel), and I do
pretty good with 'em. One becomes used to them. Contrary to
popular opinion, they are not tantamount to dragging an anvil
aroundbehind you. I even enjoy storming past fellow urban riders
on our urban upslopes, with the generator going 'zugga zugga
zugga' in their faces.

> I'm using a system that uses a battery in the water bottle shape (specialized)
> actually works pretty good so far.


My generator setup works all night long. /I/ need a recharge
before it does. But it's just an old Union setup. It does
its job well, just as they always have.


cheers,
Tom

--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca
 
In article <[email protected]>,
"AustinMN" <[email protected]> writes:
> Tom Keats wrote:
>> Well, today was my first cycloputer-free day in a long time.
>> And I've gotta admit, there was some withdrawal. But it's
>> not too bad, actually. Rather liberating.

>
> Maybe we need a 12 step group for recovering cycloputer addicts.


It's been six days since I lost my computer head. I don't miss
it at all. No more watching the odo click over to N 000.
No more wondering about if I should take it off its bracket while
walking my bike. No more worrying about it getting stolen or
messed with. No more agonizing over avg speeds, and wondering why
I suck more this week than last week.

Just plain riding. Just like it's s'posed to be.

Ahhh.

Cold turkey works for me.

My journal started at Jan 28, 2002 and left off at Aug 15, 2004.
It's a flat text file:

tomkeats@bud $ ls -l bike/journal
-rw------- 1 tomkeats staff 406281 Aug 15 17:28 bike/journal

There's a bunch of old rides and old memories in it. But I guess
I should be thinking more about rides to come. There's still too
much ahead to do, to look back.


cheers,
Tom

--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca
 
In article <[email protected]>,
"Claire Petersky" <[email protected]> writes:

> It's one of those interesting situations, where you make something that
> isn't a cage into one.


....

> When it's working, I like to see what my approximate weekly mileage is. I
> usually reset it Monday morning on the ride to work. In the winter, I'd like
> to average 75 miles; in the summer, about 125, outside of events. So, if
> it's Thursday morning, and it's the winter, and it says I've only done 45
> miles so far that week, I'll be more likely to make the effort to ride all
> the way in to the office, rather than wimping out and putting the bike on
> the bus.


Yeah, I see whatcha mean ;-)

But it still sorta sounds like your computer is dictating, at least
partially to you, too -- you're setting quantative goals based on
your computer readouts: 75 miles, etc. I've done that too, like
getting to waypoints like 45th & Boundary Road in less than 20
minutes, etc. It's insidious. Now I can once again stop on the
way at the Kerr Grocery for a lemon ice tea and bag of Blue Diamond
Smoked Almonds without worrying about screwing up my numbers.

> But if it's more or less, or it's raining pretty hard and I'd
> rather hang it up on the bus rack, it's no big.


Just make up for it later?

> It's certainly not my thing to write down all these numbers, anyway. It
> doesn't have to be your thing, either. You can have a bike computer, and not
> have to be a slave to it.


It wasn't just the computer. As long as I had numbers for my rides,
I had something to journalize. Seems to me you journalize too.
And there's nothing wrong with that; in a way it keeps good rides
from having to end. I guess in a way, maybe I've caught up to you,
and riding day-to-day for me now makes life one long ride, with a
few eating/sleeping/working/bathroom/TV-watching breaks along the way.
So, the ride ain't finished yet, so it's not time for me to journalize
it yet.

> And I'll end this post with a story my friend told me from her vacation:
>
>> 8 year old kid: (looking at Lynne's bike) What's that?
>>
>> Lynne: That's the bike computer.
>>
>> Kid: Ooh, a bike computer?
>>
>> Lynne: Yeah, it shows how fast I'm going, how far I've gone, stuff like
>> that.
>>
>> Kid: (disappointed) Oh, I thought it was for the internet.
>>
>> Other cyclist present: (chokes on beer)

>
>:)


I like it :)


cheers,
Tom

--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca
 
Tom Keats wrote:

> It's been six days since I lost my computer head.


Riding around with your odometer cut off?

Bill "weird chicken reference" S.
 
In article <[email protected]>,
"S o r n i" <[email protected]> writes:
> Tom Keats wrote:
>
>> It's been six days since I lost my computer head.

>
> Riding around with your odometer cut off?


Yup.

> Bill "weird chicken reference" S.


You need a more understanding doctor. Last time I
had to endure an abcessed eye tooth over a weekend,
I got a scrip for phenophen. The following Monday,
the dentist didn't even have to administer any
anesthetic for the root canal. Screw mamby-pamby
stuff like vicoden (or outdated vico-done.)

Anyhow, my condolences for your pain. I know what
you're going through. It's a miserable son of a *****
to have to endure it over a weekend.


better days,
Tom

--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca
 
Sat, 21 Aug 2004 20:32:27 -0700, <[email protected]>,
[email protected] (Tom Keats) wrote:

>> Does that take a lot less energy than a friction type generator?

>
>I don't have any actual practical experience with 'em. But the word
>I've heard is, when they're switched on, drag is negligible; when
>they're switched off, there's some slight drag, but nothing really
>to speak of.


The other day I noticed a guy without a switch on his set-up. (Nexus
hub) He didn't have one and said he just runs the headlamp all the
time. Blinky in back and a 3W krypton bulb in an old Union lamp.

Sometimes when I think my headlamp is on and it's not, it usually
means the tires need air.

Drag just isn't a biggie.
--
zk