Simple City Ride

For whom the Bell tolls.
Full Moon Lite so Brite, tonite.
Simple City Ride.

patience..

My lonely parts now have a common soul.

The Superfly SS Frameset arrived last Friday!

So why isn't it built yet!?

No excuse. but the brakes and crankset are not here yet. Perhaps other bikes should give so a new one can enter the fold? Well, was going to, but sometimes you can only do so much. Brakes should be here this coming week, and I have scrounged up a crankset assuming the BB will work.

working on my truck. again.

Okay. So really about a month or so ago, it was time to deal with my lack of quality park brake action on my truck. With the help of my friend James, it was determined the root was from old, sticky, corroded brake cables & housing. (sound familiar with your left out in the elements v-brake and canti-brake systems with lacking response?) The solution, new park brake cables... which go into the rear drum brakes... which means overhauling the rear drum brakes. Simple says James.

Well, simple was true, but as usual with unfamiliar system repairs; time was involved. Think about installing bicycle shift cables and derailleur adjustment.. for your first time.

The drum brake rebuild kits included instructions.
Here they are in all their simpleness:
Note that the instructions are multi-lingual. That's right. Not even a full page to instruct how to overhaul your drum brakes. Pictures are worth a thousand words, but really, it was a little more involved than the instructions suggest.

Oh wait. Here's another instruction sheet. Oh, never mind. It's just a warning to remind you to replace this particular part.. properly.

Is it any wonder there were parts left over?! Even after replacing all the parts in my drum brakes and installing the new cables?!


Alas, though, I can once again park safely on inclines; and without applying chalk blocks. (Thanks once again for your help, James.)

peanut butter baddness

No. Not talking about bad as in 'Who's Bad?' I'm talking about the peanut butter related products recall going on with this tainted peanut butter issue going down.

Seeing a report about possible effected / recalled peanut butter associated Cliff Bars (click Here for more), I remembered, "Oh yeah, i've got some cliff bars in my pantry."

Maybe I should eat them more often. Two of the three Chocolate Chip Peanut Crunch were past expiration / best-buy-date while the third was not in the date range for the tainted peanut butter recall. Well, as Meatloaf says, " two out of three ain't bad." Seriously, the packages aren't bloated (a lesson I learned in identifying bad MRE's) so the 'expired' are probably still okay?

Sad to say, my friend Laura, aka: Michigan, did not fair as well as I did. Click the link to read her blog post and tainted peanut butter experience.

Oddly enough, though, it was most likely Salmonella that kept me from turning into a tubby mc'tubberton. My Junior(?) year of high school (go Ralston Rams), as I was starting to get pudgy around the mid section, I got a bad case of food poisoning. After a weekend in the bathroom, I ended up in the hospital with a check-in weight of under 100 lbs, having previously weighed around 130-140 lbs. The IV needle they stuck in my hand was gauged big enough for blood transfusion just in case. Well, after not quite literally dieing, the fat never came back, and a few years later, Uncle Sam pitched in with adding weight via muscle mass. I've been active, healthy, and lean ever since.

But I digress. Who's bad? the Ultimate Michael Jackson Tribute Band. That's who.


Well... that is unless you're "who's fat?" (sorry. embedding was disabled but you can search video google 'who's fat Weird Al' yourself.) In the process, though, I found the McDonald's Rap.



Kind of reminds me of Lazy Sundays. That was 'bad.'

Dave the Destroyer

Today was not an ordinary day at the shop (East Coasters) for the Forest Leprechaun.

Today... behold... an appearance from 'Dave the Destroyer!'

-insert smoke, explosions, fire, and rabbit from 'Search for the Holy Grail.'-



Recent remodeling at the store has brought about a certain 'Clampettiness' appearance behind the shop. If you aren't familiar with 'Clampetty,' think Beverly Hillbillies and your redneck neighbors with junk out back.

Today, 'piles to the left and piles to the right' did not leave me 'stuck in the middle again.' Instead, Dave the Destroyer was unleashed! He called upon his friends 'Hammer' and 'Big A$$ Screwdriver' while keeping tabs on the whereabouts of 'SawsAll' should things really get nasty.

Well, the 'broom sweeping' commenced. Although, 'SawsAll' was never called into the fray, his assistant 'Hacksaw Bob' made a brief appearance. One of the young ladies from next door even added joined in with some 'Office Space' style kicking! (she said it felt Gooood.)

The result... a much more tidy appearance. Sure there's a few large pieces of plywood, but nothing our friend 'SkillSaw' can't overcome during the sequel and final chapter.

