Rock Solid Sawbenches

Although I own and use power tools, I consider woodworking solely with hand tools to be a separate artistic discipline, and I am doing what I can to learn and practice that discipline. For hand sawing, a good sawing bench is indispensible. Sawing dovetails or tenons is done at the regular workbench at about waist height, but using a handsaw for crosscuts or ripping requires the material to be held at about knee level. The saw can then be held at the correct angle toward the floor while the cut is made.

Several years ago I made a three-board sawbench, but its wide legs made it difficult to keep the bench from wobbling on the shop floor during use. It was made of ¾ inch pine and was too lightweight, so I ended up disassembling it and recycling the wood.

In Issue 6 (Autumn 2006) of Woodworking Magazine, editor Christopher Schwarz writes about building and using sawbenches. In the magazine he provides drawings, parts lists and instructions to build what he calls a “traditional English sawbench”, and on the magazine blog at http://www.woodworking-magazine.com/blog/ he shows how to use the bench for handsawing.

I liked the sturdy design, so I decided I would build a couple. I followed his design pretty closely, with only a few minor deviations. For example, I just couldn’t bring myself to follow his recommendation to nail the bottom shelf boards, so I glued and pegged each one in place. The finished benches are heavy and rock solid. The only problem is that now I need a larger shop!

Not Riding Much Lately

The weather has been fluctuating for the last couple of weeks. First we had about four inches of snow, which put the big clamp on any riding for a few days. I guess I wouldn’t really mind riding on slick streets if I was the only vehicle out there, but I really don’t cherish the idea of becoming a slow-moving target for the fair weather drivers here. I grew up in Ohio where it snows pretty often, and people there actually learned to drive on the slick stuff and prepared their cars for the weather. I remember being a young teenage driver and learning that if you don’t know what you’re doing in the snow, you end up in the ditch. But here in sunny Oklahoma it seldom snows much, and people don’t have the opportunity to learn and practice driving on snow-packed roads.

This week I’m in Wichita, KS on a company trip and didn’t bring a bike this time. The city streets here are not very bike friendly, although the city is slowly adding to the bike path routes. I guess the good roads where I normally ride have spoiled me, but here there are NO shoulders on any of the highways or city streets here. It’s my opinion that bike routes work ok for light recreational use. But here in this town, the heavy automobile traffic, lack of shoulders, and absence of bike lanes prohibit cycling on the streets for transportation. Too bad.

So, I’m looking forward to getting back home and enjoying the daily commute.

On another topic, I’ve noticed that the Hotter ‘n Hell jerseys are finally available again. They ran out at the event in August, and just now have them available on their web site store: http://hhhstore.org/

A Litter Colder!

Yesterday was a blustery, windy day – too bad to ride. I mean it was windy! There were wind advisories issued, and forcasts of winds up to 60 mph. Personally, I don’t think it was that windy, but it was more than I wanted to ride in.

This morning the wind calmed way down, and we were left with a wonderfully crisp, cool autumn morning. The thermometer outside my kitchen window read 28 degrees, and the neighborhood flags were hanging almost straight down … perfect for an invigorating commute to work.

I’m trying to dress better for my rides this winter. Last winter I tried to get by on the cheap by using various layered items purchased at the local *$#mart. This year I coughed up some dough for “real” cool/cold weather biking clothes, and I’m very interested in finding out what works and what doesn’t. There’s very little accurate (read: non-commercial) information out there about cool/cold weather riding, simply because the U.S. cycling business is so oriented toward the racing wannabees. But I digress.

Today’s outfit consisted of :

Light balaclava, heavy balaclava, helmet, helmet cover
Base shirt, short-sleeved jersey, arm warmers, heavy cycling jacket
Heavy gloves
Cycling shorts, wind-front tights
Poly socks, wool socks, MTB shoes

Results:

Head and ears – warm
Face – cool nose and eyes
Neck – hot
Hands and arms – warm enough
Chest, shoulders, back and torso, butt and thighs – warm
Knees and lower legs – cool
Feet – too cool

So, it looks like I mostly guessed ok for this morning. I think I’ll not double-up on the balaclava again until the weather gets really frigid, because I don’t like my neck being hot. And it looks like I need to put winter riding shoes higher up on my wish list. Other than that I’m ok.

And the good news is that after spending so much time getting my riding stuff ready, I only forgot a few work-related items. So here I am happily at work going commando, with my shirt tail out to cover my belt-less pants, and wearing my cycling socks with my loafers. Ha! Cracks me up.!

