Category: making things

MTB Trail Mapping Workflow with OpenStreetMaps

Published June 5, 2012

With recent map drawing activities (1, 2, 3) I’ve been asked about the process I use for creating maps. What follows here is the workflow I used with OpenStreetMap (OSM) for the CRAMBA Stony Creek MTB Trail Maps, and hopefully others will find it useful.

I expect I’ll be following this same workflow for the next maps created, and even possibly revising previous ones using this process because it provides more solid base data than my previous method which consisted of little more than manually tracing SVGs of GPS tracks in Illustrator. It also helps get more map data in OSM, which is basically the cartographic version of Wikipedia.

One note, using OSM data in your maps requires that the resulting map be licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0) license. This basically means that anyone else can redistribute and reuse the map (or portions thereof), as long as they provide appropriate attribution and license their version in a similar way. As I’m intending these maps to be freely used by the general public (as part of my work with CRAMBA) I’m happy to do so, but others should be aware of these restrictions before getting too far along in the process.

Here’s the workflow:

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New Stony Creek MTB Trail Maps

Published June 5, 2012

I’ve been unhappy with Stony Creek’s official mountain bike trail map for a while now, as its routing is a bit physically inaccurate and missing some trails used during races. This led me to want to draw my own, and with recent forays into OpenStreetMap proving quite successful I’ve been able to get working on the map itself.

Tonight everything came together and I was finally able to publish the maps, and as a bonus I also documented three of the more popular routes. The more-formal announcement for these was made over on CRAMBA.org, but each map can also be seen here:

· Regular Map
· Fun Promotions 6 & 12 Hour Race Route
· Tailwind XC Race Route
· Wednesday Night MMBA / CRAMBA Group Ride Route

I’m sure some changes will be needed down the line, but for now I’m quite happy with how they came out. Making maps is fun.

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Down the OpenStreetMap Rabbit Hole

Published May 25, 2012

I’ve been interested in making mountain bike trail maps for a while now, resulting in my drawing the official River Bends and Addison Oaks maps. Stony Creek Metropark has some great trails as well, but it’s MTB trail map is unfortunately lacking. It is missing some segments used during races, has some one-way markings that don’t match what’s actually signed on the trail, and isn’t geographically accurate enough to be used for trail planning.

My original intention was to record all of the trail segments at Stony Creek myself using a GPS then draw a map similar to the ones for Addison Oaks and River Bends, but after looking on OpenStreetMap (OSM) I found that most of the trails at Stony Creek were already mapped. Thus if I am willing to license my map in an appropriately open manner I can use this data, saving myself a bunch of time.

Since a few small connectors that I wished to include were missing I headed out to Stony Creek this evening and recorded GPS data for only the missing segments. Most of these were connectors used primarily during races, but as they are passable throughout most of the year I wanted to include them. I then brought the GPX into JOSM, edited the map, and submitted the changes. This is a pretty easy task if one is familiar with basic CAD tools.

While the changes aren’t yet reflected in the main online map, the changes have been submitted and it does show when new data is manually downloaded, so I imagine it’s only a matter of time before it’s visible to the public. I will then use this OSM to make my MTB-specific map, complete with markers for things such as log piles, rock gardens, etc.

I suspect that this ease of editing is going to change my mapping workflow in the future. There’s a very good chance that any new maps which I do will first go into OSM, then this data will be pulled out to generate the actual map. Barring any license constraints, of course.

Looking further it appears that River Bends’ trails aren’t yet on OSM. Looks like I’ve got some work to do there as well…

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U+1F4A9 Successfully Deployed

Published April 26, 2012

Today I successfully employed one of the new characters in Unicode 6.0, U+1F4A9, also known as PILE OF POO (dog dirt). (See the table and list of names here.)

Needing a separate, sealing garbage can for Roxie’s collected poop I grabbed a spare one from the basement, but I figured it needed some manner of appropriate labeling. This did it. I printed it on a full-page label, sealed it with packing tape, cut it out, and stuck it in place. Hopefully the can will also help keep the garage from smelling like fresh poop on warm days.

Check out this page for more information on this character and to see if your browser and installed fonts support it. Hopefully it does.

