Changing a Bike Tire Inner-tube

I got a flat the last hill of my 100 km bike trip last Sunday. Thank heavens it did not happen at km 50 or something. I went to a bike shop in Shinjuku today to get a replacement tube, and they were kind enough to tutor me on how to replace it.

How to Change that Tube

Here's the process I learned at the bike shop:

1. Purchase a tube, tire levers (they come in sets of three, usually) and rim tape of the appropriate size. My rims are 26 inch with 1.5 Schwalbe Marathons on them now, and you just have to be sure what you buy is the right size. If you can give them the rim size, that's better too. The tubes come with various valves, and I have "French" valves now so that is what I got. All told, the cost to buy the parts was about JPY 1300 (USD 13).
2. Remove the wheel with the flat from the bike. I have Shimano Deore XT rim brakes, and there's a place you hook the brake wire's flange in, which if released, gives you the leeway to get the tire off.
3. If you have French valves, completely remove the bolt that keeps the valve in place in the rim.
4. On the opposite side of the wheel from the valve, insert a tire lever between the rim and the tire, and use it to lever the tire out, in that area. Take care not to pinch the tube while you do it, just in case you want to fix and reuse it. You'll notice there's a kind of hook on the one end of the lever - this goes onto a spoke to keep the lever in place, holding the tire edge out and away from the rim.
5. A couple of spokes away, do the same thing again with the second lever, to get more of the tire out.
6. Now you should be able to slide the third lever under the edge of the tire, and rotate it along the rim and tire edge to get the tire out. You can keep the one edge of the tire in the rim.
7. Slide the flatted inner tube out, taking care not to damage it if you want to repair it.
8. Inspect the tire inside and out for damage. There could be something sharp embedded in the tire. Remove any sharp objects puncturing the tire. In my case there were two pieces of a broken spoke embedded in the tire and in the rim tape. I could only find the one embedded in the tire by running my hand along the inside. The rim tape problem was quite obvious!
9. If you either remove the tire completely or just push it to one side, you should be able to see the rim tape, which prevents the inflated tube from working its way into the nipple bolts for the spokes. Rim tape prevents flats, but, in time it gets worn out too. If it has been mashed into the nipple bolts too much, and there are sharp edges, replace it. Rim tape is basically like a big rubber band with a hole for the valve. You can use a flat blade driver or an awl to work old rim tape out, and to lever new rim tape on. In my case, the yellow rim tape was two years old and starting to get dry, and, it had been punctured by the old spoke bit, so I replaced it.
10. Put a little air into your new tube, because it is easier to work with the tube if it is slightly inflated.
11. Insert the valve through the rim tape and rim, and put the valve bolt on to secure it.
12. To put the tire back, this time start on the valve side (removal starts opposite the valve). You can use the tire levers to get started putting the tire back into the rim, but be careful not to pinch the new tube. Having the tube slightly inflated will make things a little easier to maneuver. Once you get the tire in a little, use your hands to kind of "knead" the tire back in, working around it. Schwalbe Marathons are a little tough, as they have Kevlar inside and are consequently a bit harder rubber.
13. Check that the valve is 90 degrees to the rim. If it is angled, work the tire and rim until you can rotate it so it is perpendicular to the rim.
14. Inflate the tube to the correct psi pressure. Confirm that it's holding air and that you have not damaged the tube.
15. Deflate the tube once, then re-inflate. The bike shop said this last step really helps to prevent flats.
16. Go ride!

Hope this procedure helps someone with their tube troubles. Happy riding!

Hot Brass, Percussion and Visual - Blast!

My daughter and I went to see what's said to be the final Japan tour of Blast!. The brass, percussion and visual performers are young, but are among the best in the world on their instruments. The music and visual performance skills were out in force this afternoon.

If you're not familiar with Drum and Bugle Corps, it's mostly a summer activity governed by the non-profit organization "Drum Corps International", with corps members moving in around May to begin hard 12-hour "all days" rehearsals, and competing throughout the summer across the USA, until finals in August. Each corps has 150 members, which consist of brass, percussion and "color guard" members who do equipment work with rifles and flags while dancing. There are 12 corps competing for the top spot at finals, but many more corps at various skill levels competing all summer. These shows are performed on football fields in stadiums, but the similarity to college marching band ends there, since they exist to compete and perform like it too!

Blast! was born from the Star of Indiana Drum and Bugle Corps, which exited the DCI circuit to form Blast!, a kind of indoor, theatre-based "Brass Theatre" troupe taking the high skills of the best drum corps performers, and performing a kind of greatest hits of drum corps, to thrill audiences everywhere. (Not to mention winning Tony and Emmy awards as well.)

The Japan Blast! tour features snare drummer Naoki Ishikawa, who was a champion "individuals" competitive snare player when he marched in DCI, and who is now a featured performer in the Japan Blast! show. He's got incredible chops, and they feature him well during the Battery Battle portion of the show. The video is the percussionists performing during the break between sets, on kitchen stools and a garbage pail. Humorous. :-)

The Blast! performers did all the hot drum corps favorites like "Everybody Loves the Blues", "Appalachian Spring", "Medea", and "Malaguena" as well as a number of great numbers that were new to me. Overall, the show was about 2 hours of exciting music and visual performance, which had the audience on their feet by the end.

