Thursday, December 15, 2011

Winter Project

Among the things I want to do this winter is to build, or at least source all materials and ideas for, a conversion of my old Burley into a bike camping trailer. I have seen a lot of ideas so far and the concept is quite intriguing to me. The Burley will serve as an excellent platform to build on as many have proven. I'm not going to aim for carpeted sleeping quarters or a gas stove, but it will be a nice little spread. I'm thinking screened windows, awnings, and a sky light so far. Heck, maybe there will be enough siding and roofing materials from our current house update to do a mobile home of sorts! I have an idea for chopping and channeling the frame to a narrower profile, then cantilevering a platform out over the wheels, and walls/roof from there. A sketch will be up in a few days. Then I'll see what changes/additions anyone wants to suggest. Later!


Saturday, November 19, 2011

Occupy Third Street

In an attempt to acclimate myself to the harsher side of "recreational homelessness", I have been field testing some of my gear by sleeping out on the deck. As the weather began to cool this Fall, I started with a fleece blanket and overnight lows of mid 50s F. Over the weeks the temps dropped and I broke out my zero rated bag. Mid 30s were no problem. I think I actually slept better, and felt better all day, from the mid 30s nights. So naturally, once I had set a new low temp. mark, I wanted to go lower. My current low is 15 degrees F, and it was actually pretty comfy too. I used a double bag system (one inside the other) and the only thing that was cold was my nose. I had a scare in the night though. I put the bag up over my head to warm up the inside, fell asleep that way, and woke with a gasp! I think I had depleted all of the oxygen in the bag and nearly choked myself out.
Temps will continue to drop as Winter comes, so the records will keep falling too, until there is nothing to prove. But not until then. I see a drift-based snow cave in the not too distant future! Here's a picture of my last Hooverville. Later!

Sunday, November 13, 2011

All In A Day's Work For...

Bicycle Repair Man! Did your neighborhood have a guy who could always fix your bikes? You and the guys would do something stupid on a bike, and after picking up the pieces, bee line right for the guys garage? We had one such guy. Jerry Grady. He had tons of old Schwinn parts (old by today's perspective) and would just knowingly set about repairing or replacing anything we had destroyed. Not big on lectures or demanding to know what we had been doing, just a great guy who would fix your stuff. He even helped us jam one set of forks into the top of another set to make a chopper fork! Welded? Well, no, but we didn't know that welding existed so... I took my awesome Yamaha Motobike apart once, too far apart, and he helped me get it back on the road, (alley actually:) Well, it seems that yours truly has acquired the cape and unitard of Bicycle Repair Man. You see, there is a family who have relocated their lives from Detroit to Boone, and their bikes came with them. One of the boys, 15 years old, has been riding around with: -No drive side bearings in his rear wheel -Seat post slammed all the way down -Back brake only, shoes worn down to the studs -Cable housing taped with electrical tape, no ends -No shifters front or back -It's a girl's bike!! Well, he came to the door one day, and asked, as best he could, if I had a wrench. Before I knew it I was 10 minutes late for work. Most of the problems were fixed though, so win/win! He's been coming back any time he sees my car out front, asking if I know how to fix this or that. It's a good feeling to be able to help someone out. (I look like a master mechanic from the other side, just doing the basic stuff that keeps a bike rolling.) Also good to realize that gifts are given to us for sharing. On any little level. The first day that kid rode away with a functioning bike, I can't tell who was happier, me or him. The smiles were ear to ear for both of us. He said simply, "Thank you," and rode off. I think that my time spent hunched over all my old janky beat up bikes has found a purpose for someone other than just me. All in a days work, all in a days work. Later!

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Photos de Randome













A few random pictures to post, just to keep stuff on the blog. These are from the car show/shine in Stratford, and the "Big Show" burnouts from the Lehigh corner (punch up 491437 on a calculator and look at it upside down) and a few from Don Williams Lake in Boone County. I had a chance to share with the boys something I have ALWAYS wanted to do! We walked on the spillway and down to the basin at the bottom. Since the earliest days that I ever went there with my Dad, it was such a strong draw to want to walk on it. Actually, in the skateboard craze of my youth, I wanted to ride it. Now in my "mature" years, I would rather ride a bike on it or slide down it on a sled, or my ski bike! Hurry Winter, a middle aged man needs your magic! And lastly, a weird looking bug from the trail to Ankeny, and a fox right smack in the middle of Ankeny. He tried to hide from us, but I got a distant shot. We rode Slater to Woodward today, gorgeous weather. Kelli even rode 2 miles of gravel! I'll seduce her into the dark side yet, mwah-ah-ah!!

