Nov 29, 2013
Dust Mite inspects a worn-through Nomad (3200 miles, roughly, for a rear tire.)
—orc Fri Nov 29 21:27:09 2013
Nov 27, 2013
Well, of the yesterday – I took this photo when I was on my way back from Vancouver after having a couple of exploding molars extracted (the long-term plan is to have implants put in, but that’s going to run me about $5000 (because (a) it’s only 50% covered on my dental plan, and (b) the dental plan tops out at $1200 or $1700, depending on which document you look at) and those 75 racks are going to be used to pay for things like fixing the squirrel door in our roof.
—orc Wed Nov 27 23:51:03 2013
Nov 24, 2013
A P&W geep sits in the yard by Knife River’s Linnton plant.
—orc Sun Nov 24 22:35:08 2013
Nov 23, 2013
It’s not visible, but the Confreries on the born-again Trek are now installed sans inner tubes. I have not had a chance to do a serious ride (for not wanting to have the tire spontaneously deflate 30 miles away from the nearest bike shop) but my initial impressions (over a couple of 1-5 mile loops) are that the good parts of the ride are doubled with no negative side-effects aside from worrying that the wheel will suddenly disassemble on me.
This is not an experiment that I’d recommend to someone who isn’t willing to spend a lot of time tinkering with their bicycle, because
- the beads on the Confreries stretch under load – I’ve got 700d cr-18 rims on this bicycle (which are too big for basically every other tire I’ve used) and when I push the tire pressure up to ~3.5 bar the tire stretches to latch itself onto the rim, and subsequently are easy to mount by hand on these oversized rims. If I was to use them on actual 650b rims, I would have to use a tubeless ready rim and maybe also use glue/rubber cement to seal the rims to the tires.
- the sidewalls are more porous that I’d like; so far every day I’ve come down in the morning to a pair of flat tires. They’re probably good for 4 hours before needing to pump the tires back to ~3.5 bar again, which means that they might not work for absent-minded randonneuring. Maybe a few weeks will see enough sealant soaking into the sidewalls to keep the things from gradually deflating every night.
But, damn, so far they seem to ride so ridiculously fast and smoothly they should be classified as an addictive drug.
—orc Sat Nov 23 16:06:41 2013
Nov 22, 2013
Silas after a stop at Voodoo Donuts on the way home from school.
—orc Fri Nov 22 19:03:28 2013
Nov 21, 2013
Nov 16, 2013
Sure, it’s got the ob-leather saddle, and yes it’s got handlebars with rando hunchback, but the aluminum frame, pink fenders, caliper brakes, and 12-13cm saddle to bar drop are not the sort of thing you’re likely to see on a 650b bicycle out on the line. And you can’t see it, but it doesn’t have a low-trail fork either.
It’s perfectly comfy out to 200k (it’s too late and rainy in the season for 300+k; I already have to wake up early in the morning and hustle to get back before dusk starts creeping in, and the lure of spending 12-15 hours in a relentless freezing drizzle has lost some of its appeal) and if the frame doesn’t shatter it’s going to be put in service for longer rides come springtime.
—orc Sat Nov 16 21:13:44 2013
Nov 15, 2013
I had an old Avenir 3-watt dynamo light floating around the basement that I wanted to wire onto the born-again Trek so I could ride it on winter brevets. This headlight had one problem with it; it was in a case that mounted from the bottom, which meant that if I was going to use it I’d have to braze a hanger onto the born-again Trek’s front rack.
Well, that wouldn’t do.
So I cut the optics out of the old case and recased them in a new case that I made from a pillbottle, silicone paste, and parts from my workbench. This is not a permanent solution; In the long run I’m going to glue up a carbon-fiber headlight casing (along with the carbon fiber fenders that I need to make for the born-again Trek and the GT) but until I can float $120-200 on spec this will be the solution I will use. If it was ugly it would bother me, but it’s functionally attractive as it sits, so the limiting factor will be if it vibrates apart on brevets.
—orc Fri Nov 15 19:18:59 2013
Nov 10, 2013
The last segment of the Springwater Trail (from Rugg Road to Boring (all in Clackamas County) has been paved. It’s not officially open yet, but that doesn’t appear to be stopping people (and horses, and bicycles) from using this nice newly improved route.
—orc Sun Nov 10 22:33:22 2013
Nov 09, 2013
It’s fruitcake season, and the first step is to candy a couple of etrogs (buddhahand citron work too, but etrogs are easier to clean and cut into pieces) which I did this evening instead of getting ready to ride up to Ripplebrook again (the weather forecast is better for sunday than saturday, so I might just loop up to Sauvie Island tomorrow and see if the Confreries + Berthoud on the born-again Trek get me down under my magic 4 hour mark.)
—orc Sat Nov 9 01:01:45 2013
Nov 08, 2013
Whiskey you’re the devil (whisky, brandy & other eaux de vie also qualify in this category)
—orc Fri Nov 8 23:11:01 2013
Nov 07, 2013
Ricoh has a christmas promotion where you can order custom-colored Pentax cameras for the holiday season. I don’t think I’ll get one (it costs money, which we don’t have) but it’s fun to fire up their modeling website and pick harmonious color schemes for the cameras.
—orc Thu Nov 7 17:06:02 2013
Nov 05, 2013
(Sitting in the ornamental maple in our front yard. Big, isn’t it?)
—orc Tue Nov 5 19:53:35 2013
Nov 02, 2013
I was riding up to Sauvie Island this afternoon for a quick 110k populaire, and as I approached the St Johns Bridge (on highway 30) I caught up to and passed the Willamette & Pacific geep doing some sort of switching.
I didn’t stop, and the sun was shining into the rear display of the camera, so the photo ended up being more exciting than they usually do.
—orc Sat Nov 2 19:58:42 2013
Nov 01, 2013
It’s Halloween, or something like that.
—orc Fri Nov 1 22:21:34 2013
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