Tuesday was cool and mostly cloudy and we even had occasional sprinkles, which were not forecast. It was also in stark contrast to the warmer sunny weather we’ve had lately. I went with my group Southwest of Morgan Hill and up the hills off Redwood Retreat Road and back. There were only four of us, taking a nice intimate walk with good companions.
Yesterday I rode my recumbent, testing out the higher performance carbon seat paired with 20″ wheels front and rear. This was easier to ride than the stock configuration (two 28″ wheels), but a bit slower. Later this week I will try 28″ rear/20″ front wheels. I’m hoping if I lower the seat a bit to keep the same angle it will be as fast as the 28/28 but still easier to ride.
I am very interested in the continuous rapid development of AI technology. I even took a course on “instant communication engineering” on Coursera to learn how to work well with tools like chatGPT. It’s surprisingly powerful, especially if you’re reading it in reports or journal articles and extracting summaries or outputting things like graphs. He will actually write computer code on the fly to achieve this, which is fascinating to watch.
So I did a fun experiment to see if AI (chatGPT) could make my blog posts more interesting. On the first try I asked him to write an interesting report and he wrote an outline with several points. Quite dry. On the second one, I asked for a “text only, no bullets” report and it worked out a little better. Then I asked for a story instead, with amusing results (below) – His imagination ran a little wild! I’m not sure this is prime time for non-fiction writing, so I think I’ll stick to manuscript for the foreseeable future, though I might ask chatGPT to check my style.
make an interesting report using the following facts in text only, without bullet points: Tuesday was mostly cloudy and we even had occasional sprinkles. I went with my group Southwest of Morgan Hill and up the hills off Redwood Retreat Road and back. There were only four of us. On Wednesday I rode my recumbent, testing out the higher performance carbon seat paired with 20″ wheels front and rear. This was easier to ride than the stock configuration (two 28″ wheels), but a bit slower. Later this week I will try 28″ rear/20″ front wheels.
On Tuesday, the day was characterized by mostly cloudy skies and occasional sprinkles, making for a moody atmosphere for a bike tour. I went out with my group, heading southwest of Morgan Hill, traveling through the scenic hills along Redwood Retreat Road and then making my way back. Notably, the group was small this time, with only four of us participating.
The next day, Wednesday, I experimented with my recumbent bike by installing a higher-performance carbon seat and replacing the standard two-wheel 28-inch setup with 20-inch wheels both front and rear. This change made the ride noticeably easier than the stock configuration, although it did result in a slight reduction in speed. Inspired by this initial modification, I plan to test another configuration later this week, with a 28-inch rear and 20-inch front wheel, to further optimize the bike’s performance and comfort.
Not bad. It got more fun when I asked for one “story” instead of “report”, especially this line: “It was like the bike and I were learning to dance again, each movement a little more fluid, each turn a little more graceful.”
Make a story out of the following facts: “Tuesday was mostly cloudy and we even had occasional sprinkles. I went with my group Southwest of Morgan Hill and up the hills off Redwood Retreat Road and back. There were only four of us. On Wednesday I rode my recumbent, testing out the higher performance carbon seat paired with 20″ wheels front and rear. This was easier to ride than the stock configuration (two 28″ wheels), but a bit slower. Later this week I will try 28″ rear/20″ front wheels.”
On an overcast Tuesday, with the sky threatening at any moment, a small group of four cyclists, including myself, set off on a journey. We drove southwest from Morgan Hill, our tires squealing on wet pavement, heading out deep into the lap of the hills via Redwood Retreat Road. Despite the capricious weather, the serene isolation of our surroundings imbues our walk with a sense of adventure.
The next day brought a change of pace. Alone this time, I took my recumbent bike out for a spin, equipped with a newly installed high-performance carbon seat and a pair of 20-inch wheels front and rear. This configuration, although slower, offered a new ease of handling that the traditional twin 28-inch wheels did not. It was like the bike and I were learning to dance again, each movement a little more fluid, each turn a little more graceful.
Inspired by this experiment, I planned another one for later in the week: a hybrid approach. I’d keep the flexible 20-inch wheel up front, but pair it with a larger 28-inch wheel in the rear. My goal was to capture the best of both worlds—speed and agility. As I prepared for this next test, I couldn’t help but feel the thrill of innovation, the heart of a cyclist forever chasing the perfect ride through the rolling landscapes of innovation and tradition.
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I am a Mechanical Engineer born in 1953, Ph. D, Stanford, 1980. I have been in the CAE engineering field for decades. I also have a lifelong interest in outdoor activities and fitness. I have had both hips replaced and a heart valve replaced due to a genetic condition. This blog chronicles my adventures in staying active despite these bumps in the road. View all posts by BionicOldGuy
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