Gunnar all but done!

The Gunnar is all but finished.  A few odds and ends (paint protectors, new brake nut, neat seat collar) and it will be road-worthy.

This, when just a few weeks ago it was a lonely, bare frame without even a headset or fork.  Here it is having Framesaver applied...that glorious waxy rustproofer:

 

I have to say I really love building bikes.  My perfectionist ways take far too much time to work at it professionally, but I love it anyway.  I re-wrapped the bars three times, and re-tensioned the derailleur cables at least twice each to attain shifting perfection.  Not good when you're racing against the clock, haha.

Gunnar nearly done!

Well my long-term winter project is nearly complete.  Once I get started building a bike, it's ON!, regardless of my initial intentions.

Everything is on.  Still need to wrap the bars, slap on some pedals and adjust the drivetrain.  Seatpost collar is the wrong size...30.0 and I need a 28.6.  It clamps, mostly, but the collar is all closed up.  The Salsa Lip-Lock is a nice seatpost collar, though!  Detail of the rear triangle:

 

And the front end.  Upon greasing, I noticed the Reynolds brake nut was cracked!  It's on there, just holding the brake in place, but probably not a good idea to actually use the brakes.  Hopefully the local bike shop can set me up.

With our globally-warmed winter going on, I should have plenty of opportunity to ride the new bike in above-freezing weather.  65 degrees after Thanksgiving...it's absurd!

Gunnar crank, brakes

Got the crank, derailleurs, and brakes onto the frame now.  I'll save the chain and cabling for tomorrow.  I'm too exhausted by my niece to focus properly.  Chain installation and cable routing is no joke!

If you look closely, you'll see that I haven't adjusted the brake pads...or tightened down the saddle.  Nor have I really fixed the brakes to final torque.  What can I say, I'm tired.  But it's looking more like a bike.  I must give credit to Gunnar, the craftsmanship on the frame is outstanding.  The normal bikes I build require a little tweaking and finesse to make everything fit right.  Not on this frame, everything just bolts right up.  A little trouble with the Force cranks.  Using the included spacers as the instructions say, the crank seized against the frame when even remotely tightened.  Removed the spacers, and all was well.  So much for following instructions.

In other news a shout out to my friend Ryan.  He just bought his first road bike, the excellent Cannondale CAAD9 4, with Sram Force/Rival group.  I've seen pics, it's a sweet ride.

Gunnar - a slight delay, but back on track

After a little break for malaise-induced apathy, the Gunnar work is set to continue.  After returning from (yet another, and final) T-day feast, I was surprised to see a package on my doorstep.  The last of the Gunnar bits have arrived!  I think the last, anyway, unless I forgot something.

Perhaps I will put some stuff on it and post up some pics later tonight.  Later, at any rate.  My adorable niece "M" wore me out today.  I don't know how my brother/sister-in-law do it day after day!  She still enjoys making me run up and down hills chasing her ball.  I think she kicks it downhill on purpose, then looks at me like "well heck, it's easier for you to go get it than for me, I'm 1!"

Happy Thanksgiving!

Ted's Montana Grill

In Indianapolis, there's a restaurant called "Ted's Montana Grill", started up by Ted Turner the TV guy and some other restaurant guy.  Apparently it's quite "eco-friendly".  All I know is they had paper straws, which were kind of cool.  Mysterious how they don't become soggy, but cool.  It's a nice place, down-homey kind of atmosphere.  Lots of wood, dim lighting, kind of Outback Steakhouse-y without the Outback.

I've been craving their onion rings lately.  You may think you've had onion rings.  They're oniony, and ringy.  But the onion rings at Ted's are on a whole other level.  As it happens, there's also a Ted's in Kansas City.  Also some scattered around Chicago.  None in St. Louis.  Indy is about 5 hours away, Chicago about 5, KC about 4.  Six of one, half-dozen of the other.  I'm thinking it's road trip time.  The Super Wagon needs to roam free.  This weekend is Thanksgiving, so that's out.  Maybe next weekend?  Then again, 8 hours of my life for onion rings...maybe I should re-think this.

Anyone know where to get some good onion rings locally?  Thick, tasty, cooked just right.  I don't want raw onion, and I don't want onion that's cooked into oblivion.  Help me out, save some gas.  Do it for Ted Turner, he's "green."  Apparently.  He uses paper straws.

Droid is mine!

Yes, well, now I have one.  I couldn't resist.  Really, the cost of a Droid is nothing compared to the cost of cycling.  And my current employer gets me a 21% discount on the plan fees, and 25% off accessories.  It would be foolish not to take advantage of that while I can, right?  At any rate I have one.  After a few hours of using it, I love it.  Intuitive, fast and smooth.  I've already downloaded some apps to make my life better.

Mostly games, to keep me occupied at work while the scientific research at the site slowly dwindles to nothing...at least until the new owners move in.  And the "lightsaber" app, so I can pretend I'm Darth Vader.  Stupid, but strangely alluring.  The Droid has a dark side...

