Scirocco, Jaguar, Bike

Today, it hit 110F. While that may be an all-time record for the day in North Texas, it has a personal meaning to me. It is the hottest it has ever been since I first arrived in North Texas from Everett, Washington. I found it to be a teachable moment. It taught me about the scirocco. This is an effect that people from places like Arizona have experienced, but isn't discussed in polite meteorological company.

Scirocco
According to Wikipedia, the scirocco is a hot, fierce wind that blows out of Africa. It blows hot. Like a convection oven blows hot. It isn't something most people experience very often, but it drives people crazy - or worse. What's more, the power of a heating wind is something that is usually ignored in heat index values and the National Weather Service, where it talks about heat dangers, here, largely ignores the wind, saying only "strong winds, particularly with hot, dry air, can be extremely hazardous." Exactly the condition people experience in a scirocco.

Our Jaguar in 1979, Ready to Go Home

Jaguar
We first experienced the power of a heating wind in a Jaguar. Specifically, it was a 1971 Jaguar XKE Convertible. It was, I think, 1979 and my sweetheart and I decided to drive to Las Vegas. After an unspecified incident involving our Alfa Romeo, we thought the drive would be pleasant in the Jag, and proceeded east with the top down. Soon, we would learn. Somewhere east of Barstow, we discovered that the wind was not going to be our friend. A couple of miles later, we'd put the top UP to keep the wind away in the fierce darkness. We didn't put the top back down until we were in Las Vegas. That was my first experience.

Bike
Today, in a milder form, I experienced the power of a heating wind on my bike. Unlike a Jaguar convertible, there is no top to put up on a bike. Also unlike the long-ago drive to Las Vegas, the sun was contributing its power to the heating. I suggest reading here to find out more about wind heating. I must confess that it was distinctly unpleasant to feel a combined wind and sun temperature rise of 15 degrees or so on top of the basic 110F. While it wasn't nearly so dramatic as in a Jaguar at 70mph, a bike at 25mph in the sun is still a shock.

Wind Heating When it Gets Hot - From Zunis

Wrapup
Personally, I think I might have to change my routine home from work if it gets any hotter. Instead of stopping for hot coffee at the coffee store a mile from my home, I'll detour and stop at the one that is half way in between work and home. LOVE that free, triple filtered ice water! If, on the other hand, it gets over 115F, perhaps I'll detour to the gym and take a cooling shower on the ride home. Yeah, that sounds good, eh? OTOH, our all-time heat record at DFW is 113F. Right now, we've still got three degrees to go and we're running out of time before things start to cool down. In the meantime, I'd just as soon not combine high heat, low humidity, and a long descent down a hill in the sun very often...

First Flight of the P7



Maserati, Seen in the Doctor Parking Next to the Entrance to Baylor Grapevine Medical Center on Monday. Doctor Visit 3 of 3 for the Day
Don't Those Doctors Understand? - "Alfa Romeo, es mas macho."



Veggies Need Not be Starchy!

I’ve used Cateye headlights a lot, but it is time to move on. I’ll keep them for occasional use in ways that their shortcomings do not cause problems. To replace them, I have acquired a “2W Planet Bike Blaze” and a P7-C. The P7 actually came on Monday, though I couldn't have used it, instead spending the day discovering how my medical adventures have affected local doctors, and allowing my local restaurant to prove that dinner side dishes need not be starchy. Anyway, this morning I used the P7 and it is a great light as long as one is prepared to live with its idiosyncrasies. While I haven't done too much fact checking, I've heard that the P7 uses the brightest available single LED to make its light. It certainly IS bright whether that claim is true or not.



Bike With Lights Turned Off

Apertome reported on the light and on a battery recall involving it here, and here. I must admit that the battery/light interface is certainly rather strange. Unlike any light I’ve ever seen, the on/off button is lit when the battery is hooked up – and stays lit. The situation is compounded by instructions that are worse than worthless.

The light itself, however, is brilliant, albeit with a fairly wide beam. No matter – it’s got so much light that it is brighter than any of my other lights, including the fatally flawed Cateye HL530 with fresh batteries. On the high setting, the maker claims 3 hours of light. On my new commute, that’d be about a recharge once a week. On the v2 commute, it’d be a recharge every other day. The light is also very solidly built and doesn’t depend on an unreinforced plastic mounting bracket the way the Cateyes do.



P7 in "High" Mode. Note that Street Color Sets the Brightness on Each of These Three Photos



In addition to the “high” mode, the P7 also has a “low” setting and a “flash” setting. I don’t think I’ll use the "flash," instead I'll ride with high when there's no oncoming traffic and drop it down a notch when all I need is to be seen.

So far, the P7 does what it needs to do – light up the way forward.

Should you consider a P7? Well, it definitely isn’t a light for everyone. For starters, it probably isn’t available in your local bike shop, or even on Amazon ("unavailable"). I got mine off eBay and Apertome got his online. For a second reason, as noted by Apertome, the batteries and battery/light interface is suspect. This might or might not get better in the future. It also throws a broader beam than is optimal for a headlight - I worry about blinding oncoming motorists, which is why I'll operate it as I would an automotive high/low beam combo. ON THE OTHER HAND, the light is half the price of any equivalent lighting power and gives you the lighting of a generator light without the weight, drag, cost, and complexity. Simply charge this puppy up – and GO. Perhaps, tomorrow, I'll find out how it does in the rain...

