A Bike Trip Checklist In Progress

April 30, 2009 by TheCuriousCyclist Filed under Advice, Tech

Bike improvement

Raise bike handlebars by a few inches Done – But the extender raised the bars too damn high. Now the bike rides way wrong.
Chop pieces off handlebar spacer at Tech Shop (Get help from Matt?) Hopefully this will fix the problem
Rain fenders Not sure if I want these yet. Where I’m going, rain is highly unlikely.
Abrade a notch in the left pedal arm for the cadence sensor
Get a decent hippie-weave long-sleeve thermal underwear waffle shirt Done – La found me two at Old Navy just before they discontinued the design.
Rain coat or whatnot Again, not sure if I want these.
USB hangable fan
Get a better seat Underway – I’ve already gone through two seats and am still monkeying with seat-post adjustments
Get a seat-post that has an adjustable tilt axis.
USB hangable flashlight
Balaklava
Second water bottle Done
Second bottle holder Underway – La says I can have hers
Regease chain Done – Replaced chain as part of gearset upgrade
Add small pockets from Ortleib onto bags
National park pass
Passportamerica.com membership
Add songs to cycling playlist (NIN song, Solar Fields song) Underway

Clothing

Bike shorts – 2 pairs Done
Helmet Done
Helmet-mountable lamp
Long-sleeve shirts – Two Done
Luggage strap for rear rack Done
Second luggage strap for rear rack
Rain-proof pants Probably not taking these
Small backpack Done
Ski gloves Done – Essential even in mildly cold weather, when evening falls
Socks – 4 pairs Done
Sunglasses Done
Sweater – Lightweight Done – Bulky but very light. Quite warm. Can be put on without removing helmet
T-Shirts – Two Done
Underwear – 6 pairs Done – Clean underwear is a MUST.

Electronics

Repair Kit

Chain master links
Chain oil Done
Emergency spoke Done
Spoke wrench Done
Rear Cassette removal adapter Done – Useful for remote repair in towns without a bike shop.
Eyelet bolts Done
Hex wrenches Done
Pocketknife Done
Spare tire tube Done
Tire levers Done
Tire Pump Done
Zipties – various sizes Done – Can come in handy for emergency rack repairs.
Spare brake pads

Toiletries/Camping

Food

Peanut Butter Cups
Produce! (Spinach, Broccoli, etc)
Water sack Done – This thing is going to save my metaphorical bacon, I just know it.
Oil and iron supplements Done – La found a liquid iron supplement that is quite delicious!
Various other foods TBD Underway

Bike USB Charger/Generator Project

Get a resistor for the second regulator to set it for 4.5v
Wire the second regulator to the board
Add a second plug for a head-mounted lamp
Splice a Macbook Air adapter and test charging voltages
Learn enough CAD to draft an enclosure Done – Solidworks kicks ass
Come up with an enclosure design that isn’t shitty Done – Two-piece interlocking design with batteries in one half and board and switches in the other half.
Draft the design Underway
Cut it into printable components
Convert the design to STL and email it to TechShop for review
Get a TechShop membership
Use the 3D printer to draft-print pieces for measurement testing
Cut and extend the wiring of the three LEDs on the TuneCharger board
Affix a heatsink to the TuneCharger coil to diffuse heat over the battery walls
Splice the plug wire of the bike light assembly so it can plug into the battery pack
Get some cloth compression straps for the anchor slots on the enclosure
Screw the switches, sockets, and LEDs into the enclosure, and seal them
Ride and test charging rates

Bike computer setup

Annotated itinerary Underway
Add to google route map Underway
Cover MacBook air with stickers to make it look ugly
Install and register Ascent Underway – Not registered yet.
GPS utility to cross-index photos
Speech recognition software Underway – MacSpeech copied up, but not installed yet.
Script to auto-process speech files
Map caching app on iPhone
Configure iTunes with books and music Underway
Put iPhone apps on macbook air Done
Confirm that tethering works
Assemble a movie-and-sound posting package for the iPhone Not sure how complicated this is going to be.

Bike Training Trips To Test Camping Gear

(Can’t start these because my camping gear is incomplete.)

Bike to work, bike home, and camp in the back yard. Then get up, shower, and bike to work again.
Starting from work, bike home, then camp in the back yard. Get up, shower, and bike to the Tech Shop in Menlo Park. Then bike home again.
Starting in San Francisco, bike across the Golden Gate Bridge to the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, camp, then bike back across the bridge.
Starting in Carmel, bike south on Highway 1 to the Andrew Molera State Park, camp, then ride back to Carmel. (DANGEROUS)
Starting from work on a weekend morning, bike to Sam McDonald County Park via Alpine Road (over the mountains), camp, then bike to the coast along Pescadero Creek Rd and turn south for as long as I can.
Starting at the reservoir, bike up to Skyline Blvd and across to the Nisene Marks back entrance. Continue through that to Santa Cruz.
A long excursion with Captain Zog
Bike to Bandon, Oregon from Pop’s house