Project bike update

In the last month or so, I haven't quite had nearly as much time as I would have liked to work on the bicycle restoration project, especially with the Colorado trip and all.  Having said that, I've still managed to make quite a bit of progress.  Here's a quick outline of what's been done since the last update:

• Ordered and received parts that needed replacing (shift lever, brake levers, cables, and pedals)
• Bought new Schwalbe Delta Cruiser whitewall tires
• Frame, fork, stem, and handlebar have all been painted
• Restored the rims, including repacking bearings in the front wheel hub
• Started re-assembly, specifically:
  • built and installed headset and fork
  • built and installed bottom bracket
  • mounted tubes and tires on rims
  • mounted wheels and kickstand onto frame (now that this is done, the bike can stand on its own which should make the rest of the assembly process easier!)

So... how about some pictures then?

New brake lever:

New and old pedals:

Painted and reassembled frame, fork, headset and stem:

Stem up close:

Day 9: According to the plan... or not

One of the things we had planned while in Chicago was visiting the Dainese store (one of our favourite motorcycle clothing brands), so we'd checked the store hours and location ahead of time.  The store is in Schaumburg, a suburb of Chicago.  After picking up a rental car this morning, we set off for Schaumburg.  Upon arriving at the store, we noticed a little sign on the door labelled "Summer Hours".  Yup, the shop is closed on Sundays.  In a classy customer service move the website is of course not updated with this information.  Good going guys!  Strike one.

Our other thought was to head over to Oak Park to check out some of the Frank Lloyd Wright houses that we'd seen several years ago.  Of course, this isn't going to work either, it's been raining all bloody morning.  Strike two.

We have now spent the last 45 minutes hanging out at a... Starbucks of all places.  I thought I would lower myself and frequent a Starbucks to make use of their free wi-fi to get online and do some research as to what else we could do.  It would appear that all of the local motorcycle dealerships are also closed on Sunday.  Strike three.

So what now?  Well, we may venture into a mall for a little bit and otherwise we'd decided that we'll just head to the airport and be there way early.  In the grand scheme of things, it's a minor letdown.  The rest of the trip was fantastic and more or less went off according to plan without a hitch.

Update on Sunday, July 24, 2011 at 11:11PM by Cess

When in the suburbs, do as the suburbanites do: go hang out at a mall! We spent a few hours at Woodfield Mall. I admit I dragged Matt to the Sanrio store and the Lego store. I was disappointed that Sanrio had a very slim selection of Keroppi stuff. As for the Lego store: wow! Although we didn't purchase anything (our niece Kassidy is a little too young for Lego at this time), we had a great time browsing their wares. Some of the interesting things they had were architecture kits. The Fallingwater kit was nice to look at, but it was quite pricey.

We arrived at Chicago-Midway with a ridiculous amount of time to spare. We considered getting onto an earlier flight, but the service charge was a little to hefty for our wallets. The best part of coming home? Being able to walk home from the airport. ;)

Day 5: Off to Moab!

As soon as we had decided to go on this trip, we immediately started thinking about doing an overnight trip to Moab and Arches National Park in Utah.  Given that we would be so close, we just had to do it.  Earlier this week we spent some time checking the weather forecast and decided that we would do this side trip on the Wednesday and Thursday.

We set out this morning, retracing part of our route from the Telluride ride, going west along Highway 62.  At the junction with Highway 145 we turned north (if you want to go to Telluride, you turn south).  As soon as we did so we were in for a massive surprise.  For the next 30-40 km, Highway 145 wound through mountains, canyons, and valleys.  The road was a series of continuous sweeping turns (with some technical hairpins thrown in for good measure!) with superb road conditions.  As if that wasn't enough, the road eventually reached a mountain pass where a large valley opened up below us.  We immediately stopped and admired the scenery for the next 20 minutes or so.  The dropoff from where we were down to the valley was easily 200 m or more.

