Ed Nisley's Blog: Shop notes, electronics, firmware, machinery, 3D printing, laser cuttery, and curiosities. Contents: 100% human thinking, 0% AI slop.
A few months back, the 13-tooth sprocket on my Tour Easy started skipping, which reminded me that I planned to replace all the drivetrain components. Time passed, the winter remained unseasonably warm and sunny, we kept riding, the skipping got much worse, and I just shifted across that sprocket.
Finally, the rains returned, I heaved the bike up on the workstand, and started replacing things. Judging from the accumulated crud and severe wear, it’s been on there for quite a while:
Sprocket with broken teeth – as found
Here’s the offending 13-tooth sprocket, all shined up;
Sprocket with broken teeth – detail
I don’t recall a catastrophic failure that stripped all those teeth off in one shot. A closer look showed cracks in the few remaining teeth:
Sprocket with broken teeth – cracked teeth
Which explains why the skipping gradually got worse: the poor sprocket shed teeth as I rode blithely along.
Huh.
That’s what happens with a severely worn sprocket: the chain applies tension to just the topmost tooth, rather than distributing it on the teeth around a third (or more) of the sprocket, and, one by one, that force breaks the teeth. The top picture shows at least one other sprocket with a missing tooth; all display the shark-fin profile of heavy wear.
As you can tell from the other bike pix & repairs around here, I’d rather ride than mess around with cleaning and suchlike. We’re on our second set of drivetrain components in 15 years, so I’d say treating all that stuff as consumable seems a fair tradeoff…
On 12 July 2015, I sent a report to NYSDOT about how the traffic signals at Burnett Blvd / Rt 55 greenlighted opposing traffic when our bicycles were still in the intersection:
Can you increase the minimum green and yellow times on the signals from Burnett Blvd to Rt 55?
The current settings are too short for bicycle traffic making a left turn across six traffic lanes.
The pictures show key points from our ride on 2015-07-10, returning from the Balloon Festival in Poughkeepsie. We took the DCRT around Poughkeepsie, went through Arlington to Rt 376 at Collegeview, then took Rt 376 Red Oaks Mill.
The image sequence numbers identify frames extracted from video files. The Front camera runs at 60 fps and the Rear camera at 30 fps.
The red signals are in the process of turning off in Front 0196.
Burnett at Rt 55 Signal – Front 0196
One second later in Front 0260, the car and our bikes are starting to roll. Given the number of drivers blowing through red signals at full speed, devoting one second to watching for oncoming traffic seems prudent.
Burnett at Rt 55 Signal – Front 0260
The yellow signals are turning on in Front 0633, seven seconds after the green. The car has reached the pedestrian ladder across Rt 55, but we’re still crossing the westbound lanes of traffic. We may not be the fastest riders on the road, but we’re not the slowest, either.
Burnett at Rt 55 Signal – Front 0633
We’ve reached the far side of the intersection in Front 1142, just under 16 seconds from the green.
Burnett at Rt 55 Signal – Front 1142
However, Rear 0408 shows that the opposing signals turned green while we’re still crossing the eastbound lanes of Rt 55. That’s about 15 seconds after the Burnett Blvd signals went green.
Burnett at Rt 55 Signal – Rear 0408
About 2.7 seconds later, Rear 0490 shows cars accelerating across the intersection toward us as we cross the pedestrian ladder. They started rolling immediately after their signal went green; waiting a second isn’t a universal practice.
Burnett at Rt 55 Signal – Rear 0490
Setting the minimum Burnett green to 12 seconds, the minimum yellow to 10 seconds, and the minimum delay from Burnett green to Rt 55 green to 30 seconds would help cyclists (just barely) reach the far side of the intersection before opposing traffic starts rolling.
Also: can you adjust the sensor amplifiers on Burnett to respond to bicycles and mark the coil locations on the pavement in both lanes? That would help us through the intersection during low-traffic-volume times, as our bikes seem unable to trip the signals.
Thanks…
This reply from the NYSDOT autoresponder was all I ever got from them:
Thank you for your inquiry. We will respond to your email message as soon as possible.
On 2 August 2015, I sent a report to NYSDOT about how the traffic signals at Old Post Rd – Spring Rd at Rt 9 greenlighted opposing traffic when our bicycles were still in the intersection:
The minimum green-to-opposing-green signal timing from Old Post Road across Rt 9 to Spring road is about 18 seconds: not long enough for bicycles to safely cross an intersection with eight traffic lanes.