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

High Trestle Love Affair

I have spent the last 4 Tuesdays riding my bike, and have barely ridden 4 miles of gravel during that time. I have been riding the now famous High Trestle Trail! The last 3 Tuesdays were with Kelli. We rode Madrid to Woodward, Woodward to Madrid, and Woodward to Ankeny (each round trip) Kelli was a goer for trying the big day, given the stiff South wind, and made all but the last 8 miles before asking for a bailout. No problem, she rode 4 times further than any of our previous efforts. So this week I was by myself and rode Madrid to GRAVEL, down to the river, and back. I rode the bike I call Karate Klunker, a campstove green Hawthorne with 2.3 Tioga downhill tires on it, skip tooth drive train, super short stem, and a goofy Troxel seat that is amazingly comfortable. A fun bike for sure. More like a tank! Here are a few shots from my solo day:
Senior Citizens taking in the views in a horse drawn wagon.
The Karate Klunker looking studly in the foreground, HTT bridge looking mighty in the background, God's creation dominating all ground!

Yes, this is a multi - user trail! This guy leaves much smaller droppings than some other users.
Klunkers on Chunkers - sounds like a good name for an organized ride...Hmm?

Also recently spent a few Sundays on adventures with the boys. One was our annual trip to Stratford for the stopover/show and shine of the cars in Run To The Woods. The burnout corner was moved to Lehigh, and the drivers were there to please the crowd that had gathered. Even saw a Lamborghini Countach, in Stratford Iowa! More pictures to follow on that. Last weekend we went to our favorite fishing hole, Don Williams Lake. It is being lowered by about 12 feet to allow repairs to the spillway, so the lake bed is exposed and full of mysteries and treasures of all kinds. More pics of that later too. TTFN my friends!













Thursday, August 25, 2011

What Is Freedom?

I was watching the news earlier this week with my sons (Marshall and Mitchell) and a thought struck me as they were showing footage from Libya. I know they're fighting to remove Ga-Daffy Duck from power and gain their freedom, but think about how much freedom they have that you and I don't. Could you take a clapped out old truck and mount an anti aircraft gun in the bed? Go driving at whatever speed you and your friends want and shoot at whatever you see? Cut the roof off of a Taurus and mount a bazooka on it? Don't like some guy?, shoot him. Some guy doesn't like you?, shoot him first. Out of ammo?, steal some from the government. Don't like the government?, steal more than you need. Gun metal AK47 not blingin' enough? Steal a gold plated one from the boss. When do these people find time to ride?! I thought MY schedule was full...
They showed a CNN reporter hunkered down beside a compound wall, gunfire and rockets everywhere. She looked scared witless, while Libyans were calmly strolling down the plaza, not a care in the world! How would you like to ride gravel over there? Not so much! I would, however, enjoy the challenge of mounting an RPG launcher on my top tube ;) Incoming!

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Day Three

My third day of this year's ride was a real switch up for me. I rode the entire paved route! As I lay in my impromptu "tent" on Monday night, listening to the previously mentioned Hair Metal/Oldies band killing some good old music (think Skid Row covering China Grove and you're getting an idea) I crumbled to the sense that I really did need to get home in one piece, and had nothing to prove to anyone else by riding off-route again. Mix up a hot cup of troublesome bottom bracket, a dead cell phone, heat index of 110 plus, (for any British readers, the plus here is humidity in the range of tropical areas, which adds to the misery of the heat) and an original plan to ride only gravel all the way back to Boone, and I had to reach the conclusion of riding the route to home. How, and who, would I call if I heat bonked or had a mechanical?
"911, what is your emergency?"
"I'm too hot...."
"Sir?"
"I'm too hot?"
"OK, so is everyone else in half of America. What is your location?"
"I'm riding my bike on a gravel road somewhere East of Carroll."
"Good luck with that sir. Have a nice day." Click/death/decay.
So I just rode along with the herd and took advantage of the food and beverage accommodations that come every 5 miles or so on RAGBRAI. I kid you not, I have never felt like I needed to drink water as much as I did on this last day. I drained my 3 litre Camelback, a 1 litre bottle, and several Gatorades. As I approached the infamous Twister Hill on the edge of Boone (so named because it was used in the filming of the movie Twister, and infamous because it is unrelentingly steep and long!) I thought it was going to be easy to get home. I resigned my pride and decided to walk the hill since my bottom bracket was crunching even on flat sections. I sat down at the top and had a couple of bottles of ice water from the family that was selling them in their yard. When I was done and thought I would be home in 15 minutes or so, I noticed that I had stopped sweating. Strange, I should be pouring out sweat today, hmm. Body shutting down perhaps? Pushing the envelope? NAHHH, I'm invincible, right? 45 is the new 20 man!
So it was back on the bike, take it slow, and just get home! And to my absolute delight, my wife and sons were waiting on the edge of town for me to come in. They had been sitting since mid-morning watching the droves of people come in, shouting out encouragement, and even helping with traffic control! There were some ice cubes in a cooler, which I held to my scorched melon and blissfully realized that I was home again. Ahhh, Boone Iowa. Home. Family. And as it so often goes, I said to myself, "I don't want to ever do that again!" only to realize 20 minutes later that I can't wait for next year. Keep your knees in the breeze! Later!