Scotch 2228 for Chainstay Protection

Published April 2, 2012

Up to this point I’d used an old tube cable-tied on for chainstay protection and it has worked out pretty well. Recently I’d been reading about 3M’s Scotch 2228 Rubber Mastic Tape for the same purpose, and when doing some spring cleaning on the Titus I decided to give it a go.

At $5.57/roll (1″ wide x 4′ long, found at Lowes) it wasn’t as cheap as a tube, but like the UHMW tape it’s far less than a specific commercial solution and looks much better. The tape comes on a paper-backed roll and sticks nicely to the frame like other materials, but the magic happens when the tape is laid on itself: it fuses together and becomes essentially a solid piece of rubber. This means that it cannot be removed once applied and one must get the initial installation right, but I found that peeling the tape off the backing just as it was wrapped worked nicely, tearing away the resulting strip of paper as it got too long.

After application the surface of the tape is very slightly tacky after application meaning that dust and lint readily sticks to it, but a quick wipe-down with glass cleaner removed this and seemed to seal the surface. I suspect that within a couple weeks it’ll be more similar to a rubber tube. The directions on the box recommend overwrapping it with electrical tape, but for bicycle uses I don’t think this’ll be necessary. To ensure that it was well stuck and fused I spent some time squeezing it snug against itself, and while doing this it only seemed to bind better.

The tape is to be stretched when installed, but with a base thickness of 1.65mm when half-lapped it builds up fairly quickly, ending up thicker than the wrapped tube I’d previously used. The one roll perfectly fit the chainstay, and I ended up finishing unrolling it just as I got near the end, so with a little bit of stretching it wrapped around and seated nicely. Here is another view of how it came out. There is another 3M / Scotch product, 2229 which is the same material but 3.2mm thick, but I think it’d be overkill for this application. Building up to 5-6mm of rubber (once stretched) will possibly contribute to clearance issues.

Time will tell if it holds up as nicely as cable-tied tube, but thus far I’m happy with this choice. It matches the frame nicely, is thicker than a tube, installed reasonably easily, was affordably priced, and was available locally.

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High Volume Inflater for Tubeless Bicycle Tires

Published March 9, 2012

In order to set up my bicycle tires as tubeless I needed a way to get lots of air into them as quickly as possible to pop them on to the bead. After experimenting with pumps and various blow gun nozzle setups I decided to try and make something more effective. Inspired by a tool that I saw at Rochester Bike Shop I put this together: a modified blow gun fitted with a Schrader valve tire connector that’s had its check valve removed and the gasket replaced with a slightly smaller one.

The result is an inflater which’ll fit snugly enough around the body of a coreless Stan’s NoTubes valve to seat a tire and can also be used with a Presta to Schrader adapter.

The parts used for this were as follows, all purchased from either a local hardware store or at Performance Line Tool Center:

· Milton S 153 Blo-Gun ($9.99)
· Milton S 699 Air Chuck ($1.99)
· 5/16″ Compression to 1/4″ NPT Adapter ($3.49)
· 1/4″ Rubber Washer ($0.59)
· Quick Disconnect for Air Line (Had at home.)

First, the blower tube and rubber head were removed from the handle/valve. The compression to NTP adapter was then fitted into the body, as the compression threaded side of the adapter was the closest reasonable fit that could be found. The air chuck was then fitted to the NPT thread on the other end of the adapter. The compression nut and ring are not needed.

Next the air chuck is opened by unscrewing the brass ring around its opening and the check valve from inside was removed. Removing this allows the assembly to expel air whenever the lever is depressed. The center of a 1/4″ rubber washer is then slightly enlarged using a stepped drill bit so that it fit tightly over the body of a Presta valve. This modified washer is put in the chuck in place of the original, and the chuck is now usable for coreless Presta or Schrader valves.

Finally a quick disconnect that fit my air hose was installed and the tool was ready to use.

With this I had no problems airing up a newer (but still old tread pattern) Schwalbe Racing Ralph and a somewhat used Kenda Small Block Eight on my newish Blunt SL-based wheels. I’m still working on finishing up the tubeless setup, but this tool really helped get it done easily.

