Jim Collins, author of Beyond Entrepreneurship (recommended by Cory Miller of iThemes at Pressnomics), suggests that budding entrepreneurs can innovate by studying something that may seem completely unrelated to your craft – “thinking outside the box.”
Lately I’ve been interested in cycling. When I’m riding, rather than putting my mind on auto-pilot (like many drivers do), I find that my mind is more alert. It’s partly due to the fact that I’m trying to avoid getting killed by drivers on auto-pilot. But it is also because I’m going slower, exposed to the air and the elements. I can hear a deer in the passing woods or smell fresh bread from the bakery. It turns out that “slowing down” is an excellent approach to problem solving. In my case, “thinking outside the (computer) box” had just become “thinking while outside.” Continue reading →
A different perspective
Because of the detailed ground-level perspective I had been getting, I’ve become enthralled with the minutia of urban design. My new obsession was somewhat legitimized recently when I was on a trip and noticed a business acquaintance was reading the same book as I was: A Pattern Language by Christopher Alexander. While I was reading it for urban design, he was using it to model real-life patterns into online social tools.
I’m not alone, far from it in fact. Automattic (WordPress.com) founder Matt Mullenweg seems to understand that we can learn from urbanism, see Companies Die, Cities Thrive. Additionally, my business partner is involved with Las Vegas’s Downtown Project, which is essentially New Urbanism being applied to downtown Vegas. While he’s not involved with urban planning, the changes are palpable, and already bearing fruit: Fremont East in downtown Las Vegas is possibly the best part of the city.
More to come
Since I’ve been trying to do “off-topic” (Casual) posts every other post, they appear roughly once a month. I wanted to write this as a sort of introduction since I now have about 6 months of posts drafted that are related to Urban Design. For those looking for more brain-food in the meanwhile, these are the main sources I follow:
You can probably find similar resources and movements related to the places you live and work.
I’ve also read several books regarding transit and urbanism (besides those mentioned here), and I hope to provide insight into their theories by examining some practical applications.
While all of this really has nothing to do with software design, studies of efficiency & economics, and connectivity & accessibility have quite a bit in common with software, and more-so the business of software. Hopefully in my brain all of these things are cross-pollinating without me consciously knowing.
My friend poked fun at my bike saying it looks like a “cop bike.” I took stock and realized he had a point. From the cop bikes I’ve seen, I’d say mine fits most of these criteria, which is to say cop bikes are really just city-going mountain bikes:
Flat handlebars
Rack/trunk bag
Knobby tires sometimes replaced with semi-slick tires
Previously my bike also had a Greenfield rear-mount kickstand which are ubiquitous on cop bikes, but I had to forgo it because my trailer attaches in the same spot 🙁
Light Options
Let’s address the last part: useful lights. I’m going to just talk about the front since any old red LED will do for the back (I got mine at Ax-Man Surplus). There are two types of lights you can put on the front of your bike: to “see” or to “be seen.” If I’m riding at night, I want to see what I could potentially run over. Also, it doesn’t hurt if everyone else on the road can see me coming a mile away. To achieve this I could have gone one of two ways: I could get a NiteRider lithium rechargeable light for about $100 that’s bike-specific, or I could get creative with a “normal” flashlight, get similar light output and recharge-ability – and still have it be useful off the bike. Plus, a flashlight goes right along with the “cop” theme. Enter: the Maglite.
I will say that out of the box, the stock (incandescent) Maglites aren’t that great: light output is abysmal. However their construction is pretty darn good and you can get them just about anywhere. AND (can you believe it?) they’re actually one of the few products you can still buy that’s made in the USA. I bought a 2 C-cell Maglite ($20) at Beisswenger’s Do-it-Best hardware store.
To affix it to the bike, DKG makes a mount called the C-mount ($25). Sounds dirty, but it looks good and works well. Yes, the mount is more than the light at this point, but we’re about to replace all the guts of this flashlight anyway.
Maglite Upgrades
To really bump things up in the light department, I bought a Cree XP-G LED for my C-cell Maglite ($40). The product page carries this message:
WARNING: This light is capable of causing eye damage at close range. Please use the light responsibly!!!
You had me at eye damage. 260 measured lumens to be precise. And, you can still use the Maglite’s reflector to focus (or scatter) the light however you’d like.
