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#281
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AG: Safety Equipment for Bicycles
Am 04.08.2015 um 18:10 schrieb Frank Krygowski:
I've read that for some folks, problems may be caused by extra-strong eye dominance. I'm right eye dominant, but have my mirror on my left glasses temple. I eventually realized I blink every time I turn my attention to the mirror. I'm also right-eye dominant with the mirror on the left eye. I started using the glasses mirror around age 25, and it took me a few hour of training / weeks of usage until I was fully utilizing the mirror. I guess the mirror even helped me to protect my good eyesight on the left eye (which was getting lazy compared to the excellent eye sight of the right eye at the time). Rolf "at 45, no need for glasses yet" Mantel |
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#282
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AG: Washing gloves
Bleeding blacks have a variant of the Xanth zombie spell: No matter how many times you wash them, they have more dye. So if your poorly-dyed black garment hasn't bled completely white, keep on rinsing the sweat out of your clothes in two separate buckets. -- joy beeson at comcast dot net http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/ The above message is a Usenet post. I don't recall having given anyone permission to use it on a Web site. |
#283
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AG: Washing gloves
On Sat, 15 Aug 2015 22:58:30 -0300, Joy Beeson
wrote: Bleeding blacks have a variant of the Xanth zombie spell: No matter how many times you wash them, they have more dye. So if your poorly-dyed black garment hasn't bled completely white, keep on rinsing the sweat out of your clothes in two separate buckets. What I do is just shed the sweaty clothes in a pile and my wife takes care of all the details :-) In fact she thinks my efforts in either the kitchen or laundry is something to laugh about, and orders me "Out!" of both places. On the other hand she seems to feel that stopped up drains are well within my area of expertise :-) -- cheers, John B. |
#284
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AG: If you can't miss it, hit it square.
The sharper the angle at which you strike an obstacle, the more likely it is to steer the bicycle out from under you. Brushing against a curb that's almost parallel to your velocity is a guaranteed fall, if you aren't both very lucky and possessed of a track racer's supernatural balance. So if you see a flaw in the pavement and have no alternative to riding over it, come as close to hitting it at right angles as you can. A drop-off is less likely to steer the bike than a bump, so line up for the far edge of a hole and the near edge of a bump. Some, BUT NOT ALL, of the curbs that are used to block the entrances of driveways, alleys, and parking lots are sloped gently enough that you can treat them as short, sharp hills: striking one of these at a sharp angle is equivalent to switchbacking. But don't switchback a curb when there is another moving vehicle anywhere in the neighborhood unless you are absolutely, positootly certain that he can -- and will -- miss you if you fall. -- joy beeson at comcast dot net http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/ The above message is a Usenet post. I don't recall having given anyone permission to use it on a Web site. |
#285
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AG: Legal isn't always smart
Now and again you see a sign telling you that it's legal to ride your bike on a sidewalk. It may even be a special sidewalk on which curbs and steps have been replaced with ramps. It's still a sidewalk. When you ride on a sidewalk, you are totally and all by yourself responsible for avoiding collisions at intersections, because the drivers of cars don't see you. Hardly anybody checks the sidewalk for moving vehicles, and even if you are seen, you won't be noticed -- a person on a sidewalk is nothing unusual or relevant to car-driving. His eyes won't linger on you long enough to notice that you aren't moving like a pedestrian. As if that weren't enough, every driveway and alley that crosses the sidewalk is an intersection. On a street, a driver will stop short of the crosswalk before creeping across the walkway to look for traffic, but when he is emerging from a driveway or alley, he will pull out to where he can see the street with almost no attention to the sidewalk. --------------------- City planners often see no reason not to direct bicycles up the wrong way of a one-way street. A white stripe may help in the middle of the block, but at the intersection, someone turning into the one-way street is NOT going to be prepared to see someone coming toward him. --------------------- The powers that be get a big thrill out of building multi-user pathways and putting up signs that say "Bikeway". Somewhere in the world, there is a bikeway. It has sidewalks. A multi-user path is a walkway on which people are permitted to play with wheel toys. When you ride on one, you must use all the precautions that you would use when riding on a sidewalk. Bend over backward to avoid causing annoyance or alarm to pedestrians; dismount if you have to. Speak before you overtake. Watch for dog leashes stretched across the path. And, no matter how lightly-traveled the pathway is, never, never put your head down and sprint. You might run down a toddler or crash into a gate. If you must sprint, at least watch where you are going. -- joy beeson at comcast dot net http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/ The above message is a Usenet post. I don't recall having given anyone permission to use it on a Web site. |