Monday, August 8, 2011

RAGBRAI-ish

Day two of my journey started out late by RAGBRAI standards. I got up at about 7:45 and made my way down the hill to the Wal-Mart Super Center that I had camped near. I saw this bike in front of the entrance. Must be a veteran rider with all of those wrist bands wrapped around the brake line!

Knowing the way out of town made getting going easy. I took the same sections of gravel and B road from Sunday. Passed this cool octagonal house again, so I took a picture this time.

B roads are plentiful down here, that's for sure. Flat sections, sections with corners, even up/downhill sections. And all dry and rideable. Smooth and quiet. Lucky dogs down there have it made. I often wonder if I am the first to track a road, B or otherwise, on a bike. Ever think about that?
This section was 3 miles long!Upon returning to gravel I began to see tire tracks. I could tell that many other people had chosen to get on the T Bone Trail and ride a little "off route" for the day. This was a great choice as the trail goes through many small towns as it tracks up to Audubon.I had a couple of other sight seeing targets to hit, and they were interesting in their own unique ways. The first was Plow In The Oak Park. The back story? A farm hand had been plowing a field, Civil War era mind you, and upon learning he had to go to war leaned his plow against a shed. A volunteer tree sprouted up and grew around the plow, eventually consuming it and continuing to grow. The shed collapsed and left the tree/plow for posterity. You would have to know your way around a horse drawn plow to recognize it today, but luckily some folks do, and made a park to go along with it.A little further up the road was Audubon. Home of Albert The Bull! He was freshly painted for the possibility of riders coming through, and I guess the tradition of signing your name on his balls must have been lost on the RAGBRAI crew. They were unmarked as far as I could tell. I just turned my head, coughed, and rolled on.I did stop at Casey's for some grub and a pop, and asked a guy if he was "from here" so I could make sure I was going to find my gravel connector out of town. So he says he's from Audubon, and I ask him if this road would take me to the county road blah blah, and then to Jay Avenue. "Oh I don't know the roads" he says. What the... what, you just know the way to Casey's and back home? Thanks for acknowledging that you were from Audubon moron! Anyways, I made it to Jay Avenue, and road a lot of rollers along the way. I went through 2 very small, let me repeat, VERY SMALL towns along the way. One looked like it might have had 30 people if everyone was home, and the other was about 50 or so. The second of these was Roselle. A small town with gravel roads leading in, and gravel roads leading out. Small. Yet despite its small stature, there was a gigantic Catholic church there. I could see it for miles.
The signage in the front of the church told of how the materials were taken to Halbur by rail, then transported by wagon to the site. It was very cool. Also, there was a tavern, Roselle Tavern, attached to a guy's house. Like he built an addition and called it Roselle Tavern. The OPEN sign was on, but I wasn't ready to slow down too long, so I boogied out of there.
My next three miles were very interesting, as a county crew was in the process of turning B road into gravel road, so I had to talk to the crew foreman about getting through their work area. Another occasion arose of someone suggesting that I was lost, and that RAGBRAI was way over there! Don't they realize that I choose to ride alone? Silly people! RAGBRAI is way too mundane for an adventurer! Another few miles and I landed in the town of Templeton. Home of Templeton Rye Whiskey! I was looking forward to this stop, as a tasting party had been arranged for this special day, and you never pass up a taste of the good stuff! Unless there are 300+ people waiting in line, in the sun, to get a taste of the good stuff! No Way! Eat, drink, leave in short order. Back on the chunk and I knew it was only a few miles to Swan Lake, where I planned to set up camp, swim in the lake for a while, then crash. Well, "$10.00 No Exceptions" just to tent camp didn't feel like a welcoming mood, so I took a dip in the lake in my riding gear and headed for Carroll. You know, scamming the overnight towns on the route so that I can ride gravel all day is a great deal, but charging $10.00 to put up my own quarters was a bust. I found a nice place on the grounds of a grade school and set everything up, dried out my kit, and went in search of more food! Greasy pizza was just the thing. Get a belly full of dough and cheese and you'll sleep like a baby. Now, a sense of normalcy overtook me, and realizing that I hadn't talked to wifey in two days I decided to call home. Pull out the cell, no service. Must be a dead spot, I thought, so I walked to the downtown area and tried again. "No Signal, Emergency Calls Only" in big bold letters. Nice. Come to find out there is NO AT&T service on the Highway 30 corridor. Great. Now what? Ahh yes, I'll find a payphone and call. So I got $3.00 worth of quarters and walked around trying to find a payphone. For 2 hours! Did you know that there is no such thing as a payphone anymore? Now you do. Alas, I was hanging out at the Walgreen's, and I saw a customer from work coming out the door. I begged the use of her phone, explaining the situation, and quickly called home. Turns out Kelli wasn't worried about me at all. Thanks Honey! What a day. About 65 miles of gravel/B road. As I lay there drifting off to sleep to the strange sounds of classic rock songs, sung in an 80s Hair Metal sound (strange is a mild term) I re-planned my final day for this year, and wisely so. But that will have to wait until next time! Later!


