Cheap-o Helmets

Article about these cooler-styro-grade POS's at Singletracks.

TLDR Takeaways from the article:

1. Know the helmet brand.
2. Look for safety features / safety technology.
3. Expect to pay at least $50 for a safe helmet.  (added: at least $50 – but realistically, budget more for $100, and be pleasantly surprised if it comes in lower.  I mean, what's a whole bunch more comfort and safety worth?)

Those are good, but if you're new to bikes, knowing the brand and knowing what tech to look for may not be in your realm of knowledge.  Here, let me add a few more:

• Buy your helmet from a local bike shop, because you can try it on, and fit really matters.  For that matter, so does supporting your LBS.
• If you don't have a LBS and have to order online, buy from a bicycle-specific vendor.  Amazon's getting crap-tacular lately, being flooded with cheap garbage.  And don't even get me started on some of the more general merch sites.  Anyway, my two go-tos these days are Cambria Bike and Modern Bike.  YMMV.
• If it has a goofy name like "GuudLuk," well, you already know.

Graphics?  No, not really today.  The linked article has some though.  On second thought, here's an oldie-but-a-goodie from this 2012 post:

Not pizza sauce.

Kunstler Ruminates

On suburbia, the somewhat thwarted promise of New Urbanism, and how a decentralized project to re-make American towns into places worth living in has gone off the rails.

The Late, Great Debate about Suburbia, an Apologia

It's a worthwhile if slightly depressing read.  I have my own thoughts on these and related matters but will keep them to myself for now, being in the middle of various situations.  However you can glean that I'm largely in sympathy with Kunstler's views on these matters simply from that fact that I'm posting this link.

Learning to Shift for Yourself

A two minute video on a school that teaches how to drive a manual transmission, from CBS News via youtube.  One of those little trials we all should pass.

Coffeeneuring in 2026

I received the email notice two days ago that The 2026 Coffeeneuring is go, and will begin on Saturday October 10th.  I like the idea, and there's an off chance that I'll participate this year, but most likely not.  The entire event more or less culminated for me in 2020, on my first official day of retirement, and in the aftermath of Hurricane Zeta no less.  After moving to Apalach I participated again in 2021, but with the two coffee shops in town only one and two blocks away, and local bike friends being not at all into the event, it felt vaguely contrived.  (note: not in general, just for me in this location)  Especially in comparison to epic multi-county treks to cool little book-and-coffee places, or to an alligator-haunted private palm tree paradise, or to that very first run downtown to the Mockingbird back in '17.  Kind of hard to top.

Anyway, Coffeeneuring returns, and is worth a mention here.  It is fun and worthwhile, if your locale suits.  Here's the main site, watch for any coming details.  And who knows, I might jump in after all.

Equinox Noted

Time marches onward and two of the local palm trees have marched upward, so my usual living room equinox light show – in which the rising sun formerly beamed through the kitchen window, bounced off a picture of a gargoyle, to a picture of Horus, and finally onto the living room wall shared by my office – anyway, it seems to be a thing of the past.  At least, so long as those two palm trees block the way.  And yes, I realize that sounds like something out of Raiders of the Lost Ark, but I swear it all just happened by accident.  Anyway, the inset picture is from spring 2023.  I had forgotten until I looked it up just now how bright that reflection had been.

Also worth mentioning, here's an old post noting this day in aviation history when, 22 years apart, the B-29 and B-70 prototypes first took wing.  What a Difference 22 Years Makes  Somehow, 2004 just doesn't seem all that long ago.

Finally, I see that the morning cool forecasts for this Thursday, Friday, & Saturday have been revised downward to 65º.  I'll take it!

ps: Speaking of weird chance celestial alignments, take a look at today's NASA APOD.  Huh.

pps: We seem to have the leading edge of the first ragged cold front about to pass over.  Ragged or not, I'll take it.

Sweet relief.

Fall Weather

I see that Tuesday's the fall equinox, and at 8:04pm EDT to be precise.  Let's check the forecast...