#286
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AG: Legal isn't always smart
Joy Beeson wrote:
Now and again you see a sign telling you that it's legal to ride your bike on a sidewalk. It may even be a special sidewalk on which curbs and steps have been replaced with ramps. I'm pretty emphatic on the idea that as a vehicle, a bicycle has all the rights *and* responsibilities of any other vehicle, including following the traffic code. A bicycle is not a pedestrian. It's still a sidewalk. When you ride on a sidewalk, you are totally and all by yourself responsible for avoiding collisions at intersections, because the drivers of cars don't see you. Hardly anybody checks the sidewalk for moving vehicles, and even if you are seen, you won't be noticed -- a person on a sidewalk is nothing unusual or relevant to car-driving. His eyes won't linger on you long enough to notice that you aren't moving like a pedestrian. Yep. I nearly hit a guy a few weeks ago. I was pulling out of a driveway of a shopping center, and there was a guy (probably teenager) on a small BMX bike. I was making a right turn, and he was coming from my right, on the sidewalk, and against the traffic. Plus, it was night, and he had no light. For me, as a motorist, if I'm making a right turn, I'm looking to my left, to look for oncoming traffic, and I'm not looking right, at at the sidewalk, for a bicycle that's going several times the speed of a pedestrian. There was no collision, but he clearly was upset that I had pulled in front of him. As if that weren't enough, every driveway and alley that crosses the sidewalk is an intersection. On a street, a driver will stop short of the crosswalk before creeping across the walkway to look for traffic, but when he is emerging from a driveway or alley, he will pull out to where he can see the street with almost no attention to the sidewalk. Yep. --------------------- City planners often see no reason not to direct bicycles up the wrong way of a one-way street. A white stripe may help in the middle of the block, but at the intersection, someone turning into the one-way street is NOT going to be prepared to see someone coming toward him. Depends on where you are. I live near a major university, and on some of the major boulevards near campus, on the backs of street signs that designate bike lanes, the backs have signs with the familiar red-slashed circle in front of a bicycle, and underneath, "wrong way". I don't remember for sure, but I think the "wrong way" signs are yellow background, rather than white background. One of the things we also have at some intersections around here is that if there's a designated right turn lane, and a motorist has to cross the bicycle lane to get to the right turn lane, the marking for the bike lane becomes a dashed line, and does a good job of communicating to the motorist that the bike lane continues, and that to get into the right turn lane, it requires crossing the bike lane. It wasn't until I'd seen this one a few times, that I realized one of the fundamental rules, regarding road striping (at least in the US -- I've never completely figured out all the striping in the UK). That one is that if there is a solid line, a vehicle is expected to stay in that lane, and a vehicle should not cross a solid line. That's not only a double yellow line, but a single white line, as well. A lot of motorists tend not to know this one. Thus, it's not just handling of bike lanes, but other things, as well, including entering intersections, places where there's stop-and-go traffic, such as toll plazas and inspection stations, and in some places, diamond carpool lanes. I was just in Southern California a couple of weeks ago, and their carpool lanes are set up where there's a solid line (in this case, double-yellow) that separates the carpool lane from the next lane of traffic, and there are breaks only every couple of miles. When I drive there, I've rarely seen a motorist move in or out of a diamond lane by crossing over the double line, but waiting until the designated break spot. --------------------- The powers that be get a big thrill out of building multi-user pathways and putting up signs that say "Bikeway". Somewhere in the world, there is a bikeway. It has sidewalks. A multi-user path is a walkway on which people are permitted to play with wheel toys. When you ride on one, you must use all the precautions that you would use when riding on a sidewalk. One of the things that often escapes urban planners (and for that matter, the public in general) is that there's more than one kind of "cyclist". For many, they tend to project their own experiences on a bicycle, either as a child, or as casual/occasional adult rider, where the speed of the rider is expected to be consistent with a pedestrian, and