It's a much more tidy world. Thank you, Dave the Destroyer.


btw. Here's a pic of someone claiming to be Dave the Destroyer. Well, perhaps there may be a second Dave the Destroyer out there. Boccie is pretty tough...

Lonely Parts

Sigh. originally projected in Jan. Now possibly March. My parts are lonely and want to be grouped together.

Notably missing... disc brakes (front & rear) and crank set.

Road Bike Sickness?

dave was horribly sick w/ sinus congestion last Tuesday. So much so, he went home from work (shortly after arriving) and slept most of the rest of the day.

(dave's currently feeling better than like his head is full of bread dough and is progressing along gently.)

Let's see. what has been out of the norm of late that might have contributed to this ill filling... ummm I road my road bike for the first time in quite a while last Sunday.

Perhaps I truly am a dirt minded rider. Like that is any stretch of thought.

it's january.. time for the road bike

Yup. Dusted off the road bike. It's officially january. Taking it easy while getting in some miles.. an maybe some more miles... and maybe some more miles... and climbing.

No Frank this year to co-conspire me out in freezing weather. - Frank is still around, just on different schedules since changing jobs. - Besides, didn't take long last year for Frank to amp up into zone whatever and leave me in the cold windy dust. Guess I'll just have to inspire myself.

Inspire is just what I did today. Couldn't pass up the 50 degree weather. It was supposed to be raining today; so I hadn't plan to ride. 3pm saw no rain in site and me outside on my Serotta Nove. Always so pleased how smooth that bicycle is!

Saving grace this year... as a member of the Roanoke Valley Mountain Bike Patrol, I'll be doing at least one mountain bike ride a week on Mill Mountain.

Honest Tea and Magic Hat

"Unless someone like you cares a whole lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not." -- 'The Lorax' - Dr. Seuss

"There is more to life than increasing its speed." -- Gandhi

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world." -- Gandhi

"If you think you are too small to have an impact, try going to bed with a mosquito in the room." -- Bette Reese

"Minds awaken on roads less taken."

delinquent blogging

one post a month? man have i been slow to blog of late.

i've been slow on the bike as well. still riding regularly until the sudden frigid temps hit. (what the heck happened to fall?!) its like i just stalled out in rock garden and am standing there in a daze.

now, seemingly all of a sudden, its just shy of december.

maybe december is coming just in time. post cyclocross season means relaxed riding. time to sift through the cold weather gear and keep that fresh air coming in and sunshine in my eyes.

my new bell!

nope... not me.

I am not a pilgrim... perhaps you should have taken some water.

Last Sunday, I staffed a water spot near the top of the Poor Mountain Hill Climb.



A racer commented on the way back down... after rest... "what's with the outfit?"
"I'm the Forest Leprechaun."

"I thought you were a pilgrim. Didn't you have a pilgrim hat?"

clearly... he needed the water when he passed my oasis on the way up the hill.

stale weeks...

Blahhhhh. like hard bread found in your pantry.

life should be more delicious... like a crumpet w/ honey or maple syrup or nutella.

alas... life is what we make it.

just in case

Just in case the Goonies post isn't good enough for you.

Here are some clips I found while making the Goonies blog post:

Office Warfare... it's a good one.. I'd like to think of myself as the guy on the couch sipping his coffee amidst all the chaos.




Crickets Chirping... 2 minutes worth.. really - i'm warning you... don't do it:

sometimes... i'm just different

A bit ago, we were talking about something in the shop when 'Capt'n Slappy and the Crawfish Daddies - Born from the eye of the Hurricane' came up as a good band name (by me).

"That's better than this band I saw named 'Sloth loves Chunk.' Who ever heard of a name like that?!" said someone else.

Pause ... silence...

Pause... silence.... some more.

(crickets chirp)

"Uh, the Goonies?" I replied.

Everyone just looked at me with blank eyes.... very blank eyes.

"The Goonies? The movie from the 80's. Chunk and Sloth were key characters? Theme song by Cyndi Lauper? Bunch of kid's get together before their low rent side of town becomes a golf course, and they stumble through an adventure that leads to hidden pirate treasure!?

Still the blank eyes.

Um. yeah. Goonies.... They're Good Enough for Me.

Cindy Lauper - Goonies (Uncut) -
by Sunskynet

Check out the trailer..



pause...

silence...

Thank you, Mr. Steven Spielberg. Another cult classic... Good Enough for me and for midnight showings at a local theatre near you.

Last day of Summer and First day of Autumn

How quickly the time goes by.

Sunday was the last day of Summer. I spent it in true lazy summer day fashion... doing much of nothing, but different than the day before. no really, i did much of nothing including sleeping in and later taking a nap.

