On the home repair front, I replaced the bottoms of all the columns in the front of the house, but still have to add the decorative trim. I replaced the delaminated plywood ceiling on the front porch with pine beadboard, which goes well with the country Victorian look. I also replaced about a quarter of the porch floor and stripped and stained it with less than perfect results. I'll publish some pictures here soon.
Re Physics: I read, and will re read, an article in the American Journal of Physics on thermodynamics which contains a very logical presentation on why entropy can be increased in adiabatic processes, in other words dS> dQ/T. I'll post the reference soon.
If you happen to read this, send me an email or a comment just so I know someone is out there.
Monday, September 17, 2012
More Cycling
Last Sunday ( Sept 16) I "competed" in the Josh Billings Runaground. It's a weird team triathlon which consists of a 27 mile bike leg, a 5 mile kayak or canoe leg, and a 6 mile run. It's a fundraiser for the local United Way and draws over four hundred teams. Some people do all three legs. Some teams have two, three, or even four members ( two paddlers).
I did the bike leg in just over two hours, very near the last. This was a few minutes faster than my practice run of a week earlier. I was one of the oldest riders. The fastest bike times are just over an hour. This is near professional level performance, not too short of Tour de France time trial speeds. The course is moderately hilly with just a few steep sections, overall about 1800 feet of ascent, and very pretty. I plan to ride on some of these roads again soon.
My partner, whom I met for the first time that day did the other two legs. She races in memory of her sister who died of breast cancer. She usually does all three legs, but her training for a marathon sometime this fall reduced her energy for biking to the point where she needed a partner.
After the race I had to ride back eleven miles to get my car, but it was mostly flat or downhill so it wasn't bad.
When I checked my bike at home I discovered the bike repairs I had made last Tuesday left something to be desired. The brakes were rubbing a bit and the rear derallieur cable was too short to allow me to get into top gear. I might try the course again and see how much time I can knock off with the bike in proper shape. Probably not much.
I did the bike leg in just over two hours, very near the last. This was a few minutes faster than my practice run of a week earlier. I was one of the oldest riders. The fastest bike times are just over an hour. This is near professional level performance, not too short of Tour de France time trial speeds. The course is moderately hilly with just a few steep sections, overall about 1800 feet of ascent, and very pretty. I plan to ride on some of these roads again soon.
My partner, whom I met for the first time that day did the other two legs. She races in memory of her sister who died of breast cancer. She usually does all three legs, but her training for a marathon sometime this fall reduced her energy for biking to the point where she needed a partner.
After the race I had to ride back eleven miles to get my car, but it was mostly flat or downhill so it wasn't bad.
When I checked my bike at home I discovered the bike repairs I had made last Tuesday left something to be desired. The brakes were rubbing a bit and the rear derallieur cable was too short to allow me to get into top gear. I might try the course again and see how much time I can knock off with the bike in proper shape. Probably not much.
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Cycling and bragging, sort of
I had a lot of goals for this summer, about fixing the house and barn, making furniture, hiking on some of the mountains we can see in the distance, reading and writing about physics, Most of these items are partially completed or not even started on, but last Thursday I achieved one of my goals for the summer. I rode from here to the top of Mount Greylock ( the highest point in Massachusetts spelled it right on the first try for a change) and back. It was an 86 mile trip with about 7800 feet of ascending. It took about 8 hours of ride time, but of course I stayed at the top for quite a while looking at the Berkshire Hills, the Green Mountains, the Taconic Range, and some of the Adirondacks. It was quite a view.
I also spent some time stopping to rub sore legs near the end of the trip, but I did make it home without calling my wife for a rescue.
Today was another good cycling day. I did a 39 mile ride today. 27 miles of it were the route for the bike portion of the Josh Billings Run Aground. This is a weird kind of team triatholon including cycling running and paddling. I am thinking of joining an over 60 team if one will have me. My time for the 27 miles ( moderately hilly ones) was a bit over two hours. That might not sound too bad until you hear last year's shortest time was 1:04. The guy was a lot younger, but still a factor of two in speed is hard to accept gracefully. I'll have to find a really non-competitive team.
I also spent some time stopping to rub sore legs near the end of the trip, but I did make it home without calling my wife for a rescue.
Today was another good cycling day. I did a 39 mile ride today. 27 miles of it were the route for the bike portion of the Josh Billings Run Aground. This is a weird kind of team triatholon including cycling running and paddling. I am thinking of joining an over 60 team if one will have me. My time for the 27 miles ( moderately hilly ones) was a bit over two hours. That might not sound too bad until you hear last year's shortest time was 1:04. The guy was a lot younger, but still a factor of two in speed is hard to accept gracefully. I'll have to find a really non-competitive team.
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