Mirrors

I suspect that all you racer boys (and girls) out there will disagree with me, but I like to ride with a mirror. Yeah, I know they look kinda geeky, but come on, riding a bicycle in the USA is already considered kinda geeky anyway. Using a mirror is just a different type of geeky. Like there’s “cool geeky” and “uncool geeky”. Anyway, if you’ve ever ridden long distances on the open highways, especially by yourself or only one or two other riders, you’ve learned to appreciate mirrors. There are simply times when being able to see behind you adds a great deal of confidence and safety.
I’ve tried several kinds of mirrors on my different bikes with mixed success. I had an unsatisfactory experience with a helmet-mounted mirror several years ago. It was the kind that sticks to the side of the helmet with double-sided tape. It was hard to adjust, the mirror part was too small, it was hard to focus on the objects behind, and worst of all it kept falling off. When it fell off for the ??th time, I finally just left it in the road where it landed. Since then I’ve used a bar-end-mounted mirror on my straight-bar bikes and I like it pretty well (some brands work better than others). I’ve not tried the kind that wrap around the brake hoods on drop bars, but a friend of mine had one, and he said it buzzed and vibrated. The worst thing about bar-mounted mirrors is that they break easily if (I mean when) you drop the bike.
Several months ago I decided to try a mirror that mounts on the frame of my eyeglasses. I doubted that I would like it, but gambled on the $15 price. For some reason I've found that I really like this mirror ... it's called the "Take A Look" by Bike Peddler. It's an acrylic mirror with no frame and has a thin wire stem that mounts easily on my eyeglasses or sunglasses. It stays put, is easy to adjust, doesn’t vibrate too much, and I find that it's easy for me to focus. And since it’s mounted on my head and not the bike, I can turn my head and sweep all lanes behind me.

34 Degrees

We had a nice little cold snap this morning, with the temperature going down to about 34 degrees. The good thing is that the wind died down from about 20-25 mph to about 8-10 mph.

Today’s cycling kit consisted of (top-to-bottom)
Helmet cover
Thin balaclava
Long sleeve poly base layer
Short sleeve jersey
Arm warmers
Shell
Lined gloves
Shorts
Thin tights
Knee warmers
Poly socks
Wool socks
Summer MTB shoes

I was nice and comfortable without being too warm on my 4 ½ mile ride. I think today's outfit should suffice down to 25-30 degrees. Below that (or if the windchill is really low) I’ll go to my fleece balaclava, lined jacket and wind-front tights. I think maybe I should also get some really thin gloves to wear inside my lined gloves. And while I’m dreaming, why not order a pair of winter riding shoes?

Whatever I wear in the morning, I have to remember that it’ll probably be in the 50’s when I ride home that evening, so I need to bring light clothes to wear then. Ah, Oklahoma weather ... gotta love it !

A Special Day

Today is a special day for me, one filled with sweet memories, and great expectations for the future.

Four years ago today the love of my life agreed to become my wife!

New Old Tools

I really like old tools. Of course I like new tools too, especially hand tools. But there's something special about a tool that has a little age and wear on it. It just looks and feels comfortable, I guess.

There aren't really many old tools in Oklahoma, because there haven't been people here using tools for that long. (Yeah, I know, there were people here using stone tools, but you know that I'm talking about relatively modern tools, so don't be a smart aleck.) Most of the old tools are back on the east coast. But sometimes I run across some interesting hand tools anyway.

This past Saturday I picked up the items in the above picture at a local garage sale. These were just dumped in a box with some junk. As you can see, I got a decent old large chisel, which I'll probably never use since I don't plan on building a log cabin soon. The neat old four-fold rule is nice. I already have a couple larger, newer ones, but this old Lufkin has a lot of character. According to that well-known on-line auction this item is worth ten times what I paid for all five of the tools shown.

I'm going to like the little steel vernier caliper. It should come in handy. And the little 4-inch combination square is good to have.

So, all in all it was a nice GS find. It's this kind of stuff that entices me to go out early on Saturday mornings. Its a big job staying out of the way of the feeding sharks (oops, I mean ladies sorting through the kids clothing, cracked dishes, Avon bottles and assorted foo foo). But sometimes it pays.

Added: Yes, I do realize there are only 4 tools in the picture, not five. I can count; I just need to double-check sometimes :)

All Around Good Weekend

Yep, good weekend. But then, aren't all weekends good? Saturday we drove to Cordell, Oklahoma for a Pumpkin Festival. Trouble was, there wasn't a punkin in sight! (OK, maybe a few). But it was almost all venders of rubber snakes, Chinese toys and cheap knives. Later in the afternoon we stopped in Hobart, where there wasn't any kind of celebration going on. There we had a thoroughly fine time walking around the square, having lunch in a small diner, going to antique stores, and taking lots of pictures.

But, the coolest thing is all the wildlife we saw. We saw some really large hawks and a tall blue heron. We saw a snake in the sun on a back road near a little lake. We saw two deer standing by the side of the road. And coolest of all, a young mountain lion trotted across the road about 50 yards ahead of us as we drove through the Quartz Mountains. It was a rare privilege to see this reclusive animal, but I couldn't help thinking that I hope I don't meet up with him/her while hiking someday. Or even worse, have him/her nearby, watching me or even following me without my being aware of it!

Boxing and Shivering

The Boxes Are Coming Together
October 12, 2006

Here are a few pics of the progress I'm making with the oval boxes. The first shot is of the materials, consisting of blanks for the sides, tops and bottoms, all in cherry. What you see below is enough materials to make 10 sets of 5 boxes in graduated sizes. By the way, my materials were supplied by John Wilson. If you ever want to try building these, I heartily recommend him to you for all the wood, tools, and instructional materials you will need.

