Thursday, August 21, 2008

Cleaning Tubular Rims

I received my Grifos today and started the dreaded process of cleaning the rims before gluing. I did a little research beforehand and found where someone recommended using Goof Off (I thought this was something I did at work)!

I stopped by Lowes on the way home from my training ride and picked up a pint. This stuff works GREAT!! I had the rims cleaned in ~ 30 minutes. I do recommended doing the final cleaning with alcohol. The Goof Off leaves an oily residue which may inhibit the ability of the glue to stick to the rim.

Oh yeah make sure you use in a well ventilated area. Inhaling the odors for a long period of time may make you goofy. Diana tells me she would have a difficult time determining if the Goof Off made me goofy or I was my normal self. Not sure what she meant by this?

Anyway the stuff works great for cleaning rims!

Sunday, August 17, 2008

A slight setback

My cycling plans have suffered a slight setback. I have given in to temptation.I know I said no more racing till cross season, but opportunities continue to pop up. I do not look for them they somehow find me; i.e. My friend Howard and his wife came up to spend the weekend and during one of our many conversations about cycling Howard happened to mention a mountain bike time trial that takes place near him and told me I could stay with them if I would like to come down and do it. How can one pass up an opportunity like this. The same day Van called and asked if I would be interested in doing a race in Chattanooga on August 31, then Kerry calls and tells me about some pre-season cross races in his area. What is one to do? OK, after August and September no more racing till cross!!!! Diana says DUH!!!!!!!!!!!!

Weekend Recap:Weekend started with a great mtn bike on friday then dinner with Diana. Saturday was a quick ride and tidy up around the house. Howard and Susan arrived ~6pm and it was off to Asheville and dinner at Doc Chey's. Walked around town a bit then it was home and off to bed. Got up Sunday morning (I) cooked breakfast(biscuits,eggs,bacon,hashbrowns,strawberries,grapes and jam) I like breakfast. After breakfast we headed to Brevard to do my famous Frozen Creek ride. This is one of the best rides around.After the ride we stopped at Poppies for lunch then we all headed home, Howard and Susan to Hickory and Diana and myself to Fairview to sit on the porch and relax.
I hope everyone has a good week!!

Monday, August 11, 2008

The weekend has gone to the dogs!!!

This past weekend went to the dogs. We had 4 dogs and one cat to care for. Not a bad thing but it made for an interesting weekend. Taking them for walks, feeding watering. It was actually quite fun and entertaining.

Our daughter Amber spent the weekend with us. This was awesome. I installed a hitch on her car and assembled a SARIS rack which slid into the hitch. I definately prefer hitch racks(ones the bike sits in) to roof racks. It may have something to do with my height! Anyway once that was completed we had a shrimp boil mmmmmmm good it did stink up the house a little but we opened the windows to clear the air. After that Diana and Amber watched a chick flick and I went to bed.

Sunday was another great day, got up cooked breakfast and went for a bike ride, oh yeah Saturday Diana and I did our favorite ride in Brevard on the Tandem then ate at our favorite restaurant which has outdoor dining.Back to Sunday...the bike ride was great it was an intense 2.5 hour ride with lots of climbing. Got home cleaned up and waited for Diana to come home from her ride. Once home we went to a cook out ate some good burgers and returned home for a quiet evening on the porch. We were down to 3 dogs now!

That's about it for my weekend. I was a little envious of some friends who were racing but I still think I will wait till cross before racing again...although there is the Fools Gold this weekend and a race in Chattanooga the end of August.
Have a good week and if you need a dog I have plenty!!!

Monday, August 4, 2008

great weekend

wow a weekend with no place to go, no races, I could get used to this. saturday dawned and I was up and off to fletcher park to do road ride with Paul and some others. I had originally planned on riding from the house but I saw the posting for this ride leaving @ 8 am and chose to do it. Two reasons:a) it was a lot cooler that time of day and... b) I could get back home and work on the shelving around the fire place. The ride went great a nice pace minimal stopping and we were back before lunch with 3 hours of riding, perfect.

I got home had lunch and started working on the framing for the shelving. I will post some pics of the project as it progresses. My intent is to have it complete before the first cross race mmmmmm anyone know a good carpenter?

Slept in Sunday morning, flopped around the house finally made it out to Bent Creek for a 2 hour mtn bike ride. It was an awesome morning to be on the mtn bike. I daddled around then it was back to the house. Sunday I was somewhat of a social recluse. Diana and Amber were gone to Charlotte for a concert so I had the place to myself. Well almost I had to share with a cat and 2 dogs. Anyway no progress on the shelves today. Came home took a nap, got up grilled some burgers, ate,read listened to music and layed in the hammock.

That's about it for my weekend, nothing exciting. Oh yeah I did go for my yearly check up. Doc said I was fine, said I should live to be 120, Diana rolled her eyes, 70 more years.

thanks for reading have a great week!!!