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On Mon, 13 Dec 2004 10:12:03 -0500, Stephen Harding
wrote: Bill Baka wrote: human and out of cell phone range. That brings up a final point from me, you do carry a cell phone for help, don't you? Rarely! A humorous story: My mother insisted I carry a cell phone with me going out to my second RAGBRAI a few years back. She was convinced I'd break down and end up being stranded in some lonely midwestern back road, dying of thirst or starvation. I pointed out to her that I would really have no excuse for being stranded long enough to perish since I was hauling 10 bicycles for my co-team RAGBRAI riders in the back of my pickup truck! I should be good for at least a couple hundred miles before lack of water ended my RAGBRAI plans. SMH It would be nice to carry a spare bike, but that's only a passing dream. -- Bill (?) Baka |
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#32
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Stephen Harding wrote:
My mother insisted I carry a cell phone with me going out to my second RAGBRAI a few years back. She was convinced I'd break down and end up being stranded in some lonely midwestern back road, dying of thirst or starvation. heh, i brought a cell phone along with me when i started out across south dakota from minneapolis and quickly came to the realization that it was pretty worthless. if the cell phone worked i didn't need it -- i was near a city. and of course if i needed it, i wouldn't have worked anyway. so i mailed it home. my reason for bringing it was simiarly motivated, tho. -- david reuteler |
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On 14 Dec 2004 20:39:07 GMT, David Reuteler wrote:
Stephen Harding wrote: My mother insisted I carry a cell phone with me going out to my second RAGBRAI a few years back. She was convinced I'd break down and end up being stranded in some lonely midwestern back road, dying of thirst or starvation. heh, i brought a cell phone along with me when i started out across south dakota from minneapolis and quickly came to the realization that it was pretty worthless. if the cell phone worked i didn't need it -- i was near a city. and of course if i needed it, i wouldn't have worked anyway. so i mailed it home. my reason for bringing it was simiarly motivated, tho. I find that on the long outback areas of little population there is very little coverage unless you have an Iridium and those are being used by the military. Look at a coverage map and you will see where not to break down unless you want a long hike back into a coverage zone. For those who don't know Iridium was a project started by Motorola back in the '80s and then abandoned because of all the new digital stuff going on. Result, 36 (?) satellites and nobody using them, until the military realized that satellites don't have dead zones from hills. -- Bill (?) Baka |
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Bill Baka wrote:
I find that on the long outback areas of little population there is very little coverage unless you have an Iridium and those are being used by the military. Look at a coverage map and you will see where not to break down unless you want a long hike back into a coverage zone. For those who don't know Iridium was a project started by Motorola back in the '80s and then abandoned because of all the new digital stuff going on. Result, 36 (?) satellites and nobody using them, until the military realized that satellites don't have dead zones from hills. Iridium has been resurrected by new investors several times in the last few years. It's very popular with boaters who can afford it, and growing rapidly these days. I have no idea if it will ever be profitable, though. Cell phone coverage *can* be a problem in outback areas in the US. Awhile ago I drove across the country via I-20, and there was almost no coverage from Shreveport LA, to Birmingham AL. There were analog signals only, which drain a modern, digital phone in a jiffy. Most other places I've been lately are fine though. Even west Texas is well covered. A hot tip though -- Verizon is the *only* provider who has good peering arrangements with *everybody.* If there's a signal at all, you can use it with a Verizon phone. Other companies' service is more limited, especially if you have a digital-only phone. Of course the other problem is blockage by mountains, etc. We have a few areas around here like that, but they're still very few, and not very large. I imagine upstate SC is the same way, though I've never had any problem there. There's one big hole in the middle of VA I can't figure out -- along 81 near Harrisonburg -- which is a major route to/from Washington DC, as well as *the* trucking corridor up/down the east coast. Weird. I've noticed a digital signal popping up around a couple of big truck stops, then disappearing as I pass by. They must have installed repeaters for their customers. Matt O. |
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On Thu, 16 Dec 2004 22:20:08 -0500, Matt O'Toole wrote:
Bill Baka wrote: I find that on the long outback areas of little population there is very little coverage unless you have an Iridium and those are being used by the military. Look at a coverage map and you will see where not to break down unless you want a long hike back into a coverage zone. For those who don't know Iridium was a project started by Motorola back in the '80s and then abandoned because of all the new digital stuff going on. Result, 36 (?) satellites and nobody using them, until the military realized that satellites don't have dead zones from hills. Iridium has been resurrected by new investors several times in the last few years. It's very popular with boaters who can afford it, and growing rapidly these days. I have no idea if it will ever be profitable, though. Anything they can do is better than the proposal to de-orbit the birds, and totally waste the whole thing. Cell phone coverage *can* be a problem in outback areas in the US. Awhile ago I drove across the country via I-20, and there was almost no coverage from Shreveport LA, to Birmingham AL. There were analog signals only, which drain a modern, digital phone in a jiffy. Most other places I've been lately are fine though. Even west Texas is well covered. I have cingular and was in plain sight of a tower with no signal due to having the wrong carrier. Two women were having a fine time chatting it up on Verizon. What happens when you have a 911 call and the wrong carrier? I haven't tried it yet since the police get kind of upset, but that could be a legal issue. The phones are multimodal capable with the SIM card determining what to do. I would sure hate to have a major crash and need 911 while looking at a tower and reading "No service." on my phone. A hot tip though -- Verizon is the *only* provider who has good peering arrangements with *everybody.