Tag: bicycle

Bike Cam Part 2 Troubles

On By Michel McDonaldIn BikeLeave a comment

I took the camera with me this morning and turned it on just before I got to the tunnel to go past Manor St.  I went through the tunnel, over the bridge and through the woods to grandmother’s house er um wait no that’s not right… ok, I went through the tunnel then over the bridge … then kept riding.

As I went over the 2nd bridge the bicycle went over the usual bumps before and after but the 2nd bridge screwed up the camcorders ability to auto focus lol.  I tried fixing it but it just would not fix so I stopped recording but I just could not fix it.  I turned it off hoping that would help and it did.  So I turned it back on and kept riding.  I went all the way to the end of that part of the bike trail and turned off the camera.

I get home and plug the camcorder into the computer and the program I use ImageMixer 3 gives me errors.  It cannot download from the camera at all.  I have a feeling it’s because of those darn bumps but then I go to watch it from the camcorder onto the computer with PowerDVD and it stops after only 20 seconds which was when I first started filming so I’m a bit stumped.

This morning at 8am they closed that part of the bike trail from the first tunnel to the 2nd tunnel until tomorrow afternoon at 2:30pm so tomorrow morning I won’t be doing my 22 mile trip, instead I’m going to have to settle for 16 miles so I won’t be able to do it over tomorrow.

The video plays just fine in the camera so I thought that maybe I could just plug it into the TV and record it with my DVD recorder.  Well, when I plug it into the TV it shrinks the video from 16:9 to 4:3 so that doesn’t do me any good.  I’ll need a widescreen TV to be able to do that.  So instead I just put the mini DVD into the DVD recorder and recorded it to a VHS then recorded it back to a regular DVD.

I tried putting the DVD into my computer but it won’t recognize dvd’s that I’ve recorded on the dvd recorder so I had to put it in my laptop.  It’s uploading now so as soon as it’s finished I will transfer it over to my computer and work on it.  I will try to get it on YouTube today and when I do I will post it here.  Well, as a new post.

My Bike Must Be a Teenager

On By Michel McDonaldIn BikeLeave a comment

I guess my bicycle must be a teenager because the front tire has a pimple on it lol.  I was riding along this morning and all of a sudden it felt like I was hitting bumps in the road but I knew there weren’t any bumps at all.  I couldn’t do anything about it either because the sun wasn’t up at all so I had to wait until I got to my halfway point which was when the sun starts to come up.

As I’m riding I pass this baby stroller on the side of the bike path and I looked at it while I was passing it and saw 3 heads get up and turn to look at me as I’m passing.  I could’ve sworn 2 of those heads were dog heads while the 3rd one was a bald headed man lol.  The pimple in my tire was making noise and it woke them up.

So I get to my halfway point and I really don’t see anything wrong with the tire.  Then I see this bulge sticking out of the side of the tire and the top of the tire too so the top of the tire was slanted in that one spot lol.  I figure I can’t do anything until I get home because I’m probably going to have to remove the tire and the tube and adjust it.

I finish my 10 minute break and start to head back, I look at my computer and it says I’m going 35 then 40mph lol.  WHAT?!  There’s no way I’m going 40 lol.  I pull over again and see that the pimple is rubbing the wire going to my computer and it’s stripping it exposing the wiring inside.  I definitely have to fix the tire now.  I pull the wire tight so it isn’t going to get pulled by the tire again then I turn the bike upside down and let the air out of the tire.  I sort of adjust the tire but really, there isn’t anything I can do.  I’m not gonna start taking everything apart right there on the side of the bike path road.  I started putting air back in and see the pimple blowing up again so instead of filling it all the way with 64psi I just stop at 30.  That will get me home for sure.

My tire pressure in both tires doesn’t have to be the same.  My front can really be 30 or 40 and I’ll be fine but my back tire must be either the standard 64 or 60 is good.  The reason my front tire is doing that is because the wheel is 26×2.0 but the tire is 26×1.95 so it’s not the same.  So now I need a new tire for the front wheel so when I get some money I will buy the exact tire that I need for the front wheel.

Is Bakersfield A Safe Place To Ride A Bicycle?

