Winter Field Day 2023 Results Up

The new WFD results page is sort of a mess, but here's the link to the main WFD page and you can click through to the results search/sort from there if so inclined.  Getting things to sort was a pain, but here's the bottom line for current blog purposes: I pulled #4 out of 21 for single operator outdoor stations in north FL, as seen in the screen cap below.  That's certainly good enough for just going out and having fun.

Sorted bottom-to-top.  Best I could get that page to do.  The columns are call sign, section (North FL), class (O = outdoor), # operators, claimed score, raw score, final score, number of band/mode combos.

Interestingly, I see that most of the top operators have figured out how to play the mode/band multiplier maximization game, with the notable exception of AA4CS who came in #2 with only three band/modes. Must've worked a bunch of contacts to rack up that score.  I hope all this doesn't give the overall impression that I'm in any way a dedicated contester.  Mostly it's an event that doesn't have a lot of weird historical baggage, and it's in the middle of the best camping time of the year in the Deep South.

Bonus related links back to last winter: Back from WFD & Reviewing WFD

Anyway, it was fun and I'll be back at it again next last-weekend-in-January.

Sunday Evening Reminder

Details at the SWLing Post.  And for the chronologically impaired, 2200 UTC = 6 pm EDT.

Git Yer Coffee On

No 'coffee' tag, so 'inner coyote' will have to do.

Continental Bike Tires: Never Again

I have struggled and fought to install first a set of mountain bike tires last fall, and now today a pair of road bike tires.  In short, they all had the same manufacturing defect, namely a too-tight kevlar bead.  Yes, I know how to install bike tires.  In fact, in my little road ride group I was notably the fastest at this – a handy thing during deer fly season.  Yes, I know that new kevlar bead tires are always a little tight, and that they stretch out to something easier to change by the first flat.  Been there, done that on the side of the road many times.  Yes, I know there is such a thing as manufacturing variation, and we all have to live with that.  No however, all four of these were all way outside of spec.  I might have been able to get them on at home, but they were so tight that I wouldn't bet on being able to change them on the side of a hot highway or while being bug-attacked on a trail.  Safety issue either way.  Screw it.  Live and learn.

What to get then?  Kevin up at the bike repair shop (sorry, doesn't sell tires) recommends Schwalbes, and I have a real fondness for Vredesteins for the road.  On the gravel bike, Ritchey SpeedMaxs rule.  No real problem getting a set of Specialized's onto the old mtb either.  WTBs always are a good choice.  Really though, I've never seen a bike tire I didn't like – except for Continentals.

Trends & Innovations(?) in Mountain Bikes

Following up on Sunday's post about the new bike and last year's post about Tech Observations from the Santos Fat Tire Fest, I found and re-read an article in last August's issue of Mountain Bike Action.  Here are the main points along with my wry/rye comments:

• The larger 29" & 27.5" wheels have won.  Reiterating last Sunday's comments, the awkwardness of the early 29ers has been tamed, and we now have good-handling bikes again that roll faster and over obstacles better.
• Drivetrain reliability is up.  As also mentioned previously Sunday, dumping the front derailleur and multi-chainring setups of yore is the best way to keep from snapping chains on the trail.  Mega-range rear derailleurs that allow for a full selection of gears for true off-road travel have opened up this possibility.  Lots of other little tweaks as well just have things working better.  (I will admit a nostalgic soft spot though for the old triple- and even quad-ring setups.  But it's only a passing feeling, wouldn't give up my new single-ring for any of that.)
• Ongoing improvements with hydraulic disc brakes.  No one thing, just lots of incremental steps upward toward perfection, and they're getting pretty close.
• Electric shifting is here, and the results are conclusively... mixed.  On one hand, it gets rid of a bunch of cables.  On the other... batteries.  Ask me in another decade or so.
• Internal cable routing.  Formerly a mechanic's nightmare, manufacturers are getting this one sorted out.  I will say though, it's pretty slick not having a top tube look like a banjo.
• Internal frame storage.  Not so sure about this one.  On one hand, it somewhat obviates the need for riding with a hydration pack.  OTOH, punching big steenkin' access holes in a frame can only make things weaker and heavier.  How about a compromise?  Put an extra set of water bottle cage bosses on a frame and attach a tool pod there.  That'll get a lot of weight off a rider's back.  Honestly, the idea of reaching for a water bottle while riding fast wigs me out – a hands-free hydration pack with a hose is the only thing that works off-road.  Furthermore, newer pack designs do keep the formerly floppy-pack under control.
• Tubeless & sealant now standard.  Yep.  As discussed Sunday, nearly all mtb flats are not ride-stoppers, but more of slow-leakers that you notice right before your next ride.  This pretty much solves that problem.  More possibilities in development, such as foam inserts.
• Direct-to-Rider internet ordered bikes.  I won't buy a bike without an extensive test ride, period.  Maybe this could work on lower-end stuff though, or if you could find a similar bike locally to try.
• Internet info look-up for the more esoteric aspects of bike maintenance.  Yep, just like with everything else in life these days.  Even if you're taking your bike to the more experienced hands at the shop, odds are that they'll be doing a lot of that too.
• Improved safety gear.  Most notably with helmets, with rotation-absorbing and XC full-face designs.  What's more, there are plenty of other body parts that receiving upgraded protection.
• Year-model product churn is out, and good riddance.  Change the model when you have something new and better, not just because the calendar changes.  This makes everybody happy, except maybe few weirdos who have to have to show off their latest fashion device.  Better products, lower costs, fewer supply chain issues – what's not to love?
• Bonus: a move away from simple cyclometers.  While concluding my recent bike buy, the sales manager at the shop said that these weren't selling much anymore, because everyone has moved to some type of phone app.  On one hand,  I can see this.  On the other, isn't it better to be at least somewhat unplugged while in the outback?  Nonetheless, customers have spoken and there it is.
• Bonus & much-later-ps: dropper posts.  I thought these were a gimmick, until I tried one off-road. Now I'm a believer.

On the whole, a lot of upgrades with perhaps a few missteps.  Well, the jury's still out on that electric shifting that Shimano keeps pushing, but we'll see.  Altogether it's pretty promising.

A Fortunately Mild Waterspout

... hits the beach near Miami.  Film clip at the BBC.  Zooming in, you can see a small pavilion tent ruffled but still standing, and somebody roadbikes right through the thing (note: wasn't me).  It couldn't be more than an F0 (i.e., 40mph), maybe even slightly less.  

Here's a still from the clip:

Pretty dramatic though.  Click through to the BBC at the link, it's definitely worth a minute's watch.

Follow-Up to Last Monday's Post / New Bike, for Real

Well that was a cliff-hanger of a post last Monday.  Long  story short, the 2013 Epic was getting long in the tooth.  The rear suspension was repairable – one more time only though, because after ten years it's hard to source parts.  The front suspension is still doing fine, which is good because it's out of parts-years and the  next "repair" will entail a new fork.  Anyway, I got it all done and was ready to rip up the trails for another few years.

However, I had a list and had one more bike to go, a Giant Anthem.  The Giant rep at Santos didn't have one handy for me to test ride, and I had more or less shelved the entire new-bike-project for a couple more years until supply lines loosened up and, perhaps, fashions in full suspension had swung away from the 6" big-hit all-mountain machines, back toward more of 4" cross-country bikes.

Anyway, after picking up the Epic from the local Specialized & Cannondale dealer (a very nice shop btw, where I test rode a C'dale Scalpel when I dropped off the 2013 Epic), on a lark I swang by the Giant dealer down the street.  What do you know, two Anthems there to test ride, in medium and large sizes so one was sure to fit.  An hour of test riding and adjusting later, I wrote a check for the medium.

Now a conundrum: how to get them both home in the back of the Mustang?  Answer: Drive back and pick up on Monday.  Good, because that gave me a chance to bring riding gear and ride the new bike through the Munson trails (description|pdf map) on the way home.

Since that initial dozen-mile trail ride I've had time to pile on another 50 or so miles of gravel.  The verdict?  It carves similarly to my old STP-200, but rolls fast on 29" wheels like the Epic.  The geometry has been tweaked over the past ten years by most manufacturers to keep the roll but get the handling back, and I measured that the chainstays are a full inch shorter on the new bike.