The remainder of the ride to Utah continued to be fantastic.  As we got closer to Utah and eventually crossed into it, the geology of the area visibly changed.  The mountains took a seat back to canyons, mesas, and plains.  Upon arriving in Moab, it was too early to check into our hotel, so we decided to hit some local roads.

If you have a look at the map below you'll see the smaller loop that we did.  We started off following the Colorado river along Highway 128, eventually reaching Mountain Loop Rd, which we more or less followed all the way back to south of Moab.  The road conditions along Highway 128 were great, along Mountain Loop Rd, less so.  However, what was lacking in road conditions was made up by the views.  It would seem that most of the Mountain Loop Rd section we rode is not particularly well travelled.  We would often go 15-20 minutes without seeing another vehicle going in the other direction.  The further we got, the less traffic we saw.  In addition to the stunning views, we were privvy to some amusing sights.  For example, at one point we came across several cows standing by the side of the road drinking water... from a muddy puddle.  I have no clue what they were doing there as there didn't seem to be a farm anywhere nearby.  After all, at that point we were at an elevation of 8000+ feet!

The sun and heat were quite intense.  For the first time in all the years I've been riding, I found I was actually sweating while riding (as opposed to sweating in traffic, which is perfectly normal).  The loop took a couple of hours to complete at which point we checked into our hotel and got some rest before getting some dinner.

Tomorrow is an early day as we're aiming to be at Arches National Park by 7:30am!

Today's route:

Utah state line along Hwy 90:

Rock formation at the Utah state line:

Colorado river along Hwy 128, just outside Moab:

View from Hwy 128 east of Moab:

View from Mountain Loop Rd:

Day 2: Short but #$%&! scenic

We had decided at the end of Day 1 that we were not going to do a long ride on Day 2. We were unsure what the weather would be like (when we checked the forecast it called for a fair bit of rain!) and frankly, we wanted to have an easier, more relaxing day. As it turned out, Bill and Jackie (a couple staying in the same chalet as us) had very similar goals for the day. So over breakfast, we decided we'd ride out together and do a short jaunt to the town of Telluride and back.

Telluride is a small town with a single main street. Like many towns in this area, it's done up in an old western style. It's a tad gimmicky but I guess it's in line with the rich mining history Colorado has, so it works. The ride to Telluride was short, but beautiful. We left Ouray, headed northwest to Ridgeway, then turned west along Route 62 until we reached a junction with Route 145, at which point we turned southeast until we reached Telluride. The ride was beautiful. The roads were essentially never straight, full of long sweeping corners cutting through mountain passes and valleys. When we hit Route 145 the geology of the area visibly changed as suddenly we were surrounded by nearby and more distant rock faces composed of a reddish stone.

Once we reached Telluride, we stopped for lunch before retracing our route back to our chalet. After dinner, we spent the evening on the porch of the chalet with our lodge mates chatting and doing a bit of storm watching as a thunderstorm rolled through the area.

Day 2 Route:

 

View of US 62:

Rock formations:

Keystone Hill Overlook along US 145:

Whispering Pines chalet:

Lightning strike:

Project bike... of a different sort

A little while ago Cess and I decided we would try to acquire a couple of bicycles to allow us to run errands downtown and go for an occasional bike rides.  Having said that, we didn't want to have to worry about the bikes being attractive to bike thieves so we opted to look for used bikes.

After some initial research, it turned out that my father in-law had an old Sears Free Spirit city bike in his garage.  We're not sure how old it is, but it's likely between 20-30 years old.  It's going to require a restoration effort to get it into good working condition.  It hasn't been used in many years and it shows. 

So far, this has been a learning experience, but I'm fairly happy with my progress.  Thankfully between some of my friends and my Dad I've got some good resources to lean on for advice.  To date, I've done the following:

• Completely dissassembled the bicycle down do the frame
• Revitalized the front brake calipers, cranks, front cog
• Stripped the handlebar of all rust
• Sanded the fork in preparation for a new paintjob
• Started sanding the frame

Here are a few photos to illustrate the original condition of the bike and how the restoration is going.