On By Michel McDonaldIn Bike, CyclingLeave a comment

Is Bakersfield a safe place to ride a bicycle?

This article was in today’s Bakersfield Californian newspaper.

In my opinion it is only safe to ride a bicycle if you are a defensive rider.  If you are watching where you are going, looking both left and right, never crossing the street unless you have the green light (or in some cases walk signal).  Never riding on the wrong side of the road then crossing while a car is turning left (which happened to me).

This one time I was leaving the bike path and I was crossing the street and this pickup truck was pulling out in front of me while he was looking right at me.  He nearly ran me over.  This was about 10am in the morning too so it’s not like he was drinking and driving… that I know of at least.

I have a little mirror that is attached to my helmet and I’m constantly looking at it to see the traffic behind me so I know what is coming at me.

Now I cannot say that it is 100% safe to ride as early as I do because even at 4:30am there are probably still some drunk drivers out there but usually when I ride that early there are maybe 1 or 2 cars every 10 minutes so it’s pretty safe where and when I ride.

You also have to consider the fact that I’m not riding in the busy streets along with traffic.  I start out in a neighborhood and I’m pretty much only in neighborhoods until I get to the bike path so there is not that much danger of getting hit.  And I know a route that gets me to the mall and to Target where it’s through neighborhoods and I never have to drive with traffic.

So is Bakersfield a safe place to ride a bicycle?  I think it is during the morning or during the daytime IF you aren’t driving in traffic where there are no bike paths or where cars are parked right in the bike path.  If you try to ride through neighborhoods then you are safe.  But if you drive alongside cars then there is never a guarantee that you are ever safe.  Even if you are crossing the street you aren’t ever safe because there are always reports of people getting killed while crossing the street.  Is it safe for me to ride here?  Yes, because I am a defensive rider and I pick the best safest routes.

If you live in a city that you aren’t sure where the safest routes are, why not just go to your favorite map website, I go to google maps and I map out my route then I adjust the route so I am going through neighborhoods then I print it out and hold it while riding through that neighborhood so I learn it so the next time I have to go that way I will remember.  And if I don’t remember then I print it out again (if I threw the old map out that is).

Bike Seat Issues

On By Michel McDonaldIn Bike1 Comment

Lately I’ve been coming home from my 2 hour bicycle ride numb in an area that would normally make me blush to mention.  I know that it’s my seat that is causing the problem because of the “nose” of the seat (yes, my crotch sits on a nose for 2 hours lol).

I have one of those gel cushions for my seat because the seat (they call them “saddles”) is really hard and I refuse to sit on a seat that hard with my body weight.  I can’t recall how much the gel seat cost me, maybe it was about $10 I’m sure, I bought it from Nashbar and that is how much they charge for them.  I’ve been using that all this time, last year for a couple of months and now this year for a couple of months.

It hasn’t bothered me before but lately I’ve come home from my bike ride and go to use the restroom and notice I can’t feel anything in my appendage (giggle I said appendage).

So I decided that it’s time to find out what’s going on and what to do about it.  Apparently it is a common thing for men who sit on a bicycle for hours and hours.  It can cause temporary impotence (YIKES!) in men and it may also probably lead to serious problems in the future because you are pressing down on your arteries and your colon so you can expect problems.

There is a solution and it is a new type of seat which has no nose, instead your butt takes all of the impact.  Here is a picture:

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This seat is going to cost me $63 plus shipping of course because it’s coming from Canada.  It is called Spongy Wonder and frankly I can’t wait to get it.  It is going to relieve a lot of my issues and I won’t have to keep standing on my peddles during my ride to relieve myself down there all the time.  They have an optional seat cover for an additional $16 which I will not be able to buy right away but perhaps in August I can buy that.  I’m going to have to wait until July to buy this seat because I am flat broke right now but there’s only 2 more weeks until I get more money so I can wait 2 weeks.

Other models I have seen cost around $79 and up and this is just the right price.  The cheaper the better.  Well, cheap in price but hopefully the same good quality you know?  I’m probably going to be bashed for buying outside of the US during our bad economy but I really don’t care because I need something that I can afford and I really need this now because it is becoming a medical issue.  I will be looking at other websites, after all, I do have 2 weeks to decide before I place my order.  If I do find another place that is US-based then I will choose that and of course you know I will be making a post about it lol.