This next pic shows about half of the boxes after assembly and awaiting a finish. A lot of steps were performed to get from raw materials to a completed box. First, the swallow-tail fingers on the sides were marked, bandsawn and trimmed by hand. Then the sides were soaked in very hot water till they could be wrapped around forms, joined with copper tacks, and then placed on shapers to be dried. After the sides were dry, the tops and bottoms were cut and shaped to fit exactly, and then pegged to the sides with wooden pegs. Final sanding then made the boxes ready for a finish, some of which will be painted with old fashioned milk paint, and others which will be treated with a clear hand-rubbed oil and wax finish.

Windy!
October 12, 2006
Man, was it windy this morning! I looked at the weather forecast last night, and it called for some wind and a possibility of light rain, but I wasn't expecting 20 - 30 mph winds. Don't think I'll brave the open road in that kind of wind, especially with only a barbed wire fence to break the wind across the open prairie between here and work!

Cool Weather Riding
October 11, 2006

We got another little cold snap this morning. At 6:15 this morning the thermometer outside my kitchen window read about 43 degrees (fahrenheit). I’ve been looking forward to cooler riding weather so I could try out some of the new cool-weather clothing I purchased recently.

If you’ve ever visited this blog before, you may know that I commute to work by bicycle almost all of the time. Riding this summer has been a good way for me to stay active without taking up much extra time. Mornings are always nice, but summer afternoons in southwest Oklahoma are pretty hot. So it is with some anticipation that I’ve watched the temps drop as fall approaches.

Last winter I didn’t ride on the cold or wet days. If the temperature was below about 40 degrees I drove my truck because I simply didn’t have good cold weather riding gear. I had a light balaclava, a set of light tights, long-fingered gloves and a nylon windbreaker. So, the best I could do was layer with shirts or sweaters under the windbreaker.

This year I want to see if it’s practical to ride when it’s cold, windy or wet, I so I ordered knee warmers, arm warmers, a helmet cover, windfront tights, a light cycling jacket, a heavy cycling jacket, and a fleece balaclava. So far I’ve found out that the arm and knee warmers are sufficient down to about 45 degrees. Below 45 I need the light jacket over the arm warmers (I don’t own any long sleeved jerseys) and light tights instead of the knee warmers. (The knee warmers would be plenty warm, except that they leave my ankles exposed). I think this combination will be fine down to about 40 degrees.

I’m looking forward to lower temperatures; I think that my heavy cycling jacket will be very warm, and I can’t imagine wanting to ride at a temperature it can’t handle. The one area I don’t have covered (literally) yet is something to keep my feet warm. I really like the idea of winter cycling shoes (like the Lake MXZ301) but they are very expensive. I probably should try a set of shoe covers first, at about 10 percent of the cost of winter shoes.

However, I’m not looking forward to riding in the wet. I have fenders on my main bike (an 80’s vintage Nashbar Touring model with a 5-speed freewheel and downtube shifters), but I’ve fallen on wet streets and didn’t like it. Plus riding in the wet can be really dirty for me, the bike, and my clothing. So we’ll take it one day at a time.

By the way, I recommend you check out the IceBike site for great tips on cold weather riding and gear: http://www.icebike.com .

Way too long ...

Yep, it's been way too long since I've posted here. You know how it gets; you miss a few days, then weeks, and before you know it, it's been so long since you've posted that you feel like starting over.

It's been busy around here, that's for sure. Long hot summer & fall, working some overtime, travelling for my work about once a month. Managed to get in a couple of organized rides: The Hotter 'n Hell Hundred in Wichita Falls was good this year, except it was so hot that the organizers closed the 100 mile course early. I did the 100k again this year. Saw some friends there that I hadn't seen for a while.



A couple of weeks ago my wife and I did a short local ride. The wind was brutal on the way out, but riding with the wind back into town was nice. The organizers in the small town were really friendly.

Since I've last posted I've also done a little home improvement. Because our son is now a sophomore in college, we've converted his bedroom into an office / computer space for ourselves. That required painting and new trim. We also installed closet organizers and new closet doors in our master bedroom.

My current project is another batch of Shaker oval boxes. I like to make several sets of boxes as gifts each Christmas. This year my wife and I are planning to build and finish 10 sets of 5 boxes, some of them in traditional milk paint, and some in a clear finish to show off the cherry wood. If we don't end up giving them all away we may try selling some.

I'm still commuting to work by bicycle, using my old Nashbar Touring exclusively now. Even though the morning temperatures are still in the 50's and 60's I'm getting ready for the cold weather. I've already purchased some cold weather gear which should outfit me better than last year. I'll report on how it goes.

Freewheel Day 7

Saturday June 17, Grove to Baxter Springs, 45 miles

Slept very well last night and woke up to the sound of a good rain pattering on the tents. It sounded good to lie there and simply listen to it. At about dawn the rain stopped and we all got up, shook out as much water as we could and packed up our soggy tents.

Breakfast in the high school gym was the typical eggs and pancakes … didn’t eat much, not too hungry. It was still drizzling when we climbed on our bikes for the ride across the border and the rain began again in earnest soon into the ride. We rode in the rain probably the first third of the way and it felt good. There were only a couple of hills on this leg, and with a brisk south wind we made good time through pretty country.


At the state line we stopped for the obligatory pictures, and then we flew into Baxter Springs on the tailwind with the best average speed of the trip. Stopping at the High School on the north side of town, we changed into civies and grabbed another cheeseburger.

