Category Archives: Bicycle Construction

Bicycle Construction, bicycling

Golanth Flies!

Today was the big day, the unveiling of the new recumbent tandem bicycle, the Bronze Dragon, Golanth. His namesake is Golanth in the Dragon Riders of Pern series by Ann McCaffrey. This mythical flying, fire breathing dragon was ridden by F’lessan. They were good friends of Mirrim and her dragon, Path.
So this is the first time we have ridden the bicycle fully assembled and painted. I first rode solo to get the feel of the bicycle. It is quite lively and easy to steer compared to Path. Judy then joined my and we rode a couple miles around the North Ranch park near Congress, AZ. I then completely re arranged the seat placement and set Golanth up for Judy to be Captain. She soloed a few times, but I am afraid we pretty well wore ourselves out before we succeeded riding tandem with me stoking. We will try again soon, for that was the purpose of this exercise. Judy will become the Captain as my Parkinson’s becomes more pronounced in the future
Things are a poppin’ here. Today the new tandem ride, tomorrow I will visit one of my Neurologists, Dr. Habiger, in Sun City, West, (Phoenix.) I have another team I visit in Portland at OHSU.
Then Wednesday, Judy and I will celebrate forty eight years together. The weatherman is promising us a special treat that day. S**w. Yes s**w to celebrate our honeymoon in Minneapolis Minnesota and the minus 10 degree weather there. Why? You ask. Well I worked for the Northern Pacific and that was as far as they would take us for free. Made perfect sense at the time. Besides Minnehaha Falls was beautiful all frozen and piled up crystalline sculptures.
Take a look at the gallery of photos below and we will keep you posted on our progress.
Love to all,
The riders of the Bronze Dragon, Golanth.
Gary and Judy

Bicycle Construction

Painting Party:

This week has been perfect for a painting party. Each day when the temperature soared above 50 degrees, Judy, Glen and I spent time disassembling, wire brushing, sanding and priming the frame of the new tandem bicycle. The weather stayed clear and sunny all week. Thursday Judy and I moved the coach to the street beside the Wings of History Museum in San Martin. Whenever we are in town I volunteer at the museum. This week I was helping with the assembly of a Curtis OX-5 airplane engine first built in 1910. Continue reading Painting Party: →

Bicycle Construction

A New Goal Is Reached:

I have been working on a new bicycle design for three and a half years now. Today with the help of my Grandson, Patrick, we have created a mount for the auxiliary motor drive. The drive systems are all complete. It is now time to take everything back apart and paint the frame.
I recognize that there has been a long silence from our end here on our blog. With all of the rain this fall there has been very few good opportunities to progress on the new bicycle and we have been spending our time with the family here in Gilroy, California. Continue reading A New Goal Is Reached: →

Bicycle Construction

Tandem Progress:

I have had many interruptions over the summer that stalled the work on the new tandem. Problems developed in two areas. First the hydraulic brake line for the rear wheel was too short. The tubing is very exclusive and very expensive. Also the replacement pieces seemed to come only in the same length as the one I had. I enlisted the aid of long time friend and bicycle “wrench” extraordinaire, Ray Scholl, and he directed me to Universal Cycles in Portland. I found just what I needed there. Continue reading Tandem Progress: →

Bicycle Construction

Tandem Milestone:

Today I finally was able to install the key assembly in the power train for the new tandem. This assembly is a jack shaft that allows the blending of power from the rider and the auxiliary electric motor. That is the rider can power the wheel with no auxiliary power. The auxiliary motor can power the wheel and the rider can coast. Finally both can power the wheel at the same time.
At the same time the shaft itself functions as the pivot for the rear wheel suspension. This is good because the chains don’t vary in length as the suspension flexes. Continue reading Tandem Milestone: →