where the bicycle often is regarded as a "toy". From the perspective of the motorist, this kind of rider is essentially a standing object, and for policy purposes, something that should be isolated from motor traffic, as much as possible. And yes, this is where most of the expectation of design of "bike lanes", "bikeways", etc. Not only urban bikeways that are magnets for non-cyclists (walkers, runners, people on rollerblades, people pushing strollers, skate boarders, etc.), but also spaces around schools, where the "cyclists" are mostly children (with varying riding skills) that are going to and from school. A separate class of cyclist are the riders who really ride -- commuters, fast fitness riders etc., who are often going at considerably faster speeds, and longer distances than the casual riders. And far better skills at handling the bike, as well as riding in traffic. Not too far from where I live, there's an urban bikeway, and close by, a major arterial boulevard. The boulevard is three lanes of traffic in each direction, and I believe that the posted speed limit is 50 MPH, and there's no marking for bike lines, although there's adequate space for bicycles. It's pretty clear that the urban planners expect all bicycle traffic to use the bikeway. However, the bikeway is the typical magnet for foot traffic. Personally, I'm quite content to go out there on my rollerblades, but if I'm on my bike, I'm sticking to the street, because my activity (and speed) is far more consistent with motor vehicle traffic, than it is in trying to dodge the foot traffic that accumulates on the bikeway. For a cyclist, riding the bikeway is analogous to a motorist driving in a school zone -- it may get you to where you want to go, but expect frequent stops to allow for slower traffic. I should note that this for this particular situation, I'm not advocating that all cyclists use the street. It's one that takes experience, of good bike handling skills, and good skills in riding in traffic -- and where the cyclist knows that he/she is following all the rules of the Motor Vehicle Code, including red lights and stop signs. I know plenty of casual riders that have no business on that particular street, and should be using the bikeway. Bend over backward to avoid causing annoyance or alarm to pedestrians; dismount if you have to. Speak before you overtake. Watch for dog leashes stretched across the path. And, no matter how lightly-traveled the pathway is, never, never put your head down and sprint. You might run down a toddler or crash into a gate. If you must sprint, at least watch where you are going. Absolutely, but at the same time, stay away from the sidewalks. The relationship between the bicycle and the sidewalk should perpendicular, where the bike is on a sidewalk only for crossing it, and access to a driveway. For the bikeways, if you need to be there, the bike is at the top of the figurative food chain, the fastest and most aggressive that is there. Thus, that means that you have to assume that *you* have a speed limit. Smith |
#287
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AG: Legal isn't always smart
On 9/5/2015 11:07 AM, NFN Smith wrote:
Joy Beeson wrote: Now and again you see a sign telling you that it's legal to ride your bike on a sidewalk. It may even be a special sidewalk on which curbs and steps have been replaced with ramps. I'm pretty emphatic on the idea that as a vehicle, a bicycle has all the rights *and* responsibilities of any other vehicle, including following the traffic code. A bicycle is not a pedestrian. It's still a sidewalk. When you ride on a sidewalk, you are totally and all by yourself responsible for avoiding collisions at intersections, because the drivers of cars don't see you. Hardly anybody checks the sidewalk for moving vehicles, and even if you are seen, you won't be noticed -- a person on a sidewalk is nothing unusual or relevant to car-driving. His eyes won't linger on you long enough to notice that you aren't moving like a pedestrian. Yep. I nearly hit a guy a few weeks ago. I was pulling out of a driveway of a shopping center, and there was a guy (probably teenager) on a small BMX bike. I was making a right turn, and he was coming from my right, on the sidewalk, and against the traffic. Plus, it was night, and he had no light. For me, as a motorist, if I'm making a right turn, I'm looking to my left, to look for oncoming traffic, and I'm not looking right, at at the sidewalk, for a bicycle that's going several times the speed of a pedestrian. There was no collision, but he clearly was upset that I had pulled in front of him. As if that weren't enough, every driveway and alley that crosses the sidewalk is an intersection. On a street, a driver will stop short of the crosswalk before creeping across the walkway to look for traffic, but when he is emerging from a driveway or alley, he will pull out to where he can see the street with almost no attention to the sidewalk. Yep. --------------------- City planners often see no reason not to direct bicycles up the wrong way of a one-way street. A white stripe may help in the middle of the block, but at the intersection, someone turning into the one-way street is NOT going to be prepared to see someone coming toward him. Depends on