Another slight modification

I "built" a mount for a Planet Bike Superflash for the back end of the FreeRadical Snapdeck tonight. This will finally give me a light mount that won't get bashed around on the back end. I took a small chunk of hard wood, about 1" x 1" x 3", and drilled out two screw holes for mounting to the underside of the Snapdeck, then countersank them. I drilled out a hole on the right hand side (port?) and attached the plastic mount/fitting to the butt end of the wood through the machine screw pivot/hole of the mount. Next, I located center of the Snapdeck and pre-drilled the Snapdeck once. After snugly, but not tightly, screwing it into place, I attached the light to the plastic fitting, then sighted along the top of the Snapdeck for focus of the beam. When satisfied, I then pre-drilled the second hole. All is now snugly in place. The light is still removable and the mount is out of the way, so there's no fear of smashing the light or the mount. The light is not very visible directly from the sides, but is clearly visible from at least 140 degrees to the rear.

Calculate this

From the folks at Commute by Bike. The Gas Savings calculator

BUI? and more Wrenching

So, I stopped by a backyard music festival this evening to catch a couple of tunes and talk to some friends. Really, I went there to talk to musician friends about playing mandolin with them for a wedding in mid-October. After that all happened, I walked back to my X to find a couple of mildly inebriated friends (fathers of kids who attend same school/grade as my son) checking it out. It was rather amusing to tell them about it while they admired it and the Dinotte lights. I offered to let one of them take it for a spin, but he politely declined, inferring he might not the be safest rider in his state of, well, bliss.

Forgot to mention my thanks to Eric for all the help with the Bianchi. I took the frame over to his home shop to try and get the supposedly adjustable (not at all, actually) cup out of the bottom bracket. We banged on it with hammers and chisels, hung on it with wrenches, and attempted to cut through it - all with no progress. He then had the brilliant idea of using a bench vise to clamp down on what little area was available for a purchase, then both of us pulled and pushed on the frame. It worked! The cup finally came out and the frame (and fork) are now ready for sandblasting and painting. The color is yet to be determined.

If we can come close to the bike pictured below, I think we'll be very happy. 

Wrenching

Did some "wrenching" this evening and swapped out the quill stems and handlebars on the Trek Singletrack 930 and the Specialized Ground Control. Also swapped out the skewers on so we can us the Singletrack to haul the trailer. The whole purpose is to get the Specialized out of use and eventually strip the main components and use them on the Bianchi after it's painted. I'm hoping most/all the parts will fit. Guess we'll find out soon enough. 

Heckled with Jive

Today was the first time I can ever recall being heckled while riding my bike. I couldn't make out what was being yelled the first time, but I clearly heard, "Why don't you ride on the sidewalks!" the second time. Both times I was riding appropriately and legally with traffic. The second time around I wanted to yell back something like, "Cause they're sideWALKS not sideROADS!" Fortunately, I wasn't that miffed at the time - I was, after all, waiting for a green light in the Left turn lane of a busy intersection in Goshen (yes, there are such things here). Other factors: both happened on my way home this afternoon sometime between 4:00 and 4:14 p.m. That means more teen drivers were out, more folks were getting off work, more folks had had daylight hours to get drunk, high, or peeved about other things in their lives, etc. Dunno why, but it did bug me a bit. Nonetheless, I'll keep riding safely and riding on the street when possible and "safe" to do so.

Rainy days and Mondays

Rode to work today and missed the rain after the rain after the rain and then some. Got to ride home in a light mist of a rain with partial blue skies. Nice - until my chain slipped and got jammed between my chainrings. Luckily it happened when pulling up to a stop light. A quick jump onto the curb and a few tweaks and I was back on the road without any problems. Did the Monday afternoon pick-up-son-on-back-of-X-then-get-trailer-and-his-bike-and-go-to-piano-class-then-pick-up-lil'-sis-in-the-trailer-and-off-to-Grandmas routine. The weather has been very cool - in the low 6o's and likely will hit the mid 40's tonight. It's great biking weather with light layers.

In praise of Dinotte lights

I've had a Dinotte 200L light for several months now and love it. I have it mounted on my helmet. It draws odd looks during the day, but in the early morning when I need it, it's fantastic. I recently added another to my handlebars and one of their tail lights as well. I can now see so much better when commuting and know that there's really no excuse to not see me from the rear. I'll edit this later to add either photos or some brief video clips.

Funny thing happened on the way to my blog

A while back, I posted a review of my Dinotte headlight to REI.com. At least I thought I did. As I was completing it, they offered me the chance to post my review to my blog. I chose to do so, then pushed the "publish" button and, "Presto!" it appeared on my blog, but not on the REI site. Go figure. See my review above for the real deal.