As it was a nice sunny and dry day, I took Leonardo out for a spin in order to test out a few things. Most important of these were my new clipless pedals. They worked very well, though it is still harder for me to click into the left one than the right one. I had to raise the seat about a quarter of an inch to get an optimum pedal stroke.
I also trialed attaching my iPhone to the handlebars using a JOBY Gorillapod Tripod that was given to me for Christmas and a special iPhone cover from JOBY that allows you to attach an iPhone onto a JOBY Gorillapod Tripod. I had intended to only try it out as a source of music while biking. It works in such a capacity though I wouldn't bother using it for subtle music or spoken word.
However, I came to realise that the lack of a bell on Leonardo was a bit dangerous and that I really should get a replacement. I had ridden across the ice-breaker bridge and then westwards along the Seaway to the locks at Sainte Catherine. I had been planning to cross onto the South Shore and proceed back along Boulevard Marie-Victorin. I thought about extending my trip to go to MEC over by the Marché Centrale before remembering there is one in Longueil. Here is where I began to experiment with another use of the iPhone for biking: suburban navigation! Using the map and GPS lite functions, I was able to plot a course to the MEC and get myself a new bell. However, I did have to apply my own navigational skills as the map functions don't have a "bike" setting. In the process of all this, I mused that Vélo-Québec could do worse than to create a bike navigation iPhone app! Come to think of it, I should explore what is available already!
Time to go grocery shopping.
2 comments:
Why would you need piped-in music on your handlebars?
Much better IMHO to belt out your own Stan Rogers tunes as you ride ...even if they are slightly out of tune or you forget some of the words!
M
Stan Rogers works for biking in Canada, but even then you sometimes want something else and I can't always remember the words. When outside of Canada, you might need other music! It's my toy and I want to play with it!
The jaunt was also useful as a test of the Gorilapod on the bike as the iPhone has other functions needed on bike trips. Furthermore, I can also use the Gorillapod for my camera, so in theory I could mount the camera on my handlebars for action shots!
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