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A Guide to Fishsticks

unclefishstick

Fancy Janitor
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Veteran
:tumbleweed:mornin campers...today's task,grocery shopping and trimming at least 2 ounces...easy enough...customer is already lined up so just need to finish the trimming part...
 

unclefishstick

Fancy Janitor
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Veteran
✂️ almost done trimming...8 grams to go...then time to get dinner going and early-ish to bed...back to work tomorrow...picking up an extra shift next week...the youngster is out,boss gave him the week off with pay to get him gone i guess...i suppose i'll hear the scuttlebutt tomorrow
 

flower~power

~Star~Crash~
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Within the cycling realm, "to Everest" involves riding up and down the same mountain until your ascents total the elevation of Mt. Everest—8,848 meters.


After a new cycling "Everesting" record was set a few years ago, a debate ensued on social media about the strong tailwind the cyclist had on climbs—5.5 meters per second (20 kilometers per hour or 12 miles per hour)—when he set the record. To what extent did the tailwind help him? Should limits be set on the allowed windspeed?

Martin Bier, a physics professor at East Carolina University in North Carolina, became intrigued by this debate and decided to explore the physics, and a little project ensued. In the American Journal of Physics, he shares his finding that ultimately, the wind turns out to be of negligible consequence.

First, a little background: From a physics perspective, cycling is easier to comprehend than running.

"In running, the motion of the legs is repeatedly accelerated and decelerated, and the runner's center of mass moves up and down," said Bier. "Cycling uses 'rolling,' which is much smoother and faster, and more efficient—all of the work is purely against gravity and friction."

But there's something odd about air resistance. The force of air friction you fight goes up with the square of your speed. If air resistance is the main thing limiting your speed—which is true for a cyclist on flat ground or going downhill—then to double your speed, you need four times the force. Tripling your speed requires nine times as much force. But, on the other hand, when cycling uphill, your speed is much slower, so air resistance isn't a big factor.


"When you're riding up a hill and fighting gravity, doubling your power input means doubling your speed. In bike races, attacks occur on climbs because it's where your extra effort gets you a bigger gap."

On a solo Everesting effort, calculations are straightforward. A rider isn't getting an aerodynamic draft from another rider ahead of them. The inputs are simply watts, gravity, and resistance.

"Naively, you may think that a strong tailwind can compensate for an uphill slope," said Bier. "You then ride up the hill as if it's a flat road, and on the way down the headwind and downward slope balance out and again give you the feel of a flat road. But it doesn't work—the square I mentioned earlier wreaks havoc."

His work shows the tailwind may help a little on the climb, but most of the work on the way up is the fight against gravity. The subsequent descent is fast and lasts a much shorter time, while the headwind there actually has a huge effect. And the speed on a descent is high—about 80 kph (49.7 mph).

"Air resistance goes with the square of the speed, which leads to the headwind on the descent and causes a big reduction in speed," Bier said. "The wind boost on the ascent is canceled out."

The obvious implication of Bier's work is that there's no point in waiting for the ideal wind if you want to improve your Everesting time.

"There are no easy tricks," he said. "If you want to be a better Everester, you need to lose weight and generate more watts (exercise). This is what matters—there's no way around it."
 

unclefishstick

Fancy Janitor
ICMag Donor
Veteran
Within the cycling realm, "to Everest" involves riding up and down the same mountain until your ascents total the elevation of Mt. Everest—8,848 meters.


After a new cycling "Everesting" record was set a few years ago, a debate ensued on social media about the strong tailwind the cyclist had on climbs—5.5 meters per second (20 kilometers per hour or 12 miles per hour)—when he set the record. To what extent did the tailwind help him? Should limits be set on the allowed windspeed?

Martin Bier, a physics professor at East Carolina University in North Carolina, became intrigued by this debate and decided to explore the physics, and a little project ensued. In the American Journal of Physics, he shares his finding that ultimately, the wind turns out to be of negligible consequence.

First, a little background: From a physics perspective, cycling is easier to comprehend than running.

"In running, the motion of the legs is repeatedly accelerated and decelerated, and the runner's center of mass moves up and down," said Bier. "Cycling uses 'rolling,' which is much smoother and faster, and more efficient—all of the work is purely against gravity and friction."

But there's something odd about air resistance. The force of air friction you fight goes up with the square of your speed. If air resistance is the main thing limiting your speed—which is true for a cyclist on flat ground or going downhill—then to double your speed, you need four times the force. Tripling your speed requires nine times as much force. But, on the other hand, when cycling uphill, your speed is much slower, so air resistance isn't a big factor.


"When you're riding up a hill and fighting gravity, doubling your power input means doubling your speed. In bike races, attacks occur on climbs because it's where your extra effort gets you a bigger gap."

On a solo Everesting effort, calculations are straightforward. A rider isn't getting an aerodynamic draft from another rider ahead of them. The inputs are simply watts, gravity, and resistance.

"Naively, you may think that a strong tailwind can compensate for an uphill slope," said Bier. "You then ride up the hill as if it's a flat road, and on the way down the headwind and downward slope balance out and again give you the feel of a flat road. But it doesn't work—the square I mentioned earlier wreaks havoc."

His work shows the tailwind may help a little on the climb, but most of the work on the way up is the fight against gravity. The subsequent descent is fast and lasts a much shorter time, while the headwind there actually has a huge effect. And the speed on a descent is high—about 80 kph (49.7 mph).

"Air resistance goes with the square of the speed, which leads to the headwind on the descent and causes a big reduction in speed," Bier said. "The wind boost on the ascent is canceled out."

The obvious implication of Bier's work is that there's no point in waiting for the ideal wind if you want to improve your Everesting time.

"There are no easy tricks," he said. "If you want to be a better Everester, you need to lose weight and generate more watts (exercise). This is what matters—there's no way around it."
it takes me a month to do an everest...1000 feet every single day without fail...best i ever did was 11,000 meters in a month
 

unclefishstick

Fancy Janitor
ICMag Donor
Veteran
:tumbleweed: well hell...damn water pump in the flower room failed...i soaked the pads with the hose,should be good for tonight,it's gonna drop into the upper 50's...but i need the cooler for at least two more weeks i think...maybe 3...

got through another couple hundred pots today at work,and of course it got windy and many of them got little dirt spots since they were still wet...extra shift next week,think i'll order an expensive bike part with the extra $$$$
 

unclefishstick

Fancy Janitor
ICMag Donor
Veteran
:tumbleweed:mornin campers...off to lowe's in a bit to get a new pump...i should probably check and make sure they still have them on the shelf before i go...yup,all good on pumps...hey,what do you know,the internet was just useful and not in a porn based way!
anyway,gotta decide if i'm going to be lazy and fart around all day or go do laundry...probably doing little...i do have that tough 3 day work week ahead...gotta rest up for that!
 

unclefishstick

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ICMag Donor
Veteran
It sounds like a lot I guess it depends on the grade
up is up after a while...last weeks adventure ride the initial climb wasn't that steep,it just went on for 15 miles...and got steep at the end...we didn't tackle it in one single push,there were regrouping breaks,and snacks,and taking pics...and wheed...still a grind...and the downhill parts were brutal at times,rocky and rough...wish i was there today though,so nice being in the forest
 
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