The “Green” picture shows our starting position as the signal turned green: behind the first car in line. There’s another car behind us, which ensures the loop sensor will trip; it does not detect bicycles.
Spring Rd – Rt 9 – 2015-08-01 – Green
The “Yellow” picture shows the signal changing after 12 seconds, with the car from behind us now in the middle of the northbound lanes. We’re still in the middle of the southbound lanes.
Spring Rd – Rt 9 – 2015-08-01 – Yellow
The “Opposing Left Green” from the rear camera, 18 seconds from the first picture, shows green left-turn arrows for Spring Road. The opposing cars began rolling with Mary lined up with the northbound right-turn lane and me lined up with the right travel lane.
Spring Rd – Rt 9 – 2015-08-01 – Opposing Left Green
The car behind blew through the red signal on Old Post Rd; I think that’s why the opposing left-turning cars didn’t start sooner.
In the other direction, I often use the left turn from Spring Rd to southbound Rt 9 to reach the South Road Square strip mall. Similarly short yellow and overall cycle times apply in that direction.
Can you add (at least!) five seconds to the yellow and perhaps ten seconds to the minimum cycle time for both directions? That would help us clear the intersection before opposing traffic starts moving again.
Can you also mark the sensor loop locations in all those lanes so cyclists can find them and adjust the amplifier sensitivity / dwell to respond to bicycles? We’ve lined up atop the quadrupole loop pavement cuts on Old Post Road to no avail, but there’s not even a hint of the loop positions under the new Spring Rd paving.
Thanks…
This reply from the NYSDOT autoresponder was all I ever got from them:
Thank you for your inquiry. We will respond to your email message as soon as possible.
On 6 January 2016, this email message arrived from the same email address that never responded to my reports (emphasis added):
Dear Mr. Nisley:
This is in response to your correspondence regarding your experiences as a bicyclist at the intersections of Route 55 at Burnett Boulevard and Route 9 at Spring Road in the Town of Poughkeepsie, Dutchess County.
The New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) is in the process of investigating alternate detection types and inductance loop patterns that would detect a wider range of vehicles. As alternate detection types are tested and approved, they will be integrated into the next traffic signal upgrade at both intersections. The distance varies based on geometry. The loops are centered in each lane and the front loop is a quadrapole, so there are wires down the middle of the loops.
A new timing program was implemented at Route 9 at Spring Road in August, and the yellow and red clearance times meet the current standards. The timing at Route 55 at Burnett Boulevard is in the process of being updated, and the clearance times will be updated as necessary to meet the current standards. Clearance times are determined based on speed, intersection dimensions, grade, and reaction time and cannot be adjusted. The sensitivity on all loops will also be adjusted, so they are as sensitive as possible without causing cross talk between the loops.
We appreciate and share your interest in making our highway systems safe and functional for all users.
If you have any questions or need additional information, please feel free to contact our Regional Traffic Safety & Mobility Group at (845) 437-3396.
NYSDOT Hudson Valley Region
I don’t regard that date a coincidence; NYSDOT was not responding to my reports. I sent a further note to clarify a few points:
On 01/05/2016 02:18 PM, dot.sm.r08.nysdot wrote: Clearance times are determined based on speed,intersection dimensions, grade, and reaction time and cannot be adjusted.
That seems to mean the times can be adjusted, but you won’t adjust them to allow cyclists enough time to clear the intersection.
We appreciate and share your interest in making our highway systems safe and functional for all users.
So, giving opposing traffic a green light while we’re still in the intersection NYSDOT’s way of “making our highway systems safe and functional for all users”.
Do I understand your statements correctly?
No reply, as I’ve come to expect by now.
I think the emphasis on “meet(ing) the current standards” is how NYSDOT will attempt to defend against claims that road conditions caused or contributed to a car-on-bike collision. I find it surprising that contemporary “standards” would allow greenlighting opposing traffic against bicycles, but perhaps they simply choose a standard that excludes bicycles.
We ride through the intersection at the Rt 55 end of Burnett Blvd a lot, because it’s the only route between Raymond Avenue and the Dutchess Rail Trail. Previous posts have documented the signal timing, but this sequence shows the situation we’ve feared from the beginning… cross traffic not stopping because we are in the intersection with an opposing green light.
The sequence numbers indicate the frame at 60 f/s.
T +0.000 = our signal just turned green:
Burnett at Rt 55 2015-12-14 – 0096 – Green
T +1.250 s = the drivers ahead of us release their brakes and begin rolling:
Burnett at Rt 55 2015-12-14 – 0171 – Green start
T +2.400 s = we begin rolling:
Burnett at Rt 55 2015-12-14 – 0240 – Green rolling
It’s worth noting that we cannot start any earlier, unless you regard jumping the green and passing cars at an intersection as Good Practices, which we don’t.
