Real Pedal Power?

I have to admit that I know nothing about molecular chemistry.  It's one of those areas, like much of physics, that sounds interesting but for which I lack the background, and possibly the aptitude (My math skills are, depending on your point of view, comically or frightfully bad!) to understand.

So when I read this article, all I knew was that scientists somehow managed to synthesize molecules that operate like the pedals of a bicycle. It sounded really cool.

 From what I understand, these molecules can be activated by light to act as "switches", moving from one structural state to another as they move like the pedals around a bottom bracket.  However, they do not perform a full rotation, but move back and forth in arcs around the "axle."

In contrast, other kinds of molecules exhibit large-scale rotation around one bond, and need much more space than the "pedal" molecules need in order to make the "switch".

Why is this important?  Well, "switching" is necessary in order to create the molecular structures necessary in a number of applicatons, from pharmaceuticals to computers.  I would imagine that it is also vital to much "green" technology.  

I once built a wheel that looked like this.  I didn't ride it, though!

As I understand, these molecules change their structure in a way analagous to that of water it becomes ice or vapor.  When water is heated, its vapor needs more space because it expands.  On the other hand, when water cools down to 4 degrees C, it contracts but, unlike other liquids, expands when it freezes. You can see this when a river or lake ices over.) Just as liquid water acts differently from vapor or ice when you try to combine it with other things, whether and how molecules bond depends on their structural state.  So, the necessary molecular structures for a number of things, from pharmaceuticals to plastics, can be created only when the molecules can reach the right state.  And that can only happen when the would-be "switches" are allowed to switch.  

If water in a pipe freezes, it will expand the pipe until it bursts.  On the other hand, if molecules in other environments are so restricted, they just don't move and therefore don't make the necessary "switches." That is the reason why researchers and engineers have been limited in what they can create.

The "pedal" motion, as it turns out, is more compact than other kinds of molecular motion.  This means the atoms that are part of the molecule aren't displaced much, if at all--which,  in turn, means that the molecule doesn't (and doesn't have to) move as much.  This could allow scientists and engineers to create new kinds of structures.

Of course, we as cyclists always knew that the pedaling motion was very economical and efficient--and, when performed even by people of ordinary ability, graceful.  Is it any wonder, then, that so much of today's technology--including that of automobiles and aircraft--came directly or indirectly from bicycles.  Now it looks like even more sophisticated technology will soon owe its debt to our beloved two-wheeled vehicles--in this case, our method of propulsion!

Telling Bike Stories In Portland

I have been called a storyteller--sometimes as a compliment, other times as a derogatory epithet, and on a few occasions as a statement of fact.  

Indeed I am one, for better or worse.  Students in one of my classes are reading Plato's Trial and Death of Socrates; I can only imagine what either philosopher would make of me,or this blog.  All I could tell them is that everything I tell is  true.  Really!

Still, I admit I have a weakness for a good story.  Whether it's fact or fiction, poetry or polemics, I like any story that stimulates, inspires or simply entertains me.  I'll also admit that I can be as taken with the person telling the story as with the story itself.

So, if I could get to Portland on Friday night, I'd go to Alberta Abbey.  It's hosting a bicycle-themed storytelling event called Live The Revolution.  Admission is $17 at the door; tickets still can be bought for $15 in advance. Proceeds will benefit The Street Trust's efforts to support cycling, walking and public transit. 

Oh, and there's a raffle.  Prizes include two Public C1 bicycles, a messenger bag, REI gear, a set of wheels from Sugar Wheels, a Thule trailer and gift certificates.

(The Street Trust was formerly known as the Bicycle Transportation Alliance.)

Drug Dealers, Rapists, Murderers...And Cyclists!

Donald Trump has labelled Mexican immigrants as drug dealers, rapists and murderers.

In my grandparents' generation, Italian immigrants were almost automatically seen as criminals and the Irish who came a generation earlier were viewed as drunken brawlers.  And Asians, particularly Japanese-Americans during World War II, were depicted as shifty and untrustworthy.

These days, when someone uses the word "thug", it's assumed that person is referring to a black male.  Likewise, "Arab" and "Muslim" are uttered interchangeably; both are used as synonyms for "terrorist."   

