Monthly Archives: December 2012

Holiday Swarm On Willamette Street

Posted on December 23, 2012 | Leave a comment

Yesterday was the Holiday Swarm on South Willamette Street for pedestrians and cyclists to get out and do some last minute shopping the weekend before Christmas. The Swarm was planned by a group of citizens to show the city, and businesses along the street, that pedestrians and cyclists are in large numbers along the road, shopping at their stores and enjoying the community along Willamette, even on days like this.

There were a lot of pedestrians and cyclists, though the video doesn’t show them all. It was taken over a short time, and lots were spread out along the entire street, shopping and eating at all the different businesses South Willamette Street has to offer. Notice all the cars out, most are just passing through this nice little section of town, skipping over these shops. I hope the businesses consider how much pedestrians and cyclists mean to them. Improvements for the street are in the works and being discussed with members of the community to help rejuvenate this section of Willamette street. With a bond measure passed last November, one of the plans is to repave and better redesign the layout of the street to be more multi-modal. There will hopefully be much better pedestrian and bicycle facilities along the road with nicer vehicle lanes to help make traveling to and along Willamette Street much nicer.

Here is other info about the Holiday Swarm onWillamette Street.
Holiday Swarm Willamette Facebook Page, & Event
Story From The Register Guard

Bike Horns On Kickstarter

Posted on December 21, 2012 | 2 comments

There are 2 bike horns on Kickstarter right now.

The first bike horn to talk about is the “Loud Bicycle” by Jonathan Lansey. This bike horn is fueled by a rechargeable battery that powers 2 differently toned horns (with an output of 120dB), that look very similar in design to what a modern car horn looks like. This is great, because it truly makes it sound like a car horn, something most drivers are used to hearing. Drivers automatically react when they hear the noise from a car horn, as opposed to a bike bell or a single toned horn. The 2 horns and battery are one unit which is mounted to the downtube of the bicycle frame, with a wire leading to a button trigger that you can place wherever it’s convenient on your handle bars. I really like this design, and wouldn’t mind trying it out. Though it might take up a a decent amount of space.

Loud Bicycle: Car horns for cyclists

When the Kickstarter is over you can view the production on LoudBicycle.com.

The second bike horn is the ORP Smart Horn, also known as the “SMORN”, by Tory Orzeck. This more compact bicycle horn is great and comes loaded with a couple of nice features. The first thing I like about it is it’s not only a horn, but a 87 lumen bike light, with some functions of modern bike lights (constant on, slow strobe, fast strobe). This is perfect for the people who don’t like to deal with a lot of items on their handle bars; one unit does 2 things. The horn functions by toggling the lever in the rear of the unit. Toggle down, and it’s a friendly sounding 76dB(usable on pedestrians and cyclists). Toggle up, unleash the loud 96dB(usable on motor vehicles). All of this is packaged with a rechargeable battery in a nice looking silicon package, mounting easily on to your handle bars.

Orp Smart Horn {Smorn}

When the Kickstarter is over you can view the production on ORPland.com.

I really hope that both these horns get funded and are produced. I really love seeing bicycle safety devices like these out on the market. I have a true belief that all bicycles need bells, at least for pedestrian and other cyclists’ sake. And if you interact with large motor vehicle on the road, it’s great to get their attention with horns like these. So stay safe out there.

If you can’t wait or want something in the mean time before either of these come out, you should be happy to know there are some other horns available already.

Delta Airzound Bike Horn, I have one of these, Reviewed Here. This was one of the first bike horns on the market that would actually be audible to people in motor vehicles. It’s a great horn, powered by compressed air. Some things that I have found after using it for some time is I don’t tend to air up the canister much, so I never have use of the horn when I really need it. I also have found cold weather really does mute the reed that makes the sound when the PSI is not to the max. So having a rechargeable battery powered horn would be much nicer.

The Hornet, This is a newer electric horn created in 2011 by a former London lawyer and cyclist. The horn has a high pitched, ear bursting 140dB. I think this is too much power for this horn. Horns should have a deeper sound if they’re going to be that loud.

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Posted in BIKE, Kickstarter, OTHER, Reviews

Tagged Airzound, Airzound Bike Horn, Airzound Horn, Bell, bicycle, Bicycle Safety, bike, Bike Bell, bike commute, Bike Horn, Bike Safety, bike tour, Boston, Delta Airzound, Horn, Hornet, Hornet Bike Horn, Hornet Horn, Kickstarter, Loud Bicycle, Loud Bicycle Horn, ORP, ORP Horn, ORPland, Portland, review, safety, The Hornet

When I Wasn’t Posting

Posted on December 11, 2012 | 1 comment

I haven’t been posting a lot lately, not because I haven’t been doing anything. If anything it’s because I have been doing too much. With the winter months coming, the day light is getting short, but I still find lots to do. Here are some photos from things Angel and I have been up to, but haven’t had time to post.

