Messages

1

South / Floods in Georgia.

« on: November 17, 2024, 05:12:21 pm »

Below is a photo of A GDOT substation that is underwater from hurricane Helene. There has been a major flood since then. Not only was highway 17 closed but one lane of the interstate was also underwater. I was told the roads inland were also underwater. It might be possible to construct a detour route through the tank roads. But some one high up will have to negotiate with the military base. These floods were caused by GDOT. Shortly after the photo someone ran a fire hose under highway 17 along the railroad tracks to drain the water. If highway construction floods a farm or prevents water from getting to a farm the Department of Agriculture can order the highway department to fix the problem. All that needs to be done is to reconnect the waterways that were cut by highway construction. GDOT is not going to fix the problem unless they are forced. You will need to find someone who has read the old laws and a fed who is willing to throw his weight around. https://flic.kr/p/2quMYFQ

2

General Discussion / Re: Florida criminalizes sleeping on public land.

« on: August 04, 2024, 07:21:03 pm »

In 1985 I drove through Virginia pulling a small trailer. I exited 3 off ramps looking for gas and a hotel. Even back then I knew if an interstate sign says gas lodging next right the law requires these facilities to be open 24 hours. At the Third off ramp I pulled over and went to sleep. The police did not bother me. Nothing pisses me off more than some one who gets arrested because the government breaks the law. VDOT broke the law be failing to remove the signs. It is a basic principal of law you can not compel people to do the impossible. The supreme court ruling is in conflict with the constitution and territorial laws which the states do not have the authority to over rule. I have read all of the United States Code and the acts of congress before the United States Code and all of the territorial laws I could get my hands on concerning navigable waterways roads and rail roads. DeSantis is wrong and it is likely he knows he is wrong. I will not be punished because of the behavior of homeless drunks. Do not give up. 

3

General Discussion / Florida criminalizes sleeping on public land.

« on: August 03, 2024, 08:32:14 pm »

The arrests will be starting in October. Of course this is aimed at the homeless. Eventually it will be ruled unconstitutional like it has every where else it has been tried. I just left Florida after circumnavigating it. Not really any fun. You will encounter locked rest rooms no electrical outlets and outrageous prices. I recommend avoiding Florida until this blows over. 

4

Gear Talk / Re: Thinking outside the panniers

« on: February 01, 2024, 08:16:15 am »

My computer goes in the pannier on the right side and is protected by 2 pieces of Lexan I made from a sneeze guard. I park the bike leaning against a wall which protects the compute from a quick grab.

5

Gear Talk / Re: Are there counterfeit DT spokes?

« on: February 01, 2024, 08:07:05 am »

Found another wheel with 8 broken spokes. These spokes have a rounded star on the head. https://www.flickr.com/photos/63373992@N07/53501272918/

6

Gear Talk / Shimano Nexus Teardown.

« on: December 08, 2023, 08:55:36 am »

There are many variations of this hub so this may not apply to every variation. First of all the axle is 3/8 inch and is flattened. The flattened portion is to keep the axle from rotating. This is not robust enough to allow for serious torque. I clamped down on it with vise grips and tried to rotate it and the axle spun in the vise grips. There is no way in hell any bicycle can prevent the axle from spinning if it locks up. I would say this would destroy an aluminum frame the first time it happens. In the past 11 mm axles flattened to 10 mm have been made for tandems and Bullseye made 12 mm axles flattened to 10 mm. Even with these I would not rely on the axle and would insists on a reaction arm like coaster brakes used.  It was difficult to get apart you will need either a 17 mm or 18 mm cone wrench. Shimano is not going to sell you a cone. The hub was packed with grease that had dried out. The cones and races had pitted. They like to imply the hub is weather sealed but actually it is worse than Shimano's regular hubs. Don't buy.

7

South Atlantic / Violations of Title 23 section 109m United states code.

« on: November 28, 2023, 08:38:32 am »

I'm in the everglades. I considered following interstate 75 highway 84 to Miami. This does not seem to be possible. This is a clear violation of the law in the title. I have a bit of a problem in that I have lost 3 of my email providers. I will not be filing a complaint until I can get a more stable email. I want to repeate here some one I think may be the Amish have sued some government I think may be Ohio and a federal judge ruled preventing horses and wagons from using public roads is a violation of the religious freedom on the United States constitution. Highway department officials are terrified of this ruling and they are under a gag order not to discuss it. Once again the constitution says the Postmaster General and only the Postmaster General has the authority to regulate traffic on postal roads. Highway 84 is certainly a postal road but I will need to be able to prove this. I have more laws very old laws that I will leave as a surprise to the courts. If any one in the highway department is your friend you may want to pass on this information so they can decide to ignore the unconstitutional state law as is being done in other states. Again I have already won this battle in other states. If I do get pulled over it will be under controlled conditions. The state police officer and highway department officials will be facing the death penalty. I also have a law that will let me disbar a judge.

8

Gear Talk / Cross Spoking the Rhyno Lite.

« on: May 14, 2023, 03:31:03 pm »

I built a new wheel using a Rhyno Lite rim but rather than use the spoke holes closest to the flange I used the spoke holes farthest from the flange. This gives the equivalent strength to a flange 5 mm wider. Most rims won't let you do this but the Rhyno uses brass ferrules. Santana Tandems uses a 60mm wide flange compared to a 55mm wide flange on Shimano spline brake hubs. This will make the wheel stronger but there is some disagreement on how much. I would say about 25 percent. I can't see and disadvantage to this design unless you are using very large flanges or very small wheels. Not my design it is at least 100 years old. As usual it will be tested to destruction. No photos I can hardy tell the difference from my old wheel.   

