The best day.

There were two really ... both friday afternoons this fall - when kindergarten got done. One we went to the Stowe bike path and the other to Lake Champlain with Brad Powell. Brad took this picture on our way back from riding the causeway then a little apple tour, birdhouse land, miniture castles and the winery. Where Hazel said "they're not gonna give me wine are they?.. How about if I drink it outside?" Oh and we went to the fish hatchery but only saw a brown bunny. And the bike has brought such magic for being such a clunker. A Columbia Twosome from Westfield, Massachusetts. After debating a tag-a-long trailer then looking for kids tandem remote bottom bracket - I just took the hacksaw to the rear triangle on this soft-steel monster. In no time I had a 54cm compatible tandem with a 12" mini stoker. I replaced her cranks with some from a kids bmx bike - drilled holes for the extra chain ring and mounted them on the bmx bottom braket adapters ( a gift from Brad's bike box many years ago.) I flipped her bars - really need something different now that I look at the picture -and we were ready to roll. I lost the rim brake and was thinking I'd solder on some new v-brake mounts but the drum brake is working good enough for now. I need to run the tandem brake line from my bars cause as it is now I operate the front brake and she has the rear. It took a hundred miles or so before that Sturmey-Archer 3spd Drum brake finally broke-in. The cranks are set so that the stoker powers through my deadspot. This bike has always been a bear on climbs but with the increased power to weight ratio of my beautiful stoker chik - I have been surprised by the power surges on the hills. Two days after this photo I raced the Maple-Onion race at Morse Farm... I felt similar power surges in my reserves and blasted through to a surprise first place!
I'm still thinking about building a real tandem for the two of us... hmmmn - Might try Sheldon Brown's method.

Meat

To be or not to be... a vegetarian. Yes it is a chore... but even free moose meat comes at a cost (The moose had been hit by a truck) The apples, however, were delicious! A crime you can't buy a local apple . Doug and I made some suggestions about a new addition to the "right to farm law" called " a duty to farm law" If you buy land with apple trees on them you gotta farm 'em!

Middlebury Gap = 12%

biking Middlebury Gap = 12% = 54 mph (going east) surface bumpy but doable.

live to ride

Riding with brother J in NYC on way to central park.

5 - boro bike tour traffic jam

Seems like there was more traffic than ever this year... Still a fun day.

T -Trail Groomer

I gotta build one of these next fall!

How to fish a cable through a bike frame.

Never pull a cable out of a frame - leave a sleeve or something in there! Oh too late? I watched my shifter fall to the floor pulling the cable out of my Klein Palomino.
Here's how I got it back.

14g or 16g electric fence wire
mark the length where it just reaches the opposite hole.
insert (this is hard part) and twist until you see the tip - a strong light helps
push through hole - voila! (this step should only take about 20 minutes)
solder small wire - 24gauge? or brake cable? tip to tip to this wire.
easiest step... metalurgy - it worked. Only took 40 years to get some good soldering tips out of my dad... sand paper and a sponge are key in keeping tip hot enough.
pull through - put plastic sleeve on cable and you are back where you were an hour ago:
more simple time traveling!

What is this all about?

This is what I am up to lately when it comes to bicycles and other fun stuff.

Don't Read This.

Not sure if I like this idea of web log but perhaps more reliable than this lame computer hardrive. So sistemato... for my Italian friends who finally get a job like mine where you've been at it so long you no longer have to work hard and it is all guaranteed to be there. Ok - I wish my job was like that - but it only sometime is and now is not the time as I must go and do it!

It isn't snowing in May but this is last decent (not of manure) work photo I took on April 5, 2006 at Dean Conant's farm in Randolph, Vermont.