Malkoff Maglite close-up
Anyway, some of you may have noticed that I purchased the wrong size(!) LED: 3 cell, but my flashlight is a 2 cell. Not to worry, this was intentional, because I equip the flashlight with two 25500 lithium-ion batteries rated at 3.7v each. Times two they equal 7.4-8.4v (depending on charge) – about that of 3 or 4 regular 1.5v alkaline batteries. The combination provides good light with recharge-ability in a smaller package.
Strange batteries like this are easy to find through electronic cigarette (vape/vapor) online shops such as Kalamazoo Vapor Shop. The cells run about $10-15 each – kind of expensive, but keep in mind they have a protective circuit board contained within.
Protected vs. Unprotected Cells
I used to have two normal (unprotected) cells. The unprotected cells posed two problems:
Second, unlike cell phones and computers, my flashlight doesn’t have a safety device to automagically turn off the light when the batteries are perilously low – the idiot behind the handlebars decides when they turn on/off. Long story short – I think I left the light on all night by accident one time and one of my unprotected cells dropped to 0.1 volts and can no longer be (safely) charged back up. Use protection! Isn’t that what they teach kids in school? Protected cells’ internal circuit boards prevent them from running too low. I also recommend getting an extra pair of batteries so you can swap out easily when the other needs a charge.
In the aftermath of what the Bike Snob calls “Shitstorm 2012” (the doping scandal primarily revolving around Lance Armstrong), professional bike racing is being reevaluated. Long-time team sponsor Rabobank has decided to stop sponsoring the sport entirely.
Several pundits are now chiming in, posturing as to what the future of professional road cycling will look like. One of the most thought provoking articles I read actually suggests that doping should be allowed, or at least not prosecuted, by implementing a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.
One of the arguments is that by entirely eliminating doping, the lack of super-human efforts will drive fanatical fans away from the sport:
Hardcore fans hooked on heroic, drug-fuelled performances may not care about the extent of doping, but may leave the sport when those heroic performances become fewer and further between.
I watched the 2012 Tour de France, and you know what I thought was heroic? On stage 10, there was an uphill finish where five breakaway riders partook in what commentator Paul Sherwen called
The slowest sprint I have seen in the Tour de France.
Co-commentator Phil Liggett said he has “never seen a sprint quite as slow as this” and used the anecdote of The Tortoise and the Hare to describe how the slowly the riders were attacking each other as individuals ran out of steam:
The only thing that would have made that finish better was if there were some sound bytes of the loquacious (and outspoken doping opponent) Jens Voigt telling his legs to shut up.
Splitting the Field
The Conversation article suggests having two categories of racers in the same race: one with zero-tolerance for drugs, and one where they simply don’t test.
Apparently in the Australian bodybuilding scene, they’ve already adapted to the widespread drug use in their sport by creating a separate “natural” competition for drug-free athletes.
The Conversation op-ed, coins the other half – the potentially drug-enhanced group “excellence,” which I feel gives the athletes more credit than they deserve. Emphasis on potentially because it assumes that clean riders might like to compete in this class as well – but I think after finishing mid-pack (or more realistically at the end of the pack) they probably won’t find their competitive level fulfilling.
If you’re going to split the field in two, why not just split them into different leagues? You can have what’s left of the clean racers, and then start a new, garish, WWE-style, entertainment-based cycling league funded by Vince McMahon – shown Sundays on NBC (and Versus). <Insert XFL Joke Here>
It’s too bad Mario Cipollini was never convicted of doping, he’s just the macho-womanizer this new league could use as a spokesman to jump-start the ratings:
Long before I was into bikes I was into sports cars. Before all you vegan hippies vilify me, I’ve been working from home since 2008, significantly reducing my carbon footprint, plus I recycle like the dickens. However, my love of sports cars has ingrained some preconceived notions about what I consider convenient, functional, and stylish. Having been newly re-acclimated to the cycling “scene,” I’ve found there are aspects of the bike industry that I cannot (and will not) conform to. Instead, these are my workarounds.
Presta valves. I understand these things may be more advanced in technology than the lowly normal-guy Shrader valve found on everything else with pneumatic tires. But since it’s a numbers game, I’m going with Shrader. I already have several quality (read: accurate) tire gauges and an air compressor for Schrader valves. Also, forget about the valve adapters – they suck. Many standard air chucks require the center pin to be depressed in order to dispense air (like those found at gas stations). The adapter will not accommodate this. The Bike Snob would be disappointed in my approach, but as he knows AYHSMB (All You Haters Suck My Balls), plus I’ve bought both of hisbooks.