Update: I am looking at the 2 other noseless seats and the one that is $79 is also from a Canadian websiteTesco-Shopping and it looks exactly like the $63 one.  Then there is the Spiderflex which is $110 plus $12 shipping so I definitely will not be buying from them.  I don’t know if they are in Canada or not, they aren’t releasing that information but they ship there and to Europe but in their shipping page they do show a map of the US showing delivery times lol.  I’m pretty sure that these 3 companies are the only ones who are selling these seats but I will keep looking.  I’m willing to pay $63 because it is a small price to pay to prevent colon problems and/or impotence lol.

I found it! Bicycle Seats | Ergo Seats this is perfect.  It’s basically the same as my regular seat but without the nose so it’s basically a half seat.  The positive of this is the price.  It’s the right price for me at $30 – $50 plus $30 for a sheepskin cover (optional).  I’m thinking maybe I can get the seat in July then the sheepskin cover in August.  That is if the seat is really that hard that I need to buy the sheepskin cover.  This is the perfect seat.  Check out the link for pictures.  Oh and by the way, this website is in Washington State!

Nashbar Townie Basket

On By Michel McDonaldIn Bike1 Comment

Last week I bought this product for my bicycle from nashbar.com for carrying my groceries.  I got the rack for my birthday from Chips cousin and her girlfriend so all I needed was the bag.

The bag I got is called a Townie Basket and it’s small enough to carry a bag of groceries so I don’t have to keep wrapping the bags around my handlebars.  The more specific grocery I wanted to use this for was for the 2 gallons of milk I always buy because it’s cheaper to buy 2 gallons than 1 at $3.69.

So I got the bag today and put it on immediately which only took maybe a minute to figure out how it goes on.  I went to Albertson’s right away and got my 2 gallons of milk along with some other things that I needed which I ended up having to carry in my grocery bag on the handlebars… I’m gonna need another one for the other side lol.

The only problem is that with 2 heavy gallons of milk it was sagging outward.  I was petrified that they would fall out as soon as I hit a bump in the road or a pot hole, not paying attention to the road and watching the milk instead might make me accidentally hit a pot hole or a CAR lol.

Well, here are the pictures of the bag.  The first one is of the bag folded up on the rack, the 2nd one is the bag open and the 3rd one is of it with its handy dandy rain coat or as I like to call it, it’s shower cap.

hpnx1198hpnx1199hpnx1200

Ok, now to fix the problem with this bag sagging outward I had to think about how I was going to do this.  I remembered the metal with the holes I used to make it so the rack was secure on the bike so I grabbed the roll of that stuff and held it up then bent the top of it over then I held it on the clamp in the tool shed and cut off a piece, then I cut a 2nd piece.  Then I went back over to the patio table and started drilling holes in the hard plastic in the bag so I could screw these things in place and then I put it on the bike rack.  Viola, it doesn’t sag anymore so I don’t have to worry about anything falling out lol.  Well, for now anyway.

hpnx1201

It’s a really dark picture but you can see that it’s not black, it’s the silver or gray thing on the right.  Not only does it stay on the rack but because I used the pliers to curl it over the rack bar I know nobody will be able to steal it lol.  It’s too much trouble to be able to steal now.  I mean because it’s only on with bungee at the bottom in the 2nd rack hole then with the 2 metal pieces (the black one on the left) so it’s very easy to steal but not anymore.

So if I have any other problems I’m going to have to put a hole on the outside of the bag into the plastic and put a hook there so I can hook a bungee on the outside then hook the other side of the bungee cord to the other side of the rack to make damn sure nothing falls out.