Now it seems that, at least in the meida, "cyclist" has become the new stereotype.  Whenever some drunk or distracted driver runs one of us down, we made the misguided choice of riding a bicycle--never mind that we were riding in a "protected" lane and the driver veered into it. But we are not, in those situations, labeled as "cyclists."

Instead, the c-word seems to refer only to those who are breaking the law--or, in one recent case, windows.

Now, I'll be the first to say that the pack who rode the wrong way on a Chelsea street--especially the member(s) who smashed the rear window of someone's new car and who smacked into a police officer--should be prosecuted.  The news reports I've seen and heard about it, however, seem designed to whip up as much hysteria as possible against anyone who pedals two wheels on this city's streets.  You can hear it in the way "reporters" (Where have journalistic standards gone?) elicit reactions from bystanders.  To hear them, cyclists are as much a menace to this city as MS-13 is to some immigrant communities.

To make a bad "report" even worse, the accompanying video, which purports to be a record of the rampage, actually has nothing to do with it.

Will Robots Replace Riders?

Maybe I hang out with all the wrong people:  I have yet to meet anybody who likes the idea of a driverless car.  They may not enjoy driving, but they are skeptical that a computer program, or whatever would guide the vehicle, can make the same kinds of judgments a driver could make.

Then there are those people who enjoy driving.  I don't imagine many of them would be crazy about losing one of their pleasures.

So why, then, would anyone want to teach a computer how to ride a bicycle?

Computer scientist Matthew Cook, from what I can see, isn't trying to make a machine that can usurp the role of a cyclist.  Rather, he says, "we do not have great insight into how we ride a bicycle" no matter how well we may ride.

 

In 2004, when he was at the California Institute of Technology, he created a simulator and made 800 unsteered runs with it to see how far it could go when there is no one to steer it.   The image above shows the tracks of those runs, initiated when the "bicycle" was pushed to left to right, and how far they went before falling down.  Oscillations from side to side, visible in the chart, occurred because the bicycle was moving too slowly to keep itself stable.

As a result of this work, he found that it took a simple network of only two neurons to keep the bike stable:  one to calculate the required lean of the bicycle to execute a given judgment in direction, and another to translate that change into an amount of torque to apply to the handlebars.

Cook says his work could have "many applications", but doesn't specify what they are.  My guess is that it might be helpful for people to regain skills and faculties lost or impaired in crashes and other traumatic events:  Simulators like Cook's might, for example, provide insights into how our minds and bodies allow us to do some of the things--like balancing a bicycle or walking--we do instinctively. Also, I could see how "test dummies" for bikes could be developed to better test helmets and other products.

I just hope no one develops robots that can push us aside and take our bikes!  

Watermelon Cooler?

In my youth, one of my riding partners was a bartender.  This got me to thinking about him:

I imagine that something like this would make him very popular with some cyclists!

For those of us who don't imbibe and ride, this might be for us:

"Watermelon wheels" sounds like an unflattering nickname for a slow or unskilled cyclist--or one you just don't like!

New Trial For Driver Who Mowed Down Five Cyclists

A year and a half ago, I reported one of the most horrific auto-on-bike crashes I've ever heard about.   Melissa Fevig-Hughes, Tony Nelson, Debbie Bradley, Larry Paulik and Suzanne Sippel, all experienced cyclists who'd ridden together for more than a decade, were run down by a blue Chevrolet pickup truck.  They died almost immediately; the crash seriously injured four fellow club members who were riding with them.

In the minutes before that tragedy, police were looking for that truck after three different callers said it was being driven erratically.  When he was apprehended, he was intoxicated and therefore charged with DUI.

Charles Pickett Jr would be charged with five counts of second-degree murder.  He appealed his conviction all the way to the Michigan Supreme Court, which last week said it wouldn't hear his argument that he shouldn't be tried for murder in the case.  

Now he is set to stand trial again in the Kalamazoo County Circuit Court.  A settlement conference is set for Friday, 13 April (!) and jury selection for the trial is to start on Monday the 23rd.

Nothing will bring those cyclists back.  But it's good to know that someone, at least, is taking the needless deaths of cyclists seriously.

    

If Triathloners Don't See Their Shadows....

Today is Groundhog Day.  The media will focus this country's attention on the most famous groundhog of all, Punxsutawney Phil. He's said to be the only one who really knows whether spring is just around the corner or winter will keep its grip on us for another six weeks.

