@NewNordicNormal@c.im avatar

NewNordicNormal

@NewNordicNormal@c.im

Riding my bike around the #TwinCities of #Minneapolis / #SaintPaul USA. Making music on the #violin and hanging out. love languages, people and good times.

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ai6yr, to cycling
@ai6yr@m.ai6yr.org avatar

Hmm... was pondering a bicycle ride to the donut shop to get some exercise in and thinking that would be cross-purpose to the whole activity. 😂

My cycling range now has expanded and there are four donut shops I could select from, LOL.

NewNordicNormal,
@NewNordicNormal@c.im avatar

@ai6yr

I took a short ride to an ice cream shop last night. I got there and realized I had forgotten my lock.

I rode home, but then decided that actually, I had really just wanted the bike ride, more than the ice cream.

So I stayed home then.

ascentale, to random
@ascentale@sfba.social avatar

I don't think has discussed this much, and it's a great question. @Brownian_motion asks:

Q3. What's your preferred footgear? Do you vary according to the ride, the terrain, the weather, the N-1 bike-of-the-day?

NewNordicNormal,
@NewNordicNormal@c.im avatar

@ai6yr @ascentale @Brownian_motion

Just as a counterpoint on the "normal hiking boots": in winter, I ride with spiked tires on slush and snow. At some point, I will put a foot down into 6" of icewater.

I need waterproof boots, with big knobby treads. I haven't found anything better than waterproof hiking boots.

(I think there are some 45nrth boots, but they cost $250-$500 and don't even have good knobby tread)

gerrymcgovern, to random
@gerrymcgovern@mastodon.green avatar

"Tiehm’s buckwheat is a rare wildflower that lives on one site in Esmeralda County. The proposed Rhyolite Ridge Lithium Mine would destroy its habitat and surround it with an industrial open-pit mining operation. Experts will discuss how this would irrevocably degrade the flower’s habitat and lead it to likely extinction, in violation of the Endangered Species Act. Reports on dust deposition, pit wall stability and hydrology will be presented."
https://biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press-releases/press-conference-monday-highlights-plant-extinction-indigenous-concerns-of-rhyolite-ridge-mine-2024-05-30/

NewNordicNormal,
@NewNordicNormal@c.im avatar

@gerrymcgovern
Lithium production by country: AU, Chile, China, Argentina, US, Brazil, Zimbabwe, Portugal, Bolivia, Canada, Namibia... Only the first four are even significant.

Not saying the central idea is wrong, but pointing at lithium for Africa is an odd choice, and that makes me wonder if the article is in good faith or just anti-EV

Helpful chart:

psoul, to cycling
@psoul@sfba.social avatar

Hey #biketooter,
The city of #Wilmington #Delaware is considering capping a portion of #I95 that runs downtown. A friend with connections might be able to get #DelDOT’s attention to add in their analysis the #removal of that portion of the highway, similar to Minneapolis, Rochester, Dallas etc.
Does anyone know of transportation groups in the Wilmington community or other cities who’d be able to help us in that conversation?
#HighwayRemoval #LivableCities #TheWarOnCars #climate
@TheWarOnCars

NewNordicNormal,
@NewNordicNormal@c.im avatar

@psoul @TheWarOnCars
https://www.ourstreetsmn.org/ seems to have done an outstanding job on the proposed Twin Cities Boulevard (to replace I-94)

NewNordicNormal, to fuckcars
@NewNordicNormal@c.im avatar

Imagine if most people shopping at WalMart carried a chainsaw, running full tilt. ( For some hypothetical reason, shopping took half as long with the chainsaw, than without )

Shoppers would hold the chainsaw out in front of them, and be very careful passing other people. But every now and then, somebody would trip, or sneeze, and cut off another shopper's arm, leg or head. Or maybe they just got angry, and then claimed they'd sneezed.

The news, the police and the safety officials would cluck and say "oh, no. This is so sad. We will dearly miss Aunt Mildred from Lincoln Avenue [ but mistakes will be made, and we understand that ]".

Some people could decide not to carry chainsaws, and accept that their shopping takes twice as long. But they are ridiculed, and told they aren't personally any safer without the chainsaw.

This is basically how we live with cars in our crowded cities.

