Burlington Earth Clock on the quiet ride home.
Still 2
Still
Quiet lake. Quiet ride. No grand route, nor an epic tale, just an everyday adventure near town. Gray and cool. Mind and legs slow to adjust to the changes in season, weather, temperature. Body wants to eat sweets and hearty food, then sleep sleep sleep. Time to sit in front of the full spectrum lamp.
Thursday Night
Beers, homemade chili, bike talk, and testing my homebrew free motion rollers. The things I get to do when the wife and little one leave me home alone for a week.
Some video of the rollers in action, with Jim riding no hands and dropping the hammer to sprint.
Photos and video courtesy of Patrick.
Sand
Explored near home this afternoon after working this morning. Took a quick post lunch ride to check out a stretch of beach on lake Champlain. Part 1 turned into hike a bike over driftwood and through some boggy marshy reeds so I climbed out and tested the fat tires at North Beach. Firm and semi loose sand was no problem – but the pea gravel like mush didn’t like the bike nor the bike shoes very much.
Huffy
Met the boys for an early cruise out to the causeway and was finally able to check out Patrick’s new ride in person. Its been a loooong time coming. 650b Hufnagel rando specific frame. Integrated decaleur, custom front rack, wire loops for the Edelux, fender mounts to the inside of the fork and frame. Currently running as fixed / single speed, but can take gears. Matching fenders will make an appearance when the weather threatens. Beautiful.
Sticky and Slow – the Tale of a Star Nut, Fat Tires, and a Sealed Bearing Race Stuck in a Hub.
I know larger tires work against you when comparing rolling resistance, gear calculations, and overall effort… but since putting on the Kenda Nevegals I’ve felt like I’ve been riding with both front and rear brakes dragging. Sure, they certainly are not the 28s I ride on the IF, nor the 35s I used to ride on the CrossCheck, nor even the 42s I started with on the Soma…
This morning I heard a chirping sound. Damn! I was dragging a brake. Cool. I can fix that. Except that even with the brakes wide open I still heard it. Then I spun the rear wheel by hand. I made it about 1/4 revolution before stopping. Bearings must be mal-adjusted. Picked up the appropriate sized cone wrenches, spun off the single speed side, and loosened. Nope. Bearings were shot.
Off to the internet. Plenty of instructions on removing sealed bearings from Surly hubs. These have served me for 3 winters… rain, snow, salt, dirt roads – pretty much everything. Pulled the axle. Tap tapped the bearing as instructed in lieu of a fancy bearing puller. The innards popped out and I now have a collection of tiny steel balls rolling around on the garage floor.
Which leaves the problem of how to get a sealed bearing race out of a hub shell. Dirt Rag provided the answer. I opted to not hammer the star nut from the opposite side, and instead applied a bit of finesse (in short supply at this moment in my caveman actions thus far) with a bolt and socket. Success. Now to wait for some new bearings – and to let the LBS pull the opposite side.
WIP Update
The Juice is coming along. Front wheel ready for disc brakes, bar padded and taped, levers pretty close to finalized. Steerer tube cut to length. Gearing will be an ongoing challenge. Adding those fat tires certainly changed things – it takes some muscle to get them moving.
Young Pedaler
My brother found this image of me while rummaging at the homestead. While I do have a crush on specific BMW all road motorcycles, I’m glad my two wheeled fun revolves around the pedal variety.
Time Shift
Morning sun comes a bit earlier now with the fall back in time… which means I can actually see the woods I’m riding on one of my morning loops.
3 Covered Bridges
~56 miles, some favorite quiet dirt roads, 3 covered bridges, a great stop at the Red Brick Store, and met with the wife, little one, and extended family in town for lunch at the park.
