New Mapping and Journal Pages
Friday, December 21st, 2007I’ve added two new pages under the links menu for Journals and Maps.
Doug and I have been using BikeJournal.com for about a week. It is a nice journal at this point but doesn’t seem to do a good job with mapping. Way back last summer when I created the maps on the favorites pages,I used Bikely after having already looked at MapMyRide and a couple of others. None of these sites had my favorite feature at that time.
My favorite feature: Auto-route or snap-to-road allows you to tell the software to just follow the road. It reduces the number of clicks you have to make to get around corners. I wish I’d had that when I did routes of Winchester and Spiral grades. Of course now all the sites have that same tool. Well, all except BikeJournal.com.
Journals: brief reviews and links to journal sites and software including Steve’s spreadsheet which is arguably still the simplest and best tool.
Mapping: This is a cool tool for sharing rides. Auto-route would probably have saved me many hours last summer.
My conclusion: I like MapMyRide best overall and it is free though registration is required. It is flexible about how you enter your data. Instead of getting upset because you don’t already have a map for the route you just rode, it lets you enter a description and get on with your log and life. If you prefer you can start by creating the map–easy with auto-route–and then save it to your training log with distance already filled in. Hint: Make sure you tweak your map so it shows the same distance as your computer.
–Corrie
A team of 10 cyclists from MIT have set a new world record in the field of Human Powered Computation (HPC) by drawing 1.2 kilowatts of electricity and powering a a SiCortex SC648 supercomputer over the course of a 20 minute nonstop ride. If you recall, SiCortex pulled a similar stunt with another group of bikers at this year’s 
In late March of 2002, I became the owner of a Carlton Catalina touring bike, made in England in (as close as I can tell) the mid 1960s, and I promptly set about the task of restoring it. The bike was a disaster–a real rust bucket–but as I tore it down, I was astounded to see that it was largely unused and almost completely original. None of the bearings had any visible wear, and even the brake pads, gears, chain, and cable sheaths were ones that came new with the bike. The only nonoriginal part was the saddle; I assume that the original leather one died a moldy death as the bike sat decaying in a series of garages.
Specialized Bicycles is voluntarily recalling 3,000 Model-D helmets that failed tests required by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission.
photographing the decals and creating new vinyl ones. I knew it wouldn’t be easy, so I started messing with the old Grand Prix ($10 in a yard sale 10 yeas ago). However, it’s obvious that the decals are bent onto the frame and the the light catches words differently and of course is usually shiny in the spot opposite the sun. Too much effort to hide from the sun dulls the colors badly.