#VisionZero #fuckCars

Andres4NY, to random
@Andres4NY@social.ridetrans.it avatar

Giant corporations are going to kill our entire species.

https://kolektiva.social/@donkeyherder/112474359033348050

Hansen was deeply troubled by what she read. One paper, published in 2012 in the Journal of the American Medical Association, found that, in children, as PFOS levels rose so did the chance that vaccines were ineffective. Children with high levels of PFOS and other fluorochemicals were more likely to experience fevers, according to a 2016 study. Other research linked the chemicals to increased rates of infectious diseases, food allergies and asthma in children. Dozens of scientific papers had found that, in adults, even very low levels of PFOS could interfere with hormones, fertility, liver and thyroid function, cholesterol levels and fetal development. Even PFBS, the chemical that 3M chose as a replacement for PFOS, caused developmental and reproductive irregularities in animals, according to the Minnesota Department of Health.
Between 1951 and 2000, 3M produced at least 100 million pounds of PFOS and chemicals that degrade into PFOS. This is roughly the weight of the Titanic. After the late ’70s, when 3M scientists established that the chemical was toxic in animals and was accumulating in humans, it produced millions of pounds per year. Scientists are still struggling to grasp all the biological consequences. They have learned, just as Johnson did decades ago, that proteins in the body bind to PFOS. It enters our cells and organs, where even tiny amounts can cause stress and interfere with basic biological functions. It contributes to diseases that take many years to develop; at the time of a diagnosis, one’s PFOS level may have fallen, making it difficult to establish causation with any certainty.

NewNordicNormal,
@NewNordicNormal@c.im avatar

@Andres4NY
Our drinking water is through reverse osmosis, and our kids will receive the same wherever they try to flee to after college.

NewNordicNormal, to Bloomscrolling
@NewNordicNormal@c.im avatar

And now a little while I ...

I have a 26er MTB with 1.5" (38c) slick tires, and a 700c city/hybrid with 1.25" (32c). I have the bars set up identically (same bar/seat/bottom bracket measurements, same bar width, saddle and position).

My normal commute on the MTB is 0:48 +/-2. I thought the 1.25" tires would be faster than 1.5, but I tried for a fast ride yesterday and... got exactly 0:48.

Is this typical? The 1.5" tires are definitely safer. If I can't shave, say, 5 minutes off my commute, I'm sticking with the 38c.

mekkaokereke, to random
@mekkaokereke@hachyderm.io avatar

If you got upset at me for pointing out that more people died of Covid under Biden than Trump, in large part because Biden rolled back common sense restrictions that were in place under Trump...

Then you'll hate me pointing out that Trump introduced a 25% tariff on Chinese EVs, and Biden is upping that to 100% tariff.

https://insideevs.com/news/719283/chinese-ev-tariffs-biden-quadruple/

We can't allow the US to get off of fossil fuels... unless US billionaires win! 🤡

Fear the BYD Dolphin! (an EV car for $12K)
https://m.youtube.com/shorts/T3nfyO_UHjk

NewNordicNormal,
@NewNordicNormal@c.im avatar

@dr2chase @InkySchwartz @mekkaokereke @WeeDramAtic @CelloMomOnCars
My wife and I have hit this problem: bike to the shop, and they want to keep the bike for days. "How do I get home?" and "How will I get to work?" were our questions.

Car dealers have addressed this with "loaner cars". I wonder if bike shops could do the same with bikes?

I think the most versatile "fit anyone" bike designs are the rental "city bike", and the folding bike, which both only come in one size. Personally, I'd rather ride a $230 Zizzo Ferro (and it can go in the trunk of a taxi).

seachanger, (edited ) to random
@seachanger@alaskan.social avatar

For every $1000 you purchase at a small business...

pay by credit card: about $30 to credit card corporation, $970 to small biz

pay by cash or paper check: $1000 to small biz

pay by e-check: about $10 to banks, $990 to small biz

most small businesses have 10-30% profit margin, so a 3% credit card fee may actually be 1/10 -1/3 of their profit on your transaction

NewNordicNormal,
@NewNordicNormal@c.im avatar

@seachanger
I known if I pay with cash card and PIN, the merchant pays much less. I used to have a cash card which was NOT a visa/mc.

Anybody know where to get that? Paying with card or phone?

LoneLocust, to Phoenix
@LoneLocust@mastodon.social avatar

Nasty little secret about : They claim to have 700-800 miles of bike paths, and while I don’t doubt the number, I do doubt the value of them.

There are many, many demarcated bike lanes that go a couple blocks and then end.

I’ve started a little project to write up and highlight a number of the useful bike paths — the ones that can get you some distance reasonably easily.

Today’s ride (as was yesterday’s) was Maryland Ave.
(1/2)

NewNordicNormal,
@NewNordicNormal@c.im avatar

@LoneLocust I rented a bike while in Phoenix for a business trip about 10 years ago. Google sent me on "bike paths" that were dirt roads along aquaduct, with 6" deep tire ruts in them.