Drilling for a Schrader valve
I almost get a sadistic pleasure out of drilling a larger hole in a nice new set of rims, and I’ll tell you how to do it.
Get a 21/64″ drill bit from the hardware store
Drill the Presta hole into a larger Schrader hole
Ream the hole with a rat-tail file and/or sandpaper to remove any burrs
Profit
Am I worried about weakening the rim? No, today’s double (sometimes triple) wall rims are certainly up to the task.
Deep-V Schrader tubes
Some department store bikes now apparently have faux deep-V rims with Schrader tubes, which has led to the availability of long-stem Schrader tubes at your local bike shop as replacements. This was a great match for me to drill out a Shimano deep-V wheelset off of Craigslist – no regrets!
Clip-in Pedals
I use my bike for transportation and recreation. When I arrive at my destination I don’t want to be clip-clopping around like a horse on a city street. But I do like the feeling of being “strapped in” on my road-going bike. So I’m perfectly content to run a cheap set of rat-trap pedals with some leather straps, as it allows me to arrive wearing “normal” footwear:
I added the bash guard as an extra measure to keep my pant cuffs out of the chain (see cartoon below). If it happens to protect the chainring too – bonus.
Spandex Shorts
The final and most controversial aspect: cycling attire. My approach is generally as such:
Yehuda Moon by Rick Smith
However there was one point when I could be found in spandex shorts and a cycling cap ala Wes & Woody in White Men Can’t Jump. It was the early 90’s and cycling-wear as fashion had permeated enough to reach the Midwest – the final bastion of fashion trends. This was presumably fueled by American cyclist Greg LeMond‘s three Tour de France victories.
I don’t mind cycling jerseys, in fact I like them, but I tend to wear them one size too big. That is, I like the jersey to hang a little loose rather than being skin tight. I’m not riding in the Tour de France, nor do I have the body to prove it.
Cycling shorts on the other hand, cannot simply be purchased a size larger. I agree that the padded spandex serves a purpose, but cycling clothiers should take a hint from their running brethren: sew the spandex in as a liner, with a “regular guy” exterior. This does exist in fact, sometimes marketed as “mountain bike shorts” – probably because mountain bikers are more likely to be regular guys on bikes.
At my age, it’s not often that I get to say this anymore:
I’m too young to remember but… Bike shops back in the day had a mechanic who was also versed in welding and brazing. He may not have been a bike builder by trade, but knew how to add accoutrements to an average bicycle such as eyelets for racks, fenders, bottles, etc. Today that person doesn’t exist in the bike shop, but s/he does still exist, in the form of your local bicycle builder.
My need was for a bike which could tote a human child. While in Belgium, Jessi and I rode bikes with kid seats mounted over the back wheel, which my son and I had enjoyed:
A friend of mine recommended getting a Chariot Carrier – he said other trailers he tried were cheap (quality wise) – Chariot’s are definitely not cheap. But I quite enjoyed our Belgium ride set up, and I found the Topeak BabySeat which mounted atop a rack that could be used for other things, and it was 25% the cost of a Chariot without any fixin’s.
Unfortunately my bicycle did not have any provisions for a rack. I could have sold my bike or frame and got another with mounts pre-installed. Or I could have just got the Chariot Carrier. Both of those options were going to cost a pretty penny. My favorite local bike shop recommended me to Erik Noren at Peacock Groove, suggesting he could simply add some rack mounts to my frame. Having Erik add mounts was going to still keep it cheaper than the other options, plus I get to keep my bike which I’ve grown attached to. Erik’s bread and butter is building complete bikes, not doing bike mods, but if you can fit your modification needs into his busy schedule, he can surely do it – he can pretty much do anything with a bicycle.
Erik gave me the “star” treatment with these water bottle mounts acting as rack mounts on the seat stays:
Forgive my shoddy paintwork, it’s meant to be cheap and functional, not a show bike.
Then Erik added a super-beefy mount to the dropout for the rack to thread into:
Erik does amazing work and I would trust him with my son’s life.