Friday, August 5, 2011

Lately

Long time since I posted any of my exploits. I just fell off the wagon for blogging I guess. Still been riding some good stuff lately though. I actually did two days of RAGBRAI, and a day of awesome gravel sight seeing. This year I traveled lighter than my last attempt. Ride smarter, not harder kind of thing. Still had a lot of stuff to tote around, but not a whole Burley full! 6 X 8 tarp, 12 feet of paracord, clips, shelter!

I was able to get a ride to the first overnight town, Atlantic, but had a wasted day on Sunday, since the "real" riders were coming into town that day. So I decided to ride free and aimlessly, yet fit in some landmarks. A little research and map study yielded two must- see destinations.


The first would be the legendary "Tree in the Road" just north of the interstate , South and East of Brayton. A few sketchy notes, a general idea of where it was, and I was off. Tons of real hills, not your central Iowa generics, but "real" hills down there! I stopped to chat with an old farmer and his wife, to be sure I was in the right area. They were boiling corn for canning, and told me that I must be lost if I was looking for RAGBRAI. They would be the first, but not the last, to suggest this. The man assured me that if I "went down to Mark Johnsons, turned right until I got to his hay field road, and just looked for it," I would find it! Oh, yeah, I know Mark Johnson of Nowhere, Iowa. Know right where he lives...
So the story on this tree goes like this. A surveyor was marking a spot between plots and stuck a Cottonwood twig in the ground to keep his place. He left it there and time took over. The roads grew around the tree, the tree grew around the roads, a couple of World Wars came and went, and now we have a very cool landmark. Even has a couple miles of smooth B road on the West approach.




From there I rode East by South to the site of the first train robbery in the West. On my journey I saw a crop duster flying over a corn field. Too bad the field was along the road I was riding, and I have no mites, chiggers,(or chegroes, as my dad always called them) weavels, gnats, root worms, grubs, or other undesirable hitch hikers on my person. I put my arms up in an X and motioned like a tomahawk chop that I would like to pass without having 2-4-D drift over me. He gave me a wing tilt to confirm, and took a dry pass as I booked down the road. That was cool. Silent communication. Upon reaching the paved road I needed to ride to get to my next stop, I stopped for a drink. A car pulled up to the stop sign and the driver told me that I was lost. If I recall his exact words, it went like "Shit Hoss, you're damn lost!" I assured him that I was in the right place, and he proceeded to tell me exactly how to get to where I already was, and called me Hoss about 10 more times. Nice guy though;)

So this was the spot where none other than Jesse James and his boys derailed a train, hoping to score $75000 in gold. They didn't know that the shipment was a day late, and stole $2000 cash from the people on the train instead. The engineer and stoker died of their injuries, and the guys went on gain infamy.
Got in about 60 miles of light touring, all gravel but about 4 miles of pavement and 3 of T Bone Trail, and tons of hills. I thought I had some rollers around home, but these are some rollers now! You know when you crest a nasty hill, and look down the other side, and the top of the next hill is higher than where you're sitting, you're on some rollers. Also, there are many subtle changes in gravel composition along the way. One county has chunky tan gravel, the next has nice pea gravel makeup, and another might have the hated white rock! "Never packed, always hungry for flesh, white rock. You're what's for breakfast."
Home after 9 hours of fun in the sun, showered and crashed. Saw this headstone along the way and had to have a picture. How about having that hanging over your head for eternity, mocking you with what you should have had more of! Kharma is indeed a bi#@%! Later!











