First Wheel Build

This is the first wheelset I built on my own. The rear was done a few weeks ago, and I finally found the time to lace up the front. Haven't ridden them yet, but I'm glad I've finally done it. For people that work on their own bikes, knowing how to build up a wheelset is a big step.

With the help of my crack photographer, we thought I would share some of my work...

First a self portrait of the crack photographer:


Next, the aspiring wheel builder:



Finally, some artsy shots of the wheel itself. A Campy hub laced to a Velocity Deep V wheel with Black double butted DT Swiss spokes and red anodized nipples. 32 hole, laced 3x for those that are interested...






I'll snap some pics when I get them mounted. Hopefully they don't implode!

One small dent...

While it seems like a small dent to you. To me this is a yawning chasm. It signifies many things.

First, it is possibly the end of a great wheelset. My friend Bernie built these wheels for me. I've logged close to 20000 miles and over 100 pounds of weight loss with these wheels.
I love these wheels...

Secondly, at 530 am it signifies the end of a great commuting streak. Over 3 years I've ridden my bike to work and never needed a bail out. Fortunately I was riding with my good friend Loyd who was able to ride back to his house and get his car. Bless you Loyd.
This might set me back, but it won't stop me. I will just build up another wheel and fet back on the road.

P.s. railroad tracks suck. Should have ridden the fixed gear.

Mothers Day Riders

For Mothers Day, Grace and I picked up an adult sized scooter for Sharon. It's actually the perfect gift, as Grace loves her scooter and Sharon and I spend most of our time chasing behind her at the park. This allows Sharon to level the playing field a little bit... although Grace can still ride circles around us with a scooter. They had so much fun I might even get one.

This time I took the fixed gear to ride along with them and take a few pictures:



As usual, Grace was flying along without a care in the world:



Sharon put forth a valiant effort to keep up with her:



We then got to one of my favorite spots for reflections (as my brother would say):







This spot is special to me because it always makes me think of my mother.

Afterwards, a short break and some exploring along the creek:










You'll notice that Grace has a sense of style that any hipster would be envious of:



A shot of Sharons sweet new ride (and of course my sweet sweet ride in the background):




It was a great Sunday afternoon. I hope everyone else had as good of a weekend as we did.

Today is Mothers Day. I thought I would share a commentary from Ben Stein. He wrote this the first Mothers Day after my mother died. I miss her terribly, but I have nothing but good memories of her so that helps greatly.

Take care of your Mother and tell her you love her.



The most permanent feature of life, when you are a child, is your mother. She is always there telling you to study more, to stand straighter, to clean up your room, to speak more clearly. She is always warning you, cautioning you, telling you what a bleak future you are going to have if you don't mend your ways.

That, at least, was my mother. She had grown up with a father who died when she was nine, had to make it through the Great Depression by studying super hard and getting scholarships, and that was the way she saw life.

And, truth to tell, I didn't like her much for it. I didn't like her paying so much attention to me. I wanted her to leave me alone.

Time passed. My mother didn't leave me alone.

When I went off to college in a city where I knew hardly a soul, a city called New York, my mother wrote me a letter, sometimes two, every day, so I would have something in my mail box at Columbia. There were no e-mails then and long distance was expensive so she sat down with a pen and paper and wrote me letters, often hilarious, about her life in Maryland.

I had a girlfriend at the University of Chicago one year and my mother insisted on sending me a plane ticket to go see her--again, so I would not be lonely.

When I went to law school in New Haven, my mother also wrote me every day. She did not want me to be alone or lonely. She had been a lonely child and she knew it hurt.

When I got married, she called my wife or me every few days and wrote us frequent letters.

When I lost my job at the White House because my boss, Mr. Nixon, resigned, my mother called her high powered friends until she got me not just one but many job offers. I didn't take any of them, but there she was, not leaving me alone, again.

She loved dogs and she loved to travel. She was in France when my beloved Weimaraner, Mary, died. She offered to come home to help bury Mary. To Los Angeles.

When she grew old, I would go once a month to visit her and my Pop in Washington. When I would leave, she would follow me down the hallway at The Watergate and look at me as if she were trying to work me into her immortal soul forever. Wherever I went, she would be on the phone calling me before anyone else. She would not let me alone.

My mother died unexpectedly of heart failure on April 21, 1997. She left me alone, and I hate it. I hate that there are no more letters from her, no more long last looks as walk down the hall at The Watergate. I still look to see if there are any messages from her at the hotels where I spend most of my time. I have a great wife and she pays attention to me, and I am old by now anyway. But I miss having someone telling me what to do, paying attention to me every single second at every moment of my life. When you are a child, it's a pain and a burden. But love it anyway. The time will come when your mother does leave you alone, and the silence is deafening. And, yes, it's lonely.


-Ben Stein, Mothers Day 2005


To leave it on a lighter note...

Marketing at its finest?

Possibly the greatest entrepreneurial Craigslist post ever?

Heck, I've got tons of those here in the kitchen. I might possibly sitting on thousands of dollars just going to waste in a drawer! A veritable silver mine!


Vintage "Slide Spoons" Blues Action! - $39 (Swampland)
Reply to: sale-7w7ad-1128587198@craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?]
Date: 2009-04-18, 1:24PM CDT


What I have listed here are a pair of blues player's must have items.These are "slide spoons" ..... can be used on acoustic and eletric guitars! Very comfortably shaped,come in "medim" and "large" sizes as seen in pic.
I'm asking $39.00 apiece,or you can buy 2 for $49.00.I will ship if neccesary,might be around $29.00 in the US only,that's Parcel Post too.

I only have these 2...so get to buying if you want in on these !!! They have plenty of "MOJO"!!!



Email is serious!

* Location: Swampland
* it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

image 1128587198-0

PostingID: 1128587198

Sidewalk art

I didn't race tonight... Had a long 24 shift yesterday so I was a bit too tired to race tonight. Stayed home, had a little Chadra for dinner, walked at the park while Grace scooted, and then had a little sidewalk chalk art before dark.

All in all I would say it was a fair trade-off...






Plus a little crazyface to wrap up the night:

Happy Easter

Wanted to say Happy Easter to everyone.

While I don't have much time to write as much as usual (have a test on Monday) this counts as a shameless padding of my post count