My son Ted showed up at about 1 pm, not long after we had finished out last Freewheel meeting of the trip. The ride back to OKC was a really crowed trip with all 5 of us in that little pickup. We dropped off Paul and Jim in the city, headed on to Ardmore to drop off Ted, then Glenn and I sped back to Altus, getting there around 11:30 that night. Freewheel 2006 was history!

Freewheel Day 6

Friday, June 16, Pryor to Grove, 58 miles

Woke up early this morning as usual, about 5am. Had a breakfast burrito at the fitness complex snack bar. By the time we all had something to eat, we ended up leaving camp late. But, we’d heard that today was going to be somewhat easier, so it didn’t really matter.

Our route today took us around the south and east side of Grand Lakee. The countryside was beautiful country, and we also passed over the dam. Instead of eating lunch today, I simply munched on Cliff bars and drank water and sports drinks. I think my body is getting tired of wolfing down large amounts of food.

More excitement today from our canine friends. On a two-lane road with no shoulder, we were met by large dog running down a bank from our right. He charged Glenn who was leading, but Glenn managed to divert him by squirting him from his water bottle. I was riding third in line, and when I attempted the same defensive maneuver, my front wheel dropped off the pavement and I crashed immediately, removing some skin from one knee and the opposite elbow. After straightening my handlebars and brake lever and having a high-volume, one-sided conversation with the dog (who ran away) we carried on.

That evening we camped on the 50 yard line at Grove High School. Dinner there was BBQ sandwiches with potato salad & cobbler. The food was OK but expensive ($8). Seems as though each little town has discovered that eight or nine hundred hungry riders rolling into their town is a fiscal opportunity, and also that serving sandwiches and chips is more profitable than feeding real meals. Not complaining, just observing.

We have a chance of rain tonight so the tent flys are going up. Tomorrow will be the last leg of the trip and everyone will be sorry to see it end so soon.

Freewheel Day 5

Thursday, June 15, Tahlequah to Pryor, 52 miles

It’s the fifth day into the ride and we’re all beginning to adjust to sleeping on the ground. I’m very happy with the Thermarest backpacking pad I selected for this trip. It’s small enough to carry on the bike if I ever decide to do some fully self-contained touring, but it’s also just thick enough when inflated to lift me above the ground and to provide some insulation. There was quite a bit of dew this morning, so I was glad I had used the tent fly. The temperature dropped during the night and I ended up crawling into my bag. We got up early after sleeping pretty well, packed up, and went across the street to the High School where the local Rotary Club was offering a pancake breakfast.

Today’s ride was nice and easy compared to the last couple of days. One downhill was at least 2 miles long and was great fun. We stopped at an old school house that had been converted to stables and took our photos with some mules. We crossed several scenic rivers that looked so cool and inviting that I really wished we had the time and means to stop and kayak them. In the afternoon the terrain turned more to rolling hills and we rode past many beautiful ranches and farms. We were glad for this ‘rest’ day of only 52 miles.

That evening in in Pryor we stayed at their new multi-million dollar athletic complex. The facilities were brand new and state-of-the-art, with two pools and all the typical athletic equipment, and the people there really made us feel welcome. They even had hot water in the showers!

Freewheel Day 4

Wednesday, June 14, Warner to Tahlequah, 58 miles


Today was a VERY hard day into Tahlequah, probably the toughest day so far. The mountains were smaller but seemed much steeper. We were already beginning to get tired, and the hills seemed to go on forever. But we did see lots of beautiful forested country.

We got a wonderful breakfast at a little café 10 miles into the ride. We were the first riders to arrive there, and we were treated very quickly and cordially.

We stopped for lunch at a Methodist facility, kind of a camp-meeting looking affair in the Cookson hills. The Freewheel organizers told us that this was one of the poorest counties in the country, and that the Methodist facility there performed a valuable ministry to the local people. Somewhere along there a woman rider was bitten by a dog. The same dog chased us a little, but didn’t attack. The authorities captured the dog and the woman was treated and released.

We got into Tahlequah at about 5:45 pm. and pitched camp under some pine trees on a hill. After cleaning up we took the shuttle into town to have a steak and to watch the criterium races on the streets. It was a good ending to a hard day, and we all went to bed early.

Freewheel Day 3

Tuesday, June 13, Wilburton to Warner, 56 miles

I slept pretty well last night. Glenn must have had a bad night because when he woke us all up early he said it was because he couldn’t sleep. I was already up though, because I had to get up 3 times during the night. Shouldn’t have had so many glasses of tea! So we packed up and threw our bags into the truck and coasted out of town. We missed the meeting the previous evening and didn’t know about any arrangements for breakfast, so we didn’t know where to go for breakfast, so we stopped at McDonald’s for a poor, but adequate breakfast.

There were quite a few hills today, bur not as bad as yesterday’s trip through the mountains. We saw another armadillo clutching a beer bottle. In a nice little café in one small town along the way, they offered free drinks for all Freewheelers. Really nice folks. Paul had an omelet as a second breakfast. I left a tip since the drinks were free.

There were lots of rest stops today, but they were in weird places and at weird distances. We rode several miles off the route so we could stop at the camping area at Eufaula Lake. Later we crossed the dam. The lake was beautiful.


