shinyhappyrainbows

First attempt at extending my range a little. Surprisingly, it wasn’t supposed to be an extension. I’d put in a turn by turn route plan because I’m not as familiar with Melbourne’s northern suburbs as I am with the south, east and bayside that I thought was 32km and somehow that magically became 40km. I’m feeling it, I’m definitely having at least 2 rest days before I go for another, flatter spin, but wow! Before my heart attack, I’d have laughed at 40km as nothing more than a rest day. 3 and a half years later, it has been the best I have been able to do since discharge from rehab! The electrics were on 2 out of 5 today because it was 300m elevation gain. Not a lot by pre heart attack standards, but again, the most I’ve done in a sitting since late 2021. And I still feel like I deserve a pat on the back! I feel like my workrate was not overly enhanced by a 40% pedal assist. I had only 2 really short hills that needed the full 40Nm, and maybe a total of a km at 3, just to keep he

So, how hard is it to convert a standard, common-or-garden touring bicycle to electric assist? You would be surprised! There was heartache, emotional and literal, there was swearing. My neighbours probably hate me. Let me say, right up front, I know bikes, I have the right tools and I know electronics. I found this project fucking hard! First up, my electronics background is audio production in radio and in live music. I worked for an Australian national radio network for 27 years, doing in-studio and outside broadcast audio. Before that, I studied electronic engineering to just shy of an Associate Diploma but work and putting bread on the table got in the way of my exams. When I say I know electronics, I don't just know how mix sick beats, I know how to run a studio, how to do a live mix, how to set up the sound system. Put me in a venue with sound system I've never used before, I'll have it making noise in time for doors open. I'll have the mix dialled like Giles Mar

So, as you may have read over here , I've electrified my main bike. It was a process, oh my, it was a process, and this was a "simple" front wheel drive conversion. I'll be writing a review of the product, some tips for DIY e-kit installers and some warnings. Should be published by Friday. One of the lesser problems is loss of frame space for storage gear, like bottle cage, framebag and my DIY recycled plastic bottle and 3D printed bracket toolbox. The frame had to be almost completely evacuated to fit the 350Wh battery and, while the bottle cage is still on the downtube, the battery makes the bottle unreachable on the road. It's no major problem, but I'm back to a backpack for those bits and bobs, so I've ordered some new bags. A Zefal T "console bag" and some new RockBros rolltop rear panniers. I'll be reviewing these in the next few weeks, too. If you've followed my now defunct Clunkerbike blog, you'd know that, since my ticker

A personal Reflection, can't be arsed crossposting, so read the full article here on my reflective blog . Electric bicycles don't need illegal power, if you're young and healthy, you don't need an e-bike but, if you have poor health, with or without riding, e-bikes are like a wheelchair for your mojo. Enjoy.

From the department of "For Want of a Better Title" Nebraska: Bruce Springsteen, source = wikimedia Last week, 'scuze my moment of SQUEEEEEEE , Mary Spender distributed an article of mine in her 21st Century Musician newsletter. Yes, she has a newsletter, you can subscribe here . Sorry, just a bit more squeeeeee... Mary is a musician after my own heart but, where the tools I had at her age were cassettes and CDs, she has Youtube, streamers and an album for download. She also grew up in the UK, rather than my little cultural backwater of Tasmania, so her reach gives me heart for the future of music. She sees music like I do. (Or do I see it like her? I'm only a retired pub rocker. I see it like she does, yes, that's it.) She sees the inequity and exploitation and rather than giving up on music or accepting the ripoffs and broken bones AC/DC sang about in the 70s, she is advocating. And she is enlisting her fellow independents to advocate with her. That's par

Spotify and I are now at war. Artist accounts have no delete buttons. My distributor, RouteNote have removed my "Secrets of The Hand" songs from distribution to all paid streaming services, yet Spotify are still displaying them for play. I have issued a Takedown Claim, they have rejected it. So what's a po' boi left ta do? I've "vandalised" my Spotify profile as per the image, above. I'm grinning like a twit right now. I didn't get the nickname, "Crunchy" for nothing... Do us a favour, drop a comment below if the link shows the image taken down.