Yes, we often show up in odd ball destinations like Wickenburg, AZ, visiting obscure attractions like the “Jail Tree.” This week, however, we set our sights on a top tourist destination, Mackinac Island in the Mackinac Straits between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron in upper Michigan. By the way up here it is pronounced “Mackinaw,” the “c” at the end of the word is silent. The name is a shortening of the original Indian name Michilimackinac which means “place of the great turtle.” Continue reading Tourist Destinations:
Tag Archives: bicycling
Oklahoma!
I woke up this morning with the first phrase of Oklahoma spinning through my mind. I searched the net and came up with the real words. Here is a quote of the first verse.
Oklahoma, where the wind comes sweepin’ down the plain
And the wavin’ wheat can sure smell sweet
When the wind comes right behind the rain.
Oklahoma, Ev’ry night my honey lamb and I
Sit alone and talk and watch a hawk
Makin’ lazy circles in the sky.
Look Ma, No Brakes!
We are celebrating today, Cinco de Mayo, but is has no connection to the 1862 battle of Puebla when the Mexicans defeated the French. Instead we are celebrating a milestone in the construction of the new bicycle. Continue reading Look Ma, No Brakes!
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:
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