Safety Helmet Bike: May 2012

Sunday, May 20, 2012

New Kits!

new jerseys, and shorts... they look great and the red and black match my bike!

jeff

Jeff

Jeff riding wheelie

ride we did after road side cleaning at Greenbrier State Park

Frederick Bicycling Coalition, Adopt a road, road side cleaning

The Frederick Bicycling coalition adopts a mile section of road along route 40. Jeff and I (mike) offered to help.

Jeff

Jeff cleaning

setting up

are catch for the day

giant bee i saw waddling across the road

the area we cleaned

99 mile Fairfax country epic mountain bike loop

did this ride on Friday may 18th... it was just Jeff and i ... beautiful day to be outside... about 70 degrees and sunny... we started off early (7:30 am) and we didn't finish are ride till about 8:45 pm ... the last 10-15 min it was very dark and hard to see... the ride took so long because i was having a bunch of mechanicals...3 flats ...broken spoke...broken break leaver...rear break spring and pads were worn and bent so bad that i had to move the pads/ spring form the front break with the broken break lever to the rear break... it took about 4-5 hours of messing around to fix these problems... not having a front break it was hard for me to control my speed into corners.... i got off line and rode into the bushes and into the tall grass... as a result i managed to pick up 8 ticks during the ride... all of theses issues were mine and i don't think Jeff had any issues with his bike or ticks... he was very patient to deal with me.

Jeff, 70 miles in

Jeff, giant dirt jumps

Fountain head bridge

the loop we did

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Lifeproof iPhone 4 case and handlebar mount

Lifeproof is one of our sponsors... they make iphone and ipad protectors and other accessories...before the lifeproof case i used an otter box case.... it was nice, supper durable and saved me on several occasions from destroying my phone... there are a few issues i that i had with it though... it was a bit bulky , the rubber casing that went over the case was loose, and it wasn't waterproof, it didn't even seem to be water resistant... every time even just a drop of water got on the surface of the screen cover it would find its way underneath the screen and mess with the phones ability to detect my finger... along with the liquid other dust and stuff would find its way under the screen... i would need to take it apart periodically to clean the inside of the case cover...the lifeproof case on the other hand is waterproof no liquid or dust can get into the case... its skinner and more sleek looking but its still reinforced on the ends so the corners are protected when its dropped i ride my bike with my iphone with me.. its nice to have to look for maps or call someone for help if i run into a problem... there is also an app called STRAVA that is like a bike computer... you can use STRAVA to share rides and track training... before the lifeproof case i would need to put my phone in a zip lock bag every time i would go for a ride... another cool thing that lifeproof makes is a mount for your handlebar ( i use mine on my trainer to watch netflix movies)... it is specifically designed to clamp to a lifeproof case... the other iPod handlebar mount that i have used before was a Tigra it would only fit an iphone that is out of its case so every time i would want to use it i would need to take the iPhone out of there otter box case and put it into the Tigra case... then back again after the ride.... about a 4 min process... in comparison putting the lifeproof case on and off the bike takes about 4 seconds... there were some other issues i had with the Tigra... the plastic is thinner and the clapping system seems less secure... it looks and feels like it would break if it i ever went over my handlebars.... for a road bike or a trainer it is ok but not mountain biking... i think the lifeproof case/mounting system would fair much better in a crash or over jaring terrain... to be fair though i haven't used either of the mounts off road i am making my judgments based on the density of the plastic and how secure the mounting system feels... so far i have only had one issue with the lifeproof case... the opening to the charging port is small... only the more recent smaller iPhone chargers will fit... despite that the lifeproof is still the best iPhone case i’ve used.