where you are. I live near a major university, and on some of the major boulevards near campus, on the backs of street signs that designate bike lanes, the backs have signs with the familiar red-slashed circle in front of a bicycle, and underneath, "wrong way". I don't remember for sure, but I think the "wrong way" signs are yellow background, rather than white background. One of the things we also have at some intersections around here is that if there's a designated right turn lane, and a motorist has to cross the bicycle lane to get to the right turn lane, the marking for the bike lane becomes a dashed line, and does a good job of communicating to the motorist that the bike lane continues, and that to get into the right turn lane, it requires crossing the bike lane. It wasn't until I'd seen this one a few times, that I realized one of the fundamental rules, regarding road striping (at least in the US -- I've never completely figured out all the striping in the UK). That one is that if there is a solid line, a vehicle is expected to stay in that lane, and a vehicle should not cross a solid line. That's not only a double yellow line, but a single white line, as well. A lot of motorists tend not to know this one. Thus, it's not just handling of bike lanes, but other things, as well, including entering intersections, places where there's stop-and-go traffic, such as toll plazas and inspection stations, and in some places, diamond carpool lanes. I was just in Southern California a couple of weeks ago, and their carpool lanes are set up where there's a solid line (in this case, double-yellow) that separates the carpool lane from the next lane of traffic, and there are breaks only every couple of miles. When I drive there, I've rarely seen a motorist move in or out of a diamond lane by crossing over the double line, but waiting until the designated break spot. --------------------- The powers that be get a big thrill out of building multi-user pathways and putting up signs that say "Bikeway". Somewhere in the world, there is a bikeway. It has sidewalks. A multi-user path is a walkway on which people are permitted to play with wheel toys. When you ride on one, you must use all the precautions that you would use when riding on a sidewalk. One of the things that often escapes urban planners (and for that matter, the public in general) is that there's more than one kind of "cyclist". For many, they tend to project their own experiences on a bicycle, either as a child, or as casual/occasional adult rider, where the speed of the rider is expected to be consistent with a pedestrian, and where the bicycle often is regarded as a "toy". From the perspective of the motorist, this kind of rider is essentially a standing object, and for policy purposes, something that should be isolated from motor traffic, as much as possible. And yes, this is where most of the expectation of design of "bike lanes", "bikeways", etc. Not only urban bikeways that are magnets for non-cyclists (walkers, runners, people on rollerblades, people pushing strollers, skate boarders, etc.), but also spaces around schools, where the "cyclists" are mostly children (with varying riding skills) that are going to and from school. A separate class of cyclist are the riders who really ride -- commuters, fast fitness riders etc., who are often going at considerably faster speeds, and longer distances than the casual riders. And far better skills at handling the bike, as well as riding in traffic. Not too far from where I live, there's an urban bikeway, and close by, a major arterial boulevard. The boulevard is three lanes of traffic in each direction, and I believe that the posted speed limit is 50 MPH, and there's no marking for bike lines, although there's adequate space for bicycles. It's pretty clear that the urban planners expect all bicycle traffic to use the bikeway. However, the bikeway is the typical magnet for foot traffic. Personally, I'm quite content to go out there on my rollerblades, but if I'm on my bike, I'm sticking to the street, because my activity (and speed) is far more consistent with motor vehicle traffic, than it is in trying to dodge the foot traffic that accumulates on the bikeway. For a cyclist, riding the bikeway is analogous to a motorist driving in a school zone -- it may get you to where you want to go, but expect frequent stops to allow for slower traffic. I should note that this for this particular situation, I'm not advocating that all cyclists use the street. It's one that takes experience, of good bike handling skills, and good skills in riding in traffic -- and where the cyclist knows that he/she is following all the rules of the Motor Vehicle Code, including red lights and stop signs. I know plenty of casual riders that have no business on that particular street, and should be using the bikeway. Bend over backward to avoid causing annoyance or alarm to pedestrians; dismount if you have to. Speak before you overtake. Watch for dog leashes stretched across the path. And, no matter how lightly-traveled the pathway is, never, never put your head down and sprint. You might run down a toddler or crash into a gate. If you must sprint, at least watch where you are going. Absolutely, but at the same time, stay away from the