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Today - December 2011

Also had the pleasure of meeting Gunjira at the Starbucks. I always see westerners and think "I wonder if they are TCCers" However it seems everyone knows myy face..... I guess its the pictures they have up of me at all the Koban.

I just never stop to have my photo taken :) good to finally meet you and your Sunday sprinter circle
 
I know where there's a sweet Rasta frame :) Would fit smaller rider perfectly! (from about 150 - 170cm)

On Saturday I rode along the Tamagawa with my son (30 km altogether), following part of the route of my first HalfFast ride.

On Sunday I did an 18 km round trip from Setagaya to Shinjuku for Christmas shopping with the wife and daughter on their mamachari, at close to half my usual speed in town.

The pace on that trip may have been slow, but they were surprised how much distance they could cover with relatively little effort on safe backroads that I took them on (largely following Google Maps suggestions for pedestrians). My wife even asked about the location of Y's Road Shinjuku, as she's interested in replacing her current bike with something better. For Shinjuku she's always taken the train before and found it tiring to walk from shop to shop there because it's such a large area.

Would be nice to get the whole family turned on to cycling ;-)

Cycled to Tim's place today, left him with the 20" front wheel of my Bike Friday and returned home by train with the rest of the bike in its bike bag. Since I'll be leaving for Germany in a few days this may already have been the last ride of this year, at least with my own road bike. Tim is going to rebuild the wheel with a Shimano DH-3N80 dynamo hub (Ultegra level) in place of the 105 hub and I want to pick up a bike USB adapter (6 V AC to 5 V DC) in Germany to go with the dynamo so I can always keep my smartphone charged when I track long rides.
 
Went to Tim's place again to pick up the newly rebuilt dynamo hub wheel (that was quick, Tim!). Same procedure in reverse, went by train with the rest of the bike in the bag. Put the wheel back on and rode home. The ride home by bike took me half the amount of time of the train ride there.

Since I don't have an AC light or USB charger connected yet, I couldn't test the hub under load yet, but with the generator idling it rode beautifully. You really don't feel any extra friction. The 3N80 is Ultegra level, i.e. better than my previous 105 hub.
 
Went to Tim's place again to pick up the newly rebuilt dynamo hub wheel (that was quick, Tim!). Same procedure in reverse, went by train with the rest of the bike in the bag. Put the wheel back on and rode home. The ride home by bike took me half the amount of time of the train ride there.

Since I don't have an AC light or USB charger connected yet, I couldn't test the hub under load yet, but with the generator idling it rode beautifully. You really don't feel any extra friction. The 3N80 is Ultegra level, i.e. better than my previous 105 hub.

Joe, what do the USB Charger things cost?

I'm going to get a new front wheel built in the new year around a similar hub, and the idea of charging my iPhone on the go appeals to me :D

Next year I think I'll build a new trailer, I'll build up two new 26" wheels with disk brakes and maybe one dynamo hub to run the lights on the trailer.

I'll look forward to your reports about how it rides under load.

Cheers!
 
Joe, what do the USB Charger things cost?

I'm going to get a new front wheel built in the new year around a similar hub, and the idea of charging my iPhone on the go appeals to me :D

Hi Stuart,

there is a range of KECHARGER models, which mainly differ by the output cable. The following prices are German retail prices including VAT (19%):

USB-A (like a PC port): EUR 60
MiniUSB: EUR 50
MicroUSB: EUR 50
iPhone 3GS/4: EUR 70

Shipping within Germany: EUR 4 -or- with charge on delivery (COD) option: EUR 14.

The current exchange rate is about 100 yen per EUR, which makes it easy to convert that to yen.

I decided to go for the USB-A model as any USB device with a cable that can connect to a PC port will work with this (except for the iPhone, which requires the iPhone-specific model).

The unit is 80 mm long and 25 mm in diameter, its weight is 40 g.

I'll test it when I get back and if it's any good, maybe we can get a couple as the prices look reasonable and it doesn't suffer from featuritis (multiple output ports, selectable output voltages, etc) as some other much pricier and bulkier units.
 
This looks pretty good, too -- http://www.brocott.co.uk/electronic...p-1017.html?osCsid=v0fes1dkk3fbv3ei763g9e6rn5

But, the German designed one will fit inside a tube (very nice) and design is more sophisticated than most.

iPhone requires special pin voltages for the internal charging circuit to activate - they're published on the net somewhere -- that <shouldn't> bother other devices -- but , I haven't tested it.

I rather like the idea of having a cache battery as well. This can charge up and then any subsequent charging to the device would be via the cache battery - or , if output drops too low, then switched back to the Dynamo supply.

My personal feature spec:

1) Internal mounting.
2) Multiple output bus - namely for Lighting and / or Charging.
3) Remote Status LED
4) Water proof
5) Voltage and Amperage regulated
6) Pulse Charging for the LiON

Some other cabling options perhaps like this --

http://www.gomadic.com/garmin-edge-800-coiled-usb-cable.html

Or simply use a Duracel combo charger...

Ideas? New Thread?

I want LIGHTS, Keitai Charging and Garmin - in any combination.


That's a good price.



I would at least use a capacitor after the rectifier to smooth out the rectified AC. This design looks a bit too basic for me.
 
why I've been swimming these days

A pretty sharp contrast between Niigata/Kanazawa and Tokyo--looking like it'll be a white xmas here. The italicized snowmen mean probable wild wx:

weeklyforecast.jpg


I put my snow tires on yesterday...
 
A very cold start this morning on the way to the office. Got to try out my new shell jacket though....a nice addition on cold mornings.

Finally feels like my stubborn cold is going away. I have had this for quite a while now. Not enough to make me feel constantly sick but very obvious when trying to train properly.
 
A very cold start this morning on the way to the office. Got to try out my new shell jacket though....a nice addition on cold mornings.

Finally feels like my stubborn cold is going away. I have had this for quite a while now. Not enough to make me feel constantly sick but very obvious when trying to train properly.

Great news!!
 
A very cold start this morning on the way to the office. Got to try out my new shell jacket though....a nice addition on cold mornings.

Finally feels like my stubborn cold is going away. I have had this for quite a while now. Not enough to make me feel constantly sick but very obvious when trying to train properly.
Good news for you, I too have been fighting a cold or something for maybe three weeks, I thought it was just about gone but yesterday after a very busy day of lots of deliveries and cool air on the lungs, I'm coughing up great green and yellow chunks again, yeah :rolleyes: If I go to the doctor all they will do is give me a handful of antibiotics, not cool with that, I think they hand out way too much of that stuff for just about anything these days.
 
Away from my bike, I decided to walk 9 km to the Christmas Day lunch at my youngest brother. It was colder than expected out there and I had dressed with one layer less than for a casual stroll, expecting to generate enough heat. I found it was colder out there than on my previous walk.

After a few hundred metres of still feeling a bit chilly while walking fast, I felt a sudden sharp pain in my lower back. My cold muscles must have been too tense and squeezed a disk. I rested a bit wondering if I should turn back, then walked slowly and the pain subsided.

I was walking comfortably at a good pace for the remaining 1h 45m, but in the afternoon and evening the lower back pain came back. It has not improved much in two days since. I really should have been more careful with warming up for the exercise and am now paying the price :(
 
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