A redneck gave us the finger because we caused him to slow down on a hill. What a moron. Later we rode a LONG downhill … I can report that reaching 40+ mph is quite thrilling. I heard that one guy crashed on the downhill, bending his wheel and cracking his helmet. He went to the hospital via ambulance, but apparently is ok.

Tomorrow should be another hilly ride into Tahlequah.

Freewheel Day 2

Monday, June 12 Atoka to Wilburton, 81 miles

Today we rode 83 miles thru the Kiamichi mountains, the longest daily ride of the week. Because we were anticipating a long day, we rose and packed up early. My morning meal consisted of a breakfast burrito in camp. We rode out of Atoka this morning at about 6:20. There were many rest stops today, but I quickly noticed that all had water or Gatoraid but none had ice to share. I discovered throughout the week that ice would be in short supply. The rest stops were manned by Girl Scouts or volunteer firemen or local clubs taking donations. The local volunteer fire station in the small community of Lane put on an exceptionally good lunch for us. I had pasta salad, egg salad and slaw. Others ate BBQ and cold cuts. One of the fireman wore what I surmised to be a British desert uniform with a tan kilt, sported a full beard and chewed tobacco. Quite a character.

The first half of the ride was bordered by beautiful rolling hills with prosperous farms. The last 15 miles were hard with long, steep hills. One hill in particular was several miles long. We also saw our first example of an apparent Freewheel tradition. On the side of the road, halfway up one hill lay a dead armadillo on its back, with a beer bottle held on its chest and between it’s paws.

Arrived at the Eastern Oklahoma State College campus in Wilburton at 4:45 pm. We camped on the football field and were welcomed with a Spaghetti dinner put on by the student union. We chowed down like troopers and guzzled iced tea by the glassfull.
Tonight was the only night of the trip that I was unable to get a cell phone signal. What a bummer. I fired off a couple of text messages, but had no way to tell if they had been delivered. Like everyone else I went to bed early. Expecting only a 50+ miler tomorrow.

Freewheel Day 1

Sunday, June 11 Hugo to Atoka, 53 miles

I didn’t sleep much last night at the depot park in Hugo. The full moon was shining through my tent and directly in my face, dogs were barking all around town, trains were pulling slowly through town. At about 2 am, Cooter and Bubba raced by, hollering and blowing their horn, their glass-packed mufflers cackling. I heard Glenn tossing around in his tent all night. At 1:30 I made the obligatory trip to the outhouse. Since I wasn’t very sleepy I even turned on my headlamp and read a chapter from my book, “Sailing Alone Around the World”. By the time 5:30 rolled around, I had fallen back to sleep and woke up feeling good.

We packed up camp, loaded our gear on the truck, and rode across the street to the old train depot/museum. There was a sort of restaurant in the depot, and the Chamber of Commerce had prepared biscuits that tasted like they were made from cornbread and some sorry looking pancakes and sausage. Despite appearances, it was surprisingly good, washed down with large cups of milk and a coffee. When we finished, we made our way back out to the highway in the center of town and started the ride at 7:30.

The morning was cool and we began the day with the wind gusting from the southwest as we headed north thru beautiful farms and lovely stands of timber. I was impressed with the beauty and lushness of the landscape. I had imagined that southeast Oklahoma might look impoverished, but that was not the case, at least not on this first day.

At our second rest stop we veered off to the northwest for the remaining 30 miles, the wind now being mostly a side wind from our left. The road was good for the most part, with wide shoulders and generally smooth surfaces. The sag wagons and bike shop vans patrolled back and forth along the route, and on several sections we were accompanied by highway patrolmen with their lights flashing. We stopped several times at fruit stops, under trees, and at water stops, but the best was at a little volunteer fire station out in the country. They had set up fans and chairs in the open bay building and had a separate air-conditioned room where they offered sandwiches, ice cream, and clean restrooms.

The day’s ride was mostly uneventful, except for meeting interesting folks along the way. There was Jake, an elderly gentleman from OKC with a brand new Bianchi (Gang Green in color) who was amazed that I was riding such an old bike. I guess that despite his age, he was relatively new (or new again) to cycling and had not much experience with older bikes. Then there was the strange guy on the recumbent who made it a point to stop and pick up articles of clothing he found along the way. And then there was the weirdo we passed who was plucking tail feathers from a road kill buzzard and putting them on his bike as decoration.

We rode through the small town of Antlers, where a sign touted to be the deer capital of the world, and where there was a deer park with captive deer behind chain link fences. Farther on we met an old lady at a convenience store a few miles from Atoka who expressed amazement that we were actually riding on the road. She asked us incredulously, “Y’all ridin’ all the way to Atoka?” I can only imagine what she would have thought if she knew we were riding all the way to Kansas!

The highlight for me was when I fell over at a stop light and removed some skin from a knee and the opposite ankle. Not my best moment. I know it happens to everyone, but it was pretty embarrassing.