Wednesday, June 22, 2011

The Down Low On The Down Low

Squirrel asked how I did this mod for my Schwinn cruiser, so I am putting up a brief explanation of how I did it. Actually, it came to me in a kind of accidental way. I had chopped a Huffy frame apart to make a door handle for my firewood box, and since I used only the headtube, I was looking at the rest of the frame and thought, "What else can I make from this?" So I just started dinking around with it, trying this and that. I kept thinking I wanted to make what would look like a girder fork. Then I "saw" what could be done, and in about 20 minutes had this roughed out and fitted, ready for a little paint, and wah frikkin lah! Low riding action was achieved. I put the double brakes on some time later, just as overkill. I only have this one pair of cruiser rims that have enough sidewall for brakes, so they're on it most of the time. I have a killer chrome set that looks nice with some old Goodrich tires too, just have to remember not to use the hand brakes:)

Top Tube, Seat Tube, Seatstay of Huffy donor.

Stem and bars go into seat tube.

Front wheel bolts on per normal location, then the rear dropouts bolt on to the outside of that.

Grab an old, sturdy front brake wire hanger, flip upside down, and bend the end to fit inside of the center of the top tube. I had to Dremmel out about an inch by inch and a half section of the tt to fit the hanger.

Lastly, to strengthen everything up, I pounded a star nut into the tt section, ran a bolt down to it, and cranked it down. Did exactly what I needed it to. Stayed tight over the years too. The only problem I have had is sometimes the stem wants to twist inside the seat tube. I could section a small piece of seat post and re-do that, easy fix. Or hit it with a weld or two, but then it wouldn't be all bolt on, now would it?


To get the seat back and low I simply left the seat post in the clamps, slid it between the top of the seat stays, (wedging the end point of the seat rails around the collar of the seat tube) and made a little block of wood into a spacer to line up with the angle of the seat tube. Finish with a stainless clamp for some extra security, and you're ready to ride!

What else? I would not cut tubes until you get a good feel for how long they need to be to line up. You can always cut more off, you can't cut more on! The whole reason I had to use the star nut was that I cut the tube a little too short to just go straight down through the tube with a bolt. But you know, I think that part is the stealthiest part of the whole mod, so whatever! That's the art of "ratting" on something. If you mess up, fart around until you make something work, right? Later!




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Tuesday, June 21, 2011

My Own Solo World Championship

I was thinking today, on a ride, that I might try a shot at riding my 26 mile gravel route for 12 hours, just to get a feel for long distance gravel. The loop is loaded with rollers, a few decent hills that are poorly placed (right after some rollers), and great views of Boone Couny, Iowa. I'm thinking a 6 am to 6 pm time frame, get some grub at Casey's or Hy Vee, and loop it as much as I can. I wouldn't mind using my light, so maybe a 6pm start to a 6am finish would be better. Sometime in September perhaps.
Also, I got more gear for Father's Day gifts which will enable me to do some recreational homelessness. A self-inflating sleeping pad, a camping pillow, and a sleeping bag (rated to zero degrees) Add these to my arsenal and I will be out in the wild for weeks!

Friday, June 10, 2011

And Now For Something Completely Different


Just when I think that we're somewhat insulated from cool stuff, I read this article about, uh, something cool! Bike Iowa had a story about a miniature velodrome being built at ISU by a group of students and their mentors. If you've been around Iowa MTB racing and 'Cross you know Jason Alread. He's part of the leadership on the project. Along for the ride is Kim West, aka Grandpa Kim, aka El Diablo, aka the other bike guy with a white Volvo wagon:) They have a blog set up for it at www.cyclodrome.blogspot.com so check it out, and keep an eye on this. It will be cool! I knew there was a reason I have 9 fixed gear bikes. Later!