Monday (a day off for me) just happened to coincide w/ the first day of Fall. I started welcoming the new season by 'falling' back to sleep after the alarm clock went off. Aside from the usual Monday errands, i squeezed in a welcome mountain bike ride.

It's been a long while since riding at the 'cove.' Initial plan was a lazy ride on the lowers, maybe an hour or so. Must have been feeling good with the first day of autumn. two and a half hours after starting, I had covered just shy of 25 miles and finally got to see the carvins cove bears.

yup. after more than a year of hearing about others seeing bears at the cove, I finally got to see them myself. it's funny, i have a long history of spending time in the woods and up until now, have only seen one bear in the wild. Today, I got a double sighting. Just after the four way intersection and heading down lower comet, i saw something moving off to my right and then something smaller to my left. Then the the object to the right stood up. No mistaking that blackish brown fur with a chocolate snout staring me in the eyes from a short distance. Meanwhile, the smaller object on my left had hidden behind a tree and was lowering itself towards the ground while spying me as best it could. Calmly, drifting between the two as i soft pedaled along the trail, i checked the surrounding area to make sure there weren't any others I needed to give berth. With one last look over my shoulder, I bid them a silent goodbye and wished them well.

flat tires and full moons

hmph. now that i've typed it, that title could go just about anywhere.

so, here it goes.

why i waited so late (18:15) to start my ride on my day off, i'll never know. none the less, there I was just past greenhill park and into the slow uphill on habourwood going for the long route towards wildwood. hmmm. the front seems a little sluggish. cause it's Flat!

a young lady pulls over to ask if i'm okay. sure, just changing a flat tire. Duh! why didn't i introduce myself and ask for a ride home! maybe next time.

now, i'm no Bo and Luke Duke but i'm no slow poke changing a flat either. none the less there i was committed to a longer route and burning daylight. hmm. looks like the training ride is gonna get amped.

so off i went like Rosco P. Coletrain was on my tail and my musette bag was full of moonshine. head down and givin' it all got. (sometimes, that's just a little bit more than the law will allow... but no running red lights. i did push an orange light, though near the Kroger distribution center.) back on river road, i lift my eyes a bit a catch a glimpse.. of a full moon (the astronomical type) in a soft reddish orange colour. Well, if it hadn't been for the flat, I might not have seen such a pretty collage of colour in the dusk sky!

so what was i doing out on my road bike pushing my heart rate in the first place you ask!? well, let's just say that my cyclocross bike is no longer in the back of my pile of bicycles.

(who is that coming out of the trees and over hill?)

on the inside

Does anybody know where I can get some packing tape?

Oh. Here's some.


But this packing tape might be better.


It's amazing what can be found on google... or at a High School art show in our own C'ville, Virginia... circa 2006

notes of interest this week

Hmm. where to begin.

So much of it happened on the same day.

Monday: I tried to pay a traffic ticket at the courthouse; one week after getting the ticket. They asked me to come back and pay later as my ticket had not be processed yet and were unable to accept my payment at that time... despite at least 3 places on my copy of the ticket urging me,the recipient, to address the matter promptly. sigh.
- also saw an old 'Elvis' at Roanoke Electric Zupply.

(This is one of the results from Google Image Searching for 'Promptly.' Get to the search engine... yah!)

Tuesday - Wednesday - Thursday : it rained and i worked.

Friday: The sun came out to play. Again at Roanoke Electric Zupply, I saw a 3 legged cat and the same old Elvis. (no, he doesn't work there. he was a customer.) Elvis sighting twice in the same week? Well, it was also Michael Jackson's 50th birthday. ( I am old enough to have seen the MTV world premier of 'Thriller' video.)

Not the same cat, but you get the idea. it's kind of like.. something's not quite right. where's the fourth leg? -- if only I could have found an image of Michael Jackson holding a 3 legged cat standing next to Elvis.

Saturday: i worked and replaced my first ballast in an overhead light fixture... without shocking myself or falling of the ladder ;-)

My own overdue poetry

I wrote this poem in May 2007, shortly after I purchased my Gary Fisher Triton Fix-gear bike. At the time, the Triton became my 5th bike.


N + 1
can you really have too many

N + 1
whose fault is it really

N + 1
when does it become an obsession

N + 1
or is it just your pursuit of passion

N + 1
road, mountain, townie, just to name a few

N + 1
each one fufilling dreams unto me or you

- dave

I'm currently up to 6 different types of bikes with 2 duplicates for a total of 8. (this doesn't count the 2 projects waiting to be finished some day.)