We camped that evening at the 45th Infantry Memorial Park across the street from the Atoka High School. Jim had ridden ahead of us because he said he wanted to see how many people he could pass, and since he got to camp ahead of us he picked out a spot really close to the baggage truck, so we wouldn’t have to carry the bags very far. Unfortunately, after we had pitched camp we learned we were directly in front of the dj stand, who promised (and proceeded) to blast us with country music till dark. After a shower and a concession hamburger, I took the shuttle van into town to Walmart to buy a folding chair as a replacement for the one I had brought. Apparently, it had gotten broken in transit. For dinner, there were several local vendors from local restaurants – BBQ, Subs, Mexican, Oriental and hamburgers. I had an excellent quesadilla fixed fresh with beef and a diet Dr Pepper. After prepping my bike for tomorrow I called my son and my wife. About 8:30 pm the sun dipped below the trees and the oppressive heat waned with the cool breeze. The dj finally shut up and we went to sleep, only to be awakened at 4:30 with him going “Test, Test, 1-2-3, Test”.

Freewheel Day 0

Saturday June 10. Traveling to the starting point: Hugo, Oklahoma

Today is finally the day! I’ve been planning on this trip for months, and have gone through my packing list so many times I nearly have it memorized. So this morning I got up at 6 am, showered, loaded my bike and my two bags with all my gear and grabbed a quick breakfast. After a last kiss from my sweetheart, I was out the door. With me I took 2 loaves of banana bread that my beautiful wife had made for us boys to eat on the way. We ate one loaf on the road and I gave the other one to my son Ted who was doing most of the driving. On the way out of town I stopped to pick up my work buddy Glenn Gagnon. We got him all loaded up and left town at about 7:10.

First we drove the 150 miles to Oklahoma City to pick up a couple more riders. As pre-arranged, Jim Lake was waiting for us at an intersection on the east side of the city. Jim is a full-time commuter cyclist who puts in over 4000 miles a year on his bike. We had met him on the Freewheel internet forum, and so were anxious to meet him in person. After loading up Jim, we ran down the road a ways to pick up Glenn's brother Paul at his house. Paul works the night shift, and he had fallen back to sleep before we got there, so our arrival woke him up again. His dachshund bravely sounded the warning from the porch, but when we came to the door he yelped in fear and streaked around to the back yard. We never saw him again. Paul insisted on getting his morning coffee. (We were to learn over the course of the next week that his coffee was very high on his priority list.)

Our next stop was Ardmore to pick up my son Ted. He had agreed to drive us to Hugo, keep my truck for a week, and then pick us up in Kansas the next Saturday. We got to his apartment at about 12 PM. We loaded up all 5 of us, all our gear and 4 bikes into my compact pickup, and headed out. Didn’t take us long to realize that my compact pickup was really crowded. The cramped quarters and high anticipation let to lots of jokes and good natured kidding. I couldn’t help noticing that the road all the way to Hugo looked like a good cycling road: smooth and with wide shoulders.

We arrived at Hugo at about 3:30, found our camp at the old train depot in the center of town, changed into biking clothes and piled back into the truck for the run across the border. (We needed to start our ride in Texas so that we could ride completely across Oklahoma). Ted drove us across the river to Arthur City (it was no city) and put us out at a little gas station. Heading north on our bikes we rode across the Red River bridge & stopped at the “Welcome to Oklahoma” sign for pictures. Immediately Paul’s front tire went flat and he changed it there in front of the Oklahoma sign. Back on the road, we spun off the 12 miles to Hugo. It was very hot, the hottest part of the day, but we had a good tailwind and we drank lots of water.

Back at camp in Hugo we said goodbye to Ted, changed clothes again and tanked up on water. Paul had his second flat just as we rode into camp (on the rear this time) and he found some shade in which to repair his tire. In camp we hung out a while, enjoying a cool breeze as the heat began to dissipate. We took off on our bikes through town to find dinner at a bout 5:30 or so. Paul’s rear tire flatted again. After fixing that, we rode around town until Paul’s nose led us to Dawna’s Diner, a nice little place on a side street. Our waitress was named Cynder, and the nite’s special was ribeye. Paul and Jim both had the catfish. Jim must have been hungry, because he finished all of his own, and whatever Paul didn’t eat. Glenn and I settled on the cheeseburger. I added a salad and 3 glasses of diet Pepsi and he had fries and we ate till it hurt. The neatest thing about the restaurant was the black and white porcelain pig in the restroom. Don’t ask me.
Bye the time we rode back into camp the evening had cooled off and a really pleasant breeze was blowing. There among the hundreds of tents we had our first meeting of Freewheel 2006. Later I bought a Freewheel tee-shirt at the concession stand, and Paul and Jim rode to Walmart for tent pegs and a big package of little ice cream cups which made Paul a very popular guy that evening in camp.

Getting ready for Freewheel

My buddy Glenn, his brother, and I are joining about 800 other folks this year to do our first Freewheel. The Oklahoma Freewheel is an annual supported across-the-state bike tour, and this will be our first one. We’ve been getting our bikes and camping gear ready for months, and frankly I’m more than ready to get started. So, early Saturday morning we’ll load up the truck and head for the Texas border near Hugo Oklahoma. We'll camp overnight and Sunday morning we'll head out on our seven day trek north to Kansas. Hopefully I’ll be back in a week with pictures and some good stories to tell.

