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Clothing (p.p.)
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1 pair light cotton trousers
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1 pair cotton shorts
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2 pairs cycling shorts
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3 pairs underwear
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2 cycling jerseys
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2 T-shirts
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3 pairs socks
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1 botton-up/nice long sleeved shirt
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1 waterproof riding jacket
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1 cycling cap
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1 helmet
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1 pair cycling gloves – only for Dad
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1 pair light pajamas
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1 pair running shoes
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1 pair walking shoes – Dad buying his overseas
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Personals/Toiletries
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Toothbrushes
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1 tube toothpaste
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Contact lenses
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Lens cases and solution
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2 pairs sunglasses – and regular glasses
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1 bottle sunscreen
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1 small bottle shampoo
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Razors and shaving cream
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1 Comb
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Deodorant
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Facecloth and towel – will be bought overseas
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Electronics
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1 unlocked Galaxy Nexus smartphone
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1 rooted Nook tablet
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1 power adaptor & plug divider
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1 compact Canon camera
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Miscellaneous Goodies
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1 small first aid kit
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Keys on keychains
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1 Snow Peak butane stove
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1 butane refill adaptor
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2 Guyot squishy cup/bowl sets
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2 GSI utensil sets
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1 small Sigg Inoxal cookset – w/ two pot lids as plates
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1 salt + pepper shaker
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1 small cooking knife
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5 650mL Filzer Stainless water bottles
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2 1L Filzer Stainless water bottles
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1 swiss army knife
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1 camera monopod
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Tools & Bike Parts
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2 cable bike locks – will be buying lock-up chain in Italy
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2 pad locks
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2 bicycle multi-tools
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2 sets flat repair kit
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2 sets tire levers
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1 spare chain
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2 spare inner tubes + 1 extra to cover lock-up chain
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2 bicycle-mounted pumps
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1 small adjustable spanner
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1 set pliers
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1 small bottle oil/lube – will be bought overseas
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Zip ties – to repair anything
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Duct tape – also for repairs
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Packing and Bags
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2 large MEC duffel bags
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2 sets 56L MEC “World Tour” panniers
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1 set 20L MEC panniers
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1 set 40L MEC “World Tour” panniers
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2 MEC Bull Deluxe handlebar bags
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2 Micro Wedgie seat bags
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1 Eddie Bauer sling bay (daypack/carry on)
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1 Hip pouch (camera/phone/wallet daypack)
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Monthly Archives: May 2012
A Phone – For Europe
Although ‘Pops’ has an iPhone for work use, buying an unlocked phone will mean any prepaid SIM card can be activated in Europe and we can go without paying exorbitant roaming fees. And wide GSM/HSDPA signal compatibility was a must, too.
I pulled the SIM out of another phone and swapped it to this one – I am just learning about the rest of its functions. The GMS-data-to-wifi re-transmission (aka, “tethering”) ability is the next thing we plan to try out and get used to. Connected to a rooted Nook tablet, we hope to post updates, and access e-mail and the internet for the duration of our trip.
I’ll keep you posted!
Itinerary Update
See it here: Summer 2012 Italian Cycling Trip + Itinerary
MTBing the Glen
Lots of multi-use, and MTB-oriented, trails. |
View MTBing the Glen in a larger map –> There are some more routes on the page 2 of the map
Presta? No Problem / R.I.P. Old Wheelset
So what does one do to remedy this problem, short of replacing the rims? Well, you drill the valve holes out, of course. Presta valves are 6mm wide, with a 6.4mm (1/4in) valve hole. In contrast, Schrader valves are 8mm wide, and have an 8.3mm (21/64in) valve hole. Luckily for me, the Cr-18 rims are wide enough to accommodate this wider hole; don’t try drilling out thin rims, or those rims with a strongly arched profile, or you may end up weakening the rim significantly.
