Sore

Jan said to me “Aren’t you glad you’re older than 40.  All those stupid things you did when you were young aren’t on social media for posterity!”

I took the bike out for some exercise this morning.  In reality it was me more than the bike that needed the exercise

A 60km circuit of the northern part of the city which took me 2hrs 34mins. 

Halfway through the ride my posterior started to tell me the seat padding was inadequate.  The brain told me to ignore the complain and press on.  Next the body started telling me “You’re no longer 40…. you’re no longer 50…. you’re no longer 60!”   I need to listen more to my body

An hours rest and then lunch (Texas strawberries and little boys) followed by mowing the lawns.  All the while the dogs we are “sitting” followed me around.  Obviously they want a walk.  Well it was hot mid-afternoon and I think after the initial 2kms on hot concrete the dogs were having second thoughts about their appeal for exercise.  I certainly was!

The remaining chores around the house can wait for another day.

Brian I know all about the shock of water up the back when two weeks ago I rode through a bike underpass that had two large puddles.  The bike mudguards had been ordered previously, but still haven’t arrived.  Fortunately we have had very little rain recently.

I’m due for my 4th COVID booster in a week along with the annual flu shot.  All something to look forward to.  Jan is still recovering from her 3rd shot

 

More Bike Modifications

The increase in cycling distances meant I needed to add a second water bottle rack.  The issue was where to attach it?

It wouldn’t fit in front of the existing rack under the top bar.  Eventually I decided it would have to go under the battery.   Two rivet nut holes would need to be drilled in the frame and that might have caused an issue as an electric cable; wire gear cable and hydraulic brake line all pass inside the frame.  I wouldn’t want to damage any of them.

I used a wooden block over the drill bit to ensure the bit didn’t penetrate too far.

Two holes were drilled out to 7mm and the rivet nuts fitted before securing the second bottle rack.

It’s not an ideal location as road spray from the front wheel will hit it.  Needs must!

The second task was to wire the flashing red rear light to the motor battery.  I had ordered a usb cable with the right angle micro usb plug.

The cable was encased in two lengths of flexible conduit which were cable tied to the frame.

The usb plug connections have been temporarily sealed with black insulation tape.  I have some black heat shrink on order for a more permanent solution. 

The large lithium battery now powers the bike; headlight, phone and rear light.

Oops.. Looks like the bike could do with a clean.

Blue Gum Tree and Zoleo

Non Australians might be interested to know there are two sub-species of Blue Gum Tree.  The Tasmania and Victoria Blue Gum (Eucalyptus).

Whilst cycling through the nearby Whiteman Park yesterday I noticed a Blue Gum.

This isn’t a Tasmanian or Victorian Blue Gum.  Rather, it’s a dead gum tree that has been painted bright blue.  A number of them can be seen when traveling through rural Australia.  Why?

A colloquial expression for feeling depressed is to feel “Blue” and in recent years there has been a spike in suicides amongst male Australia farmers.  A campaign was started to help “blue” (depressed) farmers by painting dead trees as a visual reminder to seek assistance. 

Jan called me outside on dusk to point out the Blood Red Moon.

It’s caused by bush fire ash in the atmosphere.

The Zoleo I ordered was delivered in the post this morning.

Zoleo with a computer mouse for size comparison

Last time I went on a long and remote outback trip I rented a satellite phone which would enable me to seek assistance in event of an emergency.  It was expensive to hire.  As part of the planning for my next remote trip I looked for a cheaper option and discovered the Australian designed Zoleo.  It’s the size of a packet of cigarettes powered by a small usb rechargeable battery.  What does it do?  A number of things.

• It’s an emergency locator beacon much like an EPIRB.  Press the SOS button and an emergency signal with your GPS location is sent to rescue authorities.  It has worldwide coverage.
• I’m all right.  It has an “I’m all right” button which send a text message to your designated contact[s] along with your GPS location.
• Breadcrumb.  It can be configured to automatically send position locations to designated contacts allowing them to follow your route.
• Messaging.  Bluetooth connect your smartphone to the Zoleo and you can send and receive text messages and emails via satellite.  The phone becomes the Zoleo display and keyboard.

Jan squirreled around for discount voucher codes and managed to buy one for $310.  Considerably cheaper than hiring a satellite phone.

 

Perth City

A week has passed since my last long bike ride.  Currently I’m completing the weekly long ride on a Sunday.  This is because three of the PsP (Principal shared Paths [cycle ways]) have detours whilst major rail and highway realignments take place.  The detours take you onto busy roads and Sunday is the quietest day.

My route took me south down the Tonkin Highway PsP passing the location of the (yet to be built) Noranda suburban railway station.

Cycling further south I missed the sign regarding the new Morley station.  Less than a kilometre later I reached the first detour at Broun Avenue.

 

A right turn takes you onto the suburban streets around Broun Ave Bridge which is being replaced as part of the new Ellenbrook railway line.  The motorway needed to be widened to include the rail line making the original bridge too short.

