by Steven K. Roberts


Copyright (C) 2000 by Steven K. Roberts. All Rights Reserved.

IN THIS ISSUE:

"You know you're going slow when you've got dead bugs on the
BACK of your bike."

It's getting close. Suddenly all priorities have changed -- the
things that distracted me last month are now not even an option.
Flip on the TV for a while to relax? Yeah, right. The only excursions
into the world are for the daily 10-mile training ride and subsequent
recharging of the CSU (Calorie Storage Unit), and sleep is an annoying
necessity that interrupts me every night at 3 AM or so.

A story in the current issue of Information Week generated
70-80 letters, and I have found my emailboxes overflowing (sitting
at 64 unanswered items as I write this -- many quite interesting, all
deserving a response). Instead of spending the next couple of hours
trying to catch up, I'm going to use them as the basis of a FAQ
document: these questions are typical of those asked by a techno-
literate audience (as opposed to the kind encountered on the
street...). If you wrote to me and haven't received a direct reply,
please understand and enjoy the following. You've also been added
to the distribution list for future issues -- let me know if you don't
want any electronic publications and I'll remove you from the alias.

First, a quick update... there's been a lot of progress in the last
couple of weeks. David Harris is moving ahead on the audio and
serial bus cabling, doing a beautiful job with bundles of tiny shielded
wire and tight LEMO connector wiring. The audio crosspoint matrix
CAD work has been completed in San Diego by Bob Lockhart, and US
Circuits turned out boards which will be stuffed and interfaced to the
FORTH systems next week. Ron Covell and Jesse Newcomb are
working on mounting the new molded fiberglass fairing, which
Maggie Victor is painting. I've just finished bringing up the Ampro
core-module PC and Private Eye controller -- now cabled into the
helmet and working. Jay Hamlin is building a keyboard controller
that will inhale force-sensing resistor data from the handlebars and
produce closures that make sense to the Infogrip BAT chord
keyboard controller. John Noerenberg is writing software to link
Eudora in the Mac to the satellite terminal via the Comm Toolbox,
along with some unix hacks to tie the hub into internet via a
dedicated Sun 4/260. Steve Delaire is building a custom motorcycle-
type hydraulic disk brake for the monster. Dan Kottke is building an
LED matrix controller for diagnostics, Martin Rowland is running
around Silicon Valley on a daily basis to acquire parts, Maggie is
helping prepare the lab for shutdown... and I've been playing
manager, PR flack, photo model, secretary, researcher, purchasing
agent, technician, and project strategist around the clock. I've also
taken two test rides since the last update, just for a reality check. (I
noticed that it's like, um, ~really~ heavy.)

The first ride was to give a talk at Apple; the second was to the
Foothill Flea Market, and included a live test of the Qualcomm
OmniTRACS satellite system. It works rather dramaticaly. Not only
did I send and receive numerous pieces of mail enroute, but when I
returned sweaty and panting to the lab I found my path drawn on
the office PC screen as a blue dotted line, connecting the points on
the map where transmission or acknowledgment of reception had
occurred. Pretty magical stuff!

Work in progress includes the helmet cooling system, more
brakes, trying to finalize a tent system that can accommodate all this,
the distributed power switching system that allows FORTH control of
all loads via FETs, the cellular modems, general waterproofing, and,
well, everything else that has to happen before I can ride it next
month. Gonna hafta drill out my toothbrush to cut weight... it seems
that BEHEMOTH is now over 400 pounds loaded. <shudder>

(One amusing fact: the 105-speed drivetrain covers an
extremely wide range from 7.5 to 122 gear inches. This translates
into some interesting numbers... in the granny gear, one full pedal
revolution moves me forward 22 inches. In the tall gear, the same
pedal stroke moves me 33 feet.)

OK, on to the questions........

20 Frequently Asked Questions

Q1: "By open-ended nomadic community, do you mean you sort of
invite people to ride along and get some firsthand experience of the
joy of adventure?"

A1: Yup. For a while I was seeking people who want to trash their
lifestyles and hit the road with me, but that smacks of commitment.
The new plan is much more realistic.... wanna go for a bike ride and
sample high-tech nomadness? Fine, let's do it. Hams are particularly
welcome since on-the-road communication without radio is a real
pain. I move at a liesurely pace by most cyclists' standards, so don't
worry too much about your physical condition. You're probably not
hauling 400 pounds, and should have no trouble keeping up. If
you're fast, then you can zip ahead, take side trips, or otherwise pass
the time while waiting for the recumbersome bikeasaurus to trundle
into camp. Any takers?


