Video Cameras

One of my 'imaginary friends' on 'The Rev Counter', an internet forum, recently asked for details of very high quality video cameras.

I was able to point him to Frosty Gear

They supply a couple of variations (see pics above and the site for full details.

Had an email today:

"Video results are awesome!"

He's using the 'Pro' system, I believe with a 'bullet' camera.


If you decide that 'awesome' is the only quality you'll accept, please mention where you read about the system!


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Things I have Seen . . .

. . . In the last couple of days:

A car with a bullet hole. Well, that's what it looked like; a small hole, a few millimetres across, punched through the bodywork, not sure if an airgun pellet would do that . . .

A cyclist with a light on his head. Now I've seen cyclists with 'torch'-type headlights fixed to their helmets, but this is evening I saw one with a flashing light on his head; it showed up well over the tops of oncoming cars . . .

An X5 BMW driven off-road. Not just off-road, this was across the grass strip between a slip road and motorway. Yup, not just cutting across the 'hatched' area - the driver never reached that far along the slip road . . .




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It's A Small World . . .

. . . But I wouldn't want to paint it.

Can't claim any credit for that - it's a Steven Wright original.

I've been meaning for some time to write a blog post about the parallels between different types of teaching, then happened today to visit this blog - which mentions similarities, and now I've just seen this on the BBC news site!

And octave range doesn't just come down to physical attributes and technique, it's about the psychological as well.

"People can have a fear of using their voice," says Ms Edwards.

"Teaching someone is not only about getting people to use their body properly and breath right, it is also about giving people the right attitude to free their voice. You have to look at the voice from all angles."



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Water, Water, Everywhere . . .

Well, that's what a typical training session often ends up like :)

So I was interested to note that Channel Five's 'Gadget Show' will be testing the waterproofing of personal radios for next week's show.

Guessing, they'll be PMR radios of the type most likely to be used by trainers.

And for the budget-conscious, I dropped in to Tchibo this morning, and they're selling a four-pack of radios for £17 (if I remember correctly). I don't need any more, so didn't look to see what they were exactly, but that's almost a proce that you can give them away to the trainees! [joke]

Gadget Show

Results will be on their site.


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Observation Links

'Observation Link' is a term that most people who've taken some sort of post-test training will be aware of, it means you 'observe' something, then 'link' it to a possible outcome. Being pessimistic*, you could look for a selection of outcomes and plan for the worst.

There are a few variation on the term, the MSF in the USA used the term "What if?" to develop this idea of following through from a possible risk to an actual danger. The phrase was more recently adopted by the DSA for its hazard perception video.

I suggest to trainees that they should ask themselves "How could that affect me?"

Sometimes the train of thought which makes up one of these links can seem quite tenuous!

A couple of days ago I was riding back through Oxfordshire, in a long stream of traffic including some HGVs, on a road liberally splattered with '50' limits. In other word, not travelling too briskly! Keeping a good following distancefrom the car in front (there was little chance of overtaking, and on that road little or no chance of passing the whole row) I had plenty of time to look around.

On one particular section, the road made a gentle 'left-right' and as it curved right it went up over a gentle hill. The field on the right hand side of the road was open, and allowed a good view up to the hill creat.

So the first 'affect me' was that I could see there wasn't a sharp 'right', and could also see there were no side turnings hidden in the hedge.

But I could see a row of trees along the hill crest running perpendicular to the road. Now fields often have hedges between them, but rarely rows of trees - especially not trees which were evenly-spaced, and alternated between two distinctly different types of tree.

A quick bit of thinking suggested that what I was actually seeing wa an avenue, with one type of tree on one side, and a different type on the other.

An avenue = side turning, but likely to be residential/farming access lane (which it was), rather than a 'signed' road.

And that's the sort of information you need if you're looking to overtake!

Look for reasons not to overtake, rather than looking to see if you can.


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You Never See . . .

Insect traffic jams. Do you?

Here's why:
Ants can teach us how to beat city congestion, claim scientists

Motorists can learn a thing or two about dodging traffic jams from the humble ant, claim scientists.

Researchers believe that the insect is better at managing congestion than humans, helping each other move around their colony much more efficiently.

That is why you never see the tiny creatures backed up and idling along a scent trail as they busily go about their chores in an organised and directed way.

Ants are the most numerous type of animal on Earth with brains that contain about 250,000 cells - the largest among insects.

Now collective intelligence expert Dr Dirk Helbing says understanding more about ants could help solve one of the banes of modern life - road congestion.

His team set up an "ant motorway" with two routes of different widths from the nest to some sugar syrup. Soon the narrower route soon became congested.

But when an ant returning along the congested route to the nest collided with another ant just starting out, the returning ant pushed the newcomer onto the other path.

However, if the returning ant had enjoyed a trouble-free journey it did not redirect the newcomer.