Stem:

Brake calipers, one arm in original condition, another restored:

Handlebar, before and after stripping:

Front cog and crank in their restored glory:

Paint:

Track day at Mosport

Having bought a bike specifically for use on the track last year, Cess and I spent Canada Day at Mosport where I was doing my first track day on the ZX-6R. For the unitiated, a track day is organized is organized as follows... 

You arrive at the track bright and early in the morning with your bike.  You register, the bike goes through a technical inspection, and a rider's meeting follows where all the rules and regulations that must be followed are reviewed.  All the attending riders are divided into several groups (generally 3) based on experience and skill level.  Each of those groups enters the track and spends 15 minutes or so riding, after which the other 2 groups get the chance to do so.  This sequence continues throughout the day.

After being off the track for some time I was glad to see that which each successive on-track session everything I had learned previously about riding on the track was slowly coming back.  By my 6th session I felt that I had improved a great amount compared to my 1st session.  My lines were improved, my lean angles and corner speeds got better.  Having said that, I definitely need to continue to work on my body positioning.

Midway through turn 1:

Exiting one turn and preparing for the next one:

Our group of friends at the pits:

My Kawasaki ZX-6R resting after the last session:

Grisly Discovery At Downtown Condo

Local authorities were notified when a partially dismembered body was found by the residents of a downtown condo in the wee hours of the morning on April 23rd.  Other residents of the building describe the area as quiet and relatively crime free. 

A member of the investigating team who did not wish to be identified confirmed that the victim was not wearing any clothing and none was found at the scene.  Foul play is suspected, however, no motive has been determined thus far.

A suspect has been detained for questioning.

Update on Saturday, May 14, 2011 at 11:08AM by Cess

As the suspect was acquitted, she was released late this week and has been spotted at her former haunts in Little Italy.

Why does it take 10 months to print photos?

Historically, we've always put up prints of photos we've taken over the years on our walls.  After moving into the loft, we didn't want to simply hang up the prints we previously had at our old place.  Since that time, we've taken many new (better!) photos, and hey, it was time for a change. Why has it taken 10 months since we moved here to do this?  Well, I'd like to say we've been "busy" (read: lazy).

An unspeakable amount of time was spent choosing photos, printing, framing, mocking up the print arrangement on the wall, etc.  When everything was said and done this was the result on one of the walls in our living room...

All in all we're both happy with the result so far.  The question now is... will it take another 10 months to complete the next print hanging project?

Autumn Waterfalls

We've been meaning to do a day trip to photograph some local waterfalls for quite some time.  Given that it's the tail end of fall colours season, we decided to do that trip last weekend.

We left home at about 8:30am in the morning and visited the following:

• Hilton Falls
• Darnley Cascade
• Webster's Falls
• Albion Falls
• Buttermilk Falls
• Felker's Falls

It was a pretty good trip and we managed to get some pretty decent shots along the way.  Some I think will even be worth printing. The highlights were the ruins of the Grist Mill at the Darnley Cascade along with Webster's and Albion Falls.

The most frustrating part of this outing?  Goddamn. People. Meandering. Everywhere.  I can't say how bloody annoying it is to have some oblivious idiots parade right in front of a set up tripod and camera.  Especially after you've spent 10-15 minutes waiting until people cleared out enough to actually take a few shots.  Ugh.  Alas, it was still worth it!

Hilton Falls:

Grist Mill ruins:

Webster's Falls:

Albion Falls (closer up view):

Felker's Falls:

Manitoulin Island Wrap-up: Matt's pictures

I'm going to try something different this time.  Instead of placing a whole bunch of images on here, I'm going to link to a Flickr slideshow.   Enjoy!

Here's a little teaser...

Update on Tuesday, October 26, 2010 at 3:02AM by Cess

Drum roll, please!

Yes, it has taken a while for me to get organized enough to post up my photos from this road trip.  I've actually been working on it gradually and I think it is mostly done.  I may still add a few photos to the colleciton.  So here it is: my own Flickr slide show!  Please click here and enjoy my little photo set. =)