Monthly Archives: September 2009

Bike Advice Needed: Lights

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It’s getting dark earlier now, and there are many twisty paths where I live. The sort of place you often see on the 6 o’clock news cordoned off by police tape and a little white tent nearby. According to our local council they’re called “nature trails” (I think the locals read that as “rubbish dumps”, but there you go) and they’re quite good fun to ride along.

I need a set of lights for the front of my bike that’ll light the surrounding area up well enough to not be decapitated by low branches, fall down holes, or cycle into some waiting miscreant. I also don’t have masses of money to spend, but don’t want to buy rubbish that’ll break down.

Advice please, O wise Internet…

Exploring my local area by bike

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I’ve been out on my bike once again exploring the local area. Whereas most people tend to cycle down the river’s edge, looking at the rubbish-strewn dark trails that lead off into the reclaimed wilderness but continuing, I think “that looks an interesting way” and set off down it. Sometimes it turns into a nice little loop full of local interest, other times it turns into a bit of a crap ride.

Today was the second type of trail. It looked quite promising from Google Maps’ satellite view. My aim was to cycle into town but by going down the river. I now know this is not possible, there’s a railway in the way. I did find where the locals dump their rubbish and old fridges though.

For the morbidly curious, here’s the Google Maps link and you can download the KMZ file Deadend trail.

My Google Earth is now collecting a healthy pattern of red tracks running over the reclaimed land either side of the river. Looking at the area now, you’d never think there used to be a gravel quarry and coal mine. I think I’ll now try and cycle North up the river itself, rather than the canal part. Ultimately I’d like to cycle along the Pennine Trail to Leeds and then the other way to wherever it goes.

I took my previously mentioned Asahi Pentax film camera with me. Hopefully the pictures will come out and look good. I’ve almost stopped looking at the back for a preview image ;)

Here’s the stats for today’s ride

Created by My Tracks on Android.

Total Distance: 7.52 km (4.7 mi)
Total Time: 48:27
Moving Time: 33:32
Average Speed: 9.35 km/h (5.8 mi/h)
Average Moving Speed: 13.46 km/h (8.4 mi/h)
Max Speed: 27.90 km/h (17.3 mi/h)
Min Elevation: 68 m (222 ft)
Max Elevation: 84 m (274 ft)
Elevation Gain: 135 m (444 ft)
Max Grade: 3 %
Min Grade: -7 %
Recorded: Wed Sep 23 16:56:52 GMT+01:00 2009

Using a T-Mobile G1 with My Tracks is really really good.

Ungodly freaks of nature found in my kitchen

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If Cthulhu made veg

If Cthulhu made veg

Looking like something that’s crawled straight out of an HP Lovecraft novel, I found these living in the back of my veg basket in the kitchen. Once upon a time they were harmless baby new potatoes, destined to be brutally boiled in water and chewed to pieces.

And then! subject to nothing more than ambient daylight, a quantity of dog hair and cosmic background radiation they sprouted quite naturally mutated beyond all recognition into warped vegetables that Cthulhu itself would be proud of.

It seems the potatoes sprouted, using up all the energy in the main potato and then attempted to root into the air, put out some shoots and generally make a jolly good stab at turning into potato bushes of their very own. Then things went wrong and survival mode took over, causing smaller potatoes to be formed in some crazy sprouting fractal type mess. The result – potatoes for pixies.

Maybe I should leave them in a dish of water to see what happens.

Asahi Pentax S1a SLR Camera

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Asahi Pentax S1a SLR camera

Asahi Pentax S1a SLR camera

I’ve been given one of these cameras along with a zoom lens and 55mm prime lens by Amy. I did some research on the web and discovered the camera was the first SLR camera with a pentaprism and dates back to around 1960. I stripped it down and discovered the clever simplicity of totally manual SLR cameras, there’s nothing inside them!

Really nothing, I took the lens off, opened the back, set the shutter to “Bulb” mode and upon pressing the shutter release ended up with a giant 35mm hole going right through the camera. Nothing on this camera is electronic, and it’s so obvious now looking through the lens and twisting the aperture ring to work out how that affects the image.

It’s been cleaned out and loaded with film. I’ve already shot ten “test” shots and will take it for a ride about on my bike tomorrow if it’s not raining. The Asahi Pentax camera is all metal, with a zoom lens that weighs more than my Nikon DSLR body and lens! The lens also has “Made in USSR” stamped on it :) This is a camera I’d be quite happy dangling from my neck while walking through town – if anyone tried to steal it  I’d just whack them on the head with it ;)

I took a few photos of it, and a few photos looking through the lens. Meta-photography is sort of amusing.

Once I’ve used up the film and found somewhere that can develop it, and assuming the camera doesn’t leak light like a Lomo I should have some nice photos. It’s quite hard guessing the exposure settings by eye, but since I shoot in manual on my DSLR I’m constantly altering the aperture and shutter speeds anyway and I think my guesses should be good.