Boganduro

Update 1. Weather is looking good !
The Welly contingent will go for a beer to the Sprig and Fern on Tinakori road after the ride.

If you have any questions then email me using the contact form.

Cheers, Jeff

Details below...

The Boganduro is a casual gravel grinder in the Grinduro format with self-timing based on the STRAVA app installed on your phone.

It will be on gravel where possible, with around 1600 metres of climbing. The Boganduro starts in Wellington, or the Hutt Valley, and takes in Battle Hill and Belmont Regional Parks.

This is a chance to catch up with your buddies and have a good old chin-wag, and if you are up for it, lay down the hurt on a couple of climbs or downhills, if that's your thing.

Don't forget to dress sensibly, it could get cold, bring food and water, tubes and tools. Have the course at least on your phone or GPS. ( you may like to download the GPX file below ). Familiarise yourself with the course in the event that you get lost. Course notes  below. Please read them at least once.

Starting point:
Wellington Train station. 8am and
Petone Wharf 8:40am, Saturday November 23rd.

Cost: Free
Food availability: Pauatahanui Cafe / Dairy enroute.
Bail-out points: Judgeford, return to Hutt Valley via Haywards on the road.

It's fully self supported, bring tools and a couple of spare tubes and kit.

Be prepared for all weather and to ride for up to 96 kms max, but around 74kms if you are only starting in the Hutt.

Use #boganduro to share  related bumpf in your social media if that takes your fancy.

To give you an idea of the terrain, here are the STRAVA timed segments that will most likely be on the course. My suggestion is that you will want at least 35mm tires.

The full ride on Strava can be seen here:https://www.strava.com/activities/1255586562

The Strava timed segments are shown here.

• Up! https://www.strava.com/segments/16471344
• Down https://www.strava.com/segments/16278285
• Up! https://www.strava.com/segments/16278735
• Down https://www.strava.com/segments/16278868

I have done a couple of reccies on the 3 of the 4 sectors of the #Boganduro. The downhill segments are both mint, and the climbs are... climby : ) the major climb (Puketiro/Cooks Road) you should be able to do in a 1 to 1 gear, so a 32/32 or similar, but YMMV. Strava tells me that there is at least 1 km at 20% on this first sector, but overall it is 8%.

96 kms from Wellington to Wellington

Boganduro fly-by here: https://www.relive.cc/view/1271346537

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The latest NEW stuff is here now (just below).

*Course GPS (GPX file) here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/f4195lwccuh5q3l/BOGANDURO.gpx
*Course notes here. (Dropbox)
*A large map here.  (Dropbox).
A large live zoomable map here:  (Web)

*Read comments below on Dropbox.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

* WARNING. Dropbox have deliberately made the download procedure confusing so that people THINK that they need to join up and login to dropbox. You do NOT need to.

When the big white login button appears, click the small grey X in the top right, and continue on, repeating what you have already done.

Once the file is saved you can Drag n drop the file onto your GPS or smart phone. I don't know what you do if you have an Iphone but I heard recently that Apple were going to invent "drag n dropping" of files. Fingers crossed!

There are plenty of phone apps that allow you to view a GPS file. The one I use is called New Zealand Maps.


Youtube of the Bull Run track here. This is the only technical part of the course. Slow down if you are not a confident rider. There are only a couple of small drops in the course.  Another version of it here with better lighting.

Looking at your segments
After you have finished your ride you can upload the file using Strava. Go to the Boganduro segments under your results, look under the "LEADERBOARDS" for "Todays" results.

Results from last years Boganduro are here.

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K-Lite 2nd impressions

I was very excited to get a hold of the latest kit from K-Lite to run through its paces recently. Kerry is constantly iterating his designs but recently he has launched a couple of very cool additions to his line-up. His new rear flashing lights, (QUBE) and a new USB converter with dual outputs.