Edit: While I was watching Stargate SG-1 today I was thinking of how I could make this even more secure to the rack, not so that it doesn’t make my milk fall out but secure as in security.  How do I keep people from trying to steal it?  Bracket it to the rack.  See, there are these straps at the bottom that you are supposed to put the rack through, the metal sticks that get screwed to the wheel part of the frame, those are supposed to go through these straps and you would think that those would be velcro so that just in case your rack doesn’t allow you to put them through, then you could just undo them with the velcro.  So I came up with something a little more permanent.

hpnx1203

This picture is taken from the inside of the wheel, as you can see the spokes on the right and left side.  I bracketed the bag to the rack so it would never be easy to separate.  Well, I mean it would if I was trying to but a thief couldn’t easily do it and the guards at the grocery store know me and my bike so they would know if someone was trying to take something off my bike anyway.  But this would definitely slow them down lol.

And to top it all off, I put an eye hook in the outside of the bag, you can see in the first 2 pictures, there is a little silver rectangle, that is the logo of the company I bought it from.  Well, I screwed the eye hook just below that logo so that I could easily attach a bungee cord to it then the other end of the bungee could attach to the other side of the rack.  This way everything will stay inside the bag and not fall out.  The neon yellow shower cap will be able to protect it with the bungee cord in place so that isn’t an issue.

Bike Repair

On By Michel McDonaldIn BikeLeave a comment

My bicycle has been having real issues with making noises, cracking, clicking noises.  It really makes me nervous when I ride, even if it’s just to the store.  And I can especially hear it when I don’t have my ear buds in.  At least when I’m listening to music I can ignore it.

I’ve been reading this website @ Mountain Bike World, they have an article all about the 6 most common problems and my problem is right in there.  Yes there is a problem with the back tire not being true and it does make these clicking sounds but the cracking or creaking sound is coming from the crank, not the wheel.

I have edited 4 paragraphs to update this post.  I have figured out what my bike problem is.  I don’t believe it is the crank at all.  I think that the crank needed some lube really bad so I sprayed a lot of WD-40 in it and held a towel to the bottom of it because it was getting all this black stuff all over the cement floor in my back patio.  I did that on both sides and it seems to be ok.

While I was holding the rag to the bottom of it on the side that has the chain and I was turning the crank I was looking at the cassette on the back wheel and noticed that it was moving up and down so I guess that just needs to be tightened and that should probably fix it.  So all I need are the tools to tighten the cassette which shouldn’t be a problem.  So on Wednesday morning when I get my check I’ll take the bus to the bike store and ask them for the tools to tighten it.  It’s good to have all the tools I need to do any/all maintenance on the bike to keep it in good working order at all times.

At least I don’t have to pay hundreds of dollars to get it fixed now.

PSP-4000 Rumors

On By Michel McDonaldIn Games, PSPLeave a comment

I’ve been reading rumors of a new version of the PSP coming summer 2009.  It allegedly has a sliding screen and when you slide the screen it reveals the buttons for playing the games.  It has no UMD drive so all of your UMD games are now useless.  It basically will be download your games to memory sticks only.

I really don’t see how that’s going to make it better.  I mean, I’ve spent a lot of money on games, why should I lose all of them and possibly even be forced to buy them all over again to put on the memory stick to play on this thing?

And why sliding screen?  The only good I can see for that is watching movies or tv shows which I never even do.  I don’t have any movie UMD’s and I don’t buy movies/tv shows from the PlayStation store.  I just don’t see how a sliding screen is going to be any better than it is now.

No thanks.  I’m going to just stick with my PSP-2000.  I didn’t upgrade from the 2000 to the 3000 when that came out because the only changes that it had were the matte screen to make it easier to see in the sunlight and there are less finger prints and the mic hole which I don’t need since I already paid the $30 for the Skype headset.

If the 4000 version has no UMD slot then it’s useless to me.  No point in upgrading for me.

The thing I would like to see in future handheld gaming devices is perhaps a pair of sunglasses like my bicycle sunglasses that wrap around so you don’t see any sunlight at all but it has earplugs attached to the arms and it has a screen on the lenses then it has a wireless game pad that has all the PlayStation controls so I can play games and nobody will know what I’m playing or I can watch movies and nobody can see what it is.

