I’ve found 3 services online that I’m pretty intrigued by:

• i.materialise.com/ is easy to use, offers a wide variety of materials, and accepts direct upload from google sketchup, and has the cheapest pricing i’ve seen (although the shipping is pretty steep).  They also offer a pretty large printing format, and discounts for ordering multiple of the same part.
• 

  The Cube 3D printer or the makerbot could be a really fun engineering teaching tool.

  cubify.com/ offers a “3D cloud print” option… although using sketchup with cubify requires a 3rd party plugin, which I couldn’t successfully get to work, and so i never got a quote on my model.  The intriguing thing here is the affordable Cube 3d printer, which, for $1200 could be a really fun toy for any DIYer…  If you’re interested in home 3D printing, also check out the makerbot.

• shapeways.com/ is the third website that I’ve found to offer similar services.  Like i.materialise, you can upload directly from sketchup (although you’ll have to go to file->export->export 3D model and select a ‘.dae’ file).  The disadvantage here is the price quoted for the test model was a lot more than it was on i. materialize.

For research, the applications of this seem extremely useful.  If i need a basic part for something in the lab, but don’t want to spend the day on a lathe and mill creating the part out of aluminium, and don’t need the part immediately, I can order the part online and have it arrive in a week or two.

Personally, this is fascinating as well.  Custom Brackets and mounts for bicycle and automotive parts can be pretty pricey, or ghetto, depending on the route you take.  These services seem to offer an affordable middle ground, a nice looking custom part, at a reasonable price!  I may try using something like this for my DIY bike light project.

So what was my test model?  I’ve been fascinated by a game my friend Adam introduced me to called Joker.  I made a 4 player game using some scrap wood and a drill, but we recently had a blast playing a 6 player variant.  I’d love to have a better looking joker set that can be used for 4 to 6 players, so I made this model of a side of the board that could be connected in a square or hexagon formation for 4-6 player gameplay.  If i order multiple boards (some to use as gifts), the price on i.materialise.com/ comes out to roughly $35 a board (1 board = 6 of the printed pieces):

measures about a foot in length, 4 or 6 of these can be connected and marbles make the play pieces. I should note that Cubify has a 5.5" printing limit, so this model would be too large for that site.

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My first is my Big Agnes Insulated Air Core Sleeping Pad.  I can’t put enough emphasis on the importance of a good nights sleep when enjoying outdoors trips: Being tired can make or break your experience!

After stealing Courtney’s Big Agnes Pad for a backpacking adventure in Hawaii, I decided It was time to put one on my wish list.  It’s one of those things that once you use one, you can’t imagine how you lived without it for so long.  It’s hands down the most comfortable camping pad I’ve ever slept on and the kicker is: it packs just as small as my super thin 3/4 length thermarest used to!  Oh, and it’s made right here in CO!

If you’re in the market for a new pad, check out a Big Agnes pad.

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Note: The file name here was "HPIM3746.jpg," so it was image recognition that told google this picture was in sydney

I’ve installed it on my computer, and Google Drive seems to function just like Dropbox.  My preliminary impression is that the upload to google drive is super fast,  and works every bit as good as dropbox for syncing files.  One of the coolest features of google drive is what google does best: Search. After uploading a bunch of photos to drive, I did a search for something like “Sydney” and it returned a picture I took of the Bay bridge with the title.  A search for “Brisbane” also successfully returned photos of the Brisbane skyline I took, and google even can recognize the “flatirons!”

Sharing files doesn’t seem as easy on google drive as it was on dropbox. When I right click a file there’s no option to share it, and the only way I can figure to share something is through the web interface, which isn’t nearly as smooth as it was on dropbox.

I wish this feature was on google drive

You have the option to sync google docs, which don’t take up any space on your google drive.  This is a cool way to keep tabs of your google docs (and access them offline when you’re traveling), however, if your google docs looks anything like mine, its super unorganized and full of a lot of stuff you don’t want. Having it all in your google drive is annoying becasue there’s no way to preview them on mac to easily sort through them. I have to open each one individually, see what it is, and decide if i want to keep or delete it.