sidewalks. The relationship between the bicycle and the sidewalk should perpendicular, where the bike is on a sidewalk only for crossing it, and access to a driveway. For the bikeways, if you need to be there, the bike is at the top of the figurative food chain, the fastest and most aggressive that is there. Thus, that means that you have to assume that *you* have a speed limit. Good post. Just one quibble: "... if there is a solid line, a vehicle is expected to stay in that lane, and a vehicle should not cross a solid line. That's not only a double yellow line, but a single white line, as well." In Ohio, the Ohio Bicycle Federation got a law passed specifically permitting motorists to cross a solid yellow line, when safe to do so, in order to pass a vehicle (that includes bicycle) moving less than half the speed limit. It's a good law. It's what people have always done when needing to pass a disabled vehicle creeping along the road, a mail truck stopping at every mailbox, a horse and buggy, and a slow-moving bicycle in a lane too narrow to share - provided the cyclist is smart enough to stay out of the gutter. The yellow lines are painted with the assumption that one car is trying to pass a slightly slower one. They're unrealistically restrictive for passing truly slow vehicles. -- - Frank Krygowski |
#288
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AG: A newspaper cooler
When I was at the Burlington Bike Shop between Nappanee and Bremen, I saw folding wire panniers just like mine except that the bottom panel is the currently-fashionable perforated sheet metal instead of wires. This leads me to think that there might be people who can use my method of making a cooler out of newspaper. Folding wire panniers were originally designed to fit standard paper grocery bags. By happy chance, this makes them fit standard newspapers, so all you need to make one into a cooler are newspapers and plastic grocery bags. The description is written for very thin newspapers; if your paper is thick, you may need to use sections instead of whole papers. Being a serious cyclist, I always carry a bag of crumpled grocery bags to use as packing material when I buy something fragile. When I started doing that, I figured that every now and again the bags would get in my way and I'd toss them into the nearest trash bin, but it seems that when my panniers fill up, I use a lot of packing material -- and if there are bags left over, a bag of bags on top of a piled-up pannier serves to wedge everything down and protect items from the pressure of the bungee cords. --------------- side trip It is possible to fold a plastic grocery bag so flat that it takes up almost no space at all. This is easier done than said; don't let the complicated instructions scare you. Take hold of the ends of the seam at the bottom and pull to straighten it out. Repeat for the seams in the handles. The second step is harder, because the handles have usually been scrunched. Put a finger in one handle and a finger of the other hand into the pleat at the bottom of the bag and pull. The bag will straighten out and the pleats will re-form. Repeat on the other side. Stroke from the bottom of the bag toward the opening to drive out the air, then fold the bag in half lengthwise and stroke again. Fold again and stroke again. The average-size bag is narrow enough at this stage. Put the palm of one hand on the bottom seam and flatten the bag with the other hand, then fold it in half crosswise. Flatten again, fold again. When I build a cooler, the first step is to shingle the bottom of the pannier with bags flattened in this manner. (There are usually already bags there from the last time, since there is no reason to remove them when I remove the cooler.) I put bags under my cooler so that when I wedge all of my crumpled bags down between things, then buy one more item, I can reach up between the wires and pull out a bag to tie the extra item to the rack with. This would be quite impossible if the bottom of the pannier were fine mesh like the panniers at Burlington, so . . . um . . . delete this entire section. --------------- /side trip To begin the cooler, line a pannier with a plastic grocery bag, to keep wind from blowing between the newspapers. This is akin to the "wind shell" that used to be worn over down sweaters. If none of your bags is large enough, line the pannier with smaller bags that you have squashed flat, so that you can use them like small, irregular pieces of sheet plastic. (The squashing needn't be neat; wrinkles add insulation.) Choose white bags if you have any, to turn the sun. Put a bag in each corner, the straightest part even with the top wire and the middle of the bag pressed into the corner, with the handles of the bag straggling across the bottom of the pannier. Then arrange more bags overlapping the first four to fill up the gaps. Next, take a newspaper folded the way papers are in paper dispensers, hold the fold against the top wire of one side of the pannier, and use your other hand to force it to fold into the corner between side and bottom. Line the other side with another newspaper. At one time, the next step was to fold a newspaper in half, but papers are narrower than they used to be, so fold about a third of the paper to make it