Ride 20150929

Video from today's ride.  I was a bit faster and overall felt stronger when the ride was done so I'm encouraged that I'm getting some 'recumbent legs'.  Here's the route:

Video of the ride.  I tried the time lapse function shot at 720p with a frame every 5 seconds.  Not sure if I like it or not.  It rained a bit along the way and the 'fuzzy' images are a result of water on the camera lens.

Here are the ride stat details:

Here's a summary of my progress on this route to date:

Rides 09/28 & 09/29

I've continued to ride the same 8.4 KM route to try to improve my leg strength.

I've recorded most of the rides with ridewithgps on my cellphone.  It took a bit to figure out how to actually use the app but it does provide some useful data.  Sadly, the GPS based data such as speed, elevation, and distance are a bit problematic since the GPS is subject to errors sample to sample.  Even so, it's interesting and generally useful.

Here is the ride data from the 28th and 29th.

28th

29th

I clipped the details for the 19th.

29 details 1

29th details 2

 Clearly I'm not fast on the trike.  Even so, my average speed is near that of the published data for Copenhagen (where people ride bicycles frequently and it's generally flat).  The grade data is clearly bogus, likely the result of GPS errors.

Since I've been doing the same ride ride to ride results are useful.

Ride summary

While there is considerable variation, average speed and ride time seem to be improving somewhat.  It's also worth noting that I am far less leg weary after the ride than when I started.  So overall, I am encouraged.

Rides 9/23, 25, 27

I feel stronger and think I'm going faster but the numbers don't show it.  

Ride 20150922 and bike

Forgot to turn the camera on but here's the route.

Tried a big brim on my helmet.  Does a good job of keeping the sun out of my eyes but at speed it wants to leave.  Looks like sunglasses are in order.

Also built a mount for my cell phone.  $0 and works just fine.  I'll paint it and declare victory

Ride20150920b

Ride20150919

Another ride - rather long.

Ride20150918

Just a fun ride.

Bike Update

I've made some more changes to the bike.  Here's what it looks like now:

New camera mounts and head rest

I'm still experimenting with the camera mount but all in all things are working well.  I've re-tightened the bolts joining the two frame sections and the twisting seems to have stopped.

I did have one 'failure' when the chain tube moved into the rear derailleur.  I've adjusted it and hopefully all is now well.

I've also adjusted the left brake.  I'm not entirely satisfied with how it is working and may need to do a bit more work in that area.

Here are some closeups of the modifications.

Head rest details.
Much simpler and more adjustable

Modified mirror mount
Added flasher

Right side mount
Plan to add cell phone here

Front camera mount

Old school pedal clips

Bike update

I've made a number of updates to the bike.

First, I trimmed the headrest so it now looks like this:

I may trim it a bit more.

Second, I shortened the mirror arm.  This works as well.  I'll paint it black so it matches the rest of the bike.  I may also lower it a bit.

I am also experimenting with the camera mount on the front of the boom.  The video looks nice but there is a LOT of chain noise.

Head Rest

I've added a headrest.

I still have some trimming and cleanup to do but it basically works.

It is made out of a piece of schedule 40 PVC 1" pipe and a bit of pipe insulation I had from another project.   The pipe is bent into a U and zip tied to the seat frame.  There is a trick to bending PVC. The technique I used is described here: https://youtu.be/UKssOvO3nJs.  Home Depot sells some springs used in bending pipe.  They are flared at one end.  I cut the flared end off and formed a hook like this:

I used a 1.5" pipe as a form and heat gun to create a U shaped piece like this:

 The holes you see are left over from another project. Drill a couple of holes on each arm to accept zip ties.  Paint black or whatever you like.  Cut a piece of PVC insulation to length and slip over the pipe.

Instant low cost head rest.

Youtube processing artifacts ... ouch!

I've been trying to get good video on Youtube thinking the issue was with my Mobius camera.  Turns out YT is at least part of the problem!  Here is a screen capture from the original 1080P video and the same seen from YT.

Original scene

YT scene

Not good!  I'll need to figure out how to convince YT to not make a mess.

Update 20150902

I've done some additional work on the issue and by creating an h.264 video can improve things a bit.  Still the YT transcodeing creates issues.  I did find out that it is necessary to wait a bit before viewing the YT videos as they initially create the low resolution versions and only later the HD versions.  You can tell by clicking the gear icon and seeing what resolutions are available.

Update 20150902

Info on how to encode here: https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/1722171?hl=en.

Mobius Test 4 & Frame Adjustments 2

Set the white balance on the Mobius to auto and tested again.  Settings today:

• Lens A - it's the one I actually have
• Mode 1
• Video/sound MP4
• Video time stamp On
• Video data rate Standard
• Video Clip Length 10 minutes - should help editing
• Wide Dynamic Range On
• Field of View Wide
• Video Resolution 1920x1080 (1080p)
• Video Frame Rate 30
• Time lapse Off
• Mode 2 - Like mode 1 with the following changes
• Video resolution 1280x720 (720p)
• Advanced Image Settings
• Sharpness 50
• Exposure 0
• Contrast 50
• Saturation 10
• Color options normal
• White Balance Auto
• Others nominal

Here is the result.  Still a bit blue I think but I'll need to check in other light.

Flag and flashers

Longer term I'm going to mount a light stick on the trike.  Something like this:

There are some useful instructions here:

From this interesting vendor: https://www.led-supplies.com/led-strips/.  Other interesting videos:

• https://youtu.be/JAJOTzSoa3U
• https://youtu.be/23YipmOOIFw

But for now I'm going to use a pole with streamers.  I decided to make my own.  Here are the parts I used:

• 6' fiberglass pole (driveway marker from Home Depot.  About $2.70.
• 10" piece of semi ridged tubing (Home Depot, used for nail guns) that fits the fiberglass rod semi tight.  I had some left from another project.  $0.00.
• Several zip ties.  I had some left from other projects. $0.00.
• Florescent orange and yellow survey marker tape.  I had some left from other projects.  $0.00.

I headed about 1.5" of the end of the tubing to make it soft and flattened it in a vice.  This closes one end so the fiberglass pole will not slip all the way through.  I also drilled a hole to accept a zip tie.  I mounted the tube to the rear luggage rack.

I left a bit of the tube above the rack to stiffen the fiberglass a bit.  I tied some short (1m) and long (2m) pieces of marker tape to the pole and voila, instant cheap safety pole.  The final arrangement looks like this:

FWIW, that same fiberglass pole can be bought with a flag attached for $22.00!  

I've also added rear and front rechargeable strobes, and a mirror attached to the steering with a Velcro strap.

Front strobe and mirror

Rear strobe

 Next up, I'll make a headrest.