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Orioles pitcher Jeremy Guthrie commutes by bike
by Richard MasonerThis story about Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher Jeremy Guthrie is very cool. As a Mormon he spent two years as a missionary, so perhaps that’s where he got his bike riding start. It’s excellent that he still gets around by bike.
It seems as if half the Orioles team gets around on two wheels and a handlebar. The Orioles might be the only team that has more use for a bike rack than a bat rack.
Fans are accustomed to the players’ lot being filled with expensive rides – sports cars, HUVs, private jets. But you should check out the clubhouse sometime, or the weight room. There are enough bikes parked there to hold the Tour de France.
Jeremy Guthrie rides to Camden Yards six days a week during long homestands. The exception is Sundays, when his wife drops him off after they attend church in the morning. He has maintained that routine at every level of professional baseball, including his days at Triple-A Buffalo, when the trip covered 10 miles. But it was a one-way journey. His wife would pick up Guthrie and the bike for the ride home.
“I rode when it was sub-40 degrees,” he said. “It’s actually better. You don’t sweat as much.”
“I’m trying to save the planet,” Guthrie said, “one pedal at a time.”
Great!
How can we get more Joe six-packs to learn
about this and realize that cyclists belong
on the road.
I am impressed with the cold-weather riding.
I’ve ridden below freezing, and it was just
a slog, trying for nothing more than survival
and arrival.
I am an electrical engineer/computer programmer.
I have entered a design contest sponsored by
Microchip for their PIC32 processor.
I’ve got this idea for a electronic gadget
that would not only incorporate an ultrasonic
rangefinder (for determining objectively how
close cars pass you) but would also continually
record audio (possibly video) but would discard
most of it until and unless you hit a button,
when it remembers the last minute or three,
permanently. It also continues to record until
you make it stop. The intent is to capture the
harassment and insults of passing motorists
afterwards, and to give me an opportunity to
read off the license plate and commit it
to something better than my memory, while
being basically hands-free.
It turns out that accelerometers and
altimeters are only on the order of $15
bucks at the component level. One of
the things I would add (for my own bike
geekiness) would be logging of stats
of the whole ride, including percent grade.
A temperature sensor is fairly cheap and
easy as well.
It occurs to me, that the accelerometer
could be used to turn on brake lights
automatically while slowing.
I will try to also incorporate video
recording, but that promises to be
more difficult than just audio.
I also have an idea how the same ultrasonic
gear that is used to determine passing
distance of cars, can be used to determine
the amount of relative headwind (if you
subtract off speed, you might get actual
windspeed along your line of travel).
One more thing, …. a ‘dead man’ type of
switch … if the accelerometer detects
too much of an impact, it will commit the
last minute or so to permanent memory, and
continue recording till shut off.
So I guess I am soliciting input from all
you bike commuters, on what electronic and
computer features you might find useful
and desirable in such a gadget.
I can make no promises about incorporating
any particular suggestion, other than that
I will consider it. I’ve got a tight time
limit of a couple more months for the
hardware design to be complete.
Thanks in advance for your considered
comments and suggestions.
If folks want to email rather than comment
here …. you can reach me at …
cbb_pic.20.ohio_biker at spamgourmet.com
Good for Jeremy Guthrie. It’s great to know that people with lots of money actually choose to get around by bike.
Ohio: Sioux Jones is always asking for a turn signal
Maybe you could plans for your gadgets on Instructables?
Ringer: Guthrie’s 2008 salary is $770,000. That’s more money than I’ll make this year for sure!
Ohio:
Kickass! Your device sounds great and I would love to own one myself.
Thinking of features…
A rocket launcher
Machine gun
Flame thrower
Okay, okay, just kidding.
I think it would be useful for the distance measurement to be recorded in association with the audio clip. Particularly in states where cars are required to provide 3 feet of clearance, such a measurement would be pretty good evidence that the vehicle violated the traffic law. Although, I would agree that a video clip associated with the distance measurement may be more bulletproof.
I like other uses of this information as well…
I would love to be alerted that a rear approaching vehicle has trespassed certain (user defined) distances.
- An LED could illuminate or a speaker could announce when a vehicle is within a first range, thereby alleviating me from having to check my mirror every 5 seconds.
- Once alerted, it would be great for the distance to be displayed, ideally in or near my rearview mirror. (I suppose with the distance information and a clock, other information could be given to the cyclist, such as the relative speed of the vehicle, or the approximate time until the vehicle passes)
- Another announcement/warning could be made if the vehicle was too close.
However, your device may only detect lateral distance of a passing vehicle and so all these ideas are in left field.
Perhaps my intuition is wrong, but I have always assumed that the cyclists that are killed from rear approaching motorists were not aware of the vehicle’s trajectory or imminence.
Good Luck and let us know about your result or progress.
Careful about those machine gun jokes, John. Our peace loving cycling friends in Australia (the land that gifted us with “Mad Max”) will start talking about our obsession with violence and warfare again.
@Fritz,
I think you mean,
“Careful about those machine gun jokes, Blue”
Fritz: Great article. You know I’m a nut for both bicycling and baseball. And I’m excited that the Washington Nationals’ new stadium has bike parking! And, as always, go Red Sox! Paul
I wonder how so *many* Orioles got into the riding thing. Could be it took one… and then once people tried it, they liked it?
Yes, turn signals, turn signals