T +7.217 s = the yellow signal goes on in our direction:
Burnett at Rt 55 2015-12-14 – 0529 – Yellow
That’s six whole seconds from the time the cars started rolling and 4.8 s from the time we started.
Notice the white car to our right that’s stopped in the leftmost eastbound lane of Rt 55.
T +12.100 s = our signal turns red:
Burnett at Rt 55 2015-12-14 – 0822 – Red
I’ve reached the middle of the intersection, Mary’s about centered on the three eastbound lanes of Rt 55.
T +13.333 s = the opposing signal turns green:
Burnett at Rt 55 2015-12-14 – 0895 – Opp Green
Traffic in both directions of Rt 55 can now begin moving, but the white car remains stopped; it’s almost directly behind me in the leftmost lane. Because Mary is following the curved line guide lines, she’s just entering the rightmost lane. What you can’t see is a black car approaching from behind her that didn’t have to stop.
T +20.950 s = the car in the right lane that didn’t have to stop passes me:
At 40 mph = 60 ft/s, that car passed the stop line 2.3 s earlier, at T +18.7 s, when I was still crossing the right lane.
It’s entirely likely that the driver didn’t see either of us while approaching the intersection, because he (let’s assume a he for the sake of discussion) had a green light nearly 5 s = 300 ft before reaching the stop line. Unless he’s paying more attention than most drivers, he was intent on the signal to judge whether he must slow down; for the last 7.3 s he’s known that the intersection is clear, because nobody else should be in the intersection against his green signal.
T +24.667 s = The white car in the left lane passes Mary:
Burnett at Rt 55 2015-12-14 – 1576 – Second car
All I’m asking NYSDOT to do is lengthen the signal timing so we’re not caught in the middle of the intersection by opposing traffic with a green signal. Adding a few seconds onto the yellow and minimum cycle time doesn’t seem unreasonable, but it’s been six months since I reported the problem with no action; I’ve pinged their Bicycle & Pedestrian coordinator several times with no response.
If their engineers are “studying” the situation, it’s not producing any visible results; they haven’t asked me for any additional data.
I Am Not A Lawyer, but I think my collection of photos should provide sufficient evidence to convince a jury that NYSDOT is totally liable for any bicycling injuries at that intersection, based on the inability of cyclists to meet the signal timing. I really don’t want to find out if I’m right…
A bag arrived from halfway around the planet, bearing five sets of cheap earbuds. There was no way to tell from the eBay description, but they’re vented on the side:
Cheap earbud – side vent detail
And also to the rear, down inside those deep slots below the chromed plastic cover:
Cheap earbud – back openings
The raised lettering is a nice touch; the other earbud has a script L.
The PET braid over the fragile wire should withstand a bit more abuse than usual. The strain relief isn’t anything to cheer, though, consisting of that rectangular channel with the wire loose inside. I figured I’d start minimal and fix whatever crops up; I have nine more earbuds to go.
The motivation for all this was having the Gorilla Tape peel off the helmet, leaving a hardened mass of glue behind, then snagging the earbud wires. This is the new, somewhat better protected, wiring:
Bell Helmet – mic-earbud wire – hardened tape adhesive
In a triumph of hope over experience, I applied more Gorilla Tape:
Bell Helmet – re-taped mic-earbud wiring
The helmet may need replacing after another iteration or two.
My solid modeling hand has become stronger these days, so I should gimmick up a flat-ish wart anchoring the mic boom and all the wiring to the helmet shell.
The Family That Rides Together – DCRT near Parker – 2015-12-25
That’s in the rock cut just east of the tunnel under Parker Avenue. In a normal winter, that rock wall completely shadows the asphalt and preserves an icy layer through March.
We rode out-and-back over the Walkway, with a few digressions along the way:
Christmas Ride 2015 – APRS track
A good ride was had by all; we could get used to those empty roads…
Rolling through the back of the Vassar Campus, watching a murder of crows on the lawn, when all of a sudden:
Fast Squirrel – 0258
That squirrel passed about three feet in front of Mary’s bike, running flat out and, at 60 frame/s, touched the ground every 200 ms:
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
Figuring a squirrel body+tail is 1.5 ft long and it covers 3 of those units with every leap, it’s moving at 22 ft/s = 15 mph. That’s about as fast as we travel…
The Smell of Molten Projects in the Morning 