Yehuda Moon

Yehuda Moon is back!

I should have said something a while ago, but now you know.

I enjoy this comic every morning with my morning coffee.

Good Friends and Bike Geeks

A buddy stopped by for a visit in the middle of his cross continental road trip, fresh off a multi-month bike tour of Latin America. Good to hang out, and really nice to have another bike geek around even if my wife does regularly end up just shaking her head at us.

I was happy swap bikes and rally around on his Pugsley, while he rolled the BigDummy.

Also, recently had to run to the hardware store for some home improvement supplies including a 10ft section of downspout.

That's a Load of . . . . .

The view from the snapdeck as my bike takes me to Big R

Almost anything, Big R's got it.

This could be trouble.

4 bags of manure and compost onboard

Gotta get some wideloaders sooner or later.

Dummy Build

Like I posted before the Dummy is complete and in action. My folks came and visited for a week to hang out with their first grandchild. While the little dude did command most of the attention the Big Dummy definitely spent a bit of time in the spotlight.

In spite of a week of lousy weather, including a couple days of wet sloppy snow and high winds, my dad took the Dummy out on a couple of rides. ( He also rallied around town on my Cross Check a few times.) He got a big kick out of the Dummy's carrying capacity.

Mom walked to the store one afternoon to big up some groceries for dinner and was gone longer than we expected. When I called to check on her she was just getting ready to leave the store. I offered her a ride home on the Dummy and she accepted without hesitation.

With out further ado here is the build specs for all you bike geeks out there:

Frame: Surly Big Dummy w/ Xtracycle Longtail Kit

Fork: Surly Big Dummy

Cranks: Shimano LX

Bottom Bracket: Shimano LX

Pedals: Redline platform

Front Hub: Surly New Disc, 36 hole

Rear Hub: Shimano XT Disc, 36 hole

Rims: Alex DM24, 36 hole

Spokes/Nipples: DT Swiss 14 gauge, Brass nipples

Front Tyre: Maxxis Holy Roller 2.4" (soon to be swapped for a Big Apple)

Rear Tyre: Schwalbe Big Apple 2.35"

Front Derailer: Shimano XT

Rear Derailer: Shimano XT

Cassette: Shimano XT, 9speed

Front Brake: Avid BB7, 180mm rotor

Rear Brake: Avid BB7, 180mm rotor

Seat Post: unknown brand (given to me by my brother in-law.)

Saddle: Brooks B17 Honey

Headset: Cane Creek S3

Stem: UNO Ultralite

Handlebar: Origin8 Spacebar

Brake Levers: Avid FR5

Shifters: Shimano Deore, 9 speed

Grips: Redline

My mom giggled the whole way back from the grocery store.

The Dummy Has Landed

The Dummy is rolling. First impressions are positive and I'm excited about the possibilities. Still some tweaking and fine tuning to be done. I'll post the build specs soon.

Time to break in another Brooks.

I See a Fixxed Gear In Her Future

Awesome!

I just figured out how to post YouTube videos to the blog. Look out world.

It's Been a While

Please pardon my short hiatus from the blogosphere, but my world has looked something like this for much of the past three weeks:

That's right, baby bikewrider has arrived! I am very grateful for a healthy and happy baby boy born on march 27th. His mom and I have taken the last few weeks and done our best to adapt to parenthood.

While we have had our share of late night dirty diapers and fussing baby, don't let the first picture fool you. Coen has been super sweet, and we couldn't be happier to have him around. I am well aware of how blessed we are to have a baby who is healthy and for the most part easily soothed. After food and clean pants he mostly just wants to be in motion, which is a better fit for us than a baby who wants to be still. There has been lots of dancing in the living room, early morning walks and maybe even a short baby bjorn bike ride in the back yard to celebrate his third birthday. But we won't talk about that because some would say that is to early for an infant to be associated with bikes (not to mention the lightning storm that was going on at the time.)

Obviously a newborn has cut into my riding time, but hasn't stopped me from riding at least a little bit everyday. The day he was born the freak dog and I were out for a short ride at 4:30 in the morning before heading to the hospital. Even better, little dudes arrival was timed such that I haven't had to miss a week of bike polo.

A recent personal highlight for me (aside from the arrival of my first born) took place this past week at polo. I began organizing polo around here last fall and the first few weeks I brought everything. I put up the flyers, I brought the cones for goals, the ball, mallets for everyone, and occasionally even an extra bike and helmet for a newbies.

This past week all I had to provide were and bike and a mallet for myself. MicD brought cones, Seanjohn brought a ball, and everyone there had their own mallet. I'd say it warmed the cockles of my heart, but according to my dictionary that would mean either an edible, burrowing, bivalve mollusk with a strong ribbed shell, or a small shallow boat. I guess I'll go with warming the mollusk of my heart, either way it was cool.

This afternoon the weather was warm and sunny, so when mom and baby went down for a nap I took off for a ride. The ride was short, but I managed to get in a few mile of single track that was in spectacular shape after some recent rain and snow.

I didn't have long to ride so I rode harder than I usually do. Felt so flippin' good get out and rally around on the trails, it had been too long. The Big Dummy is nearing completion, so hopefully I can figure out a safe way to get the little dude our riding before too long. Mom's itching to get back in the saddle too.