Category: Uncategorized

I Rode an eBike!

Disclaimer! I did ride a DIY ebike inside Bucketworks at the first BarCampMilwaukee in 2006… and haven’t ridden one since. Until now.

Matt loaned me his ebike while my Trek is in the shop and it’s been very interesting, and… a lot of fun! Honestly I would have never considered owning an ebike but now I find myself doing a lot of research and figuring out if I can get one. (I mean when I will get one.)

This post will mostly be about my experience riding Matt’s ebike for the first time. (It’s a Ride1Up LMT’D V1 from 2023, btw.)

Dana dropped me off at Matt’s house and he gave me a quick overview of the bike, and I rode two miles home. I used the pedal assist at level 1, and hit the throttle a few times. I was flying. It was wild. I got home pretty quick.

The next day I went for three rides to get a feel for things. Oh, the first thing I should note is that the heel of my left foot hit the (beefy!) kickstand a few times. I think the pedal are bit narrower than my Trek, which also has a skinny little kickstand, so it was just a matter of moving my foot a little and it hasn’t really happened since then.

Okay, first ride! I rode 5 miles, one of my normal routes (well, half of it) and it’s a heavy bike, my speed was a little under my normal pace, which should be expected. But overall riding it with no motor was doable, just a little slower. I really wanted to see what riding an ebike with just my legs powering it would be like.

After 5 miles I stopped, decided to do a second ride, switched on the Pedal Assist at level 1 and it was like WOW, this feels good. I was able to go my normal speed (my normal Trek bike speed) and a bit faster. And most importantly, pedaling was easier.

But now I have to talk about “cheating”… I was worried that riding an ebike would be cheating. As in, one of the main reasons I ride is to get exercise, and if the motor is doing the work instead of my legs, am I exercising anymore? Well, first of all there are no rules, so there’s no cheating. Second of all, it’s still exercise. In fact people have told me it might even be more exercise, because people who ride ebikes tend to ride more… more minutes and more miles.

So the thing about the motor is that it assists you. It is called Pedal Assist after all. I took hills that would have had me slowing to a crawl (climb?) with relative ease. It was still work, I still pedaled like heck, but I didn’t feel like I was completely running myself down. Which is good. Especially with my knee…

Yeah, my knee occasionally acts up. I’ve canceled rides because of it. Earlier this year I was doing physical therapy for it. It’s actually difficult for me to go up a flight of stairs, so you know… maybe an ebike with pedal assist is something that will ensure I can keep riding.

And finally after the two rides I did a third ride where this time I used the throttle, cranked up the pedal assist level, and let it rip. It was sort of too easy (cheating? LOL) if my primary goal was to get exercise, as I felt like I was letting the bike do all the work.

Okay, that was Day 1. (Day 0 was just riding home from Matt’s of course.)

I’ll have a more comprehensive look at the tests I did on the second day in another post. Stay Tuned!

Tags bikes

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800 Miles / 24 Sick

Sometimes I make plans, and sometimes they work out. Sometimes I set goals and sometimes I attain them. And then there are the other times…

Last week I did a little test ride to see how it would be biking down to Riverwest and back. See, I usually ride in the morning. Like, around 7am on most days. My idea was that while the Riverwest 24 was going on I’d bike down there at 7am, hang out, maybe do a lap or two, then head home. Solid plan. But alas…

I should also mention that I had a goal of biking 1,000 miles this year. in 2024 (the year I started trying to ride daily) I did a little over 600 miles. Things like work travel and getting sick make it difficult some months, but I did what I could.

I also did a few group rides in the last 9 months, mostly with the Scrappy Hour gang and I enjoyed the Santa Rampage ride quite a bit. So yeah, RW24…

See, I knew about the Riverwest 24 for quite a while. When I was at the museum 7 years ago I worked with people who did it. Hell, I’ve known some of the organizers and volunteers and riders for the past 20 or 30 years. But between 2013 and 2019 I spent every last weekend in July at Maker Faire Detroit racing tiny electric cars.

The funny thing is, the Power Racing Series and Riverwest 24 have a lot in common. They are both more about community and creativity than they are about racing and going fast and winning…

So I really wanted to check out RW24 this year. And then, on the Tuesday before the weekend I started to not feel well. I mean, I got sick. I had to get into work early Tues, Wed, & Thurs because of online streaming/training I was doing all day for those days. I got through it, but by Thursday night I was beat. I stayed home Friday to rest up and try to recover, and by Friday night I felt, well… sort of okay.

I went to bed Friday with the idea that if I woke up Saturday feeling good I would hit up RW24. Well, Saturday I had zero energy, and I hit the couch, and just could not move. Then it rained, and I gave up.

And then, I hit up the old Internet. I consumed the media from the event. I watched and listened to Riverwest Radio, I tried to see photos and video clips of the ride, I did what I could to experience it without being there. And I learned a lot.

A few days before the weekend a friend of mine said “If it’s your first time do a night lap and a day lap, as they are totally different vibes!” and another friend said “Psst! I could get you on a team!” and yet another said “My husband will be there riding a tandem bike on his own if you want to do a lap with him.”

Because the thing is, just like Power Racing was about camaraderie and having fun, Riverwest 24 is about community and the people. Sure, there are bikes and laps and keeping track, but that matters less.

Here’s a normal ride for me. I did 10 miles today, since I haven’t ridden in a week. I just tool around Tosa, Milwaukee, and the surrounding area, typically not getting further than a few miles from my house, but I may start to change these patterns and go farther in whatever direction.

