pfunkallstar
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pfunkallstar
ParticipantWhere do these things loop on for the walkie walkers, runners, and other bipedal non-pedalers?
ParticipantNo, no, strong IPAs are one of those things that are on this planet to enjoy as much as possible.
ParticipantMy personal pet peeve is when it is 8am and someone is cresting a hill with their GIGAWHAT? light on, unnecessary and unsafe.
For those of you who actually bike in the middle of the night there are some pseudo-depressing numbers to take into account that I have, unfortunately, found to hold pretty true.
First, let’s talk about reaction time. In an ideal world, free of distractions and perfectly awake, the average human needs 250ms or so to respond to a visual stimulus with some sort of muscle response (i.e. “look ninja! – 250 ms – shit!”). This goes WAY up when you take into account tiredness, awareness issues, and distractions. Second, let’s look at how fast we actually travel in those “early morning – burning the midnight candle” hours. For the sake of simplicity let’s say we are traveling at 15 mph or 22 ft/sec. Finally, the average 900 lumen bike light is going to throw a decent beam about 75 feet – giving us about 3.4 seconds to respond to the approaching ninja. Bringing in some Phun Physics we get:
d = v^2/(30*(u*b+G)) u=coefficient of friction, b=braking efficiency, g=grade, v=speed – blah blah
In a best case scenario, traveling at 15mph, with dry asphalt below us (.5), on no grade, with a wonderful braking efficiency of 80%, we are going to need a paltry 18.75 feet to stop – this is wildly unrealistic but that is okay. Add on an additional 5.5 feet for our perfectly rested super human, and we have a solid 50 feet between us and the Ninja of death.
BUT
We live in the real world. So now we are going down a hill (5%), at 20 mph, in the rain (.3), and our rims are wet (braking efficiency = crap 50%). Now we need 66 ft to stop and an additional 11 feet for reaction time (500ms tired and cranky – get it? cranky) – MEET the NINJA!
So there is a time and place for the Mega Watt headlights, just maybe not all the time. Going back to my personal experience, lights are there to make others aware of you, not the other way around. I depend on my memory of the trail to avoid most obstacles and when I’m riding off-road at night I usually keep things slow and pretty much assume that I’m going to hit something funky.
ParticipantNINJAS! AGAIN! Seriously though I hope you feel better. Tegraderm is indeed where “it” is at.
About ten years ago I was riding across the Memorial bridge when two kids from Oklahoma (or at least guessing so much by their t-shirts) were frolicking and frolicked right into the handlebar of my bike super sweet Cannondale. Despite the low-speed collision I ended up with ass-less chaps (literally) from the aggregate sidewalk. The awkward part was that I didn’t own a cellphone at the time so I had to walk over to some guys sunning themselves on the steps and borrow their phone while holding up said bloody pants – terrible. My friend picked me up and I threw on some Umbros that promptly stuck to the wound so badly that I had to soak in a bath tub to get them off.
Anyways, I concur on the winter falls, deep tissue trauma blows. Which is why that damn wooden boardwalk by TR island becomes the bane of my existence right around this time of year.
ParticipantDitto – I don’t have much depth when it comes to accessories – but I’ve got a stockpile of rims that are just waiting to be laced up.
ParticipantJust break out the beach cruisers, problem solved.
ParticipantI will definitely give the chocolate milk a go, seems like a good option. For now I usually just stock up on protein blend (whichever one pops up on slickdeals.net), take a hot shower, and do some light stretching. Also, those massage sticks are awesome for rolling out sore thighs and calves – although a better option is NMTI up on Rt. 7, it is a massage school so 60mins = $35.
Since I’m not racing anymore, I tend to focus on lean muscle development and maintaining a decent weight, so eating is pretty important. I tried doing a lean diet last year and dropped ten pounds in about two weeks, gave up on that pretty quickly!
ParticipantWhen I was working at Spokes I remember seeing a guy come in with tri-bars on his lefty with bar ends. He liked to “keep all his options open.”
ParticipantCheapo Nashbar clear shades and Rain-X work okay – not great. I usually just end up taking them off it gets real bad – like yesterday. Downside being my contacts start adhering to my eyeball, which gets pretty distracting.
ParticipantI concur on the megawatt blasting of ninjas – they are fair game.
On that note, the best place to spot real, I mean damn near invisible ninjas, is on the wooden connector bridge right past TR Island. Usually they are Georgetown students who must be studying chameleon DNA or something – that or training for jungle warfare.
ParticipantI did end up passing Captain Retina Burn this morning, not only because of the stroboscope but also because of the waterfall coming off of his wheel. I make it a point to dim my mega-light when I hit the trail and cover up when I meet someone coming the other way on uphills and downhills. What really stews my prunes is when helmet-mount dudes give me the 10 feet or less stare down – totally unnecessary. On the upside, I saw a jogger this morning who was rocking no fewer than THREE blinky lights, maybe he is doing some freelance motion capture or something?
ParticipantI have one of those cheapo Bike Arlington dual-led dealies that i keep on my handlebars for when my main light inevitably fails due to the malevolent charging spirits (i.e. when I forget to plug it in).
ParticipantBike shopping definitely makes you focus on what you REALLY need. It has also made me move towards buying milk in 1/2 gallon increments since it is just way easier to balance out. I’ve done a couple of rides home with a six pack jammed in my backpack and that just blows.
ParticipantIf it is a cable lock then you might be able to get it with a burly cable cutter. Chain is best dealt with using a hacksaw. U-locks are pretty easy to break open with a car jack – safety first though with the flying end cap!
Participant@baiskeli 8456 wrote:
Does cycling help that? It always seems to help me.
I used to stroll my kid to daycare and then wheel the empty stroller back home. Pretty much every time, some passerby would say “you forgot something!” Hilarious.
Bicycling doesn’t hurt or help, it is just as painful as sitting at my desk. Sadly, the most painful things are amazingly simple things like shoe tying and the occasional lifting of laundry baskets.
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