More on E-Bikes

Article at CNN: What ER doctors, prosecutors, and parents want you to know about e-bikes

As is usual with these sorts of mainstream articles, it's kind of fear-up-y.  Even so, worth the read.

About all the content I can add is that brain damage to an unprotected skull starts a little below 15 mph, and your brain doesn't care if that's your 15 mph, the car's 15 mph, or 15 mph from your 7 foot fall.  A helmet more or less doubles your head's crashworthiness, but don't count on too much even there because things like neckbones can start breaking too.  (And then it's hello motorized wheelchair for your new e-mobility.)  See previous discussion of bike helmets.

E-bikes have their place off-road, as I've discussed previously (tldr: for a few medical reasons, or for very specific race training purposes).  What's more, they have a place on-road as cargo bikes (example 1, example 2).  Commuting?  Nah, can't really see the need.  If you can't do the distance, you likely don't have the skill set to navigate the traffic.  Get a bike and build both endurance and skill, together, and then start bike commuting.

Look man, these things are motorcycles.  What kind of moron turns a tweenager loose to ride a motorcycle in traffic?

Good Night, and Good Luck

CBS News Radio signs off, forever, in about a half-hour.  End of an era.  Two stories & Wiki link:

• At (where else?) CBS
• At NPR
• Wikipedia

Hrm.  This feels so... wrong.  Almost like watching a Roman road get dug up to be re-used as fill dirt for a strip mall.

In My Former Professional Life

However, not by choice, and certainly not for fun.  These awkward units are always an easy route to unforced errors.

<permalink to xkcd>  click through for mouse-over bonus punchline

That New Chain Feel, Part 2

Last week, the gravel bike; this week the mountain bike.  Surprisingly, the cassette's still running strong now on a fourth chain.  Usually they only last for three, and that third one can be dodgy.  What's more, the latest third chain lasted for eight hundred miles.  I tell you, I had my doubts about 12-speed drivetrains initially, but wow they are tough.  For comparison, back in the day an 8-speed chain would last right at three hundred miles, and a cassette nine hundred.

BTW & note to future self, the previous chain was a SRAM GX and the new chain is the slightly less expensive NX.  It'll be interesting to see if it holds up as well.

Onward.  I've got miles to ride this morning.

Hurricane Season Kick-Off Recap

And today's event (mentioned previously) went pretty well.  Perfect weather, blue skies, and an enthusiastic crew putting it on all made it come together.  At the radio tent, we had HF & VHF/UHF radios, field-worthy antennas, and solar power.  Here are some pics:

Yaesu FT-450D HF & FT-7250D VHF/UHF radios, along with solar controller and a few other do-dads

leftmost: VHF/UHF vertical; two other poles: HF W3EDP antenna

60 watt solar panel; easy up, easy down

As usual, there was a good bit more interest in the solar than in the radios.  That's OK, emergency preparedness info got passed along in all ways at hand.

Hurricane Season Kick-Off

Details on poster below.  For more info, check at the Franklin County Emergency Management site.

Hey!  That's it's Saturday!  If you're going, don't forget!

Ah, That New Chain Feel

When the gravel bike's transmission starts treating shifter input as a suggestion for eventual action rather than as an immediate command, that's an indicator that it's time for a new chain.  A quick check with a chain stretch gauge confirmed it – not in the red zone yet, but edging onto it – and the change went smoothly.  No need to swap the cassette or chainrings yet, not if you change out a chain in time.  Usually get about three chains to the rest of the drivetrain components, before those need swaps too.  One down, two to go.  And yes, I do keep a log book of these things, because keeping track of multiple bikes would be impossible  otherwise.

The ride today was noticeably more snappy.  Funny how these little wear items creep up on you.