This week's car fun

So I'm at home this past Tuesday, and I get a call from Grace. She says the car is riding like it's got a flat tire, but it doesn't feel like it or look like it, so she's not quite sure what to do. Since she's not far from home, I jump in the Integra and head out to check out what the deal is. I get out there, and the tire appears to be fully inflated. Using my light, I look around, and see a bolt head sticking about 3/4" out of the tire. Well, that explains the "thump thump thump" sound she described, thing's pretty big.

So, I swap on the space-saver spare... does anyone routinely check and fill the pressure on their spares? Yeah, well, I don't, do so. It was pretty damn low. Still, it was wickedly cold and only about 2-3 miles to home, so I decided to try it, and just take it slow.

Just as I'm lowering the car, Grace says "is that your car making that noise?" I don't know what she's talking about, all I hear is the motor of the Miata. Then, when I stand up, she asks again -- "is your car smoking, or just steaming?" Oh, shit, indeed, you can see *something* wafting through the headlights. And, now that I'm standing up and the bitterly cold wind has died down just a little, I can also hear what sounds like a cross between a low whistle and a kazoo.

Oh... shit...

I chuck her bad tire in the back of my car, and pop the hood. The whistling is coming from steam escaping from the top of the radiator, apparently where the plastic end tanks are crimped onto the metal. Well, damn. Not much I can do here, though, so I give her the Integra, jump in the Miata, and we drive home slowly with now TWO injured cars.

We get home, and I air up the spare. (Better late than never.) Despite the slow drive in blisteringly cold temperatures, it's warm to the touch. Oops. I bring the damaged tire inside, and check out the bolt. It might be big, but it's stuck in, and no air is leaking out. In fact, the tire's completely holding its pressure. Well, until I pulled the bolt out. Lost it pretty quick, then. (Bolt was surprisingly big, too. Check out the attached picture! Looks like it is a piece of a rusted out exhaust U-clamp.)

Thankfully, I've got a tire patch/plugging kit, and set about doing that. Got the hole plugged and holding air quickly, and just for good measure, I threw in the remainder of a bottle of Stan's Notubes tubeless tire sealant. This stuff does some pretty amazing things on mountain bike tires, and is actually rated for car tire use as well, so figured it couldn't hurt. Got the tire back on the Miata and we're all good to go. Rechecked the pressure the next morning, and it was still where it should be. Sweet.

The Integra, though... not so good. Once, a long while back, damaged the radiator when the car slipped off a jack as I was lowering it. The block of wood I was using as a jacking pad hit the junction between the plastic end tank and the radiator, and broke the seal. That time, I managed to fix it by pushing it back into place, and re-crimping the aluminum over the plastic. This time, trying the same thing, I couldn't tell if it worked. I took it out for a spin, the temperature came up, heat worked, all that, so I'm hopeful. Can't really tell the level without opening the radiator, and I worked with a guy who tried that. OUCH.

Today, Grace was going to take it to the studio, since that's only a couple miles away, it'll heat up but won't strand her if it has problems. Well, I go out to watch when she starts it up, and when she does, a bunch of antifreeze comes out of the area I "fixed". :P So, she takes the Miata, and after a phone call to Jeff Taylor, I'm in touch with a friend of his who has a new radiator on hand in Old Bridge. (still can't hear that town name without thinking "ahhh... hahahahah... raceWAY... PARK!")

Jeff, you rock!

French press notes

Notes for my own reference on brewing a pot of French press coffee at work. Based on a Bodum glass french press, 32 oz, a Krups blade grinder, and a 29.6cc coffee scoop.

• 5 scoops of Joe's House Full City Roast. (6.4 oz water per scoop)
  
• Grind, while shaking grinder, 3-5 seconds. (yes, really, that short)
• Dump grinds into press pot.
• Pour hot water over grinds
• Stir (optional?)
• Wait four minutes, press, and serve.
• Don't let it sit for too long in the grinds!
  

Truer words have never been spoken...

An instant message from a coworker:

"some day I'd like the only retard I work with to be you."

Unfortunately that day appears to be FAR off...

I wanna ride.

After the past two mountain bike rides being so much fun, I really want to get back on the bike, and ride! However, right now I'm really only able to get out on Fridays, so I'm left for the rest of the week doing nothing but wishing I was riding.

I think it might be time to get the rollers out. I'm not a fan of riding them, but with less and less opportunities to ride, I have to do something to keep strong so the Friday rides are still fun.

I just don't understand.

Went riding with Grace, Amy, and Ed today, and rode Pennypack -- my first time, finally!

Had shifting issues in Wissahickon last week, spent some time on the bike yesterday but apparently not enough -- had shifting issues again today. So, I wound up singlespeeding on the santa cruz- I found one gear in which I could leave it where it wouldn't skip shift on me, or anything.

Well, I spent most of the ride doing the singlespeed thing, and really wondering just WHY some folks do this on PURPOSE. It's not enough gear on the downhills, it's too much gear on the uphills, it's just too much work and so forth and so on.

However, what I REALLY didn't understand was how, after going through a tough ride like that (and having to work so much harder for the same ride than I would have if my gears were working) I came to the conclusion that no, I was not going to sell my Karate Monkey as I planned, but rather build it up again... as a rigid singlespeed.

It makes no bloody sense whatsoever... but I'm still gonna do it. Hey, I might build it up and realize I still don't like it. But, for some reason that I still don't fully understand, I'm gonna go back and try it again.

Quote of the day...

Truer words have never been spoken:

"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts." -- Bertrand Russell

By that logic, though, I must be a GENIUS!!

Cheap bike parts and more MTBing

Saturday morning, Dmitri, Lance, and I went up to the bike swap meet at the Lehigh Valley velodrome. (now called the "Valley Preferred Cycling Center") I brought a bunch of cash, not looking for anything particular past a set of cranks for the road bike. The Dura Ace cranks on the Giant are starting to look pretty rough, with the clear coat starting to crack, and the aluminum oxidizing. They're good cranks, but need to be refinished, and I know a guy who restores bikes who is interested in seeing what he can do with them. (or, I might try my hand at it)

So, early on, I found a pair of Ultegra external bearing cranks for only $75. Was pretty happy with that and bought them, but later realized I didn't bother to consider they didn't have a bottom bracket, and I also discovered they were missing the plastic tensioning cap as well as one of the clamping bolts. So, the price wasn't quite as good as I thought. Oh well, my bad.

Just two booths later, I found a pair of FSA SL-K carbon fiber road cranks which looked to be take-offs - they showed some scratches but no wear on the rings, and no evidence of pedals ever having been installed - for $90! Right now those same cranks are $450 - on sale - at Colorado Cyclist! That lessened the pain of my hasty purchase on the Ultegras!

After the swap meet, the three of us rode in Ralph Stover/High Rocks park. It's a small park, but very technical, so it's a challenging ride. I didn't ride nearly as well as Friday night's ride, but did decently. Both Lance and Dmitri rode strong, and Dmitri rode some really tough sections -- including one section that Lance tried multiple times without success! (I walked the whole thing)

We then went home, picked up four cases of beer, threw a couple beers in the freezer and worked on Lance's bike.

All in all, I'd call that a Very Good Day. :)