On the opposite side of the bridge I re-joined the PsP for a further two kilometres reaching the second detour.

The large stockpiles of earth on the motorway are for the connection of the new Ellenbrook line to the existing Midland line.  Both the Tonkin and Midland PsP’s are closed in this location and the detour takes you through a busy industrial area.  Hence the Sunday ride.

Halfway through the detour I saw the closed end of the Midland PsP.

The reason why it’s closed is because the rail line is being raised.

The old Bayswater Bridge has been hit so many times I’m surprised it’s still standing.  The new bridge looks to have an additional two metres of clearance. 

A kilometre further on I re-joined the PsP cycling to East Perth Railway Station before turning south to cross the Swan River via the Windan Bridge.

I read somewhere the bridge cycleway was added after the bridge had been constructed.   The south side of this part of the river is public parkland.  At the eastern end is Optus Stadium.  The stadium is owned by the State Government and managed by VenuesLive.  In a recent effort to increase revenue a viewing ring was added to the top of the stadium

Adjacent to the stadium is the Matagarup pedestrian bridge. 

It’s possible to pay to walk over the top of the bridge arches, much like the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Those who are prepared to pay for more of a thrill can take the flying fox line from the top of the bridge to the south bank.

Cable lines in the top left of the above photo

 

Landing ramp

Cycling further west you reach the Burswood Crown Casino and hotel.

 

This is where the criminals come to launder their dirty money.  Well they were doing it until Crown got caught and a Royal Commission started investigating the matter.  There is some doubt whether Crown will retain their gambling license.

The next third of the riverbank is recreational parkland with very expensive houses.

Nice views across the river to East Perth

The last third of the south bank foreshore is parkland with multiple high rise apartment blocks behind. 

From here there are great views over the river to the CBD

At the end of the parklands I crossed over the Narrows Bridge to the north side of the river and then cycled the north bank.  It’s the first time in more than 30 years that I’ve been to this part of the city and it’s quite attractive.

This brought me back to East Perth Station where I retraced my route home.  According to the route recorder I cycled 55.7km.

New Station and the Drone Dropper

Whilst cycling yesterday I noticed the concrete batching plant for the new suburban rail line had been removed.  Formwork for the platforms of the new railway station at Malaga was being constructed.  This will be our nearest railway station.

For more than a decade both major political parties have been promising to build an new northern inland suburban line connecting the Ellenbrook community to the city.  The current State Labor government has finally delivered on that promise.  The southern 10km of line will be constructed down the centre of the Tonkin Freeway (motorway) where it connect to the eastern Midland Line and into the city centre.  I must remember to take more photos as it’s an interesting project.

Meanwhile, the light sensor for the drone dropper attachment has received further modification.  Sunlight was leaking around the sensor shroud falsely triggering the dropper releasing the load prematurely.  I’ve attempted to mould car body filler around the shroud to fill in the gap.

When I’m satisfied the modification is working I’ll give it a final sand and a coat of paint.

After looking at Pip & Mick’s breakfast photo I casually mentioned to Jan that we hadn’t eaten a DIY “Spoons Big Breakfast” for a few weeks.  Must have worked because today I got lucky.

Mine

Jan’s

As you can see; Jan is partial to crispy bacon whilst I’m a sausage man.  Jan actually queried whether I could eat four sausages?  Of course I can! <burp>

 

Simple Explanation of Economic and Political Systems

SOCIALISM

You have 2 cows.

You give one to your neighbour

COMMUNISM

You have 2 cows.

The State takes both and gives you some milk

FASCISM

You have 2 cows.

The State takes both and sells you some milk

NAZISM

You have 2 cows.

The State takes both and shoots you

BUREAUCRATISM

You have 2 cows.

The State takes both, shoots one, milks the other, and then

throws the milk away

TRADITIONAL CAPITALISM

You have two cows.

You sell one and buy a bull.  Your herd multiplies, and the economy

grows.

You sell them and retire on the income

ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND (VENTURE) CAPITALISM

You have two cows.

You sell three of them to your publicly listed company, using letters of credit opened by your brother-in-law at the bank, then execute a debt/equity swap with an associated general offer so that you get all four cows back, with a tax exemption for five cows.

The milk rights of the six cows are transferred via an intermediary to a Cayman Island Company secretly owned by the majority shareholder who sells the rights to all seven cows back to your listed company.

The annual report says the company owns eight cows, with an option on one more. You sell one cow to buy a new president of the United States , leaving you with nine cows. No balance sheet provided with the release.

The public then buys your bull.

SURREALISM

You have two giraffes.

The government requires you to take harmonica lessons.

AN AMERICAN CORPORATION

You have two cows.

You sell one, and force the other to produce the milk of four cows.

Later, you hire a consultant to analyse why the cow has dropped dead.