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Meanwhile, Back At The Louvre



This is a preview, exclusive to you, of a cartoonish statement I will be sending in for publication in next week's 'Toons cartoon weekly, published by the renowned gentleman, Mr. Rick Lem. I think it says a lot about LA and his pathological lying about what I believe to be an inescapable truth, the guy cheated like all of the people he "beat" in the TdF. I don't really have a problem with all of the top riders cheating, it doesn't impress me or bother me either way. But to continue to deny that he cheated, that is a problem I have with the whole mess. And, it's not even a problem really, just wish he would say, "Yes, I cheated, here's how it went down." Surrounded by a team of lawyers, he spills his guts, and all is forgotten.


This cheeseball graphic I made shows what I think he could have done to cheat, while technically maintaining a stance that he never cheated or failed a drug test in his career. OK, so NO dissing him for fighting through cancer. I would never say anything bad about the guy for his efforts to help others with their struggles. Bravo to him, in fact. Likewise, I will not make fun of the fact that he lost a testicle during his fight. Again, not making fun of that!
Lets say that he was a really promising cyclist before cancer nearly killed him. I give him all props for training hard, racing with passion, and laying the wood down on the best in the world. So he loses a part of him that produces testosterone. I personally have two such glands, nothing out of the ordinary about them as far as I know. Now let's keep going down this road. Say I produce a T level of 4 on some scale of averages. Maybe you, if you're a man, produce a 4 too. So, in a sport where it's shadowy as to what cheating even means, the rule makers say that you could, maybe, if you're a stud, make a level of 6 before they would look at you as a cheater. OK, I want to play the game at the highest level possible so I am going to find a way to kick ass! I get a simple topical creme and apply it to my skin, and suddenly I can ride all day at a crazy level. Levels I thought unattainable now come with ease. Going from a "normal" 4, to a "still under the limit" 6, is a 33% gain. I'm crushing it dude!
Now the unthinkable happens. I lose half of my T production crew, and now I only make a 2 level:( But wait, let me continue to train, harder than ever, and see if my fitness will remain high. Ride, ride, rest, ride harder, rest....yep, it's working. I am maintaining a world class fitness level through hard work and good nutrition. Yes! Still, that 33% boost was pretty nice. Maybe I could get back to a T4 if I go back to the creme. What's that? Now I can get a 66% boost from my current level and still be under the T6 limit?! Awesome, I'll train even harder than before, do my extra 33% shot over what all the other guys can do, and still not be braking the "rules."
I know, I'm no scientist, but it seems possible to me that this could be a way to cut around the rules and get away with it. Landis must not have read the script on the day he put on the patch. Too strong of a shot there chief. Busted! EPO/ don't need it if you dose your T correctly. Wishful thinking, but maybe someday all of it will be known for certain. I just have doubts that it will. See ya!

Friday, May 20, 2011

He's Toast


Well, it looks more and more like Lancey-pants is going to go down in history as a cheating liar! And that's a good thing! As if Sunday's impending 60 Minutes interview with Tyler Hamilton wouldn't be enough of a bummer for the guy, now Gorgeous George is "coming clean" too! BOOM! goes the dynamite! I do believe that Roberto Heras is the only former Postie to not sing yet. Him and Johan. Maybe soon we'll hear from him too? And I wonder what Sheryl Crow knows?
I'm trying to work out a reasonable mathematical explanation of how I think a guy with only half of the testosterone production of a normal man could use his condition to cheat. As soon as I think it makes sense, I'll post my theory. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, "So Lance, what do you make of all this 'doomsday is here' talk that is going around?" Later!

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Low Riding The HTT

A pair of ratty classics.



As a treat to myself, I used one of my last two "kid-free" days off to go for a bike trail ride. Last week I did a single speed gravel grinder and it was good, but I need variety these days. So I dug out my most outrageous bike, the Schwinn I call Hardley, and made a run for the Madrid start.


This bike is somewhat of an attention getter, as it is old, has white fatties on it, and a very, Very, VERY low riding position. It's chopped only in the sense that the seat post is outside the seat tube, and the bars are lower than the top tube. LOW my friends. But I have to say, it's no problem to ride it for long distances as long as you don't try to mash the pedals. Just turn big circles and enjoy the scenery. Well, I stopped on the observation platform to observe, duh, and this guy and his buddies started going apeshiznits over the bike. Like over the top crazy ape shizzle! Well, sure enough, one of them wanted to ride it, and he said it was "the coolest damn bike I've ever seen!" I felt a little proud just explaining the easy mods I had done to it. They were still scratching their heads as I rode away, trying to figure out from the pictures they took just exactly what I was riding.
A few pictures tell what my words cannot. This trail is so cool. Come and ride it sometime and you'll understand. Until then, Keep It Real! Later!