State Of Clear

I recall from a pseudoscience class that L. Ron Hubbard claimed if you follow Dianetics you can reach a state of clear and see all your past lifetimes. Well I don't know about that, but I thought clear would be nice.







This bike started out life in the early '70s as a 27" Roberts touring bike. When I got it, it had cantilever brakes and a ton of rust. It was a beautiful British racing green color with decent Roberts decals which I'm a bit fond of.

The problem was that I really wanted to be able to swap wheels around and the brakes were in the wrong place for 700c wheels. I suppose this was like a 650b conversion but bigger.

I tried to get Dr. Boxer to take his torch to the bike and do a bunch of braze-on moving, but he's too busy, so I got out the dremel and some cutting wheels and grinding stones and had at it. That's kind of rando, no? I'm actually glad that Dan was too busy to fit this in because it means people are jumping on new Boxer bikes. You should sign up for yours before he has really long wait list, no?

Anyway, once I hacked off the canti studs, I knew I'd be in for a repaint. Seattle Powder Coat blasted the frame clean and put on a nice gloss clear coat for $150 plus tax. It would cost $25 less if I didn't have them mask the chrome dropouts. When I left the bike, I thought it was pretty likely they would call and say they blasted through the frame because it was so rusty; I had that happen with a Paramount track bike on high school.

I fit in some big fat studded tires and went on a run to the coffee shop today. It rides great. It has a huge wheelbase, and some very very slack angles.



I like the way it turned out.

Munchkinhead likes it, but she's just silly.

Wheel Building 101

Greg decided that it's about time he made up a fixed commuter bike. As part of a highly negotiated deal, I ended up with another Brooks saddle and a promise to put together his wheel.

Lizzie was all done moving the barbells up to the attic, so I put her to work.

Seriously, though, I am so proud of her. I showed her the pattern, and she put all the spokes in the hub for me. She also put the first couple of sets of spokes through the rim before she went back to her regularly scheduled pomegranate munching.

Three Rivers Cruise 200K. With Bonus Tooth Fairy

Munchkinhead is in on the secret of the Tooth Fairy's identity; she thinks it's pretty cool since most of her friends don't yet know. She was out collecting rando food last night.

Beautiful ride today. Started at the civilized hour of 8:00. Thanks Don!







My burrito, on the left, with a food-like-substance wasn't as cool as the other which was carried in.



These were on the counter at the same gas station with the burrito-like product. There is definitely a Craig Ferguson joke here involving Hollywood Boulevard.





Surprise! Greg's way ahead and on his crackberry at the control.



Great day, gang.

Now let's play "That's Rando!"

An excellent group of competitors today. This color coordinated bungee ensemble is both stylish and practical. However, this contestant was removed from the competition when it came to the judges' attention that he received professional clothing consultation on his socks from an actual bike shop.



This sporty Look had a multi-tiered laminated fender structure that would make Jaja proud. The photo isn't so good, but if you look closely, you will see eight - count 'em, eight -- stays supporting the structure. These aerospace grade rivets would make the harshest FAA inspector proud. Clearly someone has CATIA 6 and finite element models of this beauty. Notice the clean lines at the joint which must have been made with some kind of a cutting tool.

Ruling: Too nice.







Now, I have spent many miles studying the next loose assemblage of fender parts, and it was a contender for today's prize. In contrast to the entry above, time was not wasted to actually cut the extension; why bother when simply tearing off a jagged chunk of fender is so much quicker?

It's got some serious elements -- color matched zip tie, duct tape, electrical tape, and inverted old bottle flap.

Sadly, the ruling: Too sloppy.





Now, this wing nut mudflap fitting is just right.

As Python would say it is like a stream of bat's piss. It shines out like a shaft of gold when all around is dark.

Today's winner. Well played. Simple. Elegant. Functional. Rando.

Trail-a-Bike

Munchkinhead and I went to the pumpkin patch and BikeWorks. Then we did a trail-a-bike ride to Starbucks today. Not the worst day ever.

The Eleven Year Old Bullet Belt

So John and I decided to ride permanent 531 today. You basically ride all over the place for 200k. You start on Mercer Island, roll around Lake Sammamish and then go south to Renton, past the salt mine, down to Orting, up to Seattle, and then do a victory lap around Mercer Island.



I've been getting over a cold, and I really wanted to get my R-12 on, so to speak, but there was no way I was going to play with the big boys in the hills today, so the flattest ride that starts closest to my house was on the play list.



We did this ride two times last winter, and I remember walking in snow and ice on one ride as well as sucking it up in dumping rain on the other ride. Today was crisp (couldn't resist) but clear.

Every time I've ridden within 10 miles of Orting, I get yelled at; I expected today to be no different. Last time I pulled into the Safeway in Orting, the local soccer club hit me up for a donation. No, I'm not going to donate since your dad just tried to hit me with the mirror of his truck and your sister just called me a "teenage mutant ninja turtle." Yelling at me keeps my donations to a minimum; call me crazy.

But today, not one person yelled at us. However, there were three kids, about eleven, doing their best to be tough hanging out at Safeway. I'm not sure if they were playing grunge-death metal-goth-skinhead-hipsters, but I suspect they are not going to be running for higher office any time soon. The best bit was that one of them was playing with a bandolier of very real looking bullets which he wore as a belt when it was time to leave.

That's just not going to end well.

The contrast with the QFC on Mercer Island was pretty severe. Sure, the kids on Mercer Island are more likely to bring down the next Lehman Brothers, but they appear one heck of a lot less disturbed.

We met one other disturbed person as the Seahawks game got out. We timed our ride past the stadium perfectly.

After she smacked and punched her I'm-guessing-by-now-ex-boyfriend in front of three cops, they gave her the chance to walk away many many times. But no, she thought it would be a great idea to pick a fight with the cops. I doubt it ended well for her, but at least she didn't have a bullet belt.





Let's play "That's Rando!"

Sadly, no contestants had anything sufficiently rando today. However, the judges of "That's Rando!" have awarded this entry from the SIR road clean up as this weekend's winner. Congratulations, mystery winner!

Baby Blue Baby

Well I finally got around to finishing up the Luigino. I took all the parts off a Cinelli that is now for sale. I went sort of old school...well at least all aluminum. It's a keeper.

Before:


After:








Munchkinhead approves:

Hamburg Cycle Chic

So I spent last week in Hamburg. I had a pretty nasty cold, but I still had a chance to walk around a fair amount. This was the most bike-friendly city I have been in other than Amsterdam. I'm talking real transportation. The downtown sporting goods store had a bigger section of lights, bags, fenders, baskets and other utilitarian gear than just about any shop I have been in.

The little bike above marked one of the ubiquitous bike lanes.

Oh, and the locals look pretty chic as they putter around on those bike lanes.

I took these shots in just a few minutes around rush hour in the heart of town.
























I think there may have been guys on bikes too. I don't recall them, but there appears to be a guy on a bike in this shot of the dedicated bike lane lights.



This cool bike may even be piloted by a guy:



Functional.

I'm pretty sure if you are reading this blog, you already know about the inspiration for this post, but just in case you don't know the master, click here.