just a tiny bit wider than the end of the pannier. Place it with the new fold in the corner and the old fold even with the top wire, then force the rest of it to fit. This wedges the side newspapers into place. Put another newspaper in the other end. If the insulation isn't thick enough, add another layer of newspaper. At the ends, line up the thin side of the new layer with the thick side of the first layer. If you lined the pannier with a single large bag, fold it down over the first layer so that the second layer can hold it in place. At first, I folded a newspaper in half and wedged it down on the floor to hold the sides in place, then I noticed that the floor was already at least as thick as the sides and stopped doing that. Now line the completed cooler with another plastic bag; since the inside measurements are now smaller, odds are you have one that's big enough. This helps to keep the newspapers dry, and also allows you to carry everything you packed into the cooler into the house in one trip. After filling the cooler, fold the lining bag over the contents and put in a newspaper folded in half as a lid. Then use your bag of crumpled bags to fill up the pannier, and use two bungees to hold it down. (The space between the newspaper lid and the bag of crumpled bags is a good place to stash things you want kept out of the sun, but not chilled.) To make a bungee lid on a wire pannier, put the ends of the bungees through the wires from the inside out, one bungee end on each side of the hinge wires of the pannier end, just below the top wire, so that the bungee is held by its middle and both ends dangle outside the pannier. Bring the hooks up over the top wire and hook them to the other end. Repeat with the other bungee at the other end. If the bungee is too long, span more than one wire. If you pile up more stuff than the bungees can stretch over, hook two of the hooks to each other, so that three strands of bungee make a Z. -- joy beeson at comcast dot net http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/ The above message is a Usenet post. I don't recall having given anyone permission to use it on a Web site. |
#289
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AG: A newspaper cooler
On Sun, 06 Sep 2015 01:05:47 -0300, Joy Beeson
wrote: When I was at the Burlington Bike Shop between Nappanee and Bremen, I saw folding wire panniers just like mine except that the bottom panel is the currently-fashionable perforated sheet metal instead of wires. This leads me to think that there might be people who can use my method of making a cooler out of newspaper. Folding wire panniers were originally designed to fit standard paper grocery bags. By happy chance, this makes them fit standard newspapers, so all you need to make one into a cooler are newspapers and plastic grocery bags. The description is written for very thin newspapers; if your paper is thick, you may need to use sections instead of whole papers. Being a serious cyclist, I always carry a bag of crumpled grocery bags to use as packing material when I buy something fragile. When I started doing that, I figured that every now and again the bags would get in my way and I'd toss them into the nearest trash bin, but it seems that when my panniers fill up, I use a lot of packing material -- and if there are bags left over, a bag of bags on top of a piled-up pannier serves to wedge everything down and protect items from the pressure of the bungee cords. --------------- side trip It is possible to fold a plastic grocery bag so flat that it takes up almost no space at all. This is easier done than said; don't let the complicated instructions scare you. Take hold of the ends of the seam at the bottom and pull to straighten it out. Repeat for the seams in the handles. The second step is harder, because the handles have usually been scrunched. Put a finger in one handle and a finger of the other hand into the pleat at the bottom of the bag and pull. The bag will straighten out and the pleats will re-form. Repeat on the other side. Stroke from the bottom of the bag toward the opening to drive out the air, then fold the bag in half lengthwise and stroke again. Fold again and stroke again. The average-size bag is narrow enough at this stage. Put the palm of one hand on the bottom seam and flatten the bag with the other hand, then fold it in half crosswise. Flatten again, fold again. When I build a cooler, the first step is to shingle the bottom of the pannier with bags flattened in this manner. (There are usually already bags there from the last time, since there is no reason to remove them when I remove the cooler.) I put bags under my cooler so that when I wedge all of my crumpled bags down between things, then buy one more item, I can reach up between the wires and pull out a bag to tie the extra item to the rack with. This would be quite impossible if the bottom of the pannier were fine mesh like the panniers at Burlington, so . . . um . . . delete this entire section. --------------- /side trip To begin the cooler, line a pannier with a plastic grocery bag, to keep wind from blowing between the newspapers. This is akin to the "wind shell" that used to be worn over down sweaters. If none of your bags is large enough, line the pannier with