Spent some time trying to make my grandma’s recipe for pizzelle vegan for Angel. It worked out alright, although they ended up a little more crunchy then they should be. I still need to spend some time tweaking it. I ended up making 2 batches, the first batter failed miserably. *reminder to self, don’t use the solid fat from coconut milk, It just melts everywhere, and doesn’t work.

I got some new rain gear for this winter season. Showers Pass makes great rain gear, the Club Convertible 2 Pants, and Club Shoe Cover are the new addition with my rain cape. The pants and shoe covers work awesome. My good old rain cape on the other hand, hasn’t ever really held up to heavy wind and rain. Maybe someday I will replace the cape with something nicer, but until then my rain cape is great for shorter rides around the city, and my rain pants and booties will do their job well.

We spent some time hiking around Mount Pisgah Arboretum. With a nice break in the weather that day, we spent a couple hours exploring around. You can watch a video of the trip in my post from yesterday, or here on YouTube.

The days around Thanksgiving were spent cleaning and setting up our Christmas tree. My mom sent me all my ornaments so we had something to hang on our tree this year. And we just lazed around a bit.

I had some time to organize my work space, hang out with friends a little, meet new friend, play with tesla coils, and go to the library. What could be better?

Angel made some great baklava! It was the first time I ever had it, it was delicious, so tasty and sweet. I don’t normally eat too much sugar, and after having a bit I felt a little rush. *After writing that last sentence, I must go to the fridge and eat some more. **reminder to self, don’t eat more then one piece, again, too much sugar.

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Posted in BIKE, Day Ride, FOOD, OTHER, Trips

Tagged anise, bicycle, bike, bike commute, camera, Christmas, Club Convertible, Club Convertible 2 Pants, Club Convertible Pants, Club Shoe Cover, Crate and Barrel, eugene, falling sky, Falling Sky Brewing, food, Hacker Space, leaf, leaves, LHT, Long Haul Trucker, Maker Space, Mount Pisgah, Mount Pisgah Arboretum, Mt Pisgah, nature, Oregon, Ortlieb, outdoors, photo, Pizzelle, Rain Cape, rain gear, Showers Pass, Smith Family Books, Surly, tesla, Tesla Coil, Thanks Giving, tools, transportation, vegan, winter, Xmas, Xtracycle

Angel and Her Videos

Posted on December 10, 2012 | 3 comments

Angel has been spending a lot of time over the past year taking video footage and teaching herself to edit them. In November she even spoke at an event in Seattle, talking about how easy it is to take and edit videos with whatever gear you have.

Along with taking photos, Angel started taking some simple video with her basic Canon Powershot SD1400 IS. The camera took pretty nice video, 720p HD. She used the camera every day and it has the wear marks to show for it.

She replaced the camera in April, after the camera focusing motor started to act up and make weird noises, a couple weeks after that she accidentally dropped the camera, cracking the screen. It was time for a new one, so she bought the Canon Powershot 110HS. This was a nice up grade for her. Allowing for full 1080p HD video shooting. She has taken a lot of great photos and videos with the camera. This is what she currently uses for almost everything.

Along with those cameras, she also occasionally uses the GoPro HD Hero I picked up at an REI Garage Sale last year. We have been able to take a lot of great video with this.

With the use of these cameras, and her MacBook Pro with iMovie, she is able to make these great little videos. In the past couple weeks she has made some of my favorite videos.

In Monday Tradition, she simply filmed what she did on Mondays, when she’s not at school, and I’m at work. Featuring one her favorite places to get vegan biscuits and gravy, Wandering Goat.

Mount Pisgah Hike, last week we spent a couple short hours, while it was dry out, hiking around Mount Pisgah.

Winter Soup, This is a great short little video of her making soup. She makes a big pot of soup almost every week, then eats it thought the week. A friend had asked her how she makes it. She had a great creative way to share it with them. You can read about it, and see the recipe HERE.

You can watch more of Angel’s great videos by going to my BreadBikeBlog YouTube Channel. Most the videos on there have been made by Angel. Some she helped me with, but now because of her I can help shoot video footage and help her produce great videos.