Cockpit

With another coat of shellac I think the bars with be very close to matching the B-17


Retro look with the natural tape. And yes I know the stem dust cap is crooked. Who cares.

Handlebar taping/twining

Inspired by Kent Petersen of Rivendell Bikes and Velouria of Lovely Bicycle! I decided to twine the ends of my new bar tape to dress up my "cockpit". To protect the twine I applied amber shellac, and today I shellaced the "natural" color bar tape. Pictures to follow. The bar tape on its own had a slight pinkish cast I did not like, the amber shellac took care of that. I fashioned champagne corks to fit as bar ends, a single twist of twine and a second coat of shellac will finish it off.

By the way, if you want a serious bike that is more versatile that the boy-racer variants the big names are pushing, you could do a lot worse that buy from Rivendell. I have no connection to the company, but appreciate their cycling philosophy.

Nine days Nice

I'm taking a little vacation time from work. This is day 1, and I've decided to get my tasking out of the way first. I've cut the grass and weed ate the yard. I use a manual reel mower for grass cutting. It is just as easy to push as a non self propelled gas mower, uses no gas, requires minimal maintenance and does not spew burned and unburned hydrocarbons into the air. One drawback, however, is that it does not cut any grass or weeds longer than say, 6 inches. I use the electric weed eater for that. My 3 year old son enjoys helping me push the mower on occasion which is pretty safe since every time we stop pushing, the blades stop turning.

He and I rode through town and over to the "Kid's Castle" playground at Old Fort Park. This is connected to our Greenway system as are 2 other playgrounds. The kid has it made.

Errands

Using the bike for around town tasks the last few days. Cycled to the in-laws Tuesday to do some grass cutting, and went to the big box retailer for plumbing supplies this morning to do final hookup of our new sump pump, replacing the loaner we had going.

Morning Speed

Had to squeeze in a quick ride this morning before work. My son rode in the trail-a-bike to provide entertainment and additional resistance. ;)

We have great conversations while riding together, such as (when referring to a previous incident: "why did you fall off your bike and hurt yourself, dada?"

On our return from the Cason Lane trailhead a train blocked our path and we had to use an improvised underpass to continue our ride. My son has a love/hate relationship with trains. He loves Thomas the train and likes to watch big trains on the computer and iphone but a big train just feet away is a little overwhelming for him.

Jazzy Jazz

Jazzfest in the 'Boro this evening. We biked down all of 1 mile each way and had a great time. They were featuring mostly high school jazz ensembles tonight, my son enjoyed a couple of James Brown tunes whereby he could "dance" with the girls. Food vendors were serving various treats. Lobster rolls were our choice. Tasty.

Water water everywhere, not a drop to drink

Flooding in the Nashville area this past weekend has kept us busy at work. Putting in O.T. leaves little time to ride. Our greenway was impassable on Monday and Tuesday.



Unless you happened to be pedaling a paddleboat.
Both pictures show what used to be a concrete paved path, now turned to river.