88º!  Well, with the equinox so late on Tuesday, maybe fall's in store for Wednesday?  Huh, 89º, hm.

On the bright side, lows Thursday, Friday, and Saturday are in the 60's – admittedly, the high 60's –  but at least that's something.

Maybe later, punkin' spice.  Definitely not in September around here.

Out In the Hot Early Fall Sunshine

Sprayed frame protector lube up into the ICT today.  Messy, but at least I've (sort of) got the job down now.  Here's a link to last year's spray job on the Straggler, which includes a link to a how-to video.

Bleh.  Now I've got to clean all the outside stuff with windex and put it all back together.  Pain in the butt, but for a steel bike that's going to see beach action it's a mandatory before-you-go treatment.

On the easy side of things, one of the guys at Epic Bikes recommended putting tubeless tire sealant into the tubes, rather than going full tubeless on fat bikes.  Injecting the sealant was both neat and painless, to my great surprise and relief.

Just... Around... The... Corner...

Today's xkcd:

Meanwhile here in NW FL, August continues into its 48th day.

It's the Little Adjustments

It's the little adjustments that make a bike your own.  Epic Bikes set the ICT up right, but they can't know about when I broke my left wrist in 4th grade and so I prefer the left brake lever slightly higher.  Nor do they have my notebook with 30 years of "now it feels right" measurements all on paper.  Again, they set it up right, but not exactly dialed down to right.  Right in the ballpark though, and a good starting point.  Perfectly rideable right out the door.

One example of this dialing in that will actually show up on camera is with the back rack.  Here's the before pic:

and after:

Apart from the time of day (and wow did that change the apparent paint color), the change is subtle.  Initially, the rack bolts protruded just enough to occasionally knick the inside of my knees.  Rearranging things so that the support rods run to the inside of the frame bosses changed all that for the better.  I don't mind occasionally bumping a smooth seat stay when standing up, but scraping across a square-shouldered bolt head was a little much.

Another example of dialing the bike in was the choice of pedals, Raceface Rides.  Flats, OK, but why relatively inexpensive ones without metal teeth?  Simply because I don't want to tear up my fishing shoes while riding this thing.  At the same time though, the plastic teeth give enough grip for off-road.  Certainly not  as grippy as metal – call it an engineering compromise.  Surprisingly, they can be serviced and there are even rebuild kits from the manufacturer, not something I'd expect at their $40-ish price point.  We'll see how they hold up, but in any case they are easily replaceable.

Anyway, it's these sorts of things that need dialing in for the first month or so, before a bike is ready for serious use.  Don't ever be afraid to take a wrench to your new bike.  It's yours, after all.  Might as well get it right.

More Meh, this time on VHF

SG comments on how the VHF contest weekend was going Saturday: about what I expected.

VHF has its uses, but they are mostly limited to practical line-of-sight work here in the flatlands of the Gulf Coast.  The fun propagation effects you get in mountainous terrain just aren't here.  Best part of the whole post was the term "August 43rd" to describe the weather.

Anyway, after reading SG's comments I didn't bother and moved on to other matters.  September here in the Infra-Deep South is a frustrating time of waiting, and trying to keep spirits up while getting plans and gear ready for cooler weather.

Meh.

Not nothing, but nothing to freak over.

Rode the fat bike today, made a few more adjustments.  More tomorrow.

Down at the Bike Shop

 Last week they received the summons:

And this week they delivered.  Hoo boy, did they ever deliver:

Yes, that's a palm tree it's leaning against.  Of course it's a palm tree.  Rum bottle not included.

It's a Surly Ice Cream Truck fat bike.  For starters, it's near stock with only the addition of the manufacturer's fat bike-specific rear rack and a set of Race Face Ride pedals.  Epic Bikes in Tallahassee delivered it pretty well dialed and ready to go.  Too bad it was raining so hard yesterday, or I would've ridden Munson on the way home.