I'd love to be able to preview my google docs like i could any other file type. It's important to note that google drive does support all file types, so you can preview stuff with extensions your computer understands

The cool thing is Google drive is 4x cheeper than dropbox, for an almost identical service. That’s something I can get stoked about, since i’m constantly pushing the limit of my dropbox allowance.  Update: Google seemed to change their pricing scheme after my original post.  It’s still way cheeper, but here’s a comparison of the old scheme and new scheme:

As you can see, Google Drive is still way cheaper: 100 GB will run you $199 a year on dropbox vs $60/year on google ($4.99 /mo) .  However, I was originally super stoked about the $20/year 80 GB option, which they seem to have gotten rid of.  Seeing as my dropbox subscription is up for renewal at the end of May anyways, I still think it makes sense to save myself $40 a year and get more space than I had on dropbox.  (I currently pay $99 a year for 77 GB on dropbox../ 50 paid + 27 in referrals)

One thing I’ll be really excited to see is integration between google drive and picasa, as well as google drive and google music.  Full seamless integration between these services could really knock google drive out of the ballpark, although we all know that Google is notoriously slow to integrate their products.

Update (5/14/12): Recently google drive had an “error” on my laptop and needed to re-install.  just to be safe, i copied everything out of the google drive, and then when i re-installed, it wouldn’t let me use my existing folder, so i had to create another folder.  Then, because i had made changes to some of my documents in drive, I pasted the copied files back into drive.  The result was double copies of everything in my drive, with me not knowing which were the modified and which were the old versions.  This is a frustrating glitch, and I hope it dosen’t happen again :/.  Obviously, you want a cloud storage solution you can trust, and google drive might not be it quite yet…

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A little research told me I was in trouble: A 700 lumen bike light can cost in excess of $300, which is more than I wanted to spend!

So, I’m going to test the limits of my electrical engineering skills and build a light myself. I’m borrowing a lot of ideas from this guy, although i think my system is going to be way more bad-ass.  I decided I wanted a dual 360 Lumen (for 720 total Lumens) system.  I ordered:

• 2 x 4 watt, 12 v, 360 lumen LED lights ($7 each) Update: I recently found 3W, 3.6V, 490 lumen LED lights.  They sound too good to be true: smaller battery pack (3 batteries) more output, and a longer run-time. I am, however considering upgrading my build using a single 5w 12v 450 lumen light.
• 2 x MR16 sockets (to wire up the bulbs) ($1.50 each)
• 10 AA 2950 mAh NiMH batteries ($20)
• a 2 AA holder and an 8 AA holder ($1.5, $2.8)
• a 12 v smart charger ($21, but optional.  Chances are you already have a NiMH battery charger around the house, but this makes charging much easier).

So right now my total cost is ~$60 for a 720 lumen system with 4.4 hours of run time (20% of the cost of the MiNewt.700 Dual system, with more than twice the battery life).  I imagine I’ll have to spend a couple more bucks on odds and ends, but that’s the guts of the system.   My Plan:

1. House the bulbs in some sort of copper tubing with some way to clamp them onto the handle bars.
2. Wire the bulbs together in series, and connect them to some sort of plug that I can easily connect and disconnect from the battery pack
3. Build the battery pack inside an old water bottle with the other end of the plug coming out the top
4. Go ride at night!

All the parts are here! here's the light, it's the only light on in the room. Seems pretty bright! and that's only using one bulb. You can see also the charger sitting on my desk.

Update (5/14/12): After 3 weeks, I had almost lost hope, but, the parts I ordered from deal extreme are finally trickling in (the address has  hong-kong on the label).  I’ve currently got everything except the mr-16 mounts (which i might just buy from home depot).  If you’re looking for something a little more expedited, you might choose a different place to order your parts from.  Still, i can’t complain about their  prices!  I’ve hooked up the batteries to the charger, and hope to rig up the light to the batteries later tonight just to see how bright they are.

I’ll keep you posted on how this project pans out as the parts start to roll in!  Here’s some key things I learned along the way:

• Lumen - How much light output a light has (This is measured in a Flux, which means it doesn’t take into account how focused the light is, just how much light it puts out there).
• Watt - This measures how much power the light will use.  If you have 2 x 4 [w] lights connected together, they will drain 8 [w].
• Volt - a measure of electric potential.  Most NiMh rechargeable AA batteries are 1.2 Volts.  You’ll need to choose how many batteries you use based on the volt rating of your light.  In my case, I used a 12 [V] light, meaning I need 10 batteries (10 x 1.2) connected in parallel.  Also, I might decide to use 2 lights.  I must connect these to the battery in series so they each get 12 [V].
• Amps - This is a measure of current. Think of it like saying a river is flowing at 300 cf/s.  Batteries are rated in amp-hours (or milliamp-hours [mAh]) and the higher the rating, the longer they will last.  Think of it as saying how big a reservoir is.
• W=V x A - This is an important formula you can use to determine how long your light will last.  Example: I have a 12 [V], 2.6 [Ah] (or 2600 [mAh]) battery connected to a 4 [w] light. How long will it last?  Answer: 12 [v] x 2.6 [Ah] / 4 [w] = 7.8 hours.  If I use 2 lights (8 [w]) my light will last half as long.
• Charging - You can use standard AA batteries and plug them into a battery charger, but I decided it’d be more convient to buy a charger i could hook directly up to my battery pack without taking out 10 batteries, plugging them into a charger, and re-installing them every time I go for a ride.  Chargers have V and A ratings.  If you have a 12 [v] system you need a 12 [v] charger.  The amp rating defines how quickly your pack will charge (E.g., if I have a 1.8 [A] charger and my batteries are rated at 2600 [mAh], then it will take 2.6 [Ah]/1.8 [A] = 1.44 [hours] to charge.

