August 15, 2006

My apologies to all for the long delay in my site update.  Even more to all whose mail went unanswered.   Just a brief explanation!  Had a bad 05 (and part of 04) health wise!  Had double bypass surgery in August of 05.  One year prior to that I was feeling weak, especially on the bike.  I thought of giving up riding as I found it difficult to even keep up with my group…..let alone leading them.  I attributed it to old age, and perhaps not working hard enough.   Would not face the obvious.....heart disease was in the family. After testing went in the hospital for a proposed stent….. as the docs explained, but when the angiogram was done they said it was far more serious.  Two main arteries a half inch from the aorta valve were 95% blocked.  They said that cycling saved my life.  The blood, through exercise found alternate routes.  Said if I had been a couch potato, the proximity of the blockage to the heart (80%of blood flow) would have caused “the big one.”  As it was, there was absolutely no damage whatever.  Added to this, in the same time frame I had an infection caused by a ladder fall while working on my home.  It is taking me a long time to get back to normal (cycling) but things are now getting better.  Unlike some 9 years ago I had a kidney transplant, and did a century ride 6 weeks later.  Admittedly I am older, but it took 6 weeks just to do a 20 mile route.  My surgeon riding buddies tell me it is a whole different story when the ticker is involved.  I urge all who are in the high risk category to get checked out.  A simple stress test could identify potential problems.  But that is behind me and I am back with new “stuff.” 

As I reported a long time ago, I took some major damage from last year’s hurricanes.  One of the things I did during this period was to work on my home.  The first photo shows the damaged screen enclosure.  The second shows the gazebo replacement, which I had a difficult time convincing the town planners to allow me to build.  The solid 7 inch posts are set in concrete footers reinforced with steel rebar.  Will not be going anywhere soon!  I added a Jacuzzi for enjoyment after a ride.

During this time I did some repair to a cycling friend’s bike.  I don’t know why…..because he rode into the back of another friend’s recumbent…..just kidding!  He has recovered nicely from a separated shoulder. The recumbent showed no signs of impact, to bike or driver.  It was an older Kestrel and was 7 speeds…... no longer made. Kestrel would have replaced the frame, but the upgrades to a 9 or 10 speed and frame would have cost close to $2,000.  As you can see the top tube is fractured cleanly around the circumference.  Probably a weak joint because of how sharp the fracture. I took the paint off and my intention was to put a split larger carbon tube around the fracture and reinforce with added carbon cloth.

Shown here are the two split halve of carbon tube epoxied to the main top tube, and faired into the member.

The first two PICS show additional layers of carbon cloth with more fairing into the top tube.   The last photo shows an initial layer of paint.

These PICs show the final repair after additional base white and clear cote.  Added a wee bit of weight, but my buddy Richard now has a training bike in addition to his racing one.  The top tube looks like a pregnant guppy, but it is stronger and stiffer than the original.  I see him on our route on a daily basis.

These 3 photos are of my front wheel drive XPort, which is my main bike today.  My beloved Baron Clone (BC) is showing severe signs of wear and I am in the decision mode as to what to do with it. I will have more on this matter at a later date.  The XPort has replaced the BC but only after much reconfiguration of the power side drive. I had much trouble with the chain jumping the idler wheel (red spider and silver cog) causing a number of potential accidents.  I put a shield around the idler wheel, but that did not work.  I took a drastic step and completely changed the drive configuration.

I replaced the cog type power idler with a Terra-Cycle titanium power idler.  This is a beautiful product and was supplied to me by BentUp Cycle.  The installation, however, took some re-engineering since the diameter was smaller than the idler it replaced, so the axle had to be positioned aft of the former axle.

In the first photo, you can see the idler in the frame.  A later PIC will reveal more detail.  A plug with a threaded (10 mm) was set into the plug which was to be epoxied into the frame.  The 8 mm SS bolt that screwed into that plug, however, did not go through the frame because it was in the center of the steerer tube.  Because of this I was convinced an additional support for the idler bolt was needed.  The second photo shows the through hole from the former idler.  I will now use that hole for a support arm for the idler.  The third shot shows the support arm with custom shield.  The support arm was made from an old hub I had lying around.  The other half (yellow piece) is shown.  Note that the 8 mm support bolt has a hole in the center that was threaded for a support screw for a carbon arm from the front to the idler bolt.  Not an easy task to thread stainless steel. 

I now have a few thousand miles on this system, and believe me, this is bulletproof.  When riding in a group, as I most usually do, I get comments on how quiet my bike is.  Also, during use, I have absolutely no fear of anything going wrong when I put the metal to the pedal.

Because I am now feeling somewhat good about myself……and my recovery mode, I decided to treat myself.  Dana Liberman from BentUp Cycles set me up with a new Velokraft VKHi.  Shown is my built up version.  While I do not have enough miles on it to qualify an opinion, I am impressed with the workmanship and overall finish.  Don’t even have a hundred miles on it, but after some 30-40,000 miles on a lowracer, the hi-1racer is a new experience and takes some getting used to.  My next update will feature it.  I will not take this bike on a group ride right now because I do not want to jeopardize the safety of anyone in the line.  This past week end I was on a group ride that got a little out of hand speed wise……and in my opinion safety wise.  The net result was two of my buddies going down with a total of 11 broken ribs, a punctured lung, a fractured shoulder and multiple bruises.  Spent the last 3 days at the hospital with them.  HEY!  Be careful out there!  Until next time, and again apologies for the unanswered mail.