Learning to Shift for Yourself

A two minute video on a school that teaches how to drive a manual transmission, from CBS News via youtube.  One of those little trials we all should pass.

Coffeeneuring in 2026

I received the email notice two days ago that The 2026 Coffeeneuring is go, and will begin on Saturday October 10th.  I like the idea, and there's an off chance that I'll participate this year, but most likely not.  The entire event more or less culminated for me in 2020, on my first official day of retirement, and in the aftermath of Hurricane Zeta no less.  After moving to Apalach I participated again in 2021, but with the two coffee shops in town only one and two blocks away, and local bike friends being not at all into the event, it felt vaguely contrived.  (note: not in general, just for me in this location)  Especially in comparison to epic multi-county treks to cool little book-and-coffee places, or to an alligator-haunted private palm tree paradise, or to that very first run downtown to the Mockingbird back in '17.  Kind of hard to top.

Anyway, Coffeeneuring returns, and is worth a mention here.  It is fun and worthwhile, if your locale suits.  Here's the main site, watch for any coming details.  And who knows, I might jump in after all.

Equinox Noted

Time marches onward and two of the local palm trees have marched upward, so my usual living room equinox light show – in which the rising sun formerly beamed through the kitchen window, bounced off a picture of a gargoyle, to a picture of Horus, and finally onto the living room wall shared by my office – anyway, it seems to be a thing of the past.  At least, so long as those two palm trees block the way.  And yes, I realize that sounds like something out of Raiders of the Lost Ark, but I swear it all just happened by accident.  Anyway, the inset picture is from spring 2023.  I had forgotten until I looked it up just now how bright that reflection had been.

Also worth mentioning, here's an old post noting this day in aviation history when, 22 years apart, the B-29 and B-70 prototypes first took wing.  What a Difference 22 Years Makes  Somehow, 2004 just doesn't seem all that long ago.

Finally, I see that the morning cool forecasts for this Thursday, Friday, & Saturday have been revised downward to 65º.  I'll take it!

ps: Speaking of weird chance celestial alignments, take a look at today's NASA APOD.  Huh.

pps: We seem to have the leading edge of the first ragged cold front about to pass over.  Ragged or not, I'll take it.

Sweet relief.

Fall Weather

I see that Tuesday's the fall equinox, and at 8:04pm EDT to be precise.  Let's check the forecast...

88º!  Well, with the equinox so late on Tuesday, maybe fall's in store for Wednesday?  Huh, 89º, hm.

On the bright side, lows Thursday, Friday, and Saturday are in the 60's – admittedly, the high 60's –  but at least that's something.

Maybe later, punkin' spice.  Definitely not in September around here.

Out In the Hot Early Fall Sunshine

Sprayed frame protector lube up into the ICT today.  Messy, but at least I've (sort of) got the job down now.  Here's a link to last year's spray job on the Straggler, which includes a link to a how-to video.

Bleh.  Now I've got to clean all the outside stuff with windex and put it all back together.  Pain in the butt, but for a steel bike that's going to see beach action it's a mandatory before-you-go treatment.

On the easy side of things, one of the guys at Epic Bikes recommended putting tubeless tire sealant into the tubes, rather than going full tubeless on fat bikes.  Injecting the sealant was both neat and painless, to my great surprise and relief.

Just... Around... The... Corner...

Today's xkcd:

Meanwhile here in NW FL, August continues into its 48th day.

It's the Little Adjustments

It's the little adjustments that make a bike your own.  Epic Bikes set the ICT up right, but they can't know about when I broke my left wrist in 4th grade and so I prefer the left brake lever slightly higher.  Nor do they have my notebook with 30 years of "now it feels right" measurements all on paper.  Again, they set it up right, but not exactly dialed down to right.  Right in the ballpark though, and a good starting point.  Perfectly rideable right out the door.

One example of this dialing in that will actually show up on camera is with the back rack.  Here's the before pic:

and after:

Apart from the time of day (and wow did that change the apparent paint color), the change is subtle.  Initially, the rack bolts protruded just enough to occasionally knick the inside of my knees.  Rearranging things so that the support rods run to the inside of the frame bosses changed all that for the better.  I don't mind occasionally bumping a smooth seat stay when standing up, but scraping across a square-shouldered bolt head was a little much.

Another example of dialing the bike in was the choice of pedals, Raceface Rides.  Flats, OK, but why relatively inexpensive ones without metal teeth?  Simply because I don't want to tear up my fishing shoes while riding this thing.  At the same time though, the plastic teeth give enough grip for off-road.  Certainly not  as grippy as metal – call it an engineering compromise.  Surprisingly, they can be serviced and there are even rebuild kits from the manufacturer, not something I'd expect at their $40-ish price point.  We'll see how they hold up, but in any case they are easily replaceable.

Anyway, it's these sorts of things that need dialing in for the first month or so, before a bike is ready for serious use.  Don't ever be afraid to take a wrench to your new bike.  It's yours, after all.  Might as well get it right.