For example, bicycles need lots of lights to be visible to cars. Flashing/blinking lights attract a driver's eye so they won't run over you because "I didn't see them". Between now and when the oil runs out so much there's few cars on the road is the danger. The upside is the more bikes on the road, the more people notice them. Eventually all the lights won't be necessary. For now though, with 95% car traffic and less than 5% bicycles its a major concern. Thus all my lights. So I've been pondering how much cost and weight is involved in setting up both anti-theft rear friction brake, dynamo powered electric, and brake triggered flaring brake lights. I think it will be an interesting project, and done with a small battery won't add much weight. I also want to continue with my discreet and elegant construction path. I'm even considering buying a brush and hand painting my frame with Yellow instead of disassembling everything, some of which is corroded or requires a tool I don't have. I may eventually get that tool, btw. And a bike work stand so I can work on a stable platform, standing up. I think my riding partner would like that too. She's nearly as tall as I am.
Figuring out the electronics to regulate input from a dynamo to a single stable power level and apply that current into a battery that then supplies stable current to LED lights (and never spike the current and fry them), carefully waterproofed, light, and mounted out of the way will be an interesting build challenge. I'm inclined to mount the headlight to the frame rather than handlebars because it would give better illumination when leaning, thanks to countersteer, and more stable without interfering with manueverability. Thus a basket on the front is a bad thing. Slows down how fast you can react. People do it anyway since that's a good place for groceries, but still.
I can see a serious market for electric bicycles, once the LiFePO4 batteries become standard. Most of us only need 5-10 miles of commute distance, and we need forgiving batteries that won't get permanently damaged by discharging (SealedLeadAcid, Lithium, NiCad) and can be charged cheaply and easily on house current with a simple plug. Ones that aren't a hassle to carry around and won't melt your house keys because they bumped together in your bag or something like that. Rational design, for the win (FTW!). I think that electric bikes are getting there. But they're expensive right now. If the whole package weighed 12 pounds, including 8 lbs of battery that gains you 10 miles, and fit to most bikes for $100 in install labor at a shop (and bike shops should do this. Train your people! This is a real career!) with a battery that fits into the water bottle hoop, more or less the same size and weight, then you've got something rational.
When these things are really common, they won't get stolen as much. You could park one at the movies and it would still be there when you come out. That's the goal. Right now, you don't park a good bike or an electric at the movies because it WON'T BE THERE WHEN YOU COME OUT. And its assinine (like, unto an ass, literally) to think it will be, or to be put out that its stolen when you parked there flaunting your expensive transportation toy. In every bike lock review on every website, there's that same story starting with "I parked my $3000 carbon fiber race bike with this cheap lock and it was stolen while I was at the movies! I'm so mad this cheap lock didn't save me from my own stupidity!" Yeah. I'll be parking mine on the back porch, with a lock, at work, out of sight of the sidewalk. It will be fine. And I don't got to the movies.
I want to see if I can do these things and maybe setup a light friction lock with a proximity disarm for the rear wheel. The basic idea is a brake snaps closed when you're 100 feet away or you've armed the key fob alarm. Someone who wants to steal it will have to carry it instead of ride off. When you're riding it, electricity holds it open. The catch is that brake could trigger if the power shakes loose so I need to work on that. Being a pessimist, that would happen in the rain, going uphill, when you're in a hurry to get somewhere and suddenly the back wheel seizes up. Not funny. Or very funny. In an awkward Tracey Ullman Show kinda way. Do Pooh Pooh it! I'm thinking an enclosed battery with an alarm that trips if the battery starts draining because the power supply failed. It needs to be small, light, and able to stop a hammer. A thief with a wedge would still defeat it, but that requires having the wedge to block the brakes open. Might be a pointless exercise. If the lock costs more than the bike, what's the point? Always watch out for those traps. Engineers do this professionally.
Today it is raining. My flashy pedals will arrive today. I will probably install them tonight after work. I will be sad if they don't fit for some reason. They should fit just fine. It's a very standardized kind of thing, pedals. I don't do the "clip shoes" because I am more old school. And this is a commuter bicycle, not a race bike. I'm too fat to look good in a yellow skintight jersey. Maybe someday I'll get one of those bikes, someday I'm sleek and wiry instead of heavier with developing shoulders like I am now. I did ride a bike with strap clip pedals for years. REALLY ANNOYING in traffic. Trying to get your foot in the strap, when gravity kept flipping it upside down? No, horrible. #1 reason to use standard knobbly pedals.
I've seen canopies for riding in the rain, for bicycles. They're kinda silly, but in a very wet place I suppose it would work. So does a rain poncho, which is what most people do.
I did try running my bike with a radio. It was NICE, but it meant I couldn't hear the cars coming up behind me. Modern cars are really quiet. All you get is tire noise as the pebbles on the street pop and fling around. The engine is so quiet as to not be there. And that's bad when your handlebars shift because you turned your head to look over your shoulder, suddenly lunging you to the left into the path of the car that wasn't paying much attention to the pedestrian with wheels. If you ride, you know exactly what I'm talking about.
I think for greatest possible irony, when the oil runs out, suddenly without warning, we'll have blizzards, hurricanes, torrential rain, blasting winds, and news crews decrying the death toll as purely amateur cyclists get injured in the process. They probably won't die much. Most people don't pedal that fast. They will whine and complain until they notice all the dripping wet shivering people around them glaring at them to shut up already. In the PNW, nobody uses umbrellas because the wind blows the rain horizontally. Thus when its raining, you're wet. People just deal with it. Japanese, according to anime, die when wet unless its the bathtub. They suddenly get a fever if rain falls on them. In the PNW, Japanese wouldn't last a day, at least according to Anime. That's what you get for inbreeding. In the PNW, people are tough. They get wet, then come in, hang up their rain jacket, and dry off without a word of complaint. I think we'll all get to be like that during the wet season. We'll toughen up. Ourselves, our kids, everybody. You do or you end up stuck and broke. Or walking with an umbrella, bitching about how poor you are. Suck it up! I know I will.
My yellow sweater is soaked in various fumes from organic essential oils. It smells really good. I let my Mom smell it, and she approves. There's lot of upsides to my job and I respect the people I work with. They're smart people. They think things through. They accept responsibility for their actions, and they accept that mistakes happen so there's no blame-shifting like prior jobs. So long as our customers keep buying, we'll keep having jobs. And if the customers lose interest, we'll find new markets and keep the place going. Its a good crew, and a 5 minute commute by car, probably 15 by bicycle, downhill anyway. More like an hour back, I suspect. I have to actually do it and report back the time. When I get stronger it will be quicker, or at least less tiring. Working with people who are supportive of my transportation interest is a good feeling. I look forward to work each day. And the mailman has agreed to pickup our packages so I don't have to walk to the post office anymore. So yay! Pushing the mail cart got a lot of looks from passerby. Apparently, my hat is slightly out of style, therefore quite noticeable. I wonder if I'll look even more weird once I have the Aloha shirts? Meh. I can live with that. People should be more positive, if they've got a job and a roof that's most of what you need. Now, I just need a girlfriend.
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