So, there's the obvious question of Why?  Simply because, while there are no real bike trails nearby, there are any number of crappy, sandy, multi-use woods trails around here as well as several suitable stretches of beach.  None of these are all that great for hiking, but with something that can cover some ground a bit faster, now that can make them interesting and worthwhile.  At least, that's my hope.  Well, cooler and dryer weather is right around the corner, and we shall see.

More later.  I need to go find a rum-themed bike bottle.

Four Out of Three

Earlier, I briefly mentioned that I had a batch of ham students going for their test Thursday evening.  All three passed the foundational Tech test, and then two tried the next step General test with one passing.  I'm proud of all of them.  Now the real work begins – getting them on the air.

Bonus Tab-Clearing Post: Leon Sinks Geological Area

Planning on a day trip once the weather cools a little.  Links:

• https://www.fs.usda.gov/r08/florida/recreation/leon-sinks-geological-area
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leon_Sinks_Geological_Area
• https://floridahikes.com/leon-sinks/

Wow but that is a beautiful picture of Big Dismal, shamelessly stolen from the first link:

Expect a follow-up post in the coming months.

Peak Hurricane Season, and...

Noted not gloated.

(Was that ever a saying?  It sounds so trite and flippant that it should have been, decades ago.)

Anyway, on to today's NHC forecast:

I'll take it!

I've got a batch of students going in for their Tech ham license test this evening, and many-many more interesting things for  later this week.  Stay tuned.

Bonus Tab-Clearing Post: The Fall of the USSR in Two Podcasts

Kind of lightweight, but still a good survey of the late 80s into the early 90s over at Stuff You Should Know.  About an hour for each segment.

• Part 1
• Part 2

Bonus Tab-Clearing Post: Doomsday Ain't What It Used To Be

Over at JMG's weekly essay blog: Economics: The Y2K Fallacy Revisited

Or, why bad times won't necessarily be all that bad.  Just keep your head out of the sand, out of the gloomy clouds, and on straight.  Push come to shove, we still have plenty of paper how-to books in libraries.

Bike Repair Stand Score!

So I dropped by the local bike shop this morning, and some guy who's moving had dropped off a bike repair stand just to get rid of it.  The owner didn't have any use for it, so he moved it on down the line to... me.  It's the same model as in the picture, though that's not my picture nor is it my stand.

Never had a bike stand before, though I have used any number of them through the years.  I'm sure I'll get decades of good use out of it.  In fact, I have one of these frame protector spray jobs coming up, and I'm sure this stand will be a great help.

Anyway, Skunk Monkeys Bike Shop, 41 Market Street, Apalach.  Great folks.

Bonus Tab-Clearing Post: Cave Rescuers Use Ground-Penetrating Digital Radios

Waaaay down in the 2200m band around 137kHz.  This article at Dan Romanchik's blog initially alerted me to it, but here are all the other links:

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrsuT64SFB4
• https://qrp-labs.com/qdxm.html
• https://makezine.com/article/electronics/cave-radio-talking-through-solid-rock/
• https://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/new-rock-piercing-radio-tech-helps-rescue-tourist-trapped-in-canmore-area-cave

Interesting stuff.  If I had any spare time and collaborators, I'd look into how this band propagates across large bodies of salt water.  Vertically polarized, of course.  If I get around to building something, I'll call a few friends over by Biloxi, or maybe contact some Tampa area hams.  Yeah, real soon now.

Reminder to Self: ARRL September VHF Contest This Weekend

It runs from 2pm on Saturday to 11pm on Sunday.  Think I'll try at least to pick up some 6m traffic.  Since putting up the new antenna last winter, I've barely been using it.  Anyway, links:

• https://thesilicongraybeard.blogspot.com/2026/09/alright-hams-next-big-vhf-contest-is.html
• https://www.contestcalendar.com/weeklycont.php#20591
• https://www.arrl.org/september-vhf    <---<<< Rules.  Kind of important.

Sorry, no spiffy graphics for this post either.