9 Green Oil and Bottles, V.V's Power to Weight Ratio....etc

I have limited time today but here are the quick Thursday pollinations :


1. Cal Springs LLC has added something nice to its line of California Bike Gear - An LDPE Plastic biogegradable water bottle [See Low Density Polyethylene]. There is a special additive in these water bottles that kick in the decomposition stage after the bottle has outlived its life or thrown into a landfill. These bottles completely become biogas and a biomass that then provide nutrients to the soil.



Boy, it'll suck if that 'additive' malfunctions and turns my bottle into biogas while I'm taking a sip from it..


2. Want something more to add to your green shopping basket? How about getting your bike on a green diet?!

So here's Green Oil Bicycle lube, also marketed as the "Ecological Chain Lube".


Ha! Its hard to associate oil with anything green but here's some key points I extracted in my own words from the company's website :

a) Green Oil is manufactured from naturally occurring plant extracts and not any petrochemicals like crude or palm oil hippie crap. The herbal blend produces a high performance lubricant. Green Oil contains no animal derivatives also. (The ingredients are all a trade secret, but puh-leese, I'm not putting some cowdung on my chain)

b) Green Oil does not contain petrochemical components, or Teflon. Perfluorooctanoic acid, a compound used to make Teflon is a likely carcinogen (proven??). Teflon production in the USA was subject to a $300 million lawsuit in 2004, as a result of ground water pollution in Ohio and West Virginia.

There's some other technical stuff too on their website so do check it to add to your reading...


3. Guys! Quarq powermeters are shipping!


Finally we can put an end to the market oligarchy that is SRM and Powertap. Yeah, there are some others too but they're junk...we don't need them.


4. The latest book to be hitting the shelves soon is called Bike To Work, a 200 page commuter's 'bible' so to speak, written by none other than Carlton Reid, the editor of Bike Biz.


Reid has always been one of the movers and shakers in the field of bicycling advocacy and he aims to lure as many people away from motor vehicles to bicycles as he can possibly get.

Said famous cycling personality Phil Liggett about the book : “This book could save you $3500 a year. And you’ll be lighter and stronger into the bargain.”

I like the deal ! More info on this site.


5.
What was Christian Vande Velde's Stage 10 power to weight ratio like? Saris says :

5.4 Watts/Kg on the Tourmalet, an effort of 51 mins, 3 seconds with a 1551 VAM
5.45 Watts/Kg on the Hautacam, an effort of 41 mins, 31 seconds with a 1543 VAM

where VAM = Velocita Ascensionale Media, or Average Climbing Speed.

Read more about VAM here (Climb like a Pro) and here (Uphill Gradient and VAM) and my previous post on Power to Weight Ratio.


Alright. Too much information. Lay back and chillax now. Cafe del Mar....