Graffiti: Its Art.

This morning I walked past the Asylum in Portland and saw that the graffiti art was changed recently on the rear wall. This is a great example of graffiti art. It is uniform in its theme, mood and color. Stephen King should be proud of this one. A nice portriat of him, the clown of It, the cat of Pet Cemetary and a bloody Carrie are all represented. I couldn't get Carrie in the shot, no light.

Have a nice day.

Usless Commuting Statistics and a Friendly Challenge

Commuted into work by bike today. The typical route from Yarmouth to Portland via Middle Road. The weather was perfect and I felt good.  

My statistics in this morning were: 

• 14.14 miles
• 0:46:12 (hr:min:sec)
• 18.3 mph average speed.

The whole trip right through the stats are the usual. Today however there was a plot twist during this otherwise normal bike commute.  

I was just starting off from a traffic light (yes Ma, I stop at traffic lights) in the last 0.3 mile or so on Preble Street, when a guy on a white single speed in road racing style clothes buzzed past me.  I immediately stood, pumped to get up to speed and shouted 'CHALLENGE'.  He was staying just ahead of me as we were traveling at 27 mph on flat road.  Too high of a speed for me to sprint and overtake him. 

Then for the first time I really understood and felt how & why being behind a leader gives you the tactical advantage.  I could see he was on a single speed bike. I could see his pedal strokes and that he was working hard to stay ahead. I could see him looking back to check form.  I also knew that the road was about to pitch up and he would surely loose some momentum and slow.  

He did, and by the time we hit the next traffic light, I had him.  

Before the light turned and we went our separate ways I said something like 'Have a nice day or that was fun.'   Whatever I said it started off the day with a great little friendly sprint challenge.

Thanks to the dude on the white single speed with the flavor-saver goatee.

F. Moser buildup continued.

The previous posts to this story are HERE and HERE. 
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Today I had my 3oclock appointment at Port City Bikes  (FB) with Peter and Percy to start the build up of my Moser Leader AX.  I had learned that the frame has taken a special spot on the wall for protection and perhaps admiration.  Regardless today it came down and Percy and I added parts while Peter order some additional items for it.  

Added today were: 

•  2007 Campagnolo Record bottom bracket. 
• 07' Campy Record crank. 53-39 with 11-23 in the rear.
• 07' Campy Record rear deraileur
• 07' Campy Chorus breaks
• 07' Campy Record hubs were placed into the dropouts. The rims are due to arrive.
• 10' Ritchey WCS seat post

It was a great experience again building up a bike from the frame. I had done it as a kid to get my 1986 RL Osborn General Pro, which I still have in my shed, 24 year later. I'm thinking the Moser will be around that long too and spending the money to build is will be worth it.

And hanging out in the shop cleaning parts and shootin' the shit about bikes, movies and with customers was pretty relaxing and a great way to skip work for two hours.  I am really looking forward now to seeing the remainder of the parts to come in.

Kerekpar uzleti dolgok (part 2)

Part 1 in case your late to the party.

 The frame made it home in one piece in only about 7 days.  I unboxed it and brought it down to the basement shop.   First thing I did was re-attach the fork. Then clean it really well and inspect the whole thing.  I do not see any major problem.  I find some numbers stamped in the bottom bracket, that I believe are indicating frame size (54) and some short model numbers and/or year 95. I weighed it without the fork, 1,885 grams (4lbs 2.5 oz., includes headset and cartridge bearings). 

 Next was to use the great interwebz to learn more about this F. Moser with the 51.515 on the label, with real short chain stays and a frame routed rear brake cable portal in the top tube.  To start there are a couple of website stickered onto the stays: CicliMoser.com, the Moser company web site and Matuzmaster.hu. a Hungarian bike web site.  Through those two sites plus other images appearing in google searches and ebay searches I am fairly comfortable in saying that the frame is the 'Leader AX' model, a light steel tubing, silver brazed, chromed under the paint, made for racing. The only thing that is not right is that originally the bike used a 'quill' style seat post and a previous owner had modified the post with a hole and cut to use a seat clamp.  Probably to reduce weight.  I don't know, but I do not think it will pose a problem.

It is currently at the shop and the building begins this week.  Ill list out the all the parts in the 'big reveal' post in a couple of weeks.

Kerekpar uzleti dolgok

The first Hungarian bike shop we visited.

Title: Bicycle Shop (my Hungarian Translation without letter accents)

  So before we left for our trip to Hungary one of my secret self-centered goals was to come home with a bicycle.  Preferably something old and something Italian.  

During the several drives between families homes I spotted two shops.  One morning Wife, LilGuns and Wife's Uncle 'Steve' brought us over to the both shops.  At the first I found a nice pair of gloves and a decent Specialized riding jersey.  At the second shop we got a really nice German made handlebar bag and a Cofidis cycling cap.  At this point I pretty much declared victory for bike shop related souvenirs.

A couple of days later 'Steve' and I with LilGuns left the house early to walk for groceries. He said we'd be quick and will stop at a bar and get groceries on the way.  its about 8am.  Well, yep we stopped at a shop were we each got a shot of palinka and an ice cream cone for Sam. Did the shot and walked over to the small grocery store for breakfast foods.  Of course this included paprika's.
About an hour later George showed up and I could hear they kept saying 'bickli'. That i figured they must have been talking about another bike shop. So the three of us went over.  We walked in and were looking around. I was a shot, and two beers in at 9am so i wasnt really thinking clearly.  I didnt really see anthing of interest, mostly hybrid style bikes, until i turned around and this 'wet white' frame with chrome fork were hanging.  I started to look at it and didnt think too much of it. Then 'Steve' reaches over, pulls it down and sticks it in my hands. 