A GREEK CORPORATION

You have two cows. You borrow lots of euros to build barns, milking sheds, hay stores, feed sheds, dairies, cold stores, abattoir, cheese unit and packing sheds.

You still only have two cows.

A FRENCH CORPORATION

You have two cows.

You go on strike, organise a riot, and block the roads, because you want three

cows.

A JAPANESE CORPORATION

You have two cows.

You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk.

You then create a clever cow cartoon image called a Cowkimona and

market it worldwide.

AN ITALIAN CORPORATION

You have two cows,

but you don't know where they are.

You decide to have lunch.

A SWISS CORPORATION

You have 5000 cows. None of them belong to you.

You charge the owners for storing them.

A CHINESE CORPORATION

You have two cows.

You have 300 people milking them.

You claim that you have full employment, and high bovine productivity.

You arrest the newsman who reported the real situation.

AN INDIAN CORPORATION

You have two cows.

You worship them.

A BRITISH CORPORATION

You have two cows.

Both are mad.

AN IRAQI CORPORATION

Everyone thinks you have lots of cows.

You tell them that you have none.

No-one believes you, so they bomb the ** out of you and invade your country.

You still have no cows, but at least you are now a Democracy.

AN AUSTRALIAN CORPORATION

You have two cows.

Business seems pretty good.

You close the office and go for a few beers to celebrate.

A NEW ZEALAND CORPORATION

You have two cows.

The one on the left looks very attractive

More Exploring of Perth

Growing confidence in the range of the e-bike battery is allowing me to explore Perth.  Three days ago I followed the cycleway north.  It is adjacent to the Tonkin Highway which is the principal northerly route out of Perth.

Some 10km along the path I came upon a cycle rest and repair stop.  A shelter with seats and benches  along with a bike repair stand consisting of a foot operated tyre pump and various tools attached to steel cables.

I’d previously come upon a similar repair stand in the opposite direction adjacent to Lightning Swamp, Noranda.  It’s since been removed, which I assume is due to vandalism,  This stand is in an isolated location and probably only visited by cyclists.  Hopefully it will remain.

Further north there was a drinking fountain.

 

Another very useful device in a hot climate.  I filled my water bottle here whilst reading the adjacent signboard.  The water is drawn from the Gnangara Mound, a vast aquifer below the fountain.  It’s the principal source of water for the northern half of the city.  In the 1930s the city fathers planted a large pine plantation on top of the mound anticipating it would be a major source of timber in the future.  What they hadn’t anticipated was the plantation starting to drain the aquifer.  Once that was identified most of the plantation was removed.

On reaching Warbrook Road I turned and headed home.  A 42km ride.  My best to date.

Today I headed in the opposite direction wondering if I could reach the city without my body failing.

I discovered the cycleway beside the highway has been blocked in three places requiring detours.  The blockage is the result of major work on the highway which is being widened for the new Ellenbrook suburban train line.  Eventually the various detours got me back onto the cycleway beside the Midland Train Line.  I turned south on reaching East Perth Train Station crossing over the Swan River to reach Optus Stadium.

From here I cycled the south bank of the river before crossing back over the new Matagarup pedestrian bridge

It was then a matter of retracing my route home.  43km and I’d only used just over 25% of the battery capacity.  I estimate if I was to maintain my riding style on similar terrain (flat) the battery range would be 120-150km.

Testing before further modifications

After allowing the Araldite to harden for 24 hours I did a test fit of the Dropper attachment to the body of the drone.  The saddle of the attachment is now the correct width but it’s slightly too high.  I’ll need to fit some packing to make the fit snug.

However before doing any further work on the modifications I wanted to test the DJI attachment would actually work on my FIMI drone.  As mentioned in the previous post, the DJI dropper is activated by turning the drone indicator lights on or off.  The FIMI also has indicator lights and I attached the dropper light sensor to the left (Red) indicator of the drone using a rubber band. 

It’s not a great fit and will require modification should the system work.  There’s a cable from the sensor back to the attachment controller box.

With the drone turned on I could see there was probably light hitting the sensor.

There is a function button in the FIMI controller display that allows the user to turn the indicators on or off.

Off

On

The dropper attachment has a small internal rechargeable battery that provides power to both the attachment controller and the small motor that moves the actuator arm which in turn moves the pin.

The four leg extenders were fitted to the arms of the drone to provide sufficient ground clearance for the dropper attachment. 

I then placed a split ring on the dropper pin.

When the status of the drone indicator lights is changed (ie ON or OFF) the light sensor triggers the attachment to activate the actuator arm motor.

When I turned the drone indicator lights off the pin moved to the left dropping the split pin.

In principle the attachment works.    However I need to complete the following

1. Modify the attachment light sensor to prevent it striking the propeller
2. Make the dropper saddle a better fit around the body of the drone.
3. Make some type of fail safe device that will prevent the saddle securing clip from releasing.
4. Test whether the attachment can lift a fishing line and transport it several hundred metres.

At this time I’m pleased with the progress of the project