Oh, I also rode over 800 miles this year. I should be able to hit that 1,000 miles easily. I still need to fix my bike, the front fork is not great, and I have an idea to make it more silly, which is always fun.

Being sick totally sucked. I hate it. I seem to get sick about twice a year, and when I do it makes me not able to bike or do other things and I don’t like that. Not a fan.

If I have any complaint about Riverwest 24 it’s that I experienced a lot of it via Instagram stories and Facebook reels, which are ephemeral. They are temporary things in a walled garden, which are lost to time. I guess life is like that sometimes, and hey, there’s always next year, they say.

So I will plan for next year, I will be there, barring any unforeseen circumstances of course.

Tags bikes, community

Uncategorized

Pothole Filling Machine

First, a disclaimer! I’ve known Jeramey from Urban Milwaukee for over 20 years. I’ve also worked with him and Dave on a project once, but it was over a decade ago. I’m a fan of Milwaukee, a fan of publishing, and I like what Urban Milwaukee does. I’m a supporter.

I’m also a fan of filling potholes, and I got probably 30 of them filled this year be reporting them to the city. The first batch were filled within a few days, which is awesome.

So many people complain about potholes but do nothing about them. Report them to the city using the MKE Mobile Action app. It works!

Urban Milwaukee published an article: See Milwaukee’s New Pothole Filling Machine but they also published a Facebook Reel (or Instagram Reel?) and it is inundated with comments from ignorant people who didn’t read the article.

A large majority of people said they could do it faster by hand. Cool. Do it. These are the same people who see a painting and say “I could paint that.” These are people who don’t seem to know or care that DPW laborer Bryan Rodriguez was struck and killed by a hit and run driver while filling potholes. These are people who say city workers are “lazy” and one person works while five others watch. Some of these people probably say “I’m a good driver but everyone else on the road is a terrible driver!” We also got some anti-union comments! Of course unions do things like protect workers, so they don’t get injured or killed on the job… Bitching about wasting taxpayer’s money, and all sorts of other things that were addressed in the article none of them seemed to read.

Sigh… I can’t even. I hate to say the old “Don’t read the comments…” thing is the solution, because we do need to be able to share our views in a public forum.

And I don’t want to blame Urban Milwaukee. I could blame Instagram for not allowing actual working links for posts (because Instagram is anti-web) but I guess I can also blame what we as a society have become… Terrible People.

So please, I’m begging you… don’t be a terrible person.

Tags milwaukee

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Game Show Buzzer System V3

Post author By Pete Prodoehl
Post date 2025-07-15
No Comments on Game Show Buzzer System V3

I built Game Show Buzzer System V2 earlier this year, and I had someone who wanted basically the same thing, so this is Game Show Buzzer System V3 with a few very minor tweaks. I’ve added LEDs into the control box so the host can see which player buzzed in.

Once again the control box plugs into a computer via USB and can send keys, keystrokes, USB MIDI data, or serial data. Each button plugs into the control box using a TRS cable. We used 6 foot but you could easily get 10 foot or longer if needed.

For this one the client will be using Resolume VJ Software & Media Server and each button is set to send a different MIDI noteOn signal to trigger a video to play. Like any game show if you hit your buzzer first you get to answer the question! In discussing functionality I explained how we usually have a “lock out” time before another button press will be recognized. The client thought a three second delay would be fine…

But! I mentioned we could always adjust that in the firmware later if needed… Also, I added a reset button directly on the control box. This would allow the “host” to press the button to end the lockout period. This is sort of a future-proofing feature.

I think if I were building a deluxe version I would add a control to set the lockout time… something like what I did for the Tradeshow Video Player Controller perhaps. But also, am I getting ahead of myself? Since I haven’t built it yet I will say “No” but then…

Also, this could be used as a standalone system without a computer. It’s less exciting, as there is no sound or video triggered when the button is pressed, but as a bare-bones quiz game system, it would work fine. If you do want sounds it would be trivial to plug into a computer via USB and use QLab or LeMIDI for those.

I started working on a four button version of this, but now I’m thinking I might want to just build the deluxe version and hope that someone might want to purchase it in the future.

I’m also considering different button options, as these are nice and big but they’re also fairly expensive. We could use The Button or any other button for triggering things. (But yeah, people certainly like hitting that big button!)

Tags arduino, button, controller, games, usb

Uncategorized

3D Printed Sign Handle

I designed a sign handle I could use for the protest signs I’ve been making lately.

It’s a handle and backing piece. The two pieces bolt together using 8-32″ bolts (or 4mm bolts) and clamp around the sign. If you have concerned about wind you can hot glue the backing piece to the sign to add some solid support.

I made the back piece larger & taller and glued it in place after a particular windy day! (You can see a little bead of hot glue sticking out of the top of the back piece in the photo above.

The handle part is hollow, but you can print the whole thing without support. This is one of those prints that is more functional than beautiful, and as long as it works I don’t care how nice it looks. (I mean, it still looks good of course!)

My signs are typically around 18″ x 12″ and I use cardboard of varying thicknesses. The only thing I don’t like about it is that I didn’t have the right size bolts so I had to cut some down to not stick out too far. (If the bolts stick out too far they could cause damage, and uh… well, no one wants that, right?)

You can get the STL files from Printables.com – Sign Handle and you’ll need to make your own sign! (Or find some here!)

Tags 3dprinting, sign