Yesterday we chose to drive Renee’s rental car to Sedona and back, a trip of about 250 miles. Our plan was to get an early start, take the scenic route and have lunch in Sedona. Return via Interstate 17 and Montezuma Well and Montezuma Castle National Monuments. Here is the story of the trip from three different points of view. Continue reading Sedona-Three Tales
Trial Fit:
Today I reached a significant milestone in the design and construction of the new bicycle. I put the major components together this afternoon for a trial fit. There is a photograph of the new bicycle on the blog. The components are the wheels with tires, the front fork, the main frame with a small front sub frame and the rear suspension frame its Fox Vanilla Shock and one seat. Continue reading Trial Fit:
Man vs. “The Machine:”
The technician led the man down the long hallway. She had a pleasant smile on her face. The man followed with stoic resolution. He had been warned that a monster machine waited at the end of the hallway. They arrived in the control room for “The Machine.” Continue reading Man vs. “The Machine:”
Arizona Springtime
We are in the middle portion of Arizona, about an hour northwest of Phoenix. The weather has been improving daily here in the Sonoran Desert. High temperature today was 78 degrees after a low last night of 42 degrees. It makes it up to 65 by about 11 am. That is how long I had to wait to do some painting. Each day we get in an hour of walking before the temperature gets too warm. As soon as the sun sets, however, it starts getting cool quickly. Continue reading Arizona Springtime
Rage Over a Lost Penny
I guess I know about how Beethoven felt when he wrote the piano rondo, (“Rondo alla ingharese quasi un capriccio in G major, Op. 129”, better known as “Rage over a Lost Penny”.) I have been making little doo-dahs for the new bicycle. I needed a dozen or so braze-on binder bosses and a dozen or so water bottle bosses. What I have been doing on the cold mornings is to get in my trailer with the electric heater. I set up the Smithy Lathe with a steel rod and start turning out bosses. Today I was finishing up some water bottle bosses. They are three eights of an inch in diameter necked down to nine thirty-seconds. They are about five sixteenths of an inch long and are drilled and tapped for a five millimeter bolt. I whack it off with the hack saw and dress it up a bit with a file. It takes me about fifteen minutes to create each one. Continue reading Rage Over a Lost Penny