'Hmm, this is pretty light. Oooo. huh?' I think and mumble as I look over the frame.  Clearly a racing frame.  'How much is this?  20,000 forint, about $87USD.  'Whats the size? do you have a ruler?' 'its a steel frame, right?'and since I know basic frame geometry I sized it up.  Apparently 54 cm. MY SIZE. 'Is the bottom bracket english or italian?' Italian.  I was slowly digesting the facts here.  And as light dawns on Marblehead I say to George,' for $87 its worth the risk to send it home. I havent heard of a F. Moser but its got all the right signs of a good bike.'

I bought it. and the shop guys removed the fork for shipping.  We got it home and sized it to the luggage, too big.  We quickly returned to the shop and they had an extra bike box and spacer for the rear dropouts.  Afterward, we packed the bike and and called around for shipping.  Fucking UPS wanted $576 dollars to ship it back home.  FAHKYOU GUYS.  We went to the regular post office, $75 dollars US; AND it got to the house in 6 days, undamaged. 

TO BE CONTINUED

Travel with George

Wife, LilGuns and Grandma had left for Hungary a full 10 days earlier than George and I.  He had to mind the Garage and get repairs done before leaving and I dont have that much vacation time.  So were left to travel together.  My dad picked us up and brought us to Logan airport. (Thanks Dad).  George and I then proceeded to get our tickets, check bags and all that wicked fun traveling shit.  Once we were through and found our gate we realized we had more than an hour to kill before boarding.  So we sat in at the nearest bar, order beers and watched the World Cup game.

 Six beers later (each) and after a quick pit stop, we glided over to our gate for boarding. 

Once we made it into the Charles DeGaule airport  in France and figured out what the hell to do there we managed to find our gate (Pict).  It was about 7:30am local time and George found a couple of 5% 0.5 liter Heineken cans to past the time before the flight to Budapest.

The flight to Hungary was relatively uninteresting except for the decent picture of the Alps I took from the plane window. The moral of the story is, if you can call it a moral, is when traveling with George be prepared to drink beers as many and often as possible.

Went to Hungary

The Family had a fairly good trip to Budapest. I'll hold off on calling it a vacation because there was really no relaxing..  95% our time was spent going between family members houses, depending where we were staying. 

Even when we went out to Lake Velence you still have to deal with worrying about people stealing shit or where Sam was running off to, or holding a conversation with your wifes cousin. 

And it was so fucking hot the whole time. and no one has a god damn fan blowing, anywhere. I think electricity is really damn expensive or something.

Anyway, Ill stretch this out into a few posts to capture parts of it. I did manage to keep a handwritten day by day journal upto date.  That works out well and is something I have done in the past.  Not only do i keep a written log of the day but I keep tickets, receipts and other small papers in with it as mementos. 

In the picture above is the Kiss (pronounced Ki-sch) residence, Wifes grandparents.  Their property (~45 ft x 250ft). called in the family 'The Garden' has everything. Very self sufficient.  Cherries, loads of grapes, apples, apples, peaches, cabbage, raspberries, strawberries, tomatoes, garlic, onion, peppers, squash, kohlrabi, chickens, aloe, beans, and tons more.  It is jam packed with every bit of land growing something.  It the shit were to hit the fan, this is where you'd want to be, or at least have something equal.  The cellar under the house is a cold cellar.  Down here the wine and palinka is made and stored and the apples from last season were still perfect.  

And since you can access the wine right from the barrel in the cellar you might was well have some, even if it is only 8am.

My Boy the World Traveler

It has been a silent, enjoyable and somewhat lonely few days since my wife and son left for Budapest four days ago.  While I have the dogs to keep me company and I have been able to knock off house chores left and right I am looking forward to seeing them again.  

Through the wonders the of the interwebz and the marvel of Facebook I am able to still talk with them. And today for fathers day's I got this picture of LilGuns in the Boston airport.  Wife tells me that he did the same thing at the change over in Paris and in the Budapest airport. Not even 2 and already a world traveler.

Bike commuting-office details.

I think one of the things that keeps people from commuting to work by bike are the subtle details. One of the biggest keys is having an employer who is accommodating to this style.  I am lucky in that health and fitness is important to my boss and he understands that healthy , exercised employees work better and are more efficient. 

How to dress, change and store the bike then become easy to figure out.  While it definitely varies from workplace to workplace it can be done.  In my office space I have added a false wall  with a cubicle divider to hide my crap behind. Granted, I have the luxury of a little extra space, but it works well. I keep a small luggage bag with clothes and shower supplies there as well. This way I do not have to lug clothes and risk getting them wrinkled each time.  And I occasionally change behind it.  A small shower located in the building is where I clean up and in about 10 minutes I can be at my desk, all set to go.  I have really enjoyed riding to work for a number of reasons.  I burn about 800+ calories each way, get some good miles in, reduce the stress level and add a bit of adventure to the day.  My only regret is not living closer to work so that I could go right from door to door with each trip.  I have a video I made this past week showing a little bit of a typical ride.  I hope to get that up here soon.