Q2: "In your travels, you must have to [meet strangers, start
relationships, and carry on conversations] constantly. Did it come
easily, or did you have to work at it?"

A2: It happened pretty easily, largely because of this high-tech
door-opener underneath me. Wandering around on foot, I have a
very hard time striking up a conversation without obvious shared
context. The bike provides that context, which would lead to total
burnout on the same topic were it not for the fact that it eventually
switches from foreground to background. People open up to
travelers and writers anyway, and if there's ever a lull in
conversation, there are always more bike questions. Besides...
anything that reinforces peoples' dreams makes them very friendly.


Q3: "How did you get Sun to sponsor your R&D? Were you a Sun
employee before you started this project? If not (or even, if so!) how
were they enlightened enough to give you the resources you've
enjoyed?"

A3: Sun is an unusual company in that they are not totally focused
on a specific product line (despite the wild successes of same). A
number of the company's high-level people spend most of their time
thinking about the long-term future and exploring areas outside
today's specific product development issues. The net effect is a
symbiosis between generalists and specialists -- and a very lively
corporate culture. I had almost no exposure to Sun (or workstations,
or even unix) prior to this relationship, but we both recognized the
potential for mutual benefit. Sun provides resources and a
community of intelligent people (and SPACE!), and I reciprocate by
sharing my ideas and contacts freely... a sort of high-tech court
jester.

The sponsorship issue in general becomes very complex,
especially with about 150 companies involved. This project can be
thought of as a three-way partnership between the bike, the
sponsors, and the media -- with me as facilitator. Everybody wins:
more new toys leads to more interesting bike functionality which
leads to more media coverage which leads to still more new toys.
I've become addicted to it. <grin>


Q4: "Where can I find out more about recumbents, human-powered
vehicle construction, and bicycle-mobile ham radio?"

A4: The International Human-Powered Vehicle Association
(IHPVA) is $20/year with excellent journals from: IHPVA, P.O. Box
51255, Indianapolis, IN 46251-0255.
The Recumbent Bicycle Club of America (RBCA) is recumbent-
specific and has good reviews of various bikes. $20 to RBCA, 427-
Amherst St., Suite 305, Nashua, NH 03063.
Bicycle Mobile Hams of America (BMHA) is all about operating
amateur radio from your bike... send $10 to BMHA, P.O. Box 4009,
Boulder, CO 80306.


Q5: "Do you have a destination, or are you just on an endless
journey?"

A5: Yes, but if you think too much about where you're going, you
lose respect for where you are...

More specifically, the general plan right now is to leave Silicon
Valley via rental truck on July 15 and drive to Omaha, there to start
RAGBRAI -- the big (10,000 people) bicycle ride across Iowa. From
there I'll head to Chicago to visit a few sponsors, then to Milwaukee
for the IHPVA championships (no, I'm not racing). From there,
presumably, I'll pass through Oshkosh and head up to Door County,
then cross to Michigan on the ferry, and head down through Lansing,
Ann Arbor, and Adrian (for custom surge trailer brakes from Cyclo-
Pedia!). After that, I'll zoom down through Ohio and stop by
Columbus and Cincinnati, then probably wander through Lexington
enroute to my parents' house in Louisville, Kentucky.

All that comprises a robust enough shakedown cruise to give
me a very good idea what must be finished, fixed, or thrown away.
The vague plan is to truck back here (possibly in time for Interop?),
spend about 3 months finishing the job, then leave again from here,
for real -- open ended.

(I should mention that I've already done 16,000 miles on
previous versions, and every time I ever made predictions like this
they turned out to be wrong.)


Q6: "If you run the computers while you are riding, how do they
handle the vibration?"

A6: Hopefully, well! On previous trips, everything worked fine
without any shock mounting (though the rigidly mounted console
kept trashing the bike's headset bearings). This time, the console
and RUMP areas are on rubber Lord mounts, and the hard disks (all
4) are in additional shock-isolation environments designed to meet
Conner specs. I'll know more by the time I hit Louisville, but feel
confident that they'll be fine.


Q7: "How do you deal with cooling the CPUs?"

A7: I start with the most power-efficient CMOS machines I can find
(in most cases), like the Ampro core modules for DOS, the Macintosh
Portable, 68HC11s for control, and Microchip PICs for random logic
replacement (the SPARCstation IPC is for occasional high-
performance use in compressed video and communications, not
constant duty enroute). I then use switching regulators, power-cycle
heavy loads like disk drives, and shut down things that aren't in use.
As an example, the main DOS machine that runs the Private Eye
heads-up display draws 1 amp at 5V max, and about half that when
idling with its display and hard disk on standby.


