Blockheads!

I took a bad tumble off my bike this past weekend.  It was late at night and I decided to travel side streets to avoid any traffic.  There was a chock left in the road and I hit it coming out of a turn.  I was flying off the bike by the time I realized what was going on.  I saw a flash in my eyes when my helmet hit the ground.  I stood up slowly and took stock.  Thankfully no broken bones, but my hand and forehead were bleeding.  My glasses were smashed and the frames were what tore into my head.  The helmet took the punishment.  I was a couple of blocks from home so I walked back to the house.

After cleaning up, I realized that my left hand had a tear in the middle finger and was still bleeding.  I needed stitches, so I woke my wife and we went to the ER.

Coincidence?

Two days earlier I was taking lunch near home and noticed chocks in the road.  It ticked my off when I saw the second one and I kicked it off the road.  I still had video of the ride and decided to post it in retrospect.

 

Sensor Helmet – It gave up the ghost for me.

I was still waiting for lights and power circiut parts to arrive when I took the fall.  Needless to say, the helmet is trash now.  I only had an 808-16 720p camera board, external mic, lens assembly, and lens cable installed.  When I hit, the external USB battery pack cable ripped the mini-USB connector off of the camera board.  The video of the crash was corrupted.  This might have not been the situation had the helmet been finished.  I was able to salvage the battery pack, USB power cord, and 120 degree lens.  It’s going to be a few weeks before I start assembling a new helmet, but at least I have all my parts.  The one good thing is now I have the old helmet to model from.

Why didn’t my light spot it?

I had plans to do a write up on my more recent headlamp mod.  A coworker had shown me his lighting gear (Dinotte Lighting) and was pleased with how it performed for him.  My PDW headlamp took in moisture after a couple of rides and this prompted me to get a Dinotte light.  I was impressed how rugged it was made, but had apprehensions about opening it up and damaging it with my mods.  To my relief, it was the easiest headlamp to work with.

I mounted it under my front rack and controlled the beams with a momentary push button located near my right grip.  I power the light with a buck converter that is connected to my main pack using a dongle, no need to recharge separate batteries.

Anyway, back to the question.  The headlamp only points in the direction I’m steering towards.  To compensate, I use a headlamp on my helmet.  The headlight for the helmet hadn’t arrived yet, so this critical piece was missing.

Now what?!

I have no ambitions to get on the bike anytime soon.  I really want to mend and get healthy first.  In the meanwhile, I can focus on the new helmet layout and complete it.  I’ll try and post about the setup and also give more details about the Dinotte mod in the following weeks.