Kudos to Blast! for a great show!

Artist Josh George's Cool Album Art

I bought the Pat Metheny Trio's "Day Trip" album and "Tokyo Day Trip" EP today, and really loved the album art. It's by New York-based artist Josh George, and if you click through to the image in this post that I uploaded to Flickr, you can see my annotations of the Japanese in his art. There's even "Cat Metheny" in there, too. Check out Josh's website or blog, and then go buy some of his art.

So how's the music? The Pat Metheny Trio with Pat on guitar (what else?), Christian McBride on bass, and Antonio Sanchez on drums is stellar. If you're a jazz fan you're sure to love it.

New Canon PowerShot D10, a Waterproof Point-and-Shoot

Yesterday, I purchased the new Canon PowerShot D10 at Yodobashi Camera in Shinjuku, Tokyo, to take over for an old Canon IXY 500. The IXY has served us well and works OK still, but the waterproof and shockproof nature of the D10 were attractive because of the proximity to the Shonan beach area near where we live, and how often we've been nervous about taking electronics to the beach! It's going to be nice to drag the camera right into the surf or even underwater.

I compared this D10 with other waterproof and shockproof models from Olympus (the Tough-8000) and Panasonic (the Lumix TS-1 or FS-1), but ultimately chose the Canon. I liked the way it felt in my hands at the store, and there were too many quirks in reviews about the others. At any rate, I thought I would share some first impressions and photos with everyone.

Specifications of the Canon PowerShot D10

Let me summarize some of the specs.

Megapixels - A solid 12.1, combined with the Digic4 processor. I'm not so interested in huge megapixel figures, because I really don't need to print posters.

Lens - it's got a bright f/2.8 3x optical, 4x digital zoom, with lens-shift Image Stabilization. This is a nice lens, and it's in line with the sensor and not "folded", which contributes to its rather bulbous shape.

Focus - face-detection auto-focus.

Media - "Secure Digital" SDHC format.

File Format - JPEG (Fine only, not Super-Fine) for photos and Motion JPEG for movies up to 1 hour and 4GB.

Toughness - it's an outdoor-use camera, waterproof to 10 m and shockproof to 1.2 m.

ISO - 80 to 1600 but pretty noisy at high ISO.

Viewfinder - none, it's an "LCD only" camera.

Battery - Lithium Ion

Unprocessed Samples from the Canon PowerShot D10

Here are some unprocessed sample photos, and a gratuitous motion JPEG video from the Canon PowerShot D10.

Impressions of the Canon PowerShot D10

I've only used the camera just for a few snaps, but I like it. It turns on very quickly, has a whole slew of "scene modes" like aquarium, beach, underwater, foliage and so forth, as well as a program mode for some manual tinkering as usual in the PowerShot range. It has a programmable print button, so you can for example link "video record" to that for an easy way to start recording without fishing through menus.

I don't care too much about the fashionable, replaceable faceplates that you can swap in (it has blue on there in the box but there's also black, orange and camoflage), but I really love the straps that came with the "Canon D10 Outdoor Kit". There's a wrist strap, a neck strap, a caribiner strap that you hook to your belt, and a shoulder strap that lets you sling the D10 over your shoulder, and whip up when you want to take a photo. The design of the camera itself is pretty funky, but each corner has a connector that looks like something you'd see in a submarine. These connectors make the straps really easy to connect. You just slot it in and turn. Easy! And since there's a connector on each corner, it's nice for left- or right-handed people.

As for negatives, despite the nice fast f/2.8 lens, Canon bastardized the JPEG settings so there's no "super fine". I suppose this is to try to prevent you from having to swap SD cards at the beach, but I'd rather make that decision myself. Also, there's no HD video like Canon's introduced into their newest IXY models. Something I noticed in the manual, it says to turn up the volume on any videos you take with the camera because the mic is "not so sensitive due to the waterproof characteristics of the camera." So say we all. Finally, I've owned other PowerShots but this one's manual settings feel a little limited.

In the end, I think I'm going to probably take this camera everywhere because I don't have to fret about damage from water. I like it quite a bit, especially the fact that I can sling it over my shoulder with the useful straps. I'll update when I get some samples underwater.

Nikon COOLPIX P6000 Released in Japan - 11 Sept 2008

The Nikon point-and-shoot COOLPIX P6000 was released in Japan today and I checked it out at the Shinjuku Yodobashi Camera. Good solid feel to the camera's construction despite a light weight, but it's the features that are a draw: built-in GPS for Geotagging, and the ability to shoot in RAW are my favorites.

I'll have to find some samples of its RAW output and download them, to see if I can process the files in Aperture. There are a lot of disclaimers about the NRW format RAW files: Windows-only this, in-camera-only that, so we shall see.

I bet we'll see this kind of in-camera GPS become more and more prevelant.