smaller bags that you have squashed flat, so that you can use them like small, irregular pieces of sheet plastic. (The squashing needn't be neat; wrinkles add insulation.) Choose white bags if you have any, to turn the sun. Put a bag in each corner, the straightest part even with the top wire and the middle of the bag pressed into the corner, with the handles of the bag straggling across the bottom of the pannier. Then arrange more bags overlapping the first four to fill up the gaps. Next, take a newspaper folded the way papers are in paper dispensers, hold the fold against the top wire of one side of the pannier, and use your other hand to force it to fold into the corner between side and bottom. Line the other side with another newspaper. At one time, the next step was to fold a newspaper in half, but papers are narrower than they used to be, so fold about a third of the paper to make it just a tiny bit wider than the end of the pannier. Place it with the new fold in the corner and the old fold even with the top wire, then force the rest of it to fit. This wedges the side newspapers into place. Put another newspaper in the other end. If the insulation isn't thick enough, add another layer of newspaper. At the ends, line up the thin side of the new layer with the thick side of the first layer. If you lined the pannier with a single large bag, fold it down over the first layer so that the second layer can hold it in place. At first, I folded a newspaper in half and wedged it down on the floor to hold the sides in place, then I noticed that the floor was already at least as thick as the sides and stopped doing that. Now line the completed cooler with another plastic bag; since the inside measurements are now smaller, odds are you have one that's big enough. This helps to keep the newspapers dry, and also allows you to carry everything you packed into the cooler into the house in one trip. After filling the cooler, fold the lining bag over the contents and put in a newspaper folded in half as a lid. Then use your bag of crumpled bags to fill up the pannier, and use two bungees to hold it down. (The space between the newspaper lid and the bag of crumpled bags is a good place to stash things you want kept out of the sun, but not chilled.) To make a bungee lid on a wire pannier, put the ends of the bungees through the wires from the inside out, one bungee end on each side of the hinge wires of the pannier end, just below the top wire, so that the bungee is held by its middle and both ends dangle outside the pannier. Bring the hooks up over the top wire and hook them to the other end. Repeat with the other bungee at the other end. If the bungee is too long, span more than one wire. If you pile up more stuff than the bungees can stretch over, hook two of the hooks to each other, so that three strands of bungee make a Z. I wonder, why not make a Styrofoam box to carry on the bike? I'm sure that you can buy sheet Styrofoam and either contact cement or epoxy glue will hold it together nicely. Admittedly it does take a little forethought to be sure that you have it when you need it, but with a little care it should last for years. -- cheers, John B. |
#290
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AG: A newspaper cooler
On Sun, 06 Sep 2015 17:54:24 +0100, Phil W Lee
wrote: John B. considered Sun, 06 Sep 2015 18:12:54 +0700 the perfect time to write: On Sun, 06 Sep 2015 01:05:47 -0300, Joy Beeson wrote: When I was at the Burlington Bike Shop between Nappanee and Bremen, I saw folding wire panniers just like mine except that the bottom panel is the currently-fashionable perforated sheet metal instead of wires. This leads me to think that there might be people who can use my method of making a cooler out of newspaper. Folding wire panniers were originally designed to fit standard paper grocery bags. By happy chance, this makes them fit standard newspapers, so all you need to make one into a cooler are newspapers and plastic grocery bags. The description is written for very thin newspapers; if your paper is thick, you may need to use sections instead of whole papers. Being a serious cyclist, I always carry a bag of crumpled grocery bags to use as packing material when I buy something fragile. When I started doing that, I figured that every now and again the bags would get in my way and I'd toss them into the nearest trash bin, but it seems that when my panniers fill up, I use a lot of packing material -- and if there are bags left over, a bag of bags on top of a piled-up pannier serves to wedge everything down and protect items from the pressure of the bungee cords. --------------- side trip It is possible to fold a plastic grocery bag so flat that it takes up almost no space at all. This is easier done than said; don't let the complicated instructions scare you. Take hold of the ends of the seam at the bottom and pull to straighten it out. Repeat for the seams in the handles. The second step is harder, because the handles have usually been scrunched. Put a finger in one handle and a finger of the other hand into the pleat at the bottom of the bag and pull. The bag will straighten out and the pleats will re-form. Repeat on the other side. Stroke from the bottom of the bag toward the opening to drive out the