Video killed the radio star

“Pictures came and broke your heart.” “Pictures came and broke your heart.” Isn’t that nice…and true. Looking at photos and video of ourselves riding can break our heart. The “sick whip” turns out to be a lame wiggle. The huge booter jump more of a hop. This combined with the difficulty of capturing just how … Read more

Zippers

I have two Camelbak Maximum Gear H.A.W.G. (1100/100 cu in, older version) bags. One of them is the bag that I use bike commuting and otherwise taking to work and back. The hydration bladder is removed and that pocket is used for magazines, netbooks, or paperwork. The other is my large mountain bike bag for … Read more

Remanufacturing

I’m a fan of the WTB line of saddles. The company is local to me and they’ve been in the game since 1982. Legit. My current favorite is the Silverado. The long nose and thin line give me what I need on the trail. I can sit in comfort, hold fast, and slide forward on … Read more

Light bright

I just got a Nightrider Lumina Micro 250. It’s an amazing little light. The purpose of this little lamp is to use it head mounted for night riding. I have a Nightrider Pro 1800 Race for my handlebars. I just need a crawler and a scouter. The crawler is a very low powered light that … Read more

Herb Neumann

On Sunday, November 9th 2014, Herb Neumann died. It was cancer that took him down. He was one of the toughest guys there was but just one thing was tougher. I never met Herb in person. Over the years I learned a lot about him. He was a legend in the New Jersey/NYC area. He … Read more

Astro boy

My day job puts me in the Physics & Astronomy Department at San Francisco State University. I’m primarily the department machinist and engineer. I teach a class sometimes which is nice, too. Pretty much, I help make sure our instruction and research folk are happy and have great tools. It’s a great gig. I have a machine … Read more

Limelight

On my way to work this morning I passed a television or movie film crew on 18th Street near Valencia Street in the Mission District of San Francisco. They were busy setting up so I didn’t get a chance to talk to anyone about what they were specifically filming. Of course, I had to get … Read more

Reverse engineering curves – The Sagitta

Here’s something fun and useful. I love when I get to get all math-y… A long time ago (2006), I put a blurb up on my wiki. It was a re-post from long ago that I had posted onto a skateboarding message board, probably back in 1998 or so. My web site, wiki, and now … Read more

Hipster pants…or something like them.

I’ve got a real problem with hipsters. They completely lack authenticity but they are also compelled to blaze this into everyone’s faces and with such arrogance hidden beneath faux irony. Everything they do seems to be for show and they suck the life out of anything that was once cool. Then, when the corpse of the … Read more

Finishing the job right

There are right ways of doing a job and wrong. People talk about this a lot but somehow few really stick to it. Recently, while trying to solve some gearing issues, I ordered a custom chainring from Warhawk Industries. I wanted to get a 32t and 34t ring in 80BCD. I ordered the part with 2.5 … Read more

Hollywood.

This was super cool. May 1st, 2013. 7:30am. I’m riding my motorcycle to work the nicest way I know how. Marin back roads and twisties. Getting from Fairfax to the Golden Gate Bridge is awesome. Bolinas/Fairfax (BoFax) Rd. to Ridgecrest Blvd. to Panoramic Hwy. to Rt. 1. People take long vacations to ride these kinds … Read more

Three-card Monte

On my holiday Europe trip and skating around Paris on Christmas Day, I ended up at the base of the Eiffel Tower with it a bit too crowded to hike up the stairs to the top as I had planned. I was chilling out on the Pont d’lena Bridge across from the tower watching people … Read more

Toyota!

While in Paris, France recently (xmas eve, 2012) and skating up the Avenue des Champs-Élysées toward the Arc de Triomphe, I came across the Toyota concept store. This is one of the most important retail locations on earth so this store is selling the brand ‘Toyota’, not specific cars. They set up their own little museum culminating with their hybrid technology ala Prius and … Read more

The spreader bar

I made this handy tool a while back. A Spreader Bar. It works very well. This bar was intended for hanging from the ceiling and suspending from or in-line on the ground connecting hands and feet. It’s a little long for some uses but will cover a very many. It’s 5 feet long, only weighs … Read more

Old school.