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So much selection at McGuckin Hardware!

I’m not a fashion icon. In fact, my dress probably screams “cheep and functional.” Luckily, living in one of the worst dressed cities in America, this can fly no problem.

One of my signature manouvers is wearing webbing for a belt.  I mean really, who wants to pay more than 10$ for a belt?! Webbing is cheap, comes in a variety of bright colors, and can be super useful on any outdoor adventure.

That's my blue one!

I’d recommend grabbing 1″ webbing 6″ longer than your pants waist size (You can alway cut some off later).  Synge the ends over an open flame, and then slide on a brass military belt buckle to finish the product.  Easy Breezy, and comes in super handy on backpacking or other outdoor adventures!

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Click the photo to view the engagement album!

Engagement Dance! (Click the Image to see us in action!)

This weekend the most beautiful, fun, amazing woman I’ve ever met agreed to marry me! The weather ended up perfect while we ate lunch together and got engaged at the same spot where we first hung out together!

Special thanks to William for taking some amazing photos in super stealth mode, all our friends and family who have supported us along the way (and will continue to stand by us for a lifetime of amazing years to come), and to J. Albrecht for an amazing custom ring!

More Photos are in a web-album,  click the photo above to go and view the photos! (Also be sure to see our “We got Engaged!” dance by clicking the image to the right)

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1. Less Is more:
   • Choose less speeds.  It seems like SRAM, Shimano, and Campy are all borrowing marketing tips from the shaving industry: Add one and charge 40% more.  So before you upgrade, ask yourself if you really need a 10 or 11 speed system.  I’ve been riding 9 speed for a long time, and it’s just fine.  Plus, replacement parts are loads cheaper!
   • Double Vs Triple? Again, less is more.  I have a compact double and enjoy close to the same gear ratio with less weight, more stiffness, and a smaller q-factor.  Lets face it, if I live in CO and can get by with a double, you can do it too.  (A side note: I run a 1×9 on one of my bikes and love it!)
   • Don’t be oversold! We all want the best of the best: but if you’re putting on a new drivetrain, do some research.  There’s been a lot of improvements in recent years to bike tech and a lot of it has trickled down to “lower end” components.  Plus, Newer high end components are usually guinea pigs for new technology, which may or may not last long.  For a road or cyclocross bike: chances are, you’ll be fine with SRAM apex/rival components or Shimano Tiagra/105.
2. 

   It's faults like this broken Shimano crank arm, vs a great track record with all my SRAM stuff, that leads me to recommend SRAM parts.

   Sram vs Shimano? My pick is SRAM based on durability, technology, and value.  Plus, I’ve had some bad experiences with Shimano parts failing on me (from shifters, to crank arms) and have really enjoyed how easy SRAM stuff is to work with.  Also, next time you’re watching a race, check out what the Pro’s are riding…

   • Mix and Match? Nobody likes to look at a frankenbike, but if you’re trying to save money and have parts laying around Shimano/SRAM Cassettes, chains, and cranksets are interchangeable.
   • Feel free to mix and match between levels of the same brand: Spend more money on parts that will effect your ride (Shifters, Rear derailleur) and less on ones that you probably wont notice the downgrade (Front derailleur, Crankset, chain)
   • I always run KMC chains on all my bikes.  They’re cheaper, fully compatible, and perform great.
   • (Note: Do not mix and max a SRAM shifter with a Shimano derailleur or visa versa.  Won’t work.)
3. Have Fun!