Hopefully tomorrow I will start putting more parts on the Gunnar.  I've been distracted by general malaise...possibly caused by my impending unemployment.

Droid

Since I anticipate being out of a job soon, why not buy a fancy new high-zoot phone?  That's how my brain works, don't question it.  This is what I'm thinking of...the Motorola/Google/Verizon Droid.  It does nearly everything, as near as I can tell.  GPS navigation?  Yep.  Music, video, camera?  Yep.  Phone calls?  I hope so.  Texting, Facebook, Twitter?  Yup.  Web surfing, antigravity, faster than light travel?  But of course.

I also hear that if you hold it up to someone's head just right, it will read their thoughts and display them on screen.  How neat is that?  The government will love it!  And it can land a plane in a pinch.

Gunnar Rolls On

As you can see, some progress was made on the Gunnar today.  I snuck out of work to take the bike up to Ghisallo, where Jim again did some outstanding work.  Cut the steer tube, installed the compression plug, ordered some miscellaneous tidbits for me.  Front derailleur clamp, black seatpost clamp, brake cables.  I expect that by this weekend all the pieces will fall into place, and I can start final assembly. Not that I'm in any hurry, as the monsoon appears to be back in town this week.

See that saddle on there?  Riders "of a certain age" might recognize it.  You know you are jealous.  It's ok. Really.  I'm sure your saddle is just fine.

Gunnar continues

I put on some spare wheels and tires, and acquired a stem and bars from the local bike shop.  Starting to look more like a bike!  Next steps are to cut the steer tube and install the compression plug to hold the front end together.  I have a seatpost and saddle for it from another bike.

As my slow and methodical scouring of eBay continues, I happened to run across an interesting tidbit.  A Sram Force group, with a price a little above the general rate.  Reading carefully, they had a paragraph about Sram's "Minimum Advertised Price" policy, and how any price lower than theirs was in violation of this policy and the parts would not be warranted.  They never actually came out and said it, but the clearly, even emphatically implied message was that I should "Make an Offer" to get a better deal.  Is this "Minimum Advertised Price" policy just a farce to try and fool people?  A crafty ploy?  I don't know.  But it's interesting, our world.  Sneaky subterfuge abounds.

In other news, my niece "M" continues to amaze and astound.  It's shocking how fast she learns.  She has figured out how to communicate what she wants pretty effectively and walks pretty confidently, and continues to learn how to make noises which are ever more similar to language.  Are all babies that smart?  I have no idea, but it's incredible.  I am happy to say I'm not as afraid of her as before.  I was afraid the gentlest touch would snap a rib or something.  But she's pretty tough.

I am a giant jungle-gym to her, she gets great joy from climbing around on her giant Uncle B.  Cutest thing in the world.

Gunnar Build, headset and fork

I used my homemade headset press to install the headset, and the kind folks at Ghisallo (thanks Jim!) put on the crown race for me.  I don't have a slide hammer, you see, and setting a crown race requires one.  I'd imagine you could jimmy it, but why take the chance?

Homemade headset press.

 Chris King, naturally.

 

The fork.  Reynolds Ouzo Pro, with crown race freshly installed.  43mm trail, if you were wondering.

Together.  Time to measure and cut the fork!

Note the color-coordination of the fork stripe and Gunnar logo.  I'm so fashionable, it hurts.

Unfortunately I'm out of parts again.  And due to my pending unemployment, this is going to have to be done on the cheap.  Off to scour eBay...

Wondering...

Is the threat of losing your job in 6-8 months worse than losing your job instantly?  I don't know.  Either way it bites.

I am drinking a "Full Moon" beer.  And I don't even drink.  It all started Friday with an innocent six-pack of Bud Light from the gas station.  It will have to stop soon before it becomes a habit...I have enough beer gut as it is, without the additional burden of actually drinking beer.

Update! Safe for now

Well the Big Day has come and gone.  I didn't get the immediate boot, nor -- I think -- did anyone else.  Sold the campus to another company, though, and announced 600-800 layoffs next year.  I imagine, based on the reorganization, that I will be among them.  Very high probability.  But that's at least a few months down the road.

Maybe I can find a low-sodium Ramen.  I used to subsist on Ramen in college.  You might think that's a joke, but its not.  Ramen is good stuff.  Throw a little chicken in there.  Maybe mix in some veggies.  It's very cost-effective!  Apparently somewhere they have Ramen vending machines...

Poetry

Poised on the brink of the Abyss,
the lion meets the vacant gaze of the hunter's rifle.

What do you think?  I'm off to learn my fate.  Maybe I'll retire to a cabin in South Dakota and write poetry, heh heh.

"Vacant gaze"?  C'mon, that's good stuff!  Hunter as the soulless corporate masters wielding supreme power?  Genius!  South Dakota, I hear its nice and quiet up there.

And So it Begins

Word on the street is that tomorrow is the Big Day for site closure and reorganization announcements at my job.  Further rumor was that the Powers That Be were meeting today from 4-8pm to discuss things.  Sure enough, I received a meeting invitation at 8:37pm today to "discuss details" of the reorganization.