JVC Victor Wooden In-Ear Headphones - HP-FX500

When my iPod's basic headphones died, I bought the wooden JVC Victor HP-FX500 model earphones for about JPY 15,000. These have a wooden trembler, and so the sound is very natural. If you like to listen to anything acoustic, jazz, classical, opera and so forth, these are great 'phones. They have 100dB/1mW sensitivity and 8Hz to 25kHz frequency response. If you have never used an in-ear 'phone before, they take a bit of getting used to, as they shut out pretty much all sound. It's a little disconcerting to be able to hear your own heartbeat, but they sound wonderful.

Schwalbe Marathon Trip Report

Today I did this route, which has about 10 km of gravel and trail, 13 km of sandy asphalt, and the remaining 40 km regular paved roads or bike roads. I was very pleased with the Schwalbe Marathons I got last week. They have a good feeling, roll very well, and seem to be tough enough to go over patches of asphalt with glass shards without incident. Kudos to Schwalbe for making such a tough tire!

New Schwalbe Marathon Tires

My original Geax StreetRunner slick tires were getting cracked after about 1500 km of use, so I took the opportunity to put Schwalbe Marathon tires on the bike. Very good tires that are still fast despite being "treadier" than the Geaxes. I bet they will last longer, too, if reputation is any indication. Schwalbe Marathons have kevlar inside, and have a protective strip and their Marathon Plus line is even heavier duty. I like the Marathons so far; they feel quite grippy in the corners.

My Bicycle Routes - Mostly in Japan

I decided to create some Google "My Maps" to show the bike routes I take near my house in Yokohama, Japan. There are some really nice routes along the Sakai and Mekujiri Rivers. See them here: Rick Cogley's Bicycle Routes - Mostly in Japan.

Exporting Google's "My Maps" as KML

I have been spending some time making Google Maps in "My Maps", such as this bike route down the Sakai river, then along the Shonan coast, and back home.

Some applications, like Google Earth, use KML data to represent map routes. There is an easy link now, in My Maps, to click and open the map directly in Google Earth. But if you need the KML data for importing elsewhere, you can save it this way:

First, in one of your maps in Google My Maps, copy the URL for "View In Google Earth" by right clicking the link and copying the URL. On a mac, it's "copy link location".

Then in a blank browser window, enter the URL in the address bar:
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&output=nl&msid=103784915361440638280.00045507229fde71c84ca

Now change the output by switching output=nl to output=kml. Entering the URL will give an option to save. Save the KML file somewhere on your drive, and then you can import it elsewhere.

Celebrating Regiment, with Rodney Strong Symmetry

I decided to celebrate Phantom Regiment's DCI win with some Rodney Strong 2000 Symmetry, pedigree below. Man! This is good wine! Thanks Jack!

Phantom Regiment - I am Spartacus!

Phantom Regiment - Drum & Bugle Corps won the 2008 DCI Drum Corps International Championship yesterday with a evocative, powerfully emotional show based on the story of Spartacus, the gladiator and slave-leader who led an army of slaves against Rome in the Servile Wars. The 1960 movie with Kirk Douglas has a famous scene that has been quoted and parodied, where the Romans demand Spartacus come forward, and his fellow slaves say "I am Spartacus" to try to sacrifice themselves to protect their leader.

Regiment did not represent the mass crucifixion on the Appian Way, but did use stylized, theatrical violence in an operatic way, to show the tension between the Romans and the slaves. Their entrance to the field was epic, with "slave-master" hornplayers mimicing the brutal treatment slaves received at the hands of their Roman captors. The drum major Will Pitts was even wheeled out on his conductor's podium, as though it was a chariot or throne and he was the Roman Emperor.

There was love, there was betrayal, there were changing loyalties, and there were murders. Words don't describe it, so perhaps join DCI's Fan Network and view it for yourself.

Regiment did drum corps fans proud this season with this show, and not only won the title, but the high percussion trophy as well on awesome-sounding Dynasty equipment. Congratulations to the 2008 Phantom Regiment members and staff. Paul Rennick, I'm so proud of you - please keep producing the awesome drumlines you have been, and let me keep reliving my youth! I will never forget this show!

I am Spartacus!  

Bicycle Training Log

I bought a new Centurion bike last winter, and have been riding regularly. Decided to keep a log of my travels and hopefully chart any progress. Usually I ride down the "Fujisawa Yamato Jitenshado (cycling road)" to Enoshima, round to Kamakura and back home via Ofuna. It's a good trip for me, at about 35 km depending on which route I take.

When I look at the average times of the Tour de France riders, I am humbled. They are incredible athletes, averaging something like 38 to 40 kph on the stages. Lance Armstrong averaged something like 40-plus kph over a whole tour, which means he was probably doing 30 uphill and 60 down. Wow!

O'ReillyMaker - Roll Your Own O'Reilly Book Cover

Ever wanted to bust out a cool book cover just like the ones O'Reilly does? Well now you can, thanks to www.oreillymaker.com. When you hit publish, you get your very own cover URL to show to all your friends.

FallingWater

Frank Lloyd Wright-designed FallingWater in Bear Run, PA, USA never ceases to amaze. Here is a shot from a recent trip there, with my parents.