Summer Look

Jul 28 - Summer Look, originally uploaded by DamnBeavers.

Woo hoo! Summer is now here. Temps were in the high 80's for the ride home, time to put the Stock Screen on the Strom. There is a bit of a reflection of me in there as well.

Guiding Light

Jul 27 - Guiding Light, originally uploaded by DamnBeavers.

I love Weather.com. I was tracking two very large cells this evening just before leaving work. Had I left and gone the more direct route home, I would have ridden through the worst of it. Instead, I noticed that I could head a little Southwest, then North & ride around the storm. It was worth a try. There was light rain when I left work, it all but stopped as I turned the corner to the airfield (about a mile away). I pulled over to snap a few photos and change out of my rain gloves. The rest of the ride was uneventful and beautiful. I could see where the cells never hit as I rode through miles of dryness, then I could see where they had just passed through as I rode through moist steamy patches of road. The temperature had cooled significantly so I kept riding North & snaked back a couple of towns further than I'd planned. Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny, I intend to head out early and have an extended commute in ;-)

Life's Little Surprises

Jul 18 - Life's Little Surprises, originally uploaded by DamnBeavers.

So yesterday I am all happy about working on my bike. Big plans on finishing it up this morning, perhaps get a ride or two in today. I load the wheel with the tire that needed the beads to be set up into the back of the Tahoe and took off for The Home Depot. I figured if I wimped out on buying a compressor, I'd swing by a gas station and seat the beads for $1 in quarters. I had two frost free faucet heads to return from a project last week, I'm walking across the parking lot of The Home Depot, when the next thing I know I feel the sharp pain of my left ankle beginning to turn. By pure instinct, I go down immediately and I go down hard. The faucet heads go flying, one part shatters on the pavement (cheap fricken plastic). I didn't go down fast enough and my left ankle is shooting with pain, it takes about 3 seconds for me to realize that my plans for the weekend are pretty much F&$@#ed. Two very good Samaritans rush over to help, one is a nurse who very much wants tme to go to the local Hospital. I'm pretty pissed at myself, I've down this before, I know what I need to do. They help me back to my Tahoe which is pretty far away. On the drive back, I phone my kids (my wife is out of town today at a conference, this thing always seems to happen when she is gone ;-) The kids have the crutches, an ice pack, and the couch all prepped by the time I pull up into the driveway. 1600 mgs of Ibuprofen, two ice packs, and three movies later, I'm hobbling over to the computer to get a photo for today's PaD. For those of you who read this and ride, you know what my biggest concern is, this is my left foot, my shifting foot. I can actually ride with a right foot at 50% since the right foot controls the rear brake and it is the front brake that gives you all your stopping power. We'll see how things look and feel tomorrow. I still have a bike to put back together (the front tire still hasn't been set yet).

New Tire

Jul 16 - New Tire, originally uploaded by DamnBeavers.

Yes, another "New Tire" photo. I have been waiting on this little nugget (the new Conti Trail Attack on the right) to arrive this week for installation either tomorrow afternoon or Saturday morning. I also have a new set of All Balls front wheel bearings and a complete set of brake pads for the front brakes. To top it off, I am going to balance it with dynabeads instead of lead weights. Looking at this photo, the old tire on the left doesn't look that bad, but it has worn a little past the wear bars in most places. I ride in rain and need that tread. I can't wait to try out the Conti's the tread pattern is so different. For the next 3k miles or so I will have a mismatched set with the Conti Trail Attack up front and my replacement Trailwing on the rear. I plan to replace the rear with a Conti Trail Attack when the time comes, most likely next month or so.

Call me hardcore

Jul 13 - Call me hardcore, originally uploaded by DamnBeavers.

Yet another one of those "Odd things on a bike" kind of shots. I am going golfing tomorrow evening after two season "break" from "After work golf". I'm not willing to drive in, so I was testing out the concept of strapping the golf bag to the bike. It works fine. It doesn't extend much further over my tiny Givi E21 side cases (the black box with the scuffs all over it). The weird thing on top of the seat is a cheap bead thing I picked up at WalMart as a test for fixing the seat comfort level. While it seems more comfortable, I am sliding all around in my riding pants. The jury is still out on that thing.

Dinner Ride

Jul 12 (21/52) - Dinner Ride, originally uploaded by DamnBeavers.

Well, it was more than a Dinner Ride. We left for the University of New Hampshire (My Wife & I) to find the Hall that our oldest will be going to for the next two weeks. She is in an upper class Writer's Academy. They had a class for new High School Freshmen, but her teacher put in a good recommendation and got her into the upper class program. I will be dropping her off in the mornings on the bike and my wife will be picking her up. After finding the building, we had to ride around for my wife to get her bearings, then I took a semi-extended way home. I stopped by Strafford Farms, it's the first time we've eaten at the take out in about 6 years. The weather was perfect, it was in the evening and it had started to cool down nicely. OK, I lied, I'm the one who ate, my wife claimed she wasn't hungry, didn't order anything, then picked at my food. It is kind of a "wife thing".

Bags ready

Jul 10 - Bags ready, originally uploaded by DamnBeavers.

Tomorrow my oldest & I are heading out on an all day motorcycle ride. The main goal is to hit the University of Maine, Farmington campus. We aren't getting an official tour, we are simply going to walk around the campus and check it out, have a lunch, etc. It is also the first weekend with no rain and no baseball or cub scout commitment for the past 6 or so weeks. It will be the longest ride for me this season and the longest ride for her ever. Tomorrow I find out if I need to junk my stock bike seat and go with a Day Long Saddle.