Were I to build another one of these valves I’d probably do it with a Milton 151 instead, as it’s a simple lever valve body with 1/4″ NPT fittings on each end. It’d then be easier (and cheaper) to set up the chuck, as a simple 1/4″ NPT to 1/4″ NPT nipple of whatever length desired could be used. This part wasn’t available (or known) to me at the time, so I made do with what I could find. Total cost was less than $20, and it should last for as long as I need it.

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Final Kegerator Drip Tray Design

Published March 5, 2012

This past weekend I put the finishing touches on the tap portion Kegged Beer Cooler (Kegerator) by finishing off the drip tray. It was built using a 14″ wide stainless steel drywall mud tray that has been caulked with RTV silicone. I’d originally attempted to hang it using hard drive magnets, but as can be seen here this didn’t look as nice as I’d hoped, and the magnets sitting off of the wooden support blocks made it a bit unstable.

This past weekend I cut some new blocks out of oak (picture), stained and sealed them to match the collar, drilled holes in them so epoxy could penetrate nicely (picture), then epoxied 24 square (1/4″ x 1/4″ x 1/8″) neodymium magnets on the back of each (picture). These blocks were then epoxied to the metal tray, and they now hold the drip tray nicely under the taps. As expected the magnets are quite strong, so spaced evenly along the block the tray is held on with considerable force. I imagine I could fill it with liquid and it wouldn’t budge.

This isn’t a particularly fancy design, but at a total of ~$30 I’m quite happy with how it came out. It serves the need of collecting drips, is easy to remove for cleaning, and looks pretty good.

Notched Pink Foam

Published February 6, 2012

This evening before heading home I stopped off at Home Depot and picked up some pink foam to line the inside of the Kegged Beer Cooler / Kegerator collar for additional insulation. It cut nicely and before long I was sticking it to the inside of the collar with hot melt glue. I was even able to notch it to fit cleanly around the tap fittings.

The wire basket fits nicely on top of the foam, and with the basket moved to the other side there’s now enough room for the fourth keg. Not that I have anything to put in it, nor a gas with which to connect it… But it fits!

All that’s left to do on this project is finish off the drip tray and add a Y fitting to one of the gas lines.

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Kegged Beer Cooler Upgrades In Progress…

Published February 2, 2012

Upgrades to the Kegged Beer Cooler are coming along very nicely. While not quite complete I’ve build, finished, and fitted a pine and poplar collar, and acquired and installed some taps. I still have to work out the drip tray, insulation inside the collar, and a few other random bits, but it’s almost set.

A year ago when first built it I figured that maybe one day I’d add taps, and a year later I’ve done so. After using a few friends’ taps and getting some nice ideas from how another friend built a collar I figured I’d go for it.

I feel really happy, proud, and fortunate that I have the means and abilities to do so. Growing up my dad and mom would let me help out with a bunch of things that they were working on. From both that and just being allowed to play with things I learned how to try and that it’s okay if things don’t always go right because you can learn and move on. These are very important things to know and I wholly believe that it helps me with most everything I do.

Now, hopefully I can finish off the kegged beer cooler / kegerator successfully and not end up with foaming taps or a poor quality drip tray or something…

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Official Map for Addison Oaks Mountain Bike Route

Published January 20, 2012

This afternoon an updated copy of my previous map of Oakland County’s Addison Oaks park’s Mountain Bike Route went live on DestinationOakland.com, Oakland County’s portal-ish website for “…all there is to see and do in Oakland County…”.

With some spare winter evenings and a few days off work around Christmas I was able to get the first version completed, and then after working with some great folks at OCPR this new version was developed. Beyond some readability and Point of Interest enhancements it now bears a DestinationOakland.com logo, my Trail Courtesy logo, and can be folded into quarters (for distribution in a map box) and still have all title and all logos visible.

I’m really happy with how it came out, and I’m particularly glad that Addison Oaks now has a usable map of the mountain bike route. It’ll be good for new people to find their way around, trail day work, and trail development proposals.

If you’d like to download a copy for yourself, it is available from either of these three locations: Addison Oaks Park Maps · Oakland County Park Maps · MMBA Trail Guide.