10% luck, 20% skill, 15% concentrated power of will, 5% pleasure, 50% pain…a 100% reason to remember the name
I wanted an inspirational piece of advice to begin the new year with and this article Back in Racing Form After Dropping the Fork published in the NYTimes. They have a clever picture on the front page, and a great article about a racer getting back in the game at the old age of 34 and while I have never been a racer, I also don’t have to get back to that level. The question remains, what level can I get back to?
My favorite Cycling resolutions for 2010 came from this article by Selene Yaeger on Bicycling.com
Don’t expect to see changes if you always ride the same routes at the same speed with the same people. If cycling improvement is what you’re after, resolve to do these 10 things in the months ahead.
The question is which will I actually commit to, or even consider for 2010?
Register for a Race – A little out of my price range, would rather have a new bike!
Go Easy More Often – This makes sense and I can commit to it!
Ride Out of Your Rut – Willingly
Work on the Fundamentals – Trainer? Would love to set one up regularly, but will pass on this one for now.
Get a Jump on the Competition – Makes sense, except for time and exposure to someone who knows about this, will try skateboarding to provide something.
Shrink Your Cycling Circles – A group ride would be fun, need a group, probably not the issue she mentions.
Condition Your Core – I will commit to trying this!
Track Your Progress – Commit!
Balance Your Body – Need a stability ball
Set Up a Cycle – Can a commuter do this?
The following two riders make me want to leave earlier than June, despite a job, and raise awareness and funds for something. What about you?
http://www.moneyformilescampaign.info/
Collin Roughton and Ashley Mitchell, two Portland Cyclists setting out on January 2nd, 2010 to travel from Florida to San Diego, and back along the coast to Portand, Oregon.
We’re riding because we love to cycle, and we’re riding for Bike Farm, and the Coalition for a Livable Future, two organizations we support, love, and want to see be successful in their work within the Portland Community.
We’re asking that you, and your organization make a monetary donation to these two organizations. We want to raise $1 for every mile we ride. That totals just around 5, 080 miles, and $5,080 dollars total between these important organizations. Help us reach our goal!
A little can go a long way! Your donation of $5, $10, $25, $35, or $50 towards one or both of these organizations will help us reach our goal. Please visit the ‘our organizations’ page below.
Bar End Brake Light: BEBL – More DIY How To Projects
Overview
Group riding would be much safer if bikes had brake lights. The lack of brake lighting on bicycles has lead to the audio cues of “SLOWING” or “STOPPING” being shouted at every turn. While this may enhance safety, it certainly cuts into the serenity of a ride.
This project offers a viable solution that can increase both safety and serenity on a group ride. With embedded programming made easy by the Arduino integrated development environment, electronics getting smaller, more capable, and cheaper, this project is possible for the do-it-yourselfer.
BEBL Challenge! Be the first, and get your hardware cost reimbursed. I will award a $35 reimbursement, by mail or PayPal, to the first person to post a video online that demonstrates a functioning and mounted Bar End Brake Light made from these plans. Looking forward to seeing your project.
Design Criteria
Other than the obvious criterion — light up when braking, I wanted this light to look cool, cool enough to mount on any expensive racing bike. This rules out any visible wiring. I also wanted the light to be portable, meaning it will work on more than one bike. Thus no brake-lever specific triggering should be used.
Solution
The final design is centered around a 3-axis accelerometer board provided by Pololu.com . This product is simple to use with an Arduino, small enough to fit inside the handle bars, and best of all cheap at $15. Also, this accel has an on-board voltage regulator that we will take advantage of to power the whole circuit.
The processing takes place in an ATmega328 programmed with Arduino. These chips can be also be programmed directly in C, but Arduino takes care of a lot of setup and generally makes programming less tedious. Arduino has everything this project needs. The ATmega168 would probably suffice for this project but the ATmeta328 at $1 more, provides 2X the program space.
Mounting the computer inside the handlebars provides an enclosure for the project.
Have you ever purchased a single month of cable T.V. just to watch the Tour? Shaved your legs to avoid road-rash? Calculated out your ideal Q-factor? Weighed the benefits of titanium versus carbon fiber with the intensity of an aerospace engineer? Pushed yourself to the point that you fall over trying to clip out? We have. We know. Join us.
Here’s how it goes down:
Sign up for Instant Alerts so you always know The Deal. But don’t blame us if you overdose.