Then, biking after dark from dinner to hotel, the path along the aquaduct was blocked by a small crowd of people and a burning sofa.

I grew up on the Saint Cloud State campus (RIP Campus Lab School), so burning furniture is totally normal :) . But I turned around and rode the other way.

LoneLocust, to cycling
@LoneLocust@mastodon.social avatar

Reminder to self: eBike battery meters are apparently exponential, not linear.

1 bar and 4.5 km to home.

#BikeTooter

NewNordicNormal,
@NewNordicNormal@c.im avatar

@rscottjones @vees @LoneLocust
My bike has adjustable boost levels, so I made Eco into a "10% boost" level: just for limping home. It makes the bike about as hard to pedal as a normal bike, despite the extra 35 lbs. and the 2.75" wide wheels.

I ran out one winter at -15F and windy, and getting home was very un-fun.

NewNordicNormal, to ebikes
@NewNordicNormal@c.im avatar

Several old friends came to visit my wife for her birthday. She wanted to ride on a nearby trail, a 5km ride. One friend hadn't biked in 20 years, and was not really wanting to ride that far.

So my wife leant her friend the e-bike, and took an old hybrid bike. The friend was blown away: "this is sooo much fun!".

That's what #ebikes can do. People who just aren't interested in biking get to have fun on a bike again.

enobacon, to portland
@enobacon@urbanists.social avatar

Sorry about that little shower , I was just doing a test

image/png

NewNordicNormal,
@NewNordicNormal@c.im avatar

@enobacon our utility, #XcelEnergy, lobbied the Minnesota legislature/PUC to end the state's very successful community solar garden program. It was replaced with:

  • ratepayers can pay Xcel to make extra renewable power ("Renewable*Connect "). It is unclear to me if this actually increases Xcel's solar production, or if they would have just produced the minimum required by the state, with or without my bribe.

  • joining a solar garden via a new State of MN program... only available to low income residents... who are coincidentally unlikely to invest in solar

And that's not all! I tried bribing Xcel to make more solar and... I've been wait listed for a year. They won't even let me join.

Capture and kill, baby.

NewNordicNormal, to Minneapolis
@NewNordicNormal@c.im avatar

아싸 !!
The new Amtrak route from Minneapolis to Chicago is finally here! The trip to Chi-town is not so different from Empire Builder, arriving at 7:15pm vs 4:45pm

But the return arrives in MSP at 6:30pm (not midnight, which my partner vetoed). Big difference!

Also, I didn't take the train last time to a funeral in Chicago because 25% of Empire Builders run 8+ hours late heading east(!) This new train should leave MSP relatively promptly

also, $88 round trip, fully refundable!

enobacon, to random
@enobacon@urbanists.social avatar

Don't leave room like this. If you don't want the driver to squeeze in and you have the right of way, you have to ride straight at them to clarify that. Drivers should do better and so should infrastructure but that's my experience about where you position yourself, sorry.

https://twitter.com/charlie_baker23/status/1782675538777108678

NewNordicNormal,
@NewNordicNormal@c.im avatar

@enobacon I've noticed that cars overtaking from behind are more likely to give room.

Cars coming at me from opposite direction act like the 3-foot rule doesn't apply. I'm not sure it does, but it should: if there's less than 3 feet, the car should come to a stop and let ME pass IT. That is much safer than me standing still while a car breezes by (sometimes less than a handsbreadth away)

enobacon, to random
@enobacon@urbanists.social avatar

"the average modern American, by one estimate, travels 7,500 miles a year, and put in 1,600 hours a year to do that, they are travelling five miles per hour."

Now if we could all learn to see the hidden potential of pushing one lane of cars off the road.

https://www.resilience.org/stories/2024-03-30/the-hidden-potential-of-bicycles/

NewNordicNormal,
@NewNordicNormal@c.im avatar

@enobacon
I live 10.5 miles from work.. It takes me 25-30 minutes to drive (23mph avg), 45-50 to bike (13.3 mph avg). So my bike is 60% as fast as a car.

People think that because the speed limit is 25 or 30mph, they actually travel that fast. But at a stoplight even a Lambo is going zero. That really cuts the into the advantage of a faster vehicle.

Andres4NY, to bikenyc
@Andres4NY@social.ridetrans.it avatar

I was in the with my (bakfiet) cargo bike, and some lady pulls her car about 20-30ft in front of me. Predicting what would happen next, I gave a wide berth as her passenger flung the door open just before I passed them.

