More Luce Line Trip Oct. 17-18 2009

Riding home.

The Long Haul Trucker loaded up.

My bike and tent, the morning after.

A group photo of the riders on the trip.

Autumnal Fun

Harris' Halloween costume this year. He's a road-killed, biker, zombie. We made his outfit by spray painting the car tire and running over his shirt. Click on the picture to see the road-rash face make-up. Also note the antelope skull on the fence.

Earlier in the day, a family photo at Willow River State Park, followed by a shot of Claire. We had a picnic of Vietnamese sandwiches and walked to the waterfall.

Warm Feet on the Cheap

I read fatboybiking blog today comment on cold feet in this sleety weather.

My new idea for morning bed warm feet, as yet untried, is to wear an old pair of XC ski boots. They are waterproof and lightly insulated. I'm relying on the fact that they were designed for active use to prevent my feet from becoming pools of sweat.

The toe bar in front and other accouterments might look a little geeky, but, one fat boy biker to another, it won't be the bottle-neck of our cool. If you know what I mean.

Please note the rental boot numbers and love the magenta trim. Very 1980's meets thrift-store modernity ala Michael Jordan #23. I also have another pair of old three-pin boots that I might try. Less insulation, less color, less hang-time. I may trim the toe off.

The year in Taiwan

A few pictures and a video from 2004-2005 when we were living in Taipei.

FREEhub body

My neighbor, a bike geek, and I both thought we were having issues with freehub bodies on our old Trek bikes. His is a 930 single speed, and mine's a 950 1x8. I mined a freehub body off an old wheel I had. I think it was the original wheel from my mid 90's bike. It, however, didn't work for me because it was a 7 speed. So I gave it to my neighbor to fix his wheel.

Turns out his freehub body wasn't his problem. After replacing the freehub body on his wheel, we discovered that it was a worn single speed cog causing his troubles. Thus, he picked up a new cog cheap. I was then able to put his 8 speed hub on my bike since it was still good.

This is cool for three reasons. First we thought that we were both going to have to buy new wheels, but didn't. Second we learned how to fix freehub bodies. Finally, by working together, we both go our bikes fixed for $6.

I learned to replace a freehub body by watching a video Bicycletutor.com. They have other helpful videos as well.

Luce Line Oddities Oct. 17,18 2009

A garter snake in the shadow of a bike wheel. (above) What a cool mellow snake; it didn't even try to bite me. However, Q lost his boyish innocence upon eating an apple swerved up by this subtle serpent.

Ugenuius' homemade camera holder. I'd title this photo "If NASA had to shop at the Home Depot." (above) We're resting on Geppetto's bridge in the picture. Someone else became a real boy on this trip; no lie.

Jared with a giant puff-ball. Speaking of puff-balls, I wish I would have gotten a photo of his "satchel." (above) To keep the theme alive, We discovered Jared's saddle taint the most comfortable. Finally, (below)in the last picture we see nice weather for the first time in weeks during the two days we all arranged to go on our overnight ride. We even had a tailwind on the way home. Boy was it fun. More later.

Touring circa 1230 BLHT

That's Before the Long Haul Trucker. 12:20am, I'm too excited for our trip to sleep. Off to bed anyway. I'll post pictures when I return.

Bear, Venison, Carrots and Corn Bread.

Wild dinner tonight. We had cubed bear meat sauteed with onions, garlic and peppers from our garden.

In addition to the bear, the center of the plate holds venison tenderloin fillets that were dredged with flour and lightly fried with onions. I used the drippings, wine and a pad of butter to make a sauce to go with the venison.

It seemed a little wrong to serve a prey animal on the same plate as flesh from one of its predators. But, I got over it. It's good to be the top of a food chain.

Accompanying the two meat dishes, we enjoyed steamed garden carrots with a light shot of butter and brown sugar. Cornbread muffins served as our carbohydrate for the meal.

The kids picked the peppers, and dug the carrots. I'm proud that my family shared in and enjoyed this meal with me. The bear was everyone's favorite.

Columbus Day is Dumb

It's time to change our national story regarding Christopher Columbus to something more reality based.

Also, It's funny how some of the same people who rail against Spanish language initiatives and Latino immigrants laud the work of the first undocumented Spanish speaking immigrant in America.

Drive to Harris with Harris for Harris

Tomorrow is our third annual birthday pilgrimage north to Harris, Mn to celebrate Harris' arrival in our family. On our first trip we happened upon the Kaffe Stuga Cafe, a place that specializes in homemade Swedish food. It's the kind of place that makes iceberg lettuce seem right at home. We've tried, meatballs, cod, and liver and onions while sitting at the counter in the first picture.

This yearly drive is and event we look forward to all year.

Happy birthday Harris, and Hello Kaffe Stuga Cafe.

Sick Stuff at School

After school yesterday, I completed a stealthy security mission so I would have a way to keep my bike from being stolen at work.

[Que spy music] I covertly moved wood chips aside and dug a hole the size of a 5 gallon pail in a flower bed where I park my bike. I replaced the void with a 5 gallon plug of hardened cement and rebar that I made last weekend. It has a big eye-bold placed in the top to run a lock cable through. After arranging the displace wood chips only the eye-bolt remains hidden between shrubs. I will lock my bike to this 60lb chunk of concrete hidden away like Jimmy Hoffa.

Last night I loaded up the LHT for a commute. The weather's great, and I want to try out my new locking set-up.

But a ride was not to be, I woke up this morning feeling punky with a sore throat. Thus I drove. A 10:10am throat culture revealed Streptococcal pharyngitis, strep throat.

Got meds. Should live to ride and lock another day.

Bike Joy

Some of neighborhood posse of kids having fun last week. The boy is loving granny gear. The girls are doing some "cement surfing."

Maiden Commute in the Rain

Great first ride to work this morning. I had to give the rear derailleur barrel adjuster a couple of turns, but other than that it was smooth and comfy. It was a bit hard to ride my new bike in the rain. I had to let reason override emotion at first. The bike is, after all, made to be ridden.

On the way home feeling stable and confident while bombing down a hill that flowed with rain water got emotion back in line with reason; it was really fun. I'm still stoked about the purchase.