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Wunderlist is a task management tool that syncs across multiple platforms and even has a smartphone version!  I use both the Mac OSx app as well as the iphone app.  I enter tasks in a variety of lists, entering in rough dates i hope to have each task done by.  Every day I pull up the app and open it to the “today” tab to see what’s on my agenda.  I can feel pretty good about myself when everything on the “Today” list is checked off, and I can move to tasks I didn’t set dates on.

Wunderlist is also cool because you can share lists with other people, and it syncs straight to my phone.  Note I have a grocery list on the right.  I can add stuff to it as i think of it, and then when i’m at the store i can load it up and not forget a thing.  Pretty sweet!

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The road to the fourth of july trailhead isn’t maintained in the winter, but with with an exceptionally warm spring we wanted to see how many miles we could cut off by driving up the road. Being early, the snow was frozen pretty solid and we made it a good 3 miles up the road with very little troubles. At this point, we drove up onto a large drift and then could immediately see a tire rut that looked pretty deep. almost 50 feet into the drift, we sunk. It was immediately obvious that our wheels weren’t getting any traction and that the bottom of the car was being held up by the snow.

It took us 8 hours of digging (And some additional help from April and John, who came up to give us a hand) to get William’s car out of the snow. William and I drove the car back down to John’s truck, with William skillfully navigating some pretty harry sections of road that hadn’t given us any troubles in the morning but had softened during the warm day. When we got to John’s truck, he headed down first. At the last snow bank, John’s truck bounced out of the rut, and slid into a ditch hidden by a 5′ snowbank. William managed to get his car in front of john’s to pull, but it still took another 2 hours of digging and pulling till we were home free.

We ate plenty of good food and beer at the smokehouse in Ned (I’d highly recommend this place), and made it back to Boulder for a good night’s sleep.  A couple of lessons learned:

• Trust the Locals - If a few people are telling you it’s too early to try something, you might want to consider a plan B.
• Come Prepared - I was glad we had 3 avalanche shovels and snow chains, but a full sized shovel, extra tow-rope, and come-a-long are going to be on my list of things to keep in my car for winter / off-road driving.  Also, it was nice that william had a full tank of gas.  I often go into the mountains less than full, which probably isn’t a best practice.
• Expect Changing Conditions - Even if we had made it over this snow drift and to the trailhead, we would have never made it back out once the snow had softened later in the day.  Don’t make judgement calls based only on current conditions, but how things will look throughout the day.
• Be flexible, and have good friends - This could have been a really bad day with high tempers and expectations not met.  Instead, all and all it was a good day spent in a beautiful setting with friends, just not doing what we had hoped.  Make the most out of a bad situation, and it might not be so bad after-all.

The digging crew. And some random guy who helped us out for the last hour (because we were blocking the road)

A Last note: I was super happy to have my Kinco gloves for all that digging. I’m still loving these cheap ski gloves!

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We camped in the North Frutia Desert, at the end of Road 18.  The campgrounds out here are awesome, but seem to be getting more crowded every year (A sign informed us that soon there will be a 10$ fee to camp).  After a long drive, we arrived and spread out our sleeping bags behind a strangers campsite, deciding to wait till morning, to find a more proper campground.  Once that mission was accomplished we made some breakfast and started riding the Road 18 trails.  I’ve ridden all these before, but it was great fun getting to hit some of my favorite fast, non-technical, roller-coaster like trails around. My favorites include Kessel Run, Zipity-Doo-Daa, and chutes  and ladders, these trails offer a great interaction between bike and landscape with super steep drops and fast bermed up turns.  After a hard day of riding (and a quick afternoon nap) we cooked up some Zatarains with sausage (one of my all time favorite camp meals) and enjoyed an amazing sunset followed by beers around the campfire.

The next morning, after a quick warmup on some of the 18 Road trails,  we felt like a little more of a challenge and headed over to the (new to me) Kokopelli trails, about a 45 minute drive from the campsites.  These trails were AWESOME, slightly more technical than the Road 18 trails, they were still suitable for the beginners in our group but also offered some great challenges for the more advanced riders in our group.  (I was proud I only had to dismount for a few of the harder sections).  The most awesome thing about these trails was the breathtaking views of the colorado river.  The trail would sometimes be right on the edge of a few hundred feet drop down to the river below, but really never felt that sketchy.

Sunday we packed up and on the way out of town decided to swing through the Colorado National Monument.  We did a great hike for a few hours, eating lunch at the bottom of the monument before driving back to Boulder.  All in all, and amazing weekend!  Just too short: I need more long weekends in my life!

(P.s. I didn’t take many pictures on this trip: I was too busy biking, but I’ll upload some when Kyle and William share theirs).

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