Archive for category Recumbent Bicycling
Ortlieb Backroller Pack Drop
Posted by Ed in Oddities, Photography & Images, Recumbent Bicycling on 2018-07-18
Although the pair of Ortlieb Back-Roller packs on Mary’s bike make her look like a long-distance tourist, we’re actually on our way to her garden plot:
AS30V-0285
The left-side pack suddenly seemed unusually floppy:
AS30V-0300
One second later:
AS30V-0360
Another second and it’s visible under my right hand:
AS30V-0420
The view from her bike at about the same time:
Ortlieb-0158
I’m expecting to fall to my right, but it’d have been better if I hadn’t kicked the bag:
Ortlieb-0169
The pack went under the rear wheel and out the far side:
Ortlieb-0185
Where it came to rest in the middle of the trail:
Ortlib pack drop – aftermath
Elapsed time from the first picture: just under 5 s.
Did you notice the other cyclist in the other pictures? She’s why I veered so hard to my right!
A pair of these latches hold the pack onto the rear rack:
Ortlieb pack drop – QL latch detail
When they’re properly engaged, they look like this:
Ortlieb pack drop – QL latch – secure
When they’re not, they look like this:
Ortlieb pack drop – QL latch – whoopsie
Which is obvious in the picture and inconspicuous in real life.
The strap emerging from the top of the latch serves as both a carrying handle and latch release: pull upward to open the latches and release them from the bar, lift to remove the pack, and carry it away as you go. Installing the pack proceeds in reverse: lower the pack onto the rack bar, release the handle, and the latches engage.
Unless the pack is empty enough to not quite fully open the latches as you carry it, in which case the closed latches simply rest on the bar. We’ve both made that mistake and I generally give her packs a quick glance to ensure sure they’re latched. In this case, the plastic drawer atop the racks (carrying seedling pots on their way to the garden) completely concealed the pack latches.
Tree roots have been creasing the asphalt along that section of the rail trail: the bike finally bounced hard enough to lift the drawer and fall off the rack rod.
Memo to Self: In addition to the visual check, lift the packs using the strap across the middle holding the rolled-down top in place. Remember, don’t check by lifting the carrying handle, because it just releases the latches; another easy mistake to make.
Whew!
Copying Action Camera Video: Now With UUIDs
Posted by Ed in Photography & Images, Recumbent Bicycling, Software on 2018-07-17
Having tired of manually decoding UDEV’s essentially random device names produced for the various USB action cameras and card readers, I put the device UUIDs in /etc/fstab and let the device names fall where they may:
UUID=B40C6DD40C6D9262 /mnt/video ntfs noauto,uid=ed 0 0 UUID=0FC4-01AB /mnt/Fly6 vfat noauto,nodiratime,uid=ed 0 0 UUID=0000-0001 /mnt/M20 vfat noauto,nodiratime,uid=ed 0 0 LABEL=AS30V /mnt/AS30V exfat noauto,nodiratime,uid=ed 0 0
You get those by plugging everything in, running blkid, and sorting out the results.
The 64 GB MicroSD card from the Sony AS30V camera uses Microsoft’s proprietary exfat file system, which apparently doesn’t associate a UUID/GUID with the entire device, so you must use a partition label. The Official SD Card Formatter doesn’t (let you) set one, so:
exfatlabel /dev/sdd1 AS30V
It turns out you can include spaces in the partition label, but there’s no way to escape them (that I know of) in /etc/fstab, so being succinct counts for more than being explanatory.
One could name the partition in the Windows device properties pane, which would make sense if one knew it was necessary while the Token Windows Laptop was booted with the card in place.
I think this is easier then trying to persuade UDEV to create known device names based on the USB hardware characteristics, because those will depend on which USB card / device / reader I use. I can force the UUIDs to be whatever I want, because they’re just bits in the disk image.
With all that in place, you plug in All. The. Gadgets. and run the script (as seen below). The general idea is to verify the bulk video drive mounted OK, attempt to mount each memory card and fire off a corresponding rsync copy, wait until they’re all done, tidy the target filenames, then delete all the source files to get ready for the next ride.
Funneling all three copies to a single USB hard drive probably isn’t the smartest thing, but the overall write ticks along at 18 MB/s, which is Good Enough for my simple needs. If the drive thrashes itself to death, I won’t do it again; I expect it won’t fail until well outside the 1 year limited warranty.
If any of the rsync copies fail, then nothing gets deleted. I’m a little queasy about automagically deleting files, but it’s really just video with very little value. Should something horrible happen, I’d do the copies by hand, taking great care to not screw up.
After all, how many pictures like this do we need?
Ed signalling on Raymond
The Bash script as a GitHub Gist:
Rt 376 at Red Oaks Mill: Re-repaving
Posted by Ed in Recumbent Bicycling on 2018-07-16
For unknown reasons, NYS DOT milled away some of the newly laid asphalt north of Red Oaks Mill:
Rt 376 Red Oaks Mill – New Pavement Milling
Then laid it down again:
Rt 376 Red Oaks Mill – New Pavement – 2018-06-14
As far as we can tell, there’s absolutely no difference, other than the opportunity for a huge longitudinal crack between the shoulder and the travel lane.
My guess: the contractor shorted them an inch of asphalt, got caught, and had to do it over again.
It’s only NYS Bike Route 9, so you can’t expect much in the way of bicycle-friendly design or build quality.
Side Mirror Turn Signal
Posted by Ed in Electronics Workbench, Machine Shop, Recumbent Bicycling on 2018-07-14
I hoped this bit of roadside debris would yield a shiny new amber LED and driver:
Car mirror – shattered housing
But, alas, it uses an ordinary WY5W incandescent bulb:
Car mirror – turn signal
That whole assembly seems to be the replaceable unit, as the lens is firmly snapped-and-glued to the housing. The white shell used to hold the wires, but those vanished when the collision ripped the mirror off the car.
After I pried off the shattered lens and extracted the bulb, I found a broken filament.
Ah, well, now we won’t be riding through plastic shards along the shoulder.
Tour Easy Rack: Front Mount Screw
Posted by Ed in Machine Shop, Recumbent Bicycling on 2018-07-09
Long ago, I conjured a front rack mount from an aluminum bar across the seat struts on our Tour Easy recumbents, with a spherical washer soaking up the angular misalignment. The rack on Mary’s bike developed a serious wobble due to a missing screw, which was easy enough to replace:
Rack mount screw – rear
From the side:
Rack mount screw – side
It’s a 2 inch screw sawed down to 1.5 inch, ground to shape, then run through a die to clean up the threads.
The nylon lock nut over on the left should keep the screw from working its way out of the tapped aluminum bar. On the other paw, a dab of Loctite survived nearly a decade of heavy loads and vibration.
Bike Brake Pad Wear
Posted by Ed in Machine Shop, Recumbent Bicycling on 2018-07-05
The rear brake on my bike wasn’t stopping nearly as well as it should, even after cleaning the rim and pads with brake cleaner, so I pulled the shoes and replaced the pads:
Bike brake pad wear
It’s down a bit beyond the --WEAR--LINE-- indicator, of course.
New brake shoes on clean rims work exactly like they should!
Gamified Cycling
Posted by Ed in Oddities, Recumbent Bicycling, Science on 2018-06-30
OK, it’s not as exciting as a Strava KOM:
Sheriff Speed Meter – 8 mph
Apparently folks have been going around the curve in front of the Dutchess County BOCES site at a pretty good clip. I didn’t spot any scars in the grass off the high side, but ya never know.
We’re at the top of an uphill section and, riding together, we’re not sprinting for town line signs.
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