Really cool *new* feature

For your mapping pleasure, I’ve added a feature that will let you follow me on the trip with nearly real-time data from a GPS/phone tracking device. Check out my Maps page. There are several options that you allow you to see different segments of my trip. Thanks to the magic of php, I can highlight specific routes with simple links. Plus I set it up to create a map with every nth point so I should be able to draw a map with nearly the whole trip without crashing your browser.

Yes that’s a picture of the bike with an arrow pointing to my last public location.

For security reasons I’ve inserted a delay in time and location, but as long as I’m moving the maps should update regularly.

The GPS/phone is powered by Boost Mobile and Mologogo.

If you know me, you know I love public radio

Tonight’s Fresh Air had one of the best interviews with one of my favorite Public Radio hosts, Ira Glass (nephew of Phillip Glass). Terry Gross is one of the best interviewers I’ve ever heard. Her interviews are very detailed and well researched. Her show is always interesting with thought leaders from every imaginable field. Tonight’s show highlights her abilities when she interviews a man who’s often on the other side of the questions.

This story on NPR.org

“This American Life” Showtime premiere March 22nd.

Village Inn, Saint Augustine

Village Inn, Saint Augustine

The weather doesn’t get much better than it was today. The sky was clear, the temperarture was mild, the wind was bearable. I had a fantastic ride with what has become my Jacksonville motorcycle family.

HM

I just heard a great story on NPR Weekend Edition on one of the most famous neuroscience patients who had a surgery that stopped his ability to add new memories 60 years ago. I first heard about him in a Berkeley Webcast of an intro to psychology course.

NPR Story:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7584970

Berkeley Podcasts:
http://webcast.berkeley.edu/courses.php

The Southern Most Point

The Southern Most Point

This is a picture of the Southern Most Point in the continental US. It’s on the tip of Key West. It’s only 90 miles to Cuba from here. Rett and I stopped here on the way up US 1, which also begins in Key West. The weather all weekend was beautiful, with the only rain falling on my day of rest.

We left in perfect time on Monday to catch rush hour traffic in Miami. My GPS took me right through downtown, which would have been very fast had about 10,000 other people taken another route. Passing the skyline reminded me of a regular big city except here there are palm trees. After spending an hour in bumper to bumper traffic nearly melting because I had enough layers on for highway speeds, I felt a lot more connected to the bike. I figured if we can fight 10 lanes of angry drivers on a major highway, the open road should be a pleasure.

Keeeeeeeeeey Weeeeeeeeest

I completed my first 300+ mile day. Leaving Jacksonville at 7, I made it to Daytona for the 600 mile checkup at 9:15. Fortunately my dad was hanging out on the boat so I had a place to catch up on some lost sleep.

I hit the road for Boca at about 2. The GPS with the no highway option said I'd arrive at 6:30. I've wanted to take US1/A1A all the way south for a long time, and managed for a while. At Kennedy Space Center, I tried to see the Space Shuttle that's being moved from the assembly building to the launch pad, but was turned away by a gaurd. Who wants to take a bus from the visitors center? Plus I had a long way to go.

I topped off my gas with barely enough to make it to Boca. To speed things up (I wanted to beat the impending rain storm and sunset) I hopped on the I-95 for the next 150 miles. The only Interstate more boring than perfectly straight, no elevation change 95 that I've been on is I-70 through Kansas. I drove 100 miles nonstop, a first, took a break at a pull off, and hopped back on 95. I could see the storm the weatherman predicted building on the horizon. Could I make it to Rett's without getting wet? I haven't tested the GoreTex lining in my motorcycle outfit but I'm in no hurry to get soaked.

So with one bar on the gas gauge above "the light" and a front moving in ahead I kept going. I figured out that I had just programmed downtown Boca Raton in instead of Rett's house when I drove by his exit. I took the next one and headed towards the ocean. The "light" hadn't come on, so I topped off my gas and followed the road that I hadn't been on since I came with my Graph Theory class from CC. I made it dry and without running out of gas, a success.

Valentine’s Dinner

Main Course

Salad:
Raspberry vinaigrette over baby spinach with candied walnuts

Main Course:
Sauteed mushroom, spinach and cheese stuffed chicken breast with pureed parsnips and sauteed aspragus (Pomerol)

Dessert:
Molten chocolate cake with raspberry coulis and homemade whipped cream (Port)

Bike Details

Neil asked for a list of the details so here’s a first attempt.

BMW R1200 GS
Red with black side panels and black seat
Options
heated grips
ABS
hand covers

Additions
two power ports next to the handle bars (one for GPS and one to charge everything else)
Garmin Zumo 650 waterproof (submersible for 30 minutes) GPS

Luggage
Jesse aluminum Odyssey saddle bags
Wolfman Expedition Large tank bag

Arrgh! (Trip to Fernindina)

Arrgh!

Yesterday my friend Michelle and I went for a ride up to Fernindina. The goal was to make a big loop, going out Heckshire Drive and returning via A1A through Yulee. Unfortunately, Heckshire Drive was closed, so the loop became simple there and back ride. The ride up US17 is certainly interesting. Starting in downtown Jacksonville, it quickly leaves the dense high-rise (and high rent) neighborhood and crosses into Springfield. There was evidence of Springfield making progress near downtown, but as 17 travels north, there is evidence of urban decay along the way; closed stores, run down buildings, cars without wheels. Crossing the Trout River the sides of the road went from urban to rural with the occasional industrial complex. Hooking a right onto A1A we quickly rode out to Amelia Island and into downtown Fernindina. Laid out on a grid, the downtown has the feeling of an old prosperous port town with mostly single story brick and stone buildings. We found an Irish restaurant where I enjoyed fish and chips with enough batter for two servings. Our server, Kyle, was a guy from my class at Bolles. It certainly is a small world. The picture here is me with a pirate that I took to say thanks to Benji (of thescruffypirate.org), who’s hosting my website.

Progress on the webpage

I’m making progress on the web page. I’ve now set up and activated a domain, http://5pears.org, which contains this blog at http://blog.5pears.org. I’m also trying to learn how to put points on an embedded Google map. So far I have one and a function that I wrote to add more as places come up. Now I’d like to figure out a way to have latitude and longitude plus text in a Google Spreadsheet and have that automatically pulled into my map. If you know about this I’d love to learn more.