If you followed the world's gnarliest bikepacking events, like the Tour Divide, or the Silk Road Mountain Race you would have noticed that many of the riders were using various models of K-Lite kit. These guys are using the kit in the crucible of fire, if anything can possibly go wrong, it will.

Dual-port USB-charger, QUBE flashers, switch wire/loom and front light.

The flashers
Kerry makes the only dynamo powered flashers, in the world, called the QUBE, available in 1x or 2x formats, or front and rear sets, for attaching to the seatpost, seat stays or bars.

Runs for 3 mins after a 15 second spin of wheel.

Somehow he has crammed little super capacitors into them so that a 15 second spin of the front dynamo wheel means your rear flashers will go for 3 mins before needing more juice. Not many traffic lights take that long to change. 

The QUBE flashing pattern seems quite random, but in fact, the LONG/SHORT flash-pattern is actually what NASA use. It is the best for judging the distance to the rider, and also catching the eye from a distance.

They are very bright and yet Kerry tells me they draw less than 30mA intermittently, a typical rear dynamo light draws 110mA at all times. That's a big difference. If it means anything to you, the standard bikepacker's GPS, the Etrex 30, draws 50mA-110mA (back light dependent) at 5 volts. 

Even in the daytime the QUBE's are a great addition.

Kerry has also done something smart with the optics, so that the further you are away, the brighter they look, the idea is that the rider behind, sitting on your wheel, is not blinded, but a car, in the distance gets full blast, clever stuff. These QUBEs are the only item that Kerry is building by hand these days, so he only does a run on them when he has a big enough order. Check your local K-Lite dealer for stocks.

The switch / wire loom

Mount the switch on bars, stem, or steerer

The switch wire/loom comes in two styles. The first one is where the USB-charging out-puts are active all of the time, and you just toggle the front light off and on. This is the mode you will need if you are wanting to run the QUBE flashers.

In the second style, you just flip back and forth between front lighting, or USB charging.

The USB charger

Kerry has some clever smarts hidden in the new dual-port  USB-charger to help with charging supercap systems like the QUBE. He has more smoothing caps than any of the other USB chargers out there. This does make it a little larger, but it allows safe direct connection of phone or GPS to USB charger, should your USB cache battery stuff up.

Normally connecting a sensitive USB device direct to a dynamo charger (without an inline cache battery) is not advised, as the output can be a bit "choppy" due to the AC conversion done on board. This can cause re-sets and crashes of sensitive USB devices. In the new K-Lite charger with its extra smoothing, it offers another layer of back up, in an emergency situation.


The new design retains the little LED activity light introduced in the previous model, so you know if the power is making its way from the dynamo to the charger. Apparently the new USB charger lets you run your SPOT-tracker and charge your USB cache battery at the same time, because the SPOT trackers draw so little power.

The SPOT-tracker will run from the dynamo all day and automatically switch to it's own battery only when you have stopped moving. You can even power your SPOT tracker with no batteries in the bay, just plug it in to the USB-charger and get pedaling. I haven't tried this out myself as I don't have a personal SPOT tracker. As in his previous model Kerry has all the plugs going in and out of the USB-charger at the same place, this is great for space saving in your gas-tank, if that's where you store your electrics.

Here are a few potential scenarios that you might hope to run from your dual USB-charger. Obviously it depends on whether its day or night, and the terrain, as the front lights will use a lot of the power coming from the dynamo hub at night time.

Night-time riding

• Front lights and QUBE F and R flashers
• Front lights and QUBE F and R flashers and GPS (Etrex and Edge as they are low powered)
• Front lights and QUBE rear flashers and GPS and SPOT tracker. In this scenario you'd need a USB splitter as there are only two out-puts from the USB converter. It's not until the demand exceeds 500mA that you start to rob power from the front lights. Flashers+SPOT+GPS should be under 500mA if you are moving at any kind of pace.

Day-Time riding

• Charge cache and run SPOT tracker
• Charge cache and run QUBE F and R flashers
• SPOT tracker and GPS 
• SPOT tracker and QUBE rear flashers 
• SPOT tracker and QUBE rear flashers and GPS (need a USB splitter).