 Lots of other changes over this decade, 1x12 drivetrains and practical tubeless tires being the most obvious.  I had my doubts about tubeless initially, being pretty difficult to repair out on the trail.  But no, thinking back over the years and flats, nearly all of them have been those annoying little pinpricks that don't stop a ride, but that go mysteriously flat by the next day.  Tubeless + internal sealant = no more pinpricks.  As for 1x12, every single chain I've seen broken out on a trail has been from a bad downshift on the front rings.  Eliminating that source of drama can only be a good thing, especially now that the rear derailleur can make up for the gear range.  So, onward and upward.  These are truly improvements and not "sidegrades."

Now back to the 2013 Epic.  It's up for sale, and I'm going to try and move it ASAP, either to a friend or via Craigslist.  bicyclebluebook.com has its current market value at 20% of the new retail price, so I'll mark it down accordingly and get it on out of here.  The stable's getting crowded, and an un-ridden mountain bike is a sad horse.

Trying to Muddle Through...

Oh, OK:

Richard Feynman's Six Easy Pieces

Didn't really need to (it's already burned into my brain), but it was a fun read anyway.  Here's a quick summary at Wikipedia.  Lecture notes from the early 60s, there are a handful of topics he touches on as current puzzles, but for which there were fruitful investigations right around the corner.  Specifically:

• some time spent on puzzling out the developing periodic chart of mesons, largely answered via quark theory beginning in 1964.
• a good discussion of quantum weirdness, followed by some mention of hidden variables.  The hidden variable hypothesis has largely been discarded, stating with Bell's theorem circa 1964 and follow-on experiments.
• the Higgs mechanism as a way to explain mass, also initially published in 1964.

Just noticing it, 1964 was a pretty hot year for physics.  I was busy discovering that food would fall if I dropped it off my high-chair tray.

Anyway, highly recommended.  If you read the book, be sure to skim the above Wikipedia links to see where some of the then-puzzling topics finally led.

Tony Chachere's Seasoning: I Love this Stuff

And now the brand's turning 50.  Article at The Advocate.

Hat tip to The Darling Daughter for sending the link.

Almost.

Speaking of cosmic horrors rising from the briney depths....

Has rotation and everything.  Yikes.

H.P. Lovecraft 101

Random article that crossed my path yesterday outlining the Cthulhu Mythos.  Maybe not to your taste, but it's a nice summary that'll fill in some literary blanks while not taking you six months to read.

Do not taunt the Unhappy Cthulhu.  Sleep was disturbed, may be somewhat hung-over.

Easter in the Cathedral

Cathedral of Palms, that is.  Just a Sunday hike with friends along a section of the Florida Trail near St. Marks.

Also hiked thru to Shepard Spring.

All in all, a very good day.

The BMW M1 Story

I'd always marveled at and wondered about these rare, beautiful cars.  Here's a 16 minute exposition.

What a hot mess.  Interested in one for yourself?  Look over at Bring A Trailer – $651k and rising.

No really applicable tags, but it appeals to the car nut in me so file under 'Mustangs.'

New Book: Bea Wolf

Long story short, it's Beowulf for kids, from the cartoonist who does Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal.  Totally age appropriate for any kid old enough to sit still while being read to.  No gore, no drinking of blood by the monster.  Fully illustrated, in the style shown below.  Get yours here.

The heroes on their sea journey to Heorot Treeheart.

Thoughts on the Possible Approaching AI Singularity

We've all been hearing a lot about GPT-4 lately, with bizarre but intriguing poetry, buggy but improving code, and sort of a heavy-hearted "oh boy, here it comes" air.  Lately though various thinkers on the topic have taken a more pragmatic, hands-on approach to answering questions around the entire prospect of a true general AI that could result in a true uh-oh-here-it-is-and-40-years-early technological singularity.  Here are some examples:

1. Pause development for six months and think this through.
2. Shut this shit down right damn now.  Enforce with airstrikes as needed.
3. A 3.5 hour interview with the author of the above item.  (I'm only an hour in.)
4. This genie's not going back in the bottle.  Buy.  All.  The.  Guns.

They're not kidding.  I'll throw in one of my own from a couple of years ago: Who or what do you think has been generating all these scissor statements these last few years?  Now refer to any of the above four items for possible solutions.

Hm.  Seems a little early.  I was reasonably sure we'd have fusion power first, and as such any concerns were so far in the future as to be academic.  What to do?  Just like with hurricane season, watch and wait, I suppose.