Author: paschmann

Arduino

paschmann

The Arduino was one of my first “modern” introduction into the world of open-source electronics. The original use case for my DIY IGUS Time Lapse slider, then got used in the Quantum Double Slit Experiment to build a true Random Number Generator, and was also a part of my SAP DemoJam session. It always seems to be a great “go to” tool for interfacing with physical sensors, wiring something simple up or testing out different electronics.

2024 – Ironman – Texas

paschmann

Race Report

Trip wise everything went super smoothly. Arrived Wednesday, no delays or issues with baggage or car rental etc. Thursday, fun little cruise around the Airbnb in Spring and did packet pickup, and had a nice evening with the Fillnow folks. Prepped some of my bags and had a good amount of sleep. Friday got up and went to the practice swim, did a really easy few hundred yards (15 mins) and felt OK. I picked out some landmarks to sight off. I used my wetsuit and felt very normal. Had some breakfast, got to meet Natasha from NVDM as mentioned, and took it easy. Had some pasta for lunch and in the afternoon did bike drop off, and took it easy for the rest of the day. Ensured I was getting in plenty of hydration (LMNT + water) and carbs. Friday evening got to bed really early (9pm) since I knew I was going to be up at 4am, ended up waking up at 2:30 and felt ok. Found parking pretty easy, got into T1, loaded nutrition/hydration. I had a minor issues getting air into my rear disc, but got it sorted out pretty easily. Walked over to Swim start, got into my wetsuit, and started just behind the main pack. Also no real delays, issues or surprises 🙂  read more

2024 Ironman Texas Training Review

paschmann

It has been a great 16 weeks training for Ironman Texas coming up next week. One small injury (foot) from either running or pushing too hard off the wall while swimming. Some interesting stats through these training blocks:

Longest week: 18 hours
Max CTL: 116
Max TSS: 144
Cumulative Miles: 2161
3 week blocks, with 1 week rest. 2 week taper into the race.

Compared with past Ironman races, used the sauna during the last 3 weeks to get more heat adapted, and did a little more strength based workouts. (Not tracked in Intervals). I also focused more on Z2 efforts while running. The Oak Island Half Marathon got me running a lot more early season. Overall, I had some good PR’s during the last 4 months: read more

Repairing the Silhouette Cameo 4

paschmann

I don’t use Cameo cutter much at all, so I was pretty disappointed to see it not working correctly when I wanted to cut some vinyl stickers for my bike project. The carriage would just slowly move to the right and stop. Turn it off and back on, and it would do the same until it hit the right side and make a terrible knocking noise as the position sensor did know where the carriage was.

Disassembling the unit and doing some online searching it seems the left stop sensor was bad. It is a Normally Open IR switch and after doing some extensive searching was able to find a replacement online. I mocked up the circuit board and cut a prototype on the Glowforge, did some very small soldering to wire it up, and it 100% fixed the problem. read more

Bookmark: Why you won’t find a technical co-founder …

paschmann

As a technical co-founder, this is a great reality check.

Source: https://www.breakneck.dev/blog/no-tech-cofounder

Why you won't find a technical co-founder

You probably will not find a technical co-founder online by using one of the many co-founder matching tools.
You may also not want to.

I’ve tried working in the normal “co-founder for equity” set ups. I’ve been working as a freelancer and contractor for years.
At the moment I am focusing my efforts on building MVPs. After talking to founders on both sides of the “equity-hire” spectrum I have some thoughts.

This is exclusively from the perspective of searching out a person you don’t know online, for the sole purpose of founding a company.
This is not talking about starting a business with you friend joey from work, who you’ve been working with for 3 years. read more

List: Favorite Motocross Photos

paschmann

These some of my most memorable photos from my motocross days.

My dad and a couple of his mates in Port Alfred
1986 CR125 – First Bike @ 13
First ride out at the West Bank in East London
The East London MX Track on the West Bank
This was at the Transkei Enduro in around 1999
First national event in Hammarsdale
Second National Event in Cape Town
Port Elizabeth National in 1999 or so
Local Newspaper picture from a Border Motocross Race
Some of my first races in the US were with the JMX Series, this was at Parker Valley in Belwood, NC
Spent a ton of time practicing at TNT in Chester, SC
Andrews MX in Concord, NC
Andrews MX in Concord, NC
Andrews MX in Concord, NC with my dad
Ironcity MX
Sandhills MX
Center Road MX
Center Road MX
Center Road MX
Tom took this great pic at TNT
Service Honda CR500 Testing at Trick Tank
Husky Testing at Iron City MX

Cycling: FTP over time

paschmann

Tracking cycling endurance training progress over time. As I have shifted my focus from MTB racing to Endurance/long distance triathlon, My sprint power has decreased slightly (5 minutes and 1 minute) but FTP (20 min+) has slowly been ticking upward. Since I have been swimming and running more, it probably has not increased as much as I hoped, but I am learning endurance is not something that gets established overnight ….