Obviously the idea is to charge your cache battery in daytime if you can as there is a lot more power available when the front lights are off.

My experience with the USB charger and the Etrex GPS was pretty good. Basically, if you have it plugged in to the USB-converter, and you are moving, it defaults to the dynamo for power. I found that it wasn't until I dropped below 9 kmh that I got the nag-screen. However, if you run the GPS via a cache battery you don't get the drop-out at all. Etrex AA batteries last for 4 days anyway, and are easily available at most stores or gas-stations, which is why they are so popular.

My buddy ran his Garmin 1030 without a cache battery in the Japanese Odyssey last year with no problems using his K-Lite kit. It would just drop down to the internal battery when the dynamo power was too low. The 1030 is a much more sophisticated piece of equipment than the old Etrex though and you have to look at the pros and cons of each device. Matt pointed out that in Japan a lot of the riders used phones instead of GPSes for navigation. In an event where most of the people are topping up their devices in accommodation over-night it's an option.


The lights
The lights have undergone a weight-loss programme that shaves a bit more meat off them but they still share the same internals as the previous model. Coming in 2 variants, the Gravel/Road and the MTB, the major difference being that the MTB has a wider more diffuse spread for the great outdoors, vs the more punchy beam of the Gravel/Road light which has to compete with urban light pollution.

In both variants the outside lights come on first and are supplemented by the centre beam at higher speeds. Everytime I go out I am amazed at the strength of these lights.

The new K-Lite kit also contains an adaptor for the Universal fork crown mount, allowing easy connection to Supernova or B&M style mounts. The GoPro mount is still a very popular mounting mechanism, and rightly so, with thousands of cheapie variations of it available online.

I did a bit more field testing in the weekend with a proposed trip down south to do the Old Ghost road. There was always the chance that the weather was going to be bad, so I had to be open to other options, and I had plans to visit my parents 120kms away in Nelson. As it happened, the trip was cancelled and after some local riding, I rode over the Mangatapu Saddle that links Nelson to Marlborough. I had installed the Dynamo Kit on my Santa Cruz Tallboy mainly for safety as I knew I would be on the seal for at least 60 kms. The dazzling brightness of the rear QUBES made me feel a lot safer on a main road with no shoulder, on a Sunday afternoon. What really impressed my though was the low speed at which the QUBES kicked in. I confess I haven’t checked it with a computer, but for most of the 14.3% hike-a-bike section on the Mangatapu saddle the little buggers were flashing away maniacally. That was an average speed of around 3.3 km/h. Impressive.

Kerry is always tweaking and launching new stuff, so if you want to get the heads-up on his next thing, its best to follow him on http://instagram.com/klite_dynamo_power/  He has quite a few things going on in the back-ground just now.

If you want to get a feel of what is behind the K-Lite ethos then tune in to this podcast,  https://bikesordeath.com/ep-22-kerry-slaite-mad-scientist-klite/ I guarantee you will be entertained. Warning, contains occasional expletives.

Related links:

• More details in my K-Lite Ultra first impressions here.
• Dynamo 101, the basics. 
• KLite.com.au

OPEN UP.

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A hidden epidemic

I walked out of the office the other day and saw one of my workmates chilling in the hallway. She was wearing a peaked hat and dark sunnies, and yet it was overcast and raining outside. She'd just stepped out of a crowded meeting room for a break, she was overstimulated and needed to get out for a few minutes to relax.

I hadn't seen her for quite a while, but I knew the reason behind her absence as I'd heard the rumours. She'd had what is often called a "concussion" or a TBI (traumatic brain injury) depending on how you want to call it. Her fatigue levels had reduced down to the degree that she was able to do some work, but exposure to artificial light, and even computer screens had her feeling nauseous, hence the hat and sunnies.