* If there's a signal at all, you can use it with a Verizon phone. Other companies' service is more limited, especially if you have a digital-only phone. Of course the other problem is blockage by mountains, etc. We have a few areas around here like that, but they're still very few, and not very large. Since a large part of my riding is in the mountains I have that problem more often than not. I can have all bars in one place and ride a half mile more and get no bars. Very frustrating. I imagine upstate SC is the same way, though I've never had any problem there. There's one big hole in the middle of VA I can't figure out -- along 81 near Harrisonburg -- which is a major route to/from Washington DC, as well as *the* trucking corridor up/down the east coast. Weird. I've noticed a digital signal popping up around a couple of big truck stops, then disappearing as I pass by. They must have installed repeaters for their customers. Matt O. I have a coverage map for Cingular and darn, it only covers the metro and freeway areas. Who woulda thought you aren't a customer if you drive out of town or take a back road? We have a lot of towers off the beaten path, just not Cingular. Gimme a C.B. good buddy. 10-4. -- Bill (?) Ba__ka |
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Bill Baka wrote:
I have a coverage map for Cingular and darn, it only covers the metro and freeway areas. Who woulda thought you aren't a customer if you drive out of town or take a back road? We have a lot of towers off the beaten path, just not Cingular. Each cell company has its pluses and minuses. If you spend a lot of time in the sticks or travel a lot, you can't beat Verizon. I can even get all of Canada for the summer for $10 extra a month, then cancel it when I don't need it anymore. Gimme a C.B. good buddy. 10-4. Well, there's a reason they're not dead yet! But even boaters are using marine radio a lot less than they used to, now just calling each other on cell phones. If only I could find a waterproof one... Matt O. |
#37
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In article ,
"Matt O'Toole" wrote: Bill Baka wrote: I have a coverage map for Cingular and darn, it only covers the metro and freeway areas. Who woulda thought you aren't a customer if you drive out of town or take a back road? We have a lot of towers off the beaten path, just not Cingular. Each cell company has its pluses and minuses. If you spend a lot of time in the sticks or travel a lot, you can't beat Verizon. I can even get all of Canada for the summer for $10 extra a month, then cancel it when I don't need it anymore. Gimme a C.B. good buddy. 10-4. Well, there's a reason they're not dead yet! But even boaters are using marine radio a lot less than they used to, now just calling each other on cell phones. If only I could find a waterproof one... Matt O. Why a waterproof one? It WILL go overboard in 100 feet of water soon enough! Happy Holidays! |
#38
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David Reuteler wrote:
Zoot Katz wrote: I'll just add what I not yet seen mentioned: We use more calories in cold weather. We burn fuel just staying warm in addition to the work we're doing. You could almost double your regular food intake for a ride of that duration if it stayed below freezing the whole day. wag the minnesotan in me questions esp. that last sentence. i believe it's true that you burn more calories when it's cold but i don't think it's all that much -- when you're exercising you're generating a lot of heat anyway, you don't really need to generate any more to stay warm. i'd wager the difference in calorie expenditure is probably only around 10%. perhaps more if you're slacking or standing around. /wag my experience with long winter rides in minnesota tells me near 100% is way off, tho. at least for my body. -- david reuteler I'm with Dave for the most part though I might go as high as 15%. My last long ride in the cold (135 km over 12 hours in -5 C weather but with a good 3 hour layover at midpoint)did not appear to make me much hungerier than a similar ride in summer time would. My problem was remembering to keep drinking lots of fluids. It is very easy to dehydrate when riding in cold weather. JOhn Kane Kingston ON. |
#39
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David Reuteler wrote: Zoot Katz wrote: I'll just add what I not yet seen mentioned: We use more calories in cold weather. We burn fuel just staying warm in addition to the work we're doing. You could almost double your regular food intake for a ride of that duration if it stayed below freezing the whole day. wag the minnesotan in me questions esp. that last sentence. i believe it's true that you burn more calories when it's cold but i don't think it's all that much -- when you're exercising you're generating a lot of heat anyway, you don't really need to generate any more to stay warm. i'd wager the difference in calorie expenditure is probably only around 10%. perhaps more if you're slacking or standing around. /wag my experience with long winter rides in minnesota tells me near 100% is way off, tho. at least for my body. -- david reuteler I'm with Dave for the most part though I might go as high as 15%. My last long ride in the cold (135 km over 12 hours in -5 C weather but with a good 3 hour layover at midpoint)did not appear to make me much hungerier than a similar ride in summer time would. My problem was remembering to keep drinking lots of fluids. It is very easy to dehydrate when riding in cold weather. JOhn Kane Kingston ON. |
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