Lab Notes
(09/10/21)
The Grid Theory segment took a first look at the Level 5-6 blackout in the New Orleans region in the wake of Hurricane Ida and the need for distributed power in a place that gets hit with Category 2 and 3 storms seemingly every other year.
Meanwhile in the lab, I went to get wood at the Lowe big box, where customer service is as bad at the old Radio Shack stores...
The strap anchors for the stone. Actually bigger than expected..
What was advertized as a solid looking hardwood board was actually an edge glued shelf panel...
I'm only slightly less pissed that this is the standard instead of a solid board more than 8 inches wide...
Zinc-plated steel flat braces or mending plates like these could reinforce the middle shelf...
Half & Half Pre-Thinned Tung Oil, the apparent best choice to waterproof the pine shelves for outdoor use...
The middle shelf marked up for the stone storage space and the strap anchors...
Marked out the hose clamp anchor points also on the middle shelf...
The support rod holes marked up. That's it until I get the third shelf...
The bottom shelf placed on the trailer to mark the shallow cutouts. Centered 3 inches from the front...
...And 2 inches from the back...
A rough idea of the shallow cutouts...
A standard bastard file should do the trick...
3/4 inch wood screws for the strap anchors...
The local home improvement store just happened to have these 18 inch long strap tie flat braces. 3 more would be satisfactory...
(09/25/21)
I was going to do an update on how much power had been restored in New Orleans, but the only infomation source is the company Entergy, which claims 95% of the city is restored, even though that big east side Avondale tower hasn't been replaced and many areas south and east are still dark and sweltering. The utility itself is coming under increasing fire from years of aggressive resistance to improving maintenence and upkeep of the infrastructure (just like PG&E here), as well as trying to kneecap solar microgrid programs. Anyway, instead I'm taking an outside the box lateral view of the biggest problem with New Orleans in general that restored power won't fix - its geography sucks...
The New Orleans coastal area in the before time...
The contemporary New Orleans coastal area with climate chaos added...
In a swampy nutshell, 65% of the city is at or below sea level; over the past century, Louisiana's coastline has lost 2000 sq. mi. of land; and the sea is currently reclaiming land at the rate of a football field every hour. Add in the certainty that a hurricane will roll through almost every 2-3 years to damage a portion of whatever power infrastructure is built or repaired, and the city that once served a major role as a trade and transportation hub/chokepoint is now a battered bullseye that still hasn't fully recovered from Katrina. So here's a radical idea - relocate the city west to where the Mississippi River has naturally wanted to go if the levees weren't there...
91 miles W. sits the Atchafalaya River, where a significant portion of the municipal, business and residential sections of New Orleans could be shifted without even changing the flow by removing a hundred years worth of existing levees. It would take a few decades, but you know, move everything except the original settlement, the French Quarter that's above sea level and would remain a major tourist location.
Easier said than done, with a ton of logistic issues, but it is possible, and would save billions of dollars in future repairs. Just a thought...
Meanwhile in the bike lab, while waiting for the first of the month, I took another look at the state beach hike & bike campsites page to catch previously missing maps or hadn't been post-fire updated, and I caught a few nearby and downstate...
Downstate: Pfeiffer Big Sur, Hearst San Simeon, and El Capitán near Santa Barbara. Nearby: China Camp and Samuel P Taylor...
The cargo frame bottom shelf after using the bastard file. The fitting was too tight, so the divots weren't deep enough...
I used the dremel with a metal bit to deepen the divots, making more elbow room and a more comfortable fit...
(10/15/21)
While I was very disappointed in how bike-unfriendly I found the BLM in terms of formal campsites, I can at least use some of the limited public lands (if I ride well inland to reach them for boondocking). Meanwhile, I managed to score some DIY Stimulus funds over the next few months to take care of the remaining odds and ends in the Pre Launch phase of my bike walkabout...
First item on the remaining list is the other braces for the middle shelf in their general weight-bearing plaement...
The third 18 x 24 pine shelf is at least a quarter inch short. I'm done with Lowe's...
A spare whole chain is the last piece of 'worst case road repair scenario' gear for the tool bag...
To tie down the power plant batteries on the bottom shelf, these screw eyes and long zip ties will do...
The shelves taped together to drill the support rod holes...
The shelves aren't an exact match, so I'll drill carefully...
Finally ordered a smart charger for the two 12V18Ah batteries and the 7Ah switch battery...
I also ordered the Anker PowerCore Solar Charger, the 10,000mAh model...
After drilling the support rod holes and boring out the middle shelf side clamp holes, I mock fit the components to check the alignment...
Not on the shopping list, but small enough to go in the cargo trailer - a foot pump to get the tires to proper psi, bought from the local Decathlon store...
The thing is rubber and plastic, but it got the trailer and bike tires up to spec...
Instead of Tung Oil, I had to go with this waterproof sealer spray after much searching...
I replaced much of the duct tape with zip ties on the cross sections of the front cages...
With the new data plan I bought and downloaded the California Atlas Landscape Map...
To cover the weak point in the trailer hitch, I ordered a breakaway security nut to permanently anchor the eye bolt to the cart handle...