I screamed "ASSHOLE" at the top of my lungs, scaring tf out of both of them. It felt good.

NewNordicNormal,
@NewNordicNormal@c.im avatar

@Andres4NY bonus points if you shouted "asshole" like Kevin Kline in Fish Called Wanda!

enobacon, (edited ) to random
@enobacon@urbanists.social avatar

What "programming languages from the 90s" are so esoteric that you can't even upgrade your floppy drives SFMTA? What is this platform? He says DOS but there's too much emulation and upgrade paths available for that to make sense. CP/M?

https://mastodon.scot/

NewNordicNormal,
@NewNordicNormal@c.im avatar

@enobacon when I was at 3M in the 1990s, the Digital MatchPrint machine ($300k, size of a Zamboni) used Maxtor 10GB FHFF hard disks. The "driver" was custom, part of the printer software. It spoke MFM to the drive.

When the Maxtor 10GB went out of production, I used to disassemble failed drives from eBay, and combined working platters with working circuit boards to make "new" drives, to replace failed units from the field.

So the "operating system" talking to those disks may be some assembler that is part of the train controller code. Not even a DOS driver: "did the engineer move the throttle? Then write the new throttle value to cylinder XYZ"

Andres4NY, to random
@Andres4NY@social.ridetrans.it avatar

A while back I was on a tear, doing a bunch of research to figure out which internal gear hub to put on my Yuba Kombi (something that wouldn't immediately get shredded by a BBSHD/BBS02, and also doesn't have a twist shifter). I settled on the 8-speed Shimano Alfine hub, but also realized that it would be somewhat more difficult to install for Reasons. So I kind of left it at that.

Now my Nuvinci N360 on the Cetma Margo is dying, and I wish I'd bought the Alfine so I could just use that.

NewNordicNormal,
@NewNordicNormal@c.im avatar

@Andres4NY alfine don't like to be shifted 7nder load: if I'm climbing a hill, the shifter will click, and nothing will happen, until I back off pressure on the pedal for a split second. So I try to downshift before I am mashing the pedals.

I'd think this would be more noticeable with mid-drive, because the torque would be higher. Then again, pausing pedaling briefly while you shift may not be so bad with a motor, because you have help when you start pedaling again. When pushing with just your legs, uphill is the last place you want to lose m momentum.

NewNordicNormal,
@NewNordicNormal@c.im avatar

@Andres4NY what is dying on the Nuvinci? My partner and I both have that hub on our ebikes. I thought they were much stronger than Alfine/Nexus.

NewNordicNormal,
@NewNordicNormal@c.im avatar

@Andres4NY search craigslist/marketplace for Alfine. I've seen whole bikes cheaper than just the alfine hub, cog, shifters and tensioner.

REI Novarra have Alfine. Mine cost $600 new in 2010, so they go for cheap.

NewNordicNormal, to cycling
@NewNordicNormal@c.im avatar

No time to dry clothes at home? Dry them on the way to work!

#BikeTooter #cyclecommuting

enobacon, to random
@enobacon@urbanists.social avatar

Today's #30daysOfBiking was taking a short test ride with partner on her "new bike" (the orange bike after its handlebar swap, which she likes), which she still hates (the torque-sensor-only pedal control with no throttle, and seat too high/vertical 😕) and then for a spring foliage in the hills ride on my xtracycle to make it up to her.

NewNordicNormal,
@NewNordicNormal@c.im avatar

@enobacon maybe offset seatpost, and/or mount the seat rails to the back.

NewNordicNormal, to random
@NewNordicNormal@c.im avatar

Attic insulation question: I've seen instructions to air-seal the joints in the ceiling under the attic using small cans of spray foam... then cover this with huge amounts of cellulose/fiberglass.

If I'm going to cover with R60 anyways, what is the point of using foam as the airseal? Wouldn't plaster be simpler? It seems as though all we need under the insulation is a barrier to air leakage.

#insulation

enobacon, to random
@enobacon@urbanists.social avatar

The inverter #heatPump, which refuses to operate at temps below 40F, has still been pretty useful this pnw winter. But what if it could charge up a room-temperature phase-change thermal battery running on solar electricity in the daytime? Radiator full of wax plugged into the window unit or hung off the inside of it... 🤔

NewNordicNormal,
@NewNordicNormal@c.im avatar

@enobacon but we can get 4 cent/kWh power from midnight to 6am (versus 28 cents from 3pm-8pm, and 12 cents other times). The midnight power is pretty much all wind.

So for us, it could be cheaper to run baseboard from 00:00-0600, than to run heatpump at daytime.

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