Flat profile rims; its easily drillable. |
Select a few dill bit sizes for stepped drilling – this will prevent the bits from binding and ruining the rim. I chose 3 bits: a 7/64in bit, a 9/32in bit, and of course the 21/64in bit.
If there is already rim tape, peel it back with a tire lever and commence drilling. Once done, it should be noticeably larger:
File off the burrs in the metal to prevent punctures, and the job is done.
Now that I’ve drilled out these new rims, I’m all set to replace the old wheelset. The old Shimano/Araya combo has conducted me very “wheel” over the past 5000km and 5 years, and supported another 5000km or so for the 13years before that. 10 000kms and 18 years later, though, it is time to move, lest something *does* in fact break during our Italian trip.
R.I.P.
$10 Craigslist sale, anybody? |
Here are the new beauties: I’ve finally made the switch over to 8 speeds and double walls.
Gear Time: Adjusting a Mechanical Watch
Seiko 5 Auto-winding watch – pretty bulletproof, and looks decent to boot |
- A mechanical watch
- A computer with Audacity or equivalent sound-recording program
- A microphone
- A quiet room
- A set of micro screw drivers/bits
- A magnifying glass (optional)
- A watch case opener – I got mine for a song at Active Surplus in Toronto
- Set it Up: Boot up your computer in a quiet room. Open up Audacity (or similar) and hook up a microphone. For me, I used my laptop’s built-in microphone.
- Record: Place the watch face-first up to the microphone, with as much contact as possible so the quiet ‘tick-tick’ can be recorded clearly. Leave it recording for ~15 seconds.
- Edit and Noise Reduce: depending on your microphone, you may (like me) need to use noise-removal plugins to clean up the signal, and visually show clear bumps for each ‘tick’. I also amplified the signal to make each point more noticeable.
- Select the midpoint of the first hump (see below), and delete all before that position, bringing it flush with the 0.00s position.
- Move forward to the 5-second position. Zooming in, check the time position for the last hump. It should be as close to being 5.00 seconds as possible. [Note: It *should* be a little under 5.00s, to compensate for knocks which will lose time]. If over 5.00s, your watch is running slow (losing time), and if under 5.00s, your watch is running fast (gaining time).
Before adjustment: bump @ 5.0091s, After adjustment: bump @ 4.985s. Slightly fast compensates for bumps & knocks through the day. |
- Crunch the Numbers: For my watch, it has a listed BPH of 21 600, meaning at 100% accuracy, it is supposed to ‘tick’ 21600/hour. Dividing that by (60s x 60mins) = 6 beats per second, or 30 beats per 5 seconds. However, I had a time of 5.0091s for 5 beats – a calculated loss of about 144 seconds per day (which is far more than actual).
- Determine the Goal: Usually, the goal is to set the actual BPH ahead by 10 seconds per hour, to compensate for odd watch angles and knocks which actually slow it down slightly through the course of a day. 10 seconds = 60 beats, so my goal BPH was 21 660BPH. Dividing by (60s x 60mins) = 6.0167 bps, or 30.0833 beats per 5 seconds. Therefore my goal for 30 ‘ticks’ was: (30s / 30.0833) x 5s = 4.986s.
Set a goal based on your watch’s BPH value |
- Adjust the Mechanism: If the watch band is metal, use a small screw tip bit, and release the watch band.
- Open the back of the watch with the watch opening tool.
- With a thing pointed screw driver and magnifying glass, tweak the adjuster of the hairspring on the balance wheel in the direction (+ or -) your timing needs to go. Be careful: this is the most delicate part of a watch, and also, a small adjustment goes a long way!
Adjustment: be sure to only move the adjustable mount for the hairspring (circled in red), and not the fixed mount. |
- Close up the watch backing, record another sound clip, and crunch the numbers to see if you’ve come close to your goal.
For me, I achieved 4.985s on my second try – very close to my 4.986s goal. The watch now runs about -2 seconds per day, meaning this entry-level watch surpasses COSC standards!