We had a chat and she talked about her progress and the advice she'd been given by another woman scientist at my work who is still recovering from a head injury she received one and a half years ago. The advice was to take the time to come right slowly, don't try to come back too work to soon.

These are highly achieving people who typically find this kind of advice hard to take. Another buddy of mine, also a woman scientist, but not at my work, was also badly concussed recently in a cycling accident, but her recovery has been pretty swift, by comparison to the first two. The first weeks were pretty bad, and being the co-leader of a 12 million dollar project, she's not the kind of person who thinks its acceptable to take a nap half-way through the day.

If I do a tally up, I can think of 4 people I know of at my work, or who work with the scientists at my work who have received head injuries in the last 2 years. All of them very highly intelligent professionals. None of them risk-takers, all of them with access to good medical advice and an understanding work-place.

What if you didn't have access to all the support systems that a well paid professional with a PhD has? What if you were young and bullet-proof and a risk taker by nature? What are the chances that somewhere along the way you are going to get a good smack on the head, give someone else one, or get head-injured in a car accident? What percentage of people in jail have undiagnosed head injuries? Do you know what some of the side-effects of a head injury are?

Disinhibition, low tolerance to stress, depression, emotional lability, difficulty concentrating, sensitivity to noise or light, aggression, impulsivity, irritability, confusion, sleep disturbance, visual problems, memory problems to name a few.

If you were in the wrong place at the wrong time, with poor support, these behaviours could easily see you in trouble with the law, especially if you medicate with drugs and alcohol.

I've also met a few cyclists on social media who are recovering from head injuries, and sadly as time goes on, I watch new people join them. Hitting someone's wayward dog at 50kmh has that kind of an effect.

So what can you do, not go outside? It wouldn't have helped the two women at my work, one banged her head on a cupboard and the other slipped in the shower. Just look after yourself, the best way you know how. And if you come across someone who has a head injury, try to understand what might be going on on the inside.

Factoids:

• NZ's ACC's statistics show that in 2015 most brain injuries happened at home (5674) or on the sporting field (5394).
• The major causes of brain injury are car crashes, sports injuries, assaults and falls.
• Shockingly, the highest risk groups of New Zealanders for traumatic brain injuries are not our rugby players or our boxers - it's our toddlers

Reference. The hidden epidemic of brain injury, Stuff, 2016.

https://www.brain-injury.nz/

Artwork by Ash Lyall

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Wildgripper homage saddle

With the single-speed nationals coming up I needed to get a bike ready. I didn't have a lot of choice in the end and it came down to repurposing my 1993 Litespeed Ocoee. The Compass Rat Trap Pass tires had to go, and I figured the drops could go too. The obvious tires to use were the Simworks Homage's which were currently on my 26 inch Santa Cruz Superlight.

Once the tires were mounted it seemed fitting to me that I needed a matching saddle, and I had a dead Michelin Wildgripper that was screaming out to be repurposed.

I cut one up and glued it onto a spare carbon weener saddle that had been doing nothing. I thought it looked alright. The carbon base was very very stiff tho....

Michelin Wildgripper Homage version 1. Carbon base.

A couple of days later I decided I better do my first single-speed ride since the nationals in 2013 and I went out for a 3 hour ride with Mossieur Veganburger. I didn't use the Green saddle, but used a yellow Tioga Spyder knock-off. It was very very comfy.  What if I could combine the comfort of the Spyder with the looks of the Wildgripper Homage?

There is a lot less surface area in one of these saddles, so I would have to sew the pieces together first, with mint flavoured dental-floss, then glue it on.

It worked better than I thought. I'm not going to put Busymanbicycles out of a job anytime soon, but it was a lot of fun.

Michelin Wildgripper Homage version 2. Plastic base.

Instructable

Fingers crossed it hangs together for the nationals in Te Mata peak this weekend !

• Singlespeed nats in 2013.
• Singlespeed Worlds in 2010.
• More Singlespeed stuff.

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