The result was that just before the shortest route became clogged the ants were diverted to another route and traffic jams never formed.

The researchers also created a computer model of more complex ant networks with routes of different lengths.

The team found that even though ants being rerouted sometimes took a longer route, they still got to the food quickly and efficiently.

Dr Helbing, of the Dresden University of Technology in Germany, who reported the research in New Scientist, said the efficient distribution of limited resources by decentralised, individual decisions is still an open problem in many networked systems.

He said: "This is one of the most challenging problems in road traffic and routing of data on the internet."

He said that while you cannot allow cars to collide with vehicles coming in the opposite direction as a form of traffic control, you could do the next best thing and allow them to communicate.

His plan is to force cars travelling in one direction to tell oncoming vehicles what traffic conditions they are about to encounter - so they can take evasive action if necessary.


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The Non-Motorcycle Motorcycle

I like this :)

A non-styled motorcycle design!


Have a link


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MCITA

In October 2008, the Motor Cycle Industry Association (MCI) launched the Motor Cycle Industry Trainers Association (MCITA) – an Association dedicated to serving the diverse needs of motorcycle rider trainers and companies engaged in all types of training, including off-road and track days.


Membership Fees

Membership fees are calculated according to DSA category and are charged annually in advance.

Approved Training Bodies £348

Track & Off Road Trainers £348

Post Test - If on RPMT £99

Post Test - If not on RPMT* £198

I'll leave you to decide whether it's worth the money!

Link


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Cargo #2

If you've just read my post about the Olypia Phantom suit, you'll have seen mention of the 'cargo' pockets.

For those of you who also carry around substatial quantities of junk, you may find this of interest.

It's called the Grab-It Pack, and is a bolt-on (well, 'belt on') cargo pocket.

Probably not particularly waterproof for UK all-day biking, but could be useful for touring or for instructors.

Might also suit pillions if it's accesible while on the move.


Edit: AlistairL has asked me to clarify whether it's me in the pic. I am happy to confirm it is
not

:)


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Cargo! #1

Earlier this year I bought a new bike suit.

My old 'every day' Weisse over-trousers had bitten the dust (when I sliced open the lining to see, the 'waterproof' coating on the outer had flaked away in tatters), and my 'heavy duty' BMW suit (actually 1.5 suits as I had 'summer' and 'winter' jackets as well as single pair of trousers) had gone off to the Beaulieu Autojumble.

So I'd been looking for a reasonably-priced replacement for both suits.

The AeroStich Roadcrafter one-piece attracted, but despited the [then] favourable exchange rate they're still expensive. And unlined. And not fully waterproof.

There are other one-piece suits. But the best candidate, the Rev'It Infinity, seemed to be ever-delayed, and increasing in price with every delay.

In the two-piece style I came close to the Halvarssons, but at the budget end of their range.

But, eventually, I stumped up the courage to order an 'unknown quantity' suit from the USA.

After a few e-mails to Bob's BMW in the USA, and an evening phone call, an Olympia Phantom suit would be mine!

A few days later, and a cheque for VAT, import duty, and fees later, and there it was! Total for the suit was under £400. (Although I made the mistake of browsing their 'shop' pages and ordering some other odd bits . . . like a camera tripod!)

Rather than me tell you all it, here's a link to the manufacturers:

Olympia MotoSports

If you've just clicked the link, and your eyes now hurt, I'll both apologise :) and explain that I bought the 'gunmetal' not 'yellow' option!

So does it do what it says on the web site?

In short: 'Yes' - I'm really pleased with it!

Waterproof? Yes
Warm? Yes - with the liner in, use from 0C-10C, depending on your own thermal properties, take the liner out above 10C, and undo the vent zips from 20C upwards - and get a lovely cool (or warm on the occasional hot days!) breeze.

I had to do 120 miles one day last week with early-start temperature of 1C, so wore my heated waistcoat. Now, this is a conundrum: how to get a cable through the two main zips . . . Aha! Double-ended zips! So I had a friend make up an extension which meanders throught the bottom of the zip, up over the gusset, down under the inner zip, and up over the inner gusset. Toasty!

But why 'cargo'? I usually stuff my pockets full of assorted rubbish (wallet, phone, pen, cash, hankerchief, first aid gloves & facemask pack, and other odd bits and bobs). The Phantom has two large 'cargo' pockets on the thighs - ideal for carrying all the stuff - like pens - that you shouldn't really put near vulnerable ribs, lungs, etc.

And talking of pockets:
1. I've managed to loose stuff, there's so many pockets
2. One day I thought "Hand warmer pockets would be nice" . . . and checked, yep, there they are!

It's not perfect, and I doubt it'll have the longevity of a 'Stich. But at half the price I'll accept that!



PS Not me in the pic!


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