Check out their website: www.okfreewheel.com


Early morning ride


I didn’t commute by bike to work this week as usual because I wanted to be fresh for the Freewheel, but I did want to get a couple of rides in. So Monday I did an easy 30 miles out and back on the highway. The wind was up as usual, and a crosswind at that. Then, Wednesday I made an early morning 18 mile loop north and east, up the highway and back on some nice, smooth blacktop county roads. I really enjoyed the ride through the fields and past quiet farmhouses. I watched hawks perched on the power lines watching for breakfast. I was amused by the tiny but brave dachshund that charged from his yard and then trotted back to the house with his head held high after he “chased me away”. I even stopped and took a couple pictures of a nice 80 acre pasture that was posted for sale. All in all, it was a good morning.


Tour de Meers

A couple of week-ends ago a few of us rode the annual Tour de Meers. It’s held every year about this time in the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge. The community of Meers sits just outside the refuge and consists of a few houses and dilapidated old store and restaurant where you can get a buffalo burger as big as a dinner plate.

We did the 30 mile loop which went out into the country through the wheat fields, then down the backside of Lake Latonka, and then circling around the mountains through the refuge and back to Meers. Lots of fun, some hills and lots of wind.

Peugeot For Sale

I've decided to sell my daily commuter bike. I have more bikes than I have room for, and several that can fill the same role, so I've decided this one can go. I've been riding it to work for several months (I don't ride in the bitter cold or the rain) and it's worked flawlessly. In the past year I've gone completely through this bike, adjusting and lubricating everything, and in my opinion all the components and bearings look like new. One thing I really like are the generator powered headlight and taillight. If you've been thinking about getting out of that gas-guzzler and on a bike for your ride to work and back, this bike would be perfect.

Manufacturer - Peugeot
Designation - Princeton
Year of manufacture - 1982
Country of Origin - France
Frame - PBS Mangalloy
Fork - PBS Mangalloy
Rims - Rigida steel 18 x 622 (28 x 1 5/8)
Hubs - Sachs-Maillard, 36 spoke
Tires - Michelin World Tour 700 x 32 C (32 x 622)
Pedals - Wellgo with toe clips and straps
Crank - 170 mm
Chain - rings 48 / 40
Rear - Cogs 13 / 15 / 17 / 19 / 21 / 24 / 28
Freewheel - Sachs Maillard C 91
Bottom Bracket - cup and cone
Front Derailleur - Sachs Huret Classic 1500
Rear Derailleur - Sachs Huret Classic 2000
Shifters - Sachs Huret Aris Twist Ring
Headset - threaded
Color - tan / green
Lights - Front & Rear w/Soubitez bottle dynamo
Original rear rack and fenders.

Bags not included. Will not ship, local pickup only, SW Oklahoma, NW Texas area.

Contact: yumanbing@yahoo.com

..., During, and After

Ok, this is during. On the Sunday after I picked up the bike, I completely tore it down to the frame. That's the only way to be sure of the bike's condition. As you can see, there was quite a bit of ugly light blue touchup paint on the top tube and the chainstays. There was also quite a bit of rust in those areas, but the downtube, seat tube, seat stays and fork looked pretty good considering its age. Anyway, the paint was complete and durable in those areas.

Stripping the old touchup paint and the underlying rust was quite a chore that took me the better part of a week's worth of evenings. Finally by the following Saturday I was ready for paint. Several coats of primer and two coats of paint later I had a presentable frame, and more importantly, a frame that was somewhat protected. I know that I still have a choice to make: whether to completely strip and repaint the entire frame, or watch it deteriorate. I'll postpone that decision until after this riding season.

Well, here she is after building her back up today. I cleaned all the parts, checked all the bearings, lubed and adjusted everything of course. All the bearings look brand new except for the headset. It's not damaged in any way, and is probably servicable for a while, but I can just detect some brindling in the lower race, and it feels a little notchy.

I replaced the tires, tubes and rim tape, all the cables, the saddle, bar tape, and added a rack, a bottle holder, and a pump. Still got a few things to add like a computer, some reflectors and lights, and maybe new pedals. But the main thing is for me to get it out and ride it!

Project TB

Saturday I drove 500 miles through torrential rains and Daytona 500 type traffic to pick up my latest acquisition. Since I live in the "used bike vacuum" part of the U.S. , I have very few options for obtaining decent (non-Walmart) used bicycles in my local area. I've been looking for a touring frame for a while, and even though I see them all the time on E-Bay, I just can't bring myself to paying $60 -$70 for shipping.

I bought this old Nashbar touring bike from a fellow on our touring bike list. It's a mid-80's model that has been well-used and apparently well-taken care of. At least the components all look well maintained; cosmetically the bike could use some TLC. But, it's a touring frame with the right geometry.

Phirst Phlat

I've been riding as an adult for about four years now, and I just recently had my first flat away from home. Sure, I've had the occasional tire go flat in the garage, but this was my first real-world cyclist flat. It happened on the commute home from work last Wednesday evening. I was about halfway home when I heard and felt that unmistakable flat sound/feeling. "Not to worry", I told myself. "This is just my first chance to practice fixing a flat on the road." It was then I remembered that I had moved my spare tube to a different bike only days before. I tried putting a little air in the tire but it hissed out faster than I could put it in, so I figured the hole was probably bigger than I wanted to try to patch, especially there in the goatheads and stubble along that wheatfield. Plus, I knew I should call my wife to tell her I'm going to be late, and she'll want to come get me (she's sweet that way:) . So, I did the manly cyclist thing ... I called my wife and asked her to come pick me up.