Q8: "I was a bit curious about your satellite link to the internet.
Does it allow you the type of real-time access to the network so that
you can interactively use network services, or is the link only for
sending and receiving electronic files"

A8: The internet link is now being implemented by Qualcomm,
which has provided an essentially off-the-shelf OmniTRACS satellite
terminal like those in use on some 15,000 trucks around North
America. This is a low-speed connection, for email only -- no ftp or
telnet! A dedicated Sun 4/260 is being installed to rewrite headers
and otherwise implement the gateway between Qualcomm's satellite
hub and the net, and Eudora on the bike's Mac communicates with
the terminal via a driver in the Comm Toolbox. As far as email goes,
it should be pretty much transparent.
I will have relatively high-speed net access whenever near
cellular sites (or connected to a modular jack, of course). I will be
evaluating the Telebit CellBlazer and the Microcom 1042 under a
variety of conditions, probably favoring the former for high-speed
dialup IP via the Netblazer to my server at Sun, and the latter for
low-power access to GEnie, MCI, America Online, and the occasional
BBS. Stay tuned....


Q9: "What do you do with your on-board computers? Do you run
your own business? Do you use them while riding or when you are
at a pit stop?"

A9: The computers handle everything from low-level control
(security, power, network management, data collection, gear
display...) to high-level applications (navigation and mapping,
biketop publishing, email, CAD, ham satellite tracking, writing,
database management....). Yes, I run a business -- Nomadic Research
Labs. It's a bit hard to define, but includes publishing a quarterly
journal (Nomadness), selling books and technical reports about the
adventure, speaking gigs, consulting spinoffs, and a manufacturing
joint venture now in development.
As to the mobile-vs-stopped question: one of the design specs
is that there should be NO practical difference between movement
and stasis. The handlebar chord keyboard, Private Eye, MSC thumb
mouse, ultrasonic head mouse, Audapter speech board, and low-
power rugged computers make it pretty comfortable to work and
communicate while riding.


Q10: "Are back issues of Notes from the Bikelab available via ftp?"

A10: Not yet, but soon. I'll post the details in a future issue when
they are online.


Q11: "How do you protect the bike from rain, snow, etc.? How good
is the satellite link under adverse weather conditions?"

A11: Given the choice, I don't ride in heavy weather... but I don't
always have a choice. All enclosures are waterproof, and a fabric
cover can be velcro'd over the control console.
The satellite link is not noticeably affected by rainy weather --
additional road experience will yield data about wider extremes.
There may be some measurable attenuation visible on the
maintenance screen, but I doubt it will be enough to block
communication entirely. This is 14 GHz spread spectrum.


Q12: "Apart from using captured solar energy to run the computers
on-board, do you also use it to give some power boost to your bike,
especially in situations where you have to climb uphill with all that
load?"

A12: Ah, that would be pleasant. But the numbers don't work: I
have 82 watts of panels, and the 45 amp-hour battery is pretty
much reserved for computers, communciations, and lighting. A
variable-reluctance motor-generator from Semifusion is being
developed for the regenerative braking system, and calculations
suggest that if we dump the raw solar bus into it (motor mode) the
boost is roughly equivalent to a 2 kilogram push. This will be nice on
level ground, but down in the noise on a steep hill (without adding
heavy gearing... this is a hub motor/generator). Of course, I could
always load up on batteries for a serious assist, but that's more
weight... and I've already blown the load budget on other equipment.


Q13: "You probably don't ride much on main highways or on the
freeway... where do you go? Dirt roads would be difficult due to
your sensitive equipment... how could you get from place to place?
Also, how fast can you go? And I'm astounded that you're not
robbed or vandalized on a regular basis. Do you carry a lot of clothes
or other personal belongings besides the computer stuff? Also, not to
be nosy, but are you independently wealthy?"

A13: <grin> Last question first.... not at all! I'm a hand-to-mouth
freelancer, which has occasionally been the literal truth: take a
subscription order on the road and pedal happily to the next grocery
store with 15 whole dollars to spend!

As to road choices -- most parts of the country have a rich
variety of back roads, county roads, farm roads... the only problem is
finding documentation. They don't show up on the atlases or gas
station maps (which only show cyclists where NOT to go). The
solution involves research: acquiring county maps and DeLorme
atlases, asking cyclists, trying to make sense of often-distorted local
advice, and very soon, using CDROM map databases. You are right
about dirt roads; they're a drag. Sand and gravel are even worse.

