Bicycling in Cold Weather - Page 13 - Cycling Mob: Road Cycling, Mountain Biking and More

12-14-2004, 11:54 AM

On Mon, 13 Dec 2004 10:12:03 -0500, Stephen Harding <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]>
wrote:

> Bill Baka wrote:
>
>> human and out of cell phone range. That brings up a final point from
>> me, you do carry a cell phone for help, don't you?
>
> Rarely!
>
> A humorous story:
>
> My mother insisted I carry a cell phone with me going out to my
> second RAGBRAI a few years back. She was convinced I'd break
> down and end up being stranded in some lonely midwestern back
> road, dying of thirst or starvation.
>
> I pointed out to her that I would really have no excuse for
> being stranded long enough to perish since I was hauling 10
> bicycles for my co-team RAGBRAI riders in the back of my
> pickup truck!
>
> I should be good for at least a couple hundred miles before
> lack of water ended my RAGBRAI plans.
>
>
> SMH
>
It would be nice to carry a spare bike, but that's only a passing dream.

--
Bill (?) Baka

12-14-2004, 12:39 PM

Stephen Harding <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote:
> My mother insisted I carry a cell phone with me going out to my
> second RAGBRAI a few years back. She was convinced I'd break
> down and end up being stranded in some lonely midwestern back
> road, dying of thirst or starvation.

heh, i brought a cell phone along with me when i started out across south
dakota from minneapolis and quickly came to the realization that it was
pretty worthless. if the cell phone worked i didn't need it -- i was
near a city. and of course if i needed it, i wouldn't have worked anyway.
so i mailed it home.

my reason for bringing it was simiarly motivated, tho.
--
david reuteler
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

12-14-2004, 12:39 PM

Stephen Harding <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote:
> My mother insisted I carry a cell phone with me going out to my
> second RAGBRAI a few years back. She was convinced I'd break
> down and end up being stranded in some lonely midwestern back
> road, dying of thirst or starvation.

heh, i brought a cell phone along with me when i started out across south
dakota from minneapolis and quickly came to the realization that it was
pretty worthless. if the cell phone worked i didn't need it -- i was
near a city. and of course if i needed it, i wouldn't have worked anyway.
so i mailed it home.

my reason for bringing it was simiarly motivated, tho.
--
david reuteler
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

12-14-2004, 12:39 PM

Stephen Harding <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote:
> My mother insisted I carry a cell phone with me going out to my
> second RAGBRAI a few years back. She was convinced I'd break
> down and end up being stranded in some lonely midwestern back
> road, dying of thirst or starvation.

heh, i brought a cell phone along with me when i started out across south
dakota from minneapolis and quickly came to the realization that it was
pretty worthless. if the cell phone worked i didn't need it -- i was
near a city. and of course if i needed it, i wouldn't have worked anyway.
so i mailed it home.

my reason for bringing it was simiarly motivated, tho.
--
david reuteler
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

12-14-2004, 12:39 PM

Stephen Harding <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote:
> My mother insisted I carry a cell phone with me going out to my
> second RAGBRAI a few years back. She was convinced I'd break
> down and end up being stranded in some lonely midwestern back
> road, dying of thirst or starvation.

heh, i brought a cell phone along with me when i started out across south
dakota from minneapolis and quickly came to the realization that it was
pretty worthless. if the cell phone worked i didn't need it -- i was
near a city. and of course if i needed it, i wouldn't have worked anyway.
so i mailed it home.

my reason for bringing it was simiarly motivated, tho.
--
david reuteler
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

12-14-2004, 08:16 PM

On 14 Dec 2004 20:39:07 GMT, David Reuteler <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote:

> Stephen Harding <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote:
>> My mother insisted I carry a cell phone with me going out to my
>> second RAGBRAI a few years back. She was convinced I'd break
>> down and end up being stranded in some lonely midwestern back
>> road, dying of thirst or starvation.
>
> heh, i brought a cell phone along with me when i started out across south
> dakota from minneapolis and quickly came to the realization that it was
> pretty worthless. if the cell phone worked i didn't need it -- i was
> near a city. and of course if i needed it, i wouldn't have worked
> anyway.
> so i mailed it home.
>
> my reason for bringing it was simiarly motivated, tho.

I find that on the long outback areas of little population there is
very little coverage unless you have an Iridium and those are being
used by the military. Look at a coverage map and you will see
where not to break down unless you want a long hike back into
a coverage zone. For those who don't know Iridium was a project
started by Motorola back in the '80s and then abandoned because
of all the new digital stuff going on. Result, 36 (?) satellites
and nobody using them, until the military realized that satellites
don't have dead zones from hills.

