Sunday, September 12, 2004
Odometer for my bike: $27. Knowing that we'll run 20 miles instead of 19 miles or 21: priceless.
"I need an odometer," I told the woman at the bike store. "How much information do you need?" she asked. "I don't even have enough information to understand the question," I replied. "Well," she said, taking a package down from the rack behind her, "This is kind of our basic model. It will tell you your speed, your elapsed time, your trip distance, your maximum speed, your total distance and the time." "Not my mother's maiden name?" I quipped. Blank look. I have no idea why I am flirting with this woman-- any bike store I've ever been in I'd never be worse than runner-up for best looking employee, and she is just proving my point. "I guess that'll be fine. I usually get too much information, and all I want to know is how far is ten miles." Another blank look. The guys in bike stores shave their legs. I notice that she does not. Our conversation completed, she rings me up, and I am on my way.
It's kind of a nifty little toy, actually. You mount a sensor on the inside of the front fork, and attach a magnet to a spoke. When it came time to set the digital readout, I discovered that I didn't have enough information after all. Counting is fine, but the thing needs to know what it is counting, and in order to do that it requires that you program your tire size. There are preset options, or you can program in whatever number you want, but obviously accuracy is important.
There are a lot of numbers on a tire. None of them seemed to match any of the preset numbers-- the odometer offered 27", and my tire had 28" embossed on it-- but who knows if that's what it meant? Apparently tire size is complicated.The toy seemed to be set up to default to metric-- (the directions didn't actually spell out how to change that to miles but I stumbled into it)-- and it seemed like what was wanted here was a metric number. I got it set to miles, and elected to go with 27". Since I didn't know what I would be correcting for, I knew that if this was wrong, math wouldn't help me, so I decided to see if it was wrong. I rode to Delaware Park for a calibration run. This established that 27" was emphatically the wrong answer, so I went back to the bike store to get some information. Turns out the answer is 700.
From the stop sign at the Juicery, out Nottingham to the path behind the Historical Society, along the path to Grant, across and along the path to Niagara. This bit is a little more hilly than we are going to like, particularly on the way back. Nothing horrible, just not flat. Along Niagara to Hamilton-- the Corps of Engineers bridge over the Thruway looks like it is closed for good. We know how the rest of this goes: along the path, past the water treatment plant (and the water fountain), past the Grand Island bridge, past the elusive Cousin Vinnie's, up over that foot bridge(the Chief Boyardee Bridge) and into whatever the name of that park is. On the left are aluminum light stanchions. One, two, three, four, five, six of these, and we've hit ten miles-- right before the tree with the cleft.
This is within an ace of where we have been starting our Riverwalk runs, so I had a hot dog at Old Man River's and thought about calibration issues. I don't want to run more than 20 before Chicago, and spoil the surprise, so I knew that I would have to verify that my toy was accurate-- or go back and pop for the GPS unit. For a sport that can be done in my underwear that sort of Buck Rogers technology seemed excessive-- but what if it wasn't? I resolved to press on, to the Bike Path, marked in tenths of a mile, to make sure that my measurements were accurate. Through Tonawanda, past the Colvin Extension (just past there would be the half marathon mark), on through the park the judges enjoy so much, across Niagara Falls Boulevard and on to the bike path.
I can report that my mileage findings are accurate to within .05ths of a mile. Close enough for jazz, I say. Seeing as I was in the neighborhood I picked up a six pack and went to Tom's, hoping to see the second half of the Bills game. Tom, the six pack is on your stoop, under the yellow bucket. I went home along Main Street, to Amherst, through Delaware Park once more, having cross-trained approximately twice as much as I'd set out to. Anything for science, I suppose.
"I need an odometer," I told the woman at the bike store. "How much information do you need?" she asked. "I don't even have enough information to understand the question," I replied. "Well," she said, taking a package down from the rack behind her, "This is kind of our basic model. It will tell you your speed, your elapsed time, your trip distance, your maximum speed, your total distance and the time." "Not my mother's maiden name?" I quipped. Blank look. I have no idea why I am flirting with this woman-- any bike store I've ever been in I'd never be worse than runner-up for best looking employee, and she is just proving my point. "I guess that'll be fine. I usually get too much information, and all I want to know is how far is ten miles." Another blank look. The guys in bike stores shave their legs. I notice that she does not. Our conversation completed, she rings me up, and I am on my way.
It's kind of a nifty little toy, actually. You mount a sensor on the inside of the front fork, and attach a magnet to a spoke. When it came time to set the digital readout, I discovered that I didn't have enough information after all. Counting is fine, but the thing needs to know what it is counting, and in order to do that it requires that you program your tire size. There are preset options, or you can program in whatever number you want, but obviously accuracy is important.
There are a lot of numbers on a tire. None of them seemed to match any of the preset numbers-- the odometer offered 27", and my tire had 28" embossed on it-- but who knows if that's what it meant? Apparently tire size is complicated.The toy seemed to be set up to default to metric-- (the directions didn't actually spell out how to change that to miles but I stumbled into it)-- and it seemed like what was wanted here was a metric number. I got it set to miles, and elected to go with 27". Since I didn't know what I would be correcting for, I knew that if this was wrong, math wouldn't help me, so I decided to see if it was wrong. I rode to Delaware Park for a calibration run. This established that 27" was emphatically the wrong answer, so I went back to the bike store to get some information. Turns out the answer is 700.
From the stop sign at the Juicery, out Nottingham to the path behind the Historical Society, along the path to Grant, across and along the path to Niagara. This bit is a little more hilly than we are going to like, particularly on the way back. Nothing horrible, just not flat. Along Niagara to Hamilton-- the Corps of Engineers bridge over the Thruway looks like it is closed for good. We know how the rest of this goes: along the path, past the water treatment plant (and the water fountain), past the Grand Island bridge, past the elusive Cousin Vinnie's, up over that foot bridge(the Chief Boyardee Bridge) and into whatever the name of that park is. On the left are aluminum light stanchions. One, two, three, four, five, six of these, and we've hit ten miles-- right before the tree with the cleft.
This is within an ace of where we have been starting our Riverwalk runs, so I had a hot dog at Old Man River's and thought about calibration issues. I don't want to run more than 20 before Chicago, and spoil the surprise, so I knew that I would have to verify that my toy was accurate-- or go back and pop for the GPS unit. For a sport that can be done in my underwear that sort of Buck Rogers technology seemed excessive-- but what if it wasn't? I resolved to press on, to the Bike Path, marked in tenths of a mile, to make sure that my measurements were accurate. Through Tonawanda, past the Colvin Extension (just past there would be the half marathon mark), on through the park the judges enjoy so much, across Niagara Falls Boulevard and on to the bike path.
I can report that my mileage findings are accurate to within .05ths of a mile. Close enough for jazz, I say. Seeing as I was in the neighborhood I picked up a six pack and went to Tom's, hoping to see the second half of the Bills game. Tom, the six pack is on your stoop, under the yellow bucket. I went home along Main Street, to Amherst, through Delaware Park once more, having cross-trained approximately twice as much as I'd set out to. Anything for science, I suppose.
