Tuesday, January 20, 2015

What Has Two Wheels, 10 feet, and ....?

Today's Tracking; No Surprises

Answer:  Me, providing 2 of the 10 feet, Tink and Jazzy providing the other 8 feets, riding the recumbent 2-wheeler.  Jacque was busy away from the casita so when I decided to go for a ride I had custody of the world's two greatest doggies, Tink and Jazzy.  I have left them behind a few times when going out for a ride but they get so broken-hearted I decided I better take them both today.  As usual, Tink rode in the back basket and Jazzy rode way up front in the papoose-style belly harness.  Which felt not at all uncomfortable today, since it was a bit cool.
Today was another surprisingly unseasonably nice day, so "We" tried another ride with the new GoPro video camera running.
The last such attempt resulted in frustration because of a loud annoying "Click-Clack" noise that rendered it impossible for me to stand watching it.  Into the digital trash pile it went.  After examining the PVC pipe mount, I realized since it was only secured with a small bungee cord on the bottom end, it was rattling a bit in the basket upon which it was mounted. So today I attached 2 very strong stainless steel hose clamps to keep it solidly mounted, and could not get it to flop or pop.
Still, upon activating the camera and hitting the road, there is still some bothersome clacking and thumping going on.  I may have to configure a foam shock mount of some kind to avoid coupling road and bike noises directly into the camera body.  At first I suspected the nearby antenna pole was bending over from the wind and whacking the camera but I could not replicate any such action, as they are at least a foot apart and I cannot bend the antenna pole with enough force to even come close to touching the camera bracket.  The antennas are both "rocking around" with road motion as they are only inserted into the tubing supporting them and that noise, I suspect, is what is getting coupled too annoyingly into the camera.
Here's a short clip about a third of the way through todays 9 + mile ride.  I was climbing a mild hill when a car passed me and then I clearly heard a voice out of the blue:  "Do you write the blog?"  Startled by the cyclist suddenly passing on my left (I hadn't spotted him coming up from behind in my rear view mirror), and assuming he was talking about THIS blog, I said "Yes!" and he said as he sped on by: "I read it all the time!"
Well, I didn't catch a name or any info, but if he actually reads this blog hopefully he will enjoy seeing himself (mostly from the backside):



Today was another anomaly for January weather:  Warmer than seasonal and very pleasant.  As 3:00 PM approached it got noticeably windier and cooler, prompting re-installation of the windbreaker layer, but still a great riding day.

Ride Started: 1:55 PM    Ride Ended:  3:23 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage:  13.5   Ending Voltage: 12.7  Lowest: 12.7
Lowest Temp  50 F      Highest Temp:  64 F 
Stats from the GPS:    Total Miles:  9.36
Overall average speed            Moving Avg               Max Speed
  6.6 MPH                                  9.3 MPH                    28.1 MPH
Total Trip time                       Moving Time             Stopped Time
 1 hour 25 mins                      1 hour                       24  minutes

1 comment:

  1. Jim, hey that was me that passed you in the vid. I've seen you out on the road before, but always going the other direction. Finally had a chance to say hi, although very briefly. Always enjoy your blog. Brian K. from Edgewood.

    ReplyDelete