And so it begins

The crazy life of a hockey parent. I know where a good chunk of my non-working time will be going. As long as he's having fun, I'm cool with it. Cheers.

Pletscher two legged kick stand

Can anyone speak to how well they stand in the wind? This is getting old!
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15 minutes

The other day I was shooting some family photos for some friends, and I had rented a super wide angle lens (12-24mm f4.5) for a few shots I had in mind.

After the session, we went to their house for an amazing dinner, and then home. The kids to bed, my wife went to her book club, and I was left alone with a sweet lens. I decided to point it up to the heavens and hold her wide open.

This photo was just off my back porch, and there is a lot of ambient city light sneaking in, but I was amazed at the movement that was captured in the 15 minutes that the shutter was open. I can’t wait to get out in the middle of a field far from town and try this again. If it weren’t for all that dirty light creeping in, I would have loved this photo. For now, it's just a visual inspiration for a photo that one day I want to take.

A lesson learned

A simple one I learned today..........do not always trust your kick stand to resist the wind.
I'm sorry, my friend.

Bike Shopping

The Max, has a nice piece on buying bikes. Check it.

Here's a great breakfast recipe for you

Spread a little Karate Monkey over a hearty portion of fresh gravel Mix vigorously with a single speed drive train for 13 miles
Finish with fresh hot coffee

Now you're ready.

I (heart) Karate Monkey

External hard drives must not like me

Man I've had bad luck with these things lately. Anyone know of any decent back up for photo files? My second one was a 500 GB and didn't even last a month. At least our IT guys were able to work their magic and I haven't lost everything yet....
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Here's something if you're really bored.

While in Fernie this past Labor day weekend, and the children were napping, I started sketching. The weather was quite unsettled, so I thought I might as well setup and do some time lapse photography.

This was the only location I could find to shoot from, out on the porch of my parents condo, and if more options were available (that wouldn’t require much effort) I would have positioned the camera differently so as to avoid the flair in the lens. Oh well.

I love seeing the way clouds develop, and if you’re bored enough, you can watch this and you’ll notice some circular motions to the different clouds as they form and dissipate. Get ready for a intense, action packed video. That way when one comes along, you’ll be prepared. This isn’t it. Cheers.

Life comes at you fast

I grew up hearing my Dad say this. Well, maybe he only started to say it when I was in my mid-twenties, but much of what my Dad says sticks with me. Some of it I come to realize later on. This is a later on realization.

My youngest son turned 3 yesterday. After his little party and the kids were in bed, I headed back into the office to attack some of the work that I have to do, but just don't have time in the "work day" to do. I came home to a sleeping family and did the fatherly kiss them good-night again rounds, and while starring at my sons in their bunk beds, I heard my Dad's voice ringing in my ears. "Life comes at you fast".

Think about that for a while, you'll be a better person for doing it.
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Evening Canal Ramble

Sunsets around 8:45

Evening rides require headlights

Almost require woollies and gloves

Ah the changing seasons

Karate Monkey is good company on night rides

Updated the Link List

Check to the right, or actually visit the blog and check to the right if you're a google reader kind of a person. There were many dropped, and a select few added. It still needs some honing, but they're what I read, so you might like them also. Cheers.

I Like Fernie!

Drove up for the long weekend to stay at my parents condo. Checked out the patio, and I liked to view below. This is why people here in the summer.
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Slipping Seatpost fixed!

I’ve had a chronic problem with a slipping seat post on my Karate Monkey ever since I bought it.

I would ride, and even for short distances (less than 5 miles) I noticed the seat post would slip. I posted it to the LHT and CC Google group (just because it’s quite active and often very helpful) to see if anyone had any experience with such slippage on any of their Surlys. Being as the seat tube on a Karate Monkey is the same diameter and tubing as any other Surly bike, I thought it was worth asking there. I heard a few stories where LHT frames were replaced by Surly, and others where it was just a matter of an undersized seat post. I hoped the ladder would be the case, but as it turned out, neither were.

I changed out the seat post with a different one (thanks to the good guys at Bowcycle) and that didn’t make a difference. I measured the seat posts with my digital calipers, and I was getting anywhere from 27.03mm to 27.18mm. The size is stamped 27.2mm and I assume that these are typical manufacturing tolerances. After calling Kurt at Bow, he asked if I could just bring the whole bike in. So I did, and Blue (one of those great bike mechanics who knows much about bikes, even weird stuff like retro-direct drives, and home brew 2 speed fixed setups) thought right away that it was the seat post locking collar. That thought entered my mind, but I doubted it for some reason. Surly used to make their constrictor seat post binder, but got complaints that it was just too beefy and ugly. My KM (as well as my LHT) came with the new collar. So, we strolled around the store until we found a cross check with the old style seat post binder.

Here is a comparison between the two Surly seat post clamps - photo credit goes to Chubby Super Biker -

I took it home, have it a try, and wala. I’ve got about 30 miles of gravel in on the KM this week and she’s holding steady. Man it feels good to get these little nagging problems taken care of. Kudos to Bow for making this top priority, and doing whatever they could to make it right. The customer service there is second to none. Kurt apologized numerous times for the inconvenience and always notified the mechanics when I was going to be coming in so I wouldn’t have to wait at all. They’d pull a bike out of the stand and put mine in there as soon as I walked in the building. I can’t say enough good about Bowcycle.

The new manly constrictor!

So nice to have the KM back. Last night went for a late right to work up the heart beat. First ride of the summer that I’ve had to use my lights. The KM continues to impress.

(I was told by a creative mind that melting a little wax to the seat post sometimes will help give it a little extra stick. Sounds like it might work, unfortunately, for me it didn't. Interesting idea though.)

Folding electric bike

This is kind of weird, kind of cool.

Manpris

With the temps creeping up around 30C + (90F) these days, riding in pants or jeans would be torturous. I’m lucky enough to have an office job where I don’t ever really have to entertain clients. Being as I work strictly with airports and airlines, my clients are at least a flight away. Our office is quite laid back and I’ve even worked this week in flip-flops.

But, when I do feel like not being such a slouch, I opt for some manpris. Capri’s for men. I’ve got several pairs of them, and man are they great. Not pant legs to worry about getting greasy, keep your legs cool, and…..they look good. You can even dress them up. These are a great option for the bike commuter!

even dispite what the Urban dictionary says about them.

Here's a gooder

Updates are lacking

Well, I’ve been busy lately, and have really thought too much about updating this here blog. I feel I should though, mostly because I like it when other blogs I read are updated the odd person who reads this blog might enjoy it’s updating also.

Not much to say though. Sure there are a few stories I could share, but I’m lacking the photos to go with them, and I hate having posts without pictures. I’m a visual guys, and don’t really like posting without photos.

I’ve been plugging away at updating the garage and bike work area, thinking about how I can re-do the Xtracycle, and I’ve been quite busy at work too. I’ve been getting out on my bikes a lot. Commuting everyday, and even getting a bit regular with the “training” rides. Trying to run or ride everyday for at least an hour at max heart beat. Need to whip my butt into shape.

Stay tuned for some (maybe) interesting content, and in the mean time I’ll answer this question: what happens where there is a long break between blog posts? Life.

Cheers.