Sweatvac Ventilator Cap

On By Michel McDonaldIn CyclingLeave a comment

Ok, I just found something on this thing that made me laugh lol.  First here is what the cap looks like:

sweatvac1

Cool right?  It certainly looks cool.  The style is Diablo.  I think it’s really neat.  I was looking at the little paper that came with it that explains how it keeps you dry.  Here is what it says:

“How The SweatVac® System Works:  SweatVac® products are engineered and designed using a unique blend of the finest technical fabrics.  Our multi-layer technology channels vapor and moisture away from your skin and into the outer wicking layers, where they quickly evaporate.  Unlike other headwear, the material that touches your skin stays dry and comfortable – never soggy or clammy.”

Ok that’s neat.  I noticed a washing instructions tag on the inside of the cap and so I was looking at it to see what the fabric was made of and how to wash and dry it.  To my surprise I found this:

sweatvac2

Machine Wash, Air Dry, No Bleach, No Drugs, Made in USA…  Wait what?  No Drugs?  You mean I can’t use Tide with Crystal Meth anymore?  Oh my Seacrest.  But that’s how I wash all my clothes.  Well except for all my swim wear which I use Tide with Pot via a Bong.  Oh well, I guess I’ll just have to use regular plain old tide instead. (I KID!)

Drugs lol that’s funny.  I mean, I’m not knocking their message because it’s a good message but I mean come on.  If I were relying on drugs to get me thin again I wouldn’t be riding a bicycle.  I would be riding the crystal meth train to skinnyville.  I wouldn’t have to do all this back-breaking hard work to try to get skinny if I was doing drugs people.

Bidding For Bike Light

On By Michel McDonaldIn CyclingLeave a comment

I’m bidding on a Bicycle Generated Light System for my bike.  It’s starting bid is only $4.99 and my max bid is $10 so I hope I win.  It’s basically the same as the other one I talked about yesterday but just a different person is selling it and it’s probably a different brand.  It looks brand new because it looks like the packaging is still in tact.  This is what it looks like…

Update:  I won this item for $6.74, shipping is free.  It was $4.99 but in the last half hour of the auction someone made it go up to $6.74, my highest bid was $10 which is why I won.  But I have a feeling that this seller created a 2nd screen name on eBay to raise the price for shipping purposes.  Which is fine, I don’t care.  It says on the page that shipping is free and it says local pick up so I have a feeling it’s free if you are in the same city but if you ask him about it then he raises the bidding amount to cover the cost.  I did ask him about it (or her, I don’t know) but got no response.  I sure do hope I get a response.  If it doesn’t show up in the next week then I can give negative feedback but I have a feeling I will get it because this person has 100% positive feedback.  He/she wouldn’t do anything to ruin that.

Bike Lights

On By Michel McDonaldIn Cycling, ExerciseLeave a comment

When I was 16 my parents bought me a bicycle so I can get to work a lot easier and they won’t have to drive me.  The bike was a cruiser bike and since I would be riding at night I would need lights and all I can remember is that I thought my step-dad was so cheap by buying me the kind with a generator.  I didn’t need batteries because it generated light as I rode.  However, if you think about it, this is probably a very good idea because batteries cost a lot of money.

If you buy lights that are rechargeable they are very expensive.  Yeah the lighting is a lot brighter and probably better but they cost a lot of money.  And I’m talking $200+.

I have been looking for this light with generator for a while and I can’t find it anywhere.  Bike Nashbar doesn’t have it, neither do any of the other well known online bike stores.  Target, Wal-Mart, sporting good stores, Sniders etc.  Nobody has it.

I found it on eBay for $49.  Wow.  What a deal.  I have to wait 2 weeks before I can buy it but I’m going to get it when I get some money.  Here is a picture.

I don’t plan on riding at night unless I need something from the store and I need to get there fast but what I do plan on doing is riding early in the morning.  I’m talking 5am early.  Yeah at 6am it’s still dark but there are cars out on the road that early.  I’d rather get out at 5am.  This way I can get in as much bike time as I can without any traffic and any pedestrians.  I want to get my exercise in without any dangers of getting hit by a car hehe.  I haven’t been on the streets in over a decade and I’ve already made a couple of mistakes and I need to relearn the rules of the road before I go back out there with the cars.  I think getting to where I need to would be a lot faster with no traffic too.