Closer to (my) home, there is Staten Island Chuck. He and Phil aren't always in agreement.  Then again, they live about 500 kilometers apart.  It must be said, though, that from 1992 to 2016, Chuck's predictions were accurate 68.4 percent of the time, while Phil got it right only 42.1 percent of the time.

Hey, Chuck's a New Yorker. Waddaya expect?

Anyway, I think I've found an even more accurate way of predicting weather for the next few weeks:

The question is, of course: Do they see their shadows?  

Their shadows are behind them.  Does that mean they can't see them?  Or they can act as if they haven't seen?

Hmm...I wonder whether a groundhog can pretend not to see his shadow. If he did, would that mean spring is at hand?

Update  Phil saw his shadow.  But Chuck didn't.

Before The Dawn

When I first started this blog, there were mornings when my commute involved riding into the sunrise.  I used to enjoy that--certainly more so than the job I had at the time!  Every once in a while, when I get up early enough (which means, ahem, getting to bed early enough), I will actually voyage into the dawn just for fun.

Today, though, began with me pedaling away from the sunrise

and into the darkness.  

Hell Gate

James Wright used the word "darkness" so much, especially in his early poems, that if he'd copyrighted it he'd've died an extremely wealthy man.  At least there were different kinds of darkness in his work.  I wonder what he would have made of the kind I saw today at Hell Gate as I rode over the RFK Memorial Bridge. 

Atlas Rode

It wasn't just a ride.  It was a mission.

Arielle, my trusty Mercian Audax, took me to the site of some mysterious structures.  How they got there, we weren't told.

How long had they stood?  How long would they have stood

had we not gone there to hold them up?  

Once we knew they'd stay up, we exited, Bill and I, across the bridge of George

into the clouds

 

over hill and dale

and back to the city, shining city.

All in a day's riding!

And, no we weren't doping:

Jordan Almonds.

All of the photos--except the ones with Bill--were taken by Bill.

Bicycles And Sundown: History In An Ohio Town

Some cities are, or were, synonymous with certain industries.  The best-known examples in the US are automobile manufacturing in Detroit and steel-making in Pittsburgh. 

Some smaller cities and towns are linked to a particular company or another.  The Hartford insurance company comes to mind:  It's been a part of the Connecticut state capital that shares its name for over 200 years. 

Believe it or not, even during the "Dark Ages" of US cycling, a town in Ohio was best known for the bicycle company that bore its name.

I am talking about Shelby, a community about 150 kilometers southwest of Cleveland.  From 1925 to 1953, the Shelby Bicycle company fabricated its wares in the heart of town.  

Like most American bikes of that period, most Shelbys  were baloon-tired "cruisers".  Although the majority of  Shelby bikes  bore the names of retailers such as Montgomery-Ward, Spiegel, Firestone and Goodyear, and some were sold by AMF, a number of Shelbys were sold under their own name.  And, while Shelby made "theme" bikes--such as a "Lindy" bike honoring Charles Lindbergh and Donald Duck bikes--some were very stylish, even elegant.  Those bikes are prized by collectors.  

Now some folks in the town have formed a society dedicated to Shelby bicycles.  The Shelby Bicycle Historical Society, recently approved as an IRS 501(3)c tax-exempt organization, is looking for members. You don't have to own a Shelby in order to join; you need only to be interested in the bikes or the town's history. It's not there only to celebrate the company's "Whippet" bike Clarence Wagner rode to a cross-country record in 1927; it also exists to commemorate what was once a significant part of the town's economy and history.

There is another part of the town's history that nobody is trying to commemorate.  It was said to be a "sundown" town; according to some former residents, it even had a sign at its border telling black people they had better be out of town when the sun set.  Even after the sign was taken down, some people ran black folks out of town; others wondered aloud whether an African exchange student should be allowed to swim in the local pool.

(Levittown, on Long Island, is only 55 kilometers from my apartment. It, too, was a "sundown" town.  So was nearby Roosevelt--which, ironically, is now almost entirely nonwhite as a result of "blockbusting".)

While I hope that the good folks of Shelby (and America) will face up to their (and our) racist history, I am happy that they are commemorating something that, while it doesn't make up for that history (what can?), is at least an interesting and sometimes even delightful part of the cycling landscape.