air, then fold the bag in half lengthwise and stroke again. Fold again and stroke again. The average-size bag is narrow enough at this stage. Put the palm of one hand on the bottom seam and flatten the bag with the other hand, then fold it in half crosswise. Flatten again, fold again. When I build a cooler, the first step is to shingle the bottom of the pannier with bags flattened in this manner. (There are usually already bags there from the last time, since there is no reason to remove them when I remove the cooler.) I put bags under my cooler so that when I wedge all of my crumpled bags down between things, then buy one more item, I can reach up between the wires and pull out a bag to tie the extra item to the rack with. This would be quite impossible if the bottom of the pannier were fine mesh like the panniers at Burlington, so . . . um . . . delete this entire section. --------------- /side trip To begin the cooler, line a pannier with a plastic grocery bag, to keep wind from blowing between the newspapers. This is akin to the "wind shell" that used to be worn over down sweaters. If none of your bags is large enough, line the pannier with smaller bags that you have squashed flat, so that you can use them like small, irregular pieces of sheet plastic. (The squashing needn't be neat; wrinkles add insulation.) Choose white bags if you have any, to turn the sun. Put a bag in each corner, the straightest part even with the top wire and the middle of the bag pressed into the corner, with the handles of the bag straggling across the bottom of the pannier. Then arrange more bags overlapping the first four to fill up the gaps. Next, take a newspaper folded the way papers are in paper dispensers, hold the fold against the top wire of one side of the pannier, and use your other hand to force it to fold into the corner between side and bottom. Line the other side with another newspaper. At one time, the next step was to fold a newspaper in half, but papers are narrower than they used to be, so fold about a third of the paper to make it just a tiny bit wider than the end of the pannier. Place it with the new fold in the corner and the old fold even with the top wire, then force the rest of it to fit. This wedges the side newspapers into place. Put another newspaper in the other end. If the insulation isn't thick enough, add another layer of newspaper. At the ends, line up the thin side of the new layer with the thick side of the first layer. If you lined the pannier with a single large bag, fold it down over the first layer so that the second layer can hold it in place. At first, I folded a newspaper in half and wedged it down on the floor to hold the sides in place, then I noticed that the floor was already at least as thick as the sides and stopped doing that. Now line the completed cooler with another plastic bag; since the inside measurements are now smaller, odds are you have one that's big enough. This helps to keep the newspapers dry, and also allows you to carry everything you packed into the cooler into the house in one trip. After filling the cooler, fold the lining bag over the contents and put in a newspaper folded in half as a lid. Then use your bag of crumpled bags to fill up the pannier, and use two bungees to hold it down. (The space between the newspaper lid and the bag of crumpled bags is a good place to stash things you want kept out of the sun, but not chilled.) To make a bungee lid on a wire pannier, put the ends of the bungees through the wires from the inside out, one bungee end on each side of the hinge wires of the pannier end, just below the top wire, so that the bungee is held by its middle and both ends dangle outside the pannier. Bring the hooks up over the top wire and hook them to the other end. Repeat with the other bungee at the other end. If the bungee is too long, span more than one wire. If you pile up more stuff than the bungees can stretch over, hook two of the hooks to each other, so that three strands of bungee make a Z. I wonder, why not make a Styrofoam box to carry on the bike? I'm sure that you can buy sheet Styrofoam and either contact cement or epoxy glue will hold it together nicely. Admittedly it does take a little forethought to be sure that you have it when you need it, but with a little care it should last for years. All styrofoam can do is insulate, and it takes up space all the time, regardless of how useful it is at that time. Newspaper, by being simply wetted with water, will act as a refridgerator, as the water evaporates and cools the contents. On a moving cycle, this evaporation is enhanced, and the cooling effect is sufficient to keep milk fresh (and butter solid) on a tour, even without a Thermos flask. Of course, you can only use it once or twice in that way before it gets pretty disgusting, but as it's usually free, and using it will only delay it's entry into the recycling system, that doesn't matter. I wonder. Back in the "good old days" I took the "paper" daily and always had a stack of news paper for use when to paint something or clean the chain. Now I read the news on the computer and have to remember to buy a paper occasionally or I can't paint.. or clean the bike chain :-) -- cheers, John B. |
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