Car to Car communications

An interesting article on car to car networking.

What amazing me though is the investment apparently required:

The biggest hurdle most cities and counties will face in installing these kinds of systems is likely the financial hit. The GAO study noted that the cost of roadside V2I equipment “could range between $25,000 and $30,000 per installation.” And that figure doesn’t include the backend costs of operating and maintaining them.

I struggle to believe this, when groups of engineers can kickstart projects and hit mass production, which solve similar problems using off the shelf components at a $200 or less pricepoint.

Obviously it's a little different in terms of reliability, but you can get an ODB II plus Ardunio machine for as little as that guy is managing, how much does it really cost to swap out the radio components and beef up the processing power?

Becoming a Were-Cyclist

Today, the infection took over. I've finally transformed into a full blown were-cyclist.

I'm pretty happy now, as I've ridden further and further and slowly become more and more obsessed, most of my car driving friends have ridiculed me in increasing amounts.
Now when I get to work, the ball is in my court.

How do I figure this?

I have my final piece of cycling kit.


Tight bike shorts.

This is going to lead to endless mornings, where I get off my bike, haul my tired ass into the elevator, step out, and treat everyone to a far too revealing eyeful of between my waist and knees.


Now, being a were cyclist is no ordinary thing. Basically, whenever a traffic light goes green, you turn into a snarling evil creature which intimidates other vehicles. Usually, the larger the vehicle, the more intimidating a cyclist is.

So, the were cyclist - this is the guy you are afraid of in your giant 4WD, as you sit there, perched far too high off of the ground living in what can only be described as mid-suburban soccer mum fear.

Roll up the windows, press the central locking button and try not to make eye contact! Think to yourself oh those cyclists think they own the road! and try not to make physical contact as you accelerate off.

If a were-cyclist should make contact with your car, you'll turn into one at the next green traffic light. Soon, you would turn on your friends and families, loved ones and pets - you'll sell the petrol guzzler and buy a prius.
Before you know it, the infection has spread further, in a horrendous mix of the Tour de France meets 28 Days Later.

Simply unthinkable.

How do you know if you are infected?
You might wake up one day with strange textures on your hands, hooves, and a hard carapace on your head.
You'll have an urge to climb up hills for no particular reason, insatiable appetite, and you'll get very aggressive about personal space on the road.

Scary stuff, isn't it?

There is one huge benefit though, which simply can't be understated, and which I have gained: you end up with energylegs.

Training for March

So I'm wanting to do the 120km 2009 Coast to Coast in March and I'm a bit worried.

So far, I'm not really doing anything too tricky. For instance, I just did a quickish ride - about 2-2.5 hours worth of effort there.


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That only came in at around 45km; it was in the evening, so not too hot, and I had to stop for a rest break or two on the Corkscrew road bit (take a look around, you can see what nearly killed me.)

At least when I took the short cut option home I got splattered with every insect known to man, and managed to see lightning as few have ever seen it - from right above Adelaide.

Update: How neat is this! A photo of one of the huger lightning strikes! This is the biggest one I saw, I'm pretty sure.



Two weeks ago, I did from my house to Mt Barker - about 4 hours in total one way (55km) with two generous rest breaks, then I kind of puttered along for a while.


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I got a lift from Hahndorf back to Crafers, cutting out 12-20 km of uphill on the return journey.

Total distance 89.8km - 12km of car ride.

Now I'm looking at this and thinking... whoa - 120km? Am I going to die doing it?

My next plans are to repeat the Mt Barker ride, but this time make it back.

The frustrating part of this all is that I can't seem to find anyone to partner up with - I tried getting a friend interested in getting fit for when he joins the police, but there was no chance. The only other people available are going to be Bicycle SA people; who will be fitter than me; or other people who are super super fit.
I either go too fast for my friends, or I drag down people who actually ride more than once in a blue moon.
Even worse, I'm thinking about buying knicks.