The next day I replaced both tubes with new slimed tubes.

By the way, check out the cool pic of my classy commuter (above). It's a 1982 Peugeot Princeton. I picked it up at a local garage sale last fall, and it looks like it's brand new. I've gone through the bearings, adjusted everything and tuned it all up. The only thing that was missing was the tail light lens. Apparently someone had broken the lens while moving the bike around in their garage. Anyway, several months of internet searching finally paid off when I found an exact replacement Soubitez taillight at St John Street Cycles in Great Britain. It was inexpensive and they airmailed it to me in about a week. It's great to have the old bike in service and completely stock.

Slow but Sure

I can't believe it's been a month since my last post. And I can't believe I was working (sort of) on this project for that long. But really, I only worked a couple of saturdays and a few evenings on it. It turned out ok for a plywood project, if I must say so myself. The important thing is that my sweetie likes it and her big family Bible looks good on it.

Prototype

Got another little project in the works. My wife has a large old family Bible and needs a display stand for it. The plan is to put the stand and Bible on the top of our glass-doored bookshelves in the living room. I want the stand to match the wood and general construction of the bookshelves, so I bought some decent oak plywood yesterday. But, before I cut the plywood I wanted to throw together a prototype to check the measurements and see how the big book looked on it.

The size and general measurements turned out to be close. The only dimensional change we decided to make is to lower the front by about two-thirds, leaving the back the same height, and thereby increasing the display angle of the book. Of course, I'll use different joinery on the next version ... the screws are only for the prototype!

So, I guess one day this week I’ll start cutting the good plywood, but first I need to put up the clothesline I promised my sweetie. She’s been really patient :)

Conversion ... Part One

I took advantage of yesterday to put the old Rincon back together after having completely disassembled and cleaned every possible part. I lubed and adjusted everything and installed a set of cheap drop bars and stem friction shifters that we cannibalized from an old garage sale road bike. The most difficult part was figuring out how all the springs, spacers, washers and screws went for the cantilever brakes. Everything always looks different when you’re putting things back together, and that mental picture you had of the parts prior to disassembly has vanished.

We called my reassembly of the Rincon a “proof of concept” … the concept being making a decent loaded tourer out of an old mountain bike. The concept is sound. This old steel mountain bike, like others typical of its time, has a nice long wheel wheelbase and the top bar is parallel to the ground. I happen to like the look of the classic non-compact frame. It has long chainstays, rack eyelets on the seatstays and on both front and rear dropouts, 26 inch wheels, and low gearing suitable for loaded touring.

I took it out for a quick spin around the neighborhood this afternoon and wa-laa! it’s alive! Now I need to take inventory of what it needs to actually enable me to feel confident about beginning short day trips and training for some multi-day touring. For sure I’ll need a new rear wheel (a bend and a small crack), some cables and a touring saddle, even if that means borrowing the Bl7 from my Cannondale. To be truly confident and comfortable I’d be looking at a new component set, but I’m thinking maybe I can piecemeal it. We’ll see. There’s no need to be really committed to this thing yet … I can afford to wait and see what develops. Besides, scrounging parts can be fun.

Maggot's Bike

Had a good day yesterday playing in the garage. Maggot came over about 11am with his hybrid bike, which he proceeded to tear down. He wanted to clean, lube and adjust his bottom bracket, but when he pulled it apart he found that the crank axle was brindled and the bearings pretty well shot. He was also concerned about the condition of his gear rings since the teeth looked pretty worn. Taking the parts with us, we went down to see Johnny, our friendly LBS proprietor, who of course had all the answers. Turns out Maggot needs (and ordered) a new crank axle and bearings, but that his Biopace rings are supposed to look that way, with some shorter teeth. You learn something every day.

Valley of Dry Bones

Have you ever thought that maybe you could make something from nothing?

This old Rincon followed me home one day, so I let it stay in my garage. Before long it was whispering to me, saying "I'm not really a mountain bike ... I'm really a touring bike!" Do I believe it? Of course not. Am I going to try building a tourer on this old frame? Of course.

Is it possible to make something from nothing? Stay tuned. We're about to find out.

Goodbye BOB

Well I've nearly finished overhauling the old Bridgestone 200. I'm waiting on a freewheel remover tool that I've ordered so that I can overhaul the rear hub, and I still need to adjust the derailleurs since putting them back on the bike. Over the past couple of weeks I've completely gone through the bike cleaning, adjusting, and lubricating. I've gotten a chance to use some of the tools I've recently acquired and to have lots of fun taking things apart (and so far being able to put them back together!).

I learned how to decode the serial number and discovered that it was made in 1985. I also had a good time measuing and recording all the specifications for the bike, including its geometry and gear ratios.

I've decided I won't be keeping this bike. My buddy Maggot needs a road bike, and I need a Blackburn rear rack he has, so we decided on a swap. He should replace the bar tape and a couple cables, but otherwise she's ready to roll. It's good to put a 20 year veteran back on the road.