9

Gear Talk / Re: My Pannier Design

« on: May 03, 2023, 05:52:28 pm »

On normal bags I generally puncture 2 holes at the top and bolt 2 conduit clamps to the rack. This is an anti theft device and prevents the bags from jumping up on a bump. Also I usually add a conduit clamp around the seat stay which prevents the bags from rotating into the spokes. With these bags I am going to tie the bags to the rack. Also shown you would have to remove the flashlight to get the bags off. This is 2 conduit clamps with 2 different types of bolts.

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Gear Talk / Re: My Pannier Design

« on: May 01, 2023, 05:55:28 pm »

Almost done. I am quite happy with the design. For the model two I am going to complete the bags first then add the straps last. This will make them replaceable and allow me to adjust the placement.  https://flic.kr/p/2oxiz5U

11

Gear Talk / My Pannier Design

« on: February 28, 2023, 07:54:17 pm »

I've had bags on my bicycle for the past 30 years. Even when I'm not touring I keep them loaded for testing. These generally fail by pulling apart at the seams. So I decided to eliminate the seams and use lap joints. Every thing you see here is irrelevant this is just an exercise in lap joints. The rest of the bags design makes best use of materials I found on tour. If I do another one I will use a Nomex flight suit and the layers will be glued together with one of the spray on rubbers then sewed and sprayed again so it will be one complete piece. This is primarily a computer bag so I didn't want any bolts going through it. I have some plastic that will fastened to the rack and some that will go inside behind the computers. Each one of those straps are rated at 500 pounds and there are no breaks. I was going to fasten the buckles under the lid but then decided to attach them directly to the rack. There is no way I'm going to allow even the possibility of the straps getting into the wheel so there is additional sewing needed. The buckles came off of shopping carts. The plastic piece shown is called a keeper and can be used if you break a buckle. I found the lawn chair material after sewing the straps or I would have put them under the straps. I will use some leather to reinforce the corners and the lid hinge. Also on the new design I will use a slant design on one side to give heel clearance. I know they are ugly prototypes are allowed to be ugly. https://flic.kr/p/2ojzsfm https://flic.kr/p/2ojzt4v

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Gear Talk / Crescent wide jaw adjustible wrench.

« on: November 01, 2022, 07:09:12 pm »

My tool kit has not changed much photo below. I lost my adjustable and had to buy a new one. I wanted the lightest wrench that would fit my headset which seems to be 34mm. I bought the extra wide which opens up to 1.5 inches. It says 39mm but mine is closer to 38.2mm. I wanted the Crescent locking adjustable but the 10 inch does not open up wide enough. Brookstone used to sell a simular wrench but there was a patent dispute. The Chinese wrenches will not be as strong and heavier that the American made which are no longer sold. I expect it will be strong enough and they did a good job reducing the weight. Also I like the new larger screw. I spent $10 extra for the black coated. This is bolted to the down tube with two hose clamps and a screw in the water bottle boss.  https://flickr.com/photos/63373992@N07/7122658997/in/photolist-bRpunt-AGna4m-oEQuyi-xzjuP1-MvVXCt-fraX88-2k4T9NY-mZvSwp-mZvh98

13

General Discussion / Cycling in the hurricane.

« on: October 09, 2022, 06:26:32 pm »

I want to be the first to admit I made a big mistake. I have been out in 80 mph winds twice. Once in Salt Lake City on the interstate. An 18 wheeler blowed over. I took shelter at a rest area. Once in South Dakota also on the interstate. I was in my lowest gear the 20 front 39 rear going about 6 mph when I got hit by a gust that stopped me dead. The wind lifted me up when I stood on the pedal. I also managed to get to a rest area. I was in Tampa when I heard about the hurricane and decided the best thing to do is to get inland to high ground. I thought the winds would generally be going in the same direction as the hurricane. But hurricanes travel slow and the winds go around in a circle. So I faced head winds. I made it to Lakeland. I bought some coffee and sat down and watched the wind for a couple of hours. It was almost keeping up with the interstate traffic. At dark I went to my hidey hole under an interstate overpass. I could have checked into a hotel but I didn't trust them not to blow over. I stayed dry and out of the wind and slept well. The wind woke me up several times and I estimate it at 80 mph. Officially Lakeland got 60 mph winds. Lakeland lost some carports but no roofs. 

14

General Discussion / Re: Average Weight Loss/Gain on Cross Country Tour

« on: May 18, 2022, 09:15:22 am »

I did 2226 miles in 22 days at the age of 47. I was a bit in a hurry since my sister needed me to sign some legal papers. My legs went from 26 inches to 23 inches. I gained the muscle back just as quickly. I have concluded if I ride 55 miles a day my weight stays stable.

15

General Discussion / 6 REI’s no bags

« on: May 18, 2022, 09:07:49 am »

Just rode from Indianapolis to Miami. I stopped in 6 REI’s looking for panniers. In every case their website said the bags were in stock. In every case the bags were not in stock. One employee said he used the last set to replace a warranty return. One other employee tried to sell me a single bag from a set. There is no excuse for this. They should hire my sister who runs computers for Eli Lilly.