How fast? Depends on what I had for breakfast. I usually
think in terms of 10 mph average throughout the day, which varies
widely with terrain and wind. I've had it up to 50.5 mph with a
gravity assist and am often slogging along at 2 mph up hills.

I've never been seriously robbed or vandalized (except for a
stolen Walkman in Palm Springs). There have been some close calls,
but the techno-bike talking to intruders and bristling with antennas
rather gives the impression of alien technology and power. Those I
trust least are also the ones most intimidated by the machine (for the
most part, anyway... the exceptions can be terrifying).

Finally, yes... I carry a full suite of camping gear, cooking
equipment, tools, clothing, and so on. BEHEMOTH is home.


Q14: "What is your motivation, and how long do you intend to do
this for?"

A14: Fun is the bottom line! This whole gambit is a blend of all my
passions: bicycling, writing, ham radio, computers, networking,
publishing, travel, adventure, romance, and play. I'm absolutely
addicted to the energy of on-the-road beginnings, exciting new
technology, overcoming traditional limits, making equipment do
amusing things, communicating around the globe with solar power,
and meeting amazing people in Dataspace and face to face.
How long? I have no idea.


Q15: "Are you planning to visit <insert place name here>?"

A15: Unknown beyond "A5" above. I will attempt to keep this
distribution alias updated with my location and plans as they evolve.
If you'd like to be in my hospitality database, arrange a visit, throw a
party, ride with me, or otherwise get together -- please email me
when I seem to be gradually nearing your part of the world (often
such invitations have a significant effect on my route, so don't wait
until I'm in your back yard to get in touch).


Q16: "In the [Information Week] picture it looks as though you have
some sort of CRT device in front of your right eye?"

A16: Yup -- that's the Private Eye display from Reflection
Technology. It presents a 720 x 280 red image that appears to float
in space in front of me, just below my normal field of vision (like
bifocals). Controlled by one of the boards in the Ampro "Core
Module" stack, it is the primary console device for the DOS
environment and works amazingly well.


Q17: "I was interested in the 'ultrasonic beam generated from the
helmet that serves the same function as a mouse'"

A17: Actually, the beam is generated from the console and sensed
by three helmet-mounted transducers. This is essentially a hacked
Personics head mouse -- producing quadrature events as a function
of phase and doppler data resulting from head movement. Michael
Butler and I interfaced this (trivially) with the innards of a Mac ADB
mouse, and the job was done. In a future issue, I'll report on how it
works in the the windy, noisy, wet, bouncing conditions of the road.


Q18: "Can you actually read your mail [while pedaling] or does a
voice system read it to you? Can you actually type while riding, or
do you speak it (or tap it in code)?"

A18: Depending on conditions, mood, and other applications, I can do
either -- the basic mail spool environment is Eudora on the Mac, and
text can be displayed on the console screen, routed to the Private
Eye, or piped to the Audapter synthesizer.

And yes, I type while riding -- that's a major requirement.
Force-sensing resistors from Interlink are built into the grips,
scanned by a Microchip PIC and Maxim A-D/mux, and passed to the
controller of an Infogrip BAT chord keyboard. This appears via a
DOS TSR as a console device. A similar setup allows direct entry to
the Mac or the trio of New Micros FORTH boards that do the dirty
work. I do have voice recognition (Covox) but it is far too slow for
free text entry, and Morse code would be very cumbersome for
computing (though I can do it while running HF mobile CW ham
radio).


Q19: "What about your family? Do you have a bicycle for your
sweetheart?"

A19: <grin> Well, I did have a brief flirtation with marriage about
10 years ago, but that would be essentially incompatible with this
lifestyle. I traveled 10,000 miles solo, then took on a companion
named Maggie for another 6,000. She has since done some touring
on her own and we have decided to eschew interdependency... but
we're having a go at sharing RAGBRAI and points beyond anyway.
And yes, she has her own bike -- a Ryan Vanguard recumbent with
homemade trailer carrying a cat, photolab, 2-meter ham radio,
laptop, and solar panel. Ah, the social lives of high-tech nomads....


Q20: "I don't believe a word of this. Where can I see a picture of the
crazy thing?"

A20: Check the July issue of Discover Magazine, which just hit the
stands this week. Also, the June 19 issue of Information Week, and
supposedly the August Bicycling Magazine.


22K of text again! Sheesh... that's more than enough, and besides, it's
20 questions. (If you're wondering about the format change from
previous issues, it's because I'm now writing on the Mac instead of
the SPARC -- partly to get ready for the road, and partly to make the
text more generic for use on GEnie and other non-internet services.)


Cheers from the bikelab!