The Anker Solar Charger arrived in good shape, partly charged. A few hours of AC power topped it off...
The AC smart charger looks good. I'll test it in the morning...
The 24 inch zip ties completes the mobile battery tie down set...
The smart charger turned out dumb - it worked for an hour, then stopped charging, blinking 18-19V. Crap. I sent it back for a refund...
The eye nuts for the top rail...
The NOCO genius 2 Amp smart charger...
It worked like a charm out of the box, topped off the batteries with no fuss...
(11/08/21)
Turns out the other state and federal public lands and boondock areas are also geared to RV's and campervans, often to the exclusion of bikepackers, meaning I'll be mostly stealth camping when not at a Hiker/Biker campsite or crashing in somebody's back yard via a bike traveler-friendly app like Warmshowers. Anyway, I started on a list of bike shops along the coast and picked out the first bike trails to practice riding...
Meanwhile, I'm making some progress in the Pre-Launch Stage...
On the 18th the breakaway security nut arrived on day 7 of my paid for 2-day priority shipping (DeJoy's USPS sucks). It fit the eye bolt perfectly...
The first and easiest bike trail to practice ride is a tourist classic - up the northern stretch of the Embarcadero, past Fisherman's Wharf and Crissy Field and across the Golden Gate Bridge...
An extended trail from the bridge runs another 15 miles or so up the shore of Marin Co. The two together would be a cool day trip...
On the 22nd I cancelled AT&T and turned in the gateway. It took half a day..
The well-known Marin Headlands has a number of moderately hilly bike trails that are packed on the weekends. I'm still sorting which particular bike trail to start with...
The Alcatel Linkzone 2 mobile hotspot took a week of drama to work properly, and even that is barely above dial up speed on the laptop...
Three Saturdays and my donations to the Salvation Army is done, even though the guy was too lazy to fill out the last receipt...
(11/29/21)
This episode gets into the issues with setting up my mobile hotspot capacity, split between the phone and the mobile router, and the camera rig I setup on the bike's handlebar to cover travel footage...
The Quad Lock 360 kit parts ordered from the website...
4 days later the pricey parts arrived...
Unboxing inventory....
The assembled phone camera rig...
The Moto E4 mounted to the camers rig via the universal adapter...
The rig with phone mounted to the handlebar in road-ahead position...
The phone in scenic position. Needs a safety lanyard...
Found a suitable safety anchor a day later (Zigi Band by Moxyo). With a better strap attachment than that flimsy string, the rig will be ready for a test ride...
Luckily a key ring fit the hole, and the anchor is at the best practical spot on the back...
The pricey camera rig is complete, waiting for a sunny morning to test ride up to Golden Gate Park...
On Turkey Day weekend I took a ride up to GG Park to test the camera rig. Here's the video...
(12/13/21)
With the camera rig installed, I began the procedure for reserving a campsite for my first overnighter and added anti-theft items to my shopping list, but my sore tooth demanded a slight detour...
The first campsite to reserve is on Angel Island after I see the dentist. Image - Taras Bobrovytsky, Wikimedia...
An example of one of the Angel Island hike-in campsites...
A weatherproof and casual theft resistant addition to the cargo frame - a lockable container that can be bolted or glued to the middle shelf...
The 6 inch threaded rod studs and coupling nuts gives the container lids some elbow room...
After many previous headaches with large duffel bags, I picked a rolling bag for convenience. This model is 36 x 15.5 x 15.5 inches...
This duffel doesn't have a drop bottom that reduces the inside length...
A 40x40 inch stretch cargo net to help hold down a rain tarp covering the whole cargo frame...
The net came with flimsy plastic hooks and discs I can't use, so I'll replace them with carabiners...
The type of bike/motorcycle alarm I'm looking at - WSDCAM waterproof model. Will probably get two; one for the bike, the other for the trailer...
(12/27/21)
This being the last show under the current format and name, I lay out the format for the new show Magnetofunky: Walkabout...
The second segment closes out in the bike lab with the roller duffel resolving my issues with handling the bikepacking gear when I have to make a pitstop at a store or gas station restroom...
Five days after the stated delivery date, the roller duffel arrived folded up in a narrow box. The material feels thin, so it probably won't take rough handling or being stuffed with heavy items...
A short arm inspection of the inside confirms that it should easily fit the intended items for it - camp table and chair, tarp tent bags, handlebar harness, trunk bag, folded solar panel. The big tentpole is just over 36 inches, so I shouldn't force it...
I put the camp table (mockup), chair, short tent pole and studio bag into the duffle to size it...
The duffel and storage container in travel mode with a pair of 24 inch bungees. It's snug, but another bungee lengthwise wouldn't hurt...
After I stuffed the two tarp bags and handle harness into the duffel, the trunk bag with panniers stuffed with mock loads would only fit in the upper area with the third 1 liter bottle removed and placed separately. The duffel isn't overstuffed and didn't feel like more than 20 lbs, so it won't crush the roller wheels. There's enough room for the folded solar panel...
The new 'Itinerary' segment will cover all things in a speculatively navigational fashion...
The analog oscillator I bought almost exactly three years ago became a Xmas present to a guy who was stoked to get it to use with his musical instruments. Cool...
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