--
Bill (?) Baka

12-14-2004, 08:16 PM

On 14 Dec 2004 20:39:07 GMT, David Reuteler <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote:

> Stephen Harding <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote:
>> My mother insisted I carry a cell phone with me going out to my
>> second RAGBRAI a few years back. She was convinced I'd break
>> down and end up being stranded in some lonely midwestern back
>> road, dying of thirst or starvation.
>
> heh, i brought a cell phone along with me when i started out across south
> dakota from minneapolis and quickly came to the realization that it was
> pretty worthless. if the cell phone worked i didn't need it -- i was
> near a city. and of course if i needed it, i wouldn't have worked
> anyway.
> so i mailed it home.
>
> my reason for bringing it was simiarly motivated, tho.

I find that on the long outback areas of little population there is
very little coverage unless you have an Iridium and those are being
used by the military. Look at a coverage map and you will see
where not to break down unless you want a long hike back into
a coverage zone. For those who don't know Iridium was a project
started by Motorola back in the '80s and then abandoned because
of all the new digital stuff going on. Result, 36 (?) satellites
and nobody using them, until the military realized that satellites
don't have dead zones from hills.

--
Bill (?) Baka

12-14-2004, 08:16 PM

On 14 Dec 2004 20:39:07 GMT, David Reuteler <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote:

> Stephen Harding <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote:
>> My mother insisted I carry a cell phone with me going out to my
>> second RAGBRAI a few years back. She was convinced I'd break
>> down and end up being stranded in some lonely midwestern back
>> road, dying of thirst or starvation.
>
> heh, i brought a cell phone along with me when i started out across south
> dakota from minneapolis and quickly came to the realization that it was
> pretty worthless. if the cell phone worked i didn't need it -- i was
> near a city. and of course if i needed it, i wouldn't have worked
> anyway.
> so i mailed it home.
>
> my reason for bringing it was simiarly motivated, tho.

I find that on the long outback areas of little population there is
very little coverage unless you have an Iridium and those are being
used by the military. Look at a coverage map and you will see
where not to break down unless you want a long hike back into
a coverage zone. For those who don't know Iridium was a project
started by Motorola back in the '80s and then abandoned because
of all the new digital stuff going on. Result, 36 (?) satellites
and nobody using them, until the military realized that satellites
don't have dead zones from hills.

--
Bill (?) Baka

12-14-2004, 08:16 PM

On 14 Dec 2004 20:39:07 GMT, David Reuteler <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote:

> Stephen Harding <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote:
>> My mother insisted I carry a cell phone with me going out to my
>> second RAGBRAI a few years back. She was convinced I'd break
>> down and end up being stranded in some lonely midwestern back
>> road, dying of thirst or starvation.
>
> heh, i brought a cell phone along with me when i started out across south
> dakota from minneapolis and quickly came to the realization that it was
> pretty worthless. if the cell phone worked i didn't need it -- i was
> near a city. and of course if i needed it, i wouldn't have worked
> anyway.
> so i mailed it home.
>
> my reason for bringing it was simiarly motivated, tho.

I find that on the long outback areas of little population there is
very little coverage unless you have an Iridium and those are being
used by the military. Look at a coverage map and you will see
where not to break down unless you want a long hike back into
a coverage zone. For those who don't know Iridium was a project
started by Motorola back in the '80s and then abandoned because
of all the new digital stuff going on. Result, 36 (?) satellites
and nobody using them, until the military realized that satellites
don't have dead zones from hills.

--
Bill (?) Baka

12-16-2004, 07:20 PM

Bill Baka wrote:

> I find that on the long outback areas of little population there is
> very little coverage unless you have an Iridium and those are being
> used by the military. Look at a coverage map and you will see
> where not to break down unless you want a long hike back into
> a coverage zone. For those who don't know Iridium was a project
> started by Motorola back in the '80s and then abandoned because
> of all the new digital stuff going on. Result, 36 (?) satellites
> and nobody using them, until the military realized that satellites
> don't have dead zones from hills.

Iridium has been resurrected by new investors several times in the last few
years. It's very popular with boaters who can afford it, and growing rapidly
these days. I have no idea if it will ever be profitable, though.

Cell phone coverage *can* be a problem in outback areas in the US. Awhile ago I
drove across the country via I-20, and there was almost no coverage from
Shreveport LA, to Birmingham AL. There were analog signals only, which drain a
modern, digital phone in a jiffy. Most other places I've been lately are fine
though. Even west Texas is well covered.

A hot tip though -- Verizon is the *only* provider who has good peering
arrangements with *everybody.* If there's a signal at all, you can use it with
a Verizon phone. Other companies' service is more limited, especially if you
have a digital-only phone.

Of course the other problem is blockage by mountains, etc. We have a few areas
around here like that, but they're still very few, and not very large. I
imagine upstate SC is the same way, though I've never had any problem there.
There's one big hole in the middle of VA I can't figure out -- along 81 near
Harrisonburg -- which is a major route to/from Washington DC, as well as *the*
trucking corridor up/down the east coast. Weird. I've noticed a digital signal
popping up around a couple of big truck stops, then disappearing as I pass by.
They must have installed repeaters for their customers.

Matt O.