The other day, I was having a conversation via Facebook with an old friend, Dave. We were talking about something having to do with his new bicycle. This and that. At some point, he flashes a picture on the message saying “Hey! look.” I was blown away. A world from so long ago… It was … Read more

Tactical dog leash

I had a little sewing party in my kitchen on Friday night. I had two things to do; fix the strap on my messenger bag and make a neat dog leash thing. I was derailed from completing the strap as my ‘unsticher’ tool broke. So I put more energy into the leash. It was to … Read more

In another direction…

Here’s something fun. Looking into making this little project. An odd form of bling. What is it? The guessing will begin!

Itsy bitsy spider chuck

I made a neat little spider chuck. It’s for machining the bolt of the 308AR for accuracy. A spider chuck allows me to locate the bolt exactly according to the several features that I decide are important regardless of the shape of the part. Since these parts are forged and then machined in very elaborate … Read more

RGB vs. CMYK

This is a quick little thing. Most folks have seen this before but it’s nice to remember. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RGB_color_model http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CMYK_color_model A fun project to get working correctly in Ai. Give it a try. Obviously, I had to convert the CMYK colors to RGB for this demonstration to be seen on a light emitting source.  

Trigonometry

I absolutely love trigonometry. It’s how we come to understand circles and curves. I work at the Physics & Astronomy Department at San Francisco State University. Every semester a few students will express their unease, confusion, and problem doing trigonometric work. Over the years, it’s been shown that, all of them, have never been given … Read more

The Area Under The Curve.

Thinking about this today. What about the area under the curve with regard to shock rate? Should the area be similar for differerent types of bikes? The shape can change, the duration and the magnitude but will in the end the area be similar? I’m going to think a bit about this… Here’s the curves … Read more

Making a dollar out of fifteen cents.

Cheap stems are rad. They do just fine holding the handlebar in place and come in many sizes. Most are even lightweight. What’s the problem? Tolerances. Most cheap stems are cast or use cast parts in a weldement. These parts have deviations that cause a problem. The issue is that the bottom side of the … Read more

Some cool ‘day job’ stuff just has to go on the site

The radar mount was installed today. I mentioned it in an earlier post. Very cool. It took some planning, lots of rope and safety harnesses but it was installed without issue. A 40 foot drop on one side and an 18 foot drop on the other. No screwing around on this job site.

Cool Radar Mount

This is a neat project from work. It’s a straddle mount that will sit on top of a wall above the water treatment facility on Ocean Beach. It will support a 9′ rotating radar boom against anything the Pacific Ocean can throw at it. 0.375″ stainless steel, plasma cut and welded together.

Keeping hope alive and fear in the heart.

It’s not easy making things and bringing them into this world. It takes a lot of time, energy, money, devotion, and lonely days in the shop. I’ve got so many projects started right now and many more that I’d love to start. Why not? Life. Lately I’ve been really putting a lot of energy into … Read more

Pancakes on the mountain.

On Sunday I rode up to West Point Inn for the pancake breakfast. I saw plenty of friends there that had the same idea. Sadly they were on cross bikes while I was on the mountain bike intent on trail riding. The ride – Tenderfoot: Cypress: 777: Gravity Car: Railroad Grade: West Point Inn: Railroad … Read more

Cream Puff

The Pedal Panties party: The Pedal Panties girls threw an even on Union Street. It was fun. The best thing for me, not being their target audience, were the cream puffs. I love creampuffs.

Mission Streets

I love SF Sunday Streets. http://sundaystreetssf.com/ It’s a perfect way to get out and honestly see the people of the city around you. Go to the next one!

Soil Saloon SF, 2010#2

Last night I went to the Soil Saloon race with Michelle at Golden Gate Park. http://soilsaloon.com/ What a great night and great event. The Soil Saloon folks really know how to host a really great time. Since I was again not racing (lamo!) and since Michelle decided not to ride a good bike to the … Read more

Two dogs.

Having one dog around is awesome. Two is even better. Here Maggie is posing with another dog at Stray Bar where we go for Smarty Pants Trivia Night on Tuesdays. There are usually at least 3 dogs on the scene and sometimes a few more. Later in the night a brown pitbull named Rufus showed … Read more