P7 in "Low" Mode is About the Same as the Planet Bike 2W Blaze on "High"

Bad Bike Idea

My Dentist Office on Harwood, in Hurst

I went for a bit of a bike ride. Just to be different, I decided to mostly ride on different streets than I usually take. Before you knew it, I was passing my dentist's office in Hurst. When I was there earlier this week, they inquired as to whether I was still riding. I replied that I was, but they had no bike racks, though I imagined they didn't have a lot of cycling patients. If I rode to my appointment, might they work something out? "Certainly," the receptionist replied, "we've got a room in the back and we'd be happy to keep your bike while you're here." Hmm.

Riding along a bit further, I saw the sort of sculpture that John Romeo Alpha seems to happen upon regularly in Arizona. Mine was in North Richland Hills. NRH may not be Arizona, but it's still pretty cool to see stuff like this just riding along the road. Speaking of which, is that his REAL name or is it a play on an Italian car brand I'm fond of, and which is one of the labels of this post? Hmm again.

The Road Bike and Friend, North Richland Hills

Next, I happened upon a motoring brother, and we had a nice chat while waiting for the left turn signal to change for us. It was a lovely morning, but it looked like it'd be hot later. He rode in from Saint Louis and had another 350 miles to go. Bicycles really ARE different than motorcycles! Hmm the third.

It's Amazing How Much Faster You Can Go With More than 1/4 HP!

Finally, I got to the BAD IDEA part of this bike ride. It is NOT a good idea to go to "Golden Corral" for breakfast on a bike. It makes for a LONG ride home. Yes, bikes ARE different. I recommend you avoid this place if you have to ride your bike home.

Don't Do It! You'll Regret It!

PS: Yes, the road bike IS locked to that pole, with my "just a minute" locking technique ,which captured both wheels. I selected a seat where it was in view. Of course, had someone decided to try to snag it, it would have taken a while to waddle outside and confront the scofflaws. OTOH, I don't imagine that too many bike thieves hang around "Golden Corral," looking for an easy score.

MY Motorists

Alfa Romeo Tubulare Zagato,

Monterey Historic Races, 1979

Campagnolo Toe Clips

More Italian Elegance

Mostly, I like reading bike blogs, but I find it disturbing when I sense an "us versus them" element running through posts. I don't think there is really such a thing as "bike culture," unless you count some of the bike clubs and that aspect. In truth, car and bike enthusiasm very often runs together, both of them fueled by the same enthusiasm for the beauty and functionality of the machines we build to help us get around, and from the joy of travel on the open road. I don't think it's any accident that most of the great bicycle manufacturing companies originate in the same countries that house great automobile enthusiasm. Italy is a case in point. France is another. On the other hand, countries that treat their bikes as the drudge transportation equivalents of washing machines (with apologies to Graham Aubree), design cars the same way. When Detroit was building the Roadmaster Stationwagon, Schwinn was building bikes using the same design philosophy. At both companies, small factions produced something more; the Corvette and Paramount, respectively.

MY Motorists don't chat on their cell phones while they sip their lattes. MY Motorists have an overwhelming and enduring enthusiasm for the PROCESS of motoring. When I drive my E-type Jaguar, I'm not concerned about how long it takes to get to the corner grocery store. I may go there by way of Oklahoma. When I ride, one treat is the opportunity to stop and chat with people driving special interest cars, who are clearly not just out to do the daily errands. Similarly, when I'm riding for recreation, I'm not concerned so much with exactly the route I'm taking, but I still like to take whatever route I'm taking FAST, and WELL. John Forester notes in EFFECTIVE CYCLING that engineers are overrepresented in cycling ranks. Well, they're overrepresented in car clubs as well. A surprising fraction of these like cars AND bikes. I count myself as such. Another car/bike enthusiast recently passed away. Albert Cohen, Alfa Romeo enthusiast, owner of AUTO DELTA, INC, and cycling enthusiast, passed away December 22. The obituary may be found here. I believe his death stems from a cycling crash that occurred in 1996.

Antonio Ascari

The spirit of MY motorists may be summarized by a short excerpt from Hull & Slater's Alfa book:
"Antonio Ascari died shortly afterwards in an ambulance on the way to hospital in Paris. He was thirty-seven.  ...when the news of Ascari's death reached the Alfa Romeo  pit, at a time when both {Alfa drivers, including the race leader}happened to be there, the order was given for their engines to be revved up and then silenced for the rest of the day.

"After the race ... drove down to the spot where Ascari had crashed, and laid their victors' garlands of flowers there."



Cohen was MY kind of motorist. Not like the drunk that hit him. Drunks and distracted/incompetent drivers (and bike riders) are not a car or a bike problem. These are people problems. Yes, more civility, and a demand for one's very best effort, would be very nice all around...