Based on the size of the meeting room, sheer speculation, and gut instinct, it doesn't look good.  But don't worry about me, I'll be alright.  A lot of my coworkers, though, will be up a creek.  And for them I am very nervous.

Rattling around the hovel

Word on the street is that Monday, we at my place of employment will find out about site closures and possibly gain more insight into the probabilities of losing our jobs.  Possibly because of this, I find myself at loose ends this evening, rattling around by myself.  Fortunately, I have a new bike to play with.

Opportunities are limited, though.  All I have so far is the frame.  Not even a fork, nor a headset.  They're on order, but it'll be a few days.  I do, however, have a can of trusty Framesaver about.  I seized the opportunity to apply the first coat:

It's a very sparkly bike.  Metallic with a capital "M".  True Temper Platinum OX steel, one of the "new breed" of steel alloys that gains strength in the weld zone.  What that does in the heat-affected zone near the weld, as far as losing temper, I couldn't tell you.  I'm no metallurgist.  I figured with my fleet of 20 year old steel bikes, I owed it to myself to try out this modern steel.  An opportunity presented itself - steel frames in my size at below-retail price do not come along too often - and I pounced.  After a week or two of hemming and hawing, but pouncing nonetheless.  The sparkly paint is little too blingy for my tastes, but its growing on me.  It will look better with some parts on it, no doubt.  Right now there's nothing to distract you from the bling-tastic paint.

If I feel motivated, maybe I'll put up pictures of each build step.  We'll see how my motivation holds up.  I have a King headset in black sotto voce (i.e. discrete branding) and a Reynolds Ouzo Pro fork on order.  I was lucky to stumble upon an Ouzo Pro on eBay with the non-integrated crown, the only one I could find.  Pounced again, with only a two or three day delay for contemplation.  Kind of a slow-motion, very deliberate pounce, if you will.

Stay tuned.  I have a sneaking suspicion that I have too many bicycles.  Some may go up for sale at some point.  Maybe.

Stress

I like to think I'm a fairly mellow guy.  Sure I get angry at bad or unsafe drivers.  Rude people irritate me.  But mostly I just roam around doing my thing.

Except the past couple of months at work.  Normally I don't get too riled up about work.  My job is pretty easy, after all.  I'm not getting shot at, no IED's to worry about, and if I'm feeling under the weather or just not in the mood, I'm pretty free to just call it a day and go home.  But the past few months have been special.  My extremely vast employer has bought another nearly-as-vast company, and announced that at the end of it all 30% of the combined juggernaut will be out on the streets.  That's a lot of people.  Will they close the St. Louis site?  Maybe.  Will hordes of people be unemployed, even if they keep the site open?  Without doubt.  The best part about it, for sure, is that the VP's all patted each other on the back and gave each other million dollar bonuses...and used tax-payer money for 1/3 of the buyout money.  Classy.

Mostly I'd be okay with that.  Rich people get richer and screw everyone else.  That's capitalism.  I'd likely have to leave St. Louis to find work, but that's ok.  I have no dependents to worry about, and I can always forage for food if need be.  But many people around me at work are absolutely bat-sh*t crazy.  Freaking out.  Weeping in the hallways.  Collapsing in sobs in meetings.  Howling about the unfairness of it all.  And they haven't even been given the boot yet.  I can sympathize.  If you've been at a company for decades, have kids to feed and put through college, would like to retire within your lifetime...that can be stressful.  Unfortunately the stress rubs off on me.

Unsubstantiated rumor on the street is that site closure announcements will be revealed Monday.  I don't expect the St. Louis site to be closed entirely...which unfortunately means several more months of stress and sobbing coworkers until our individual final fates are handed down.  At least until the next buyout/merger/reorganization...

In other news, my niece is still ridiculously cute.  She was candy corn for Halloween.

"Yo!  Give me some candy!"

A day at Creve Coeur Park

Today I spent a good chunk of time at Creve Coeur Park. First, drop off a pair of surplus cycling shoe covers to someone who will actually use them. He was doing the running race portion of the Bubba Cyclocross race. I watched part of the running race, and handed over the shoe covers. Next up was some kayaking. The weather was perfect - cool but not cold, windy but not too windy. Water condition was ideal with some decent wind chop for entertainment. And too cold for the stupid Asian Carp to be jumping about and menacing my boat.

A couple hours later, I returned my trusty 'yak to its berth.  I proceeded back to the Bubba race area, where I watched my first cyclocross race.  It was brutal, and I was just watching.  Tires coming off rims, people falling over from exhaustion.  An hour of anaerobic misery.  I had arranged to meet TK to look at a steel bicycle frame he was selling.  I planned to meet him before the race, so as he wouldn't be exhausted, but I was on the water too long for that.  Fortunately TK has inexhaustible energy, and was still game to show me the frame after the one hour of hell he'd just endured.  It's a nice frame.  A little on the sparkly side, but I bought it anyway.  Winter project, you see.  It's "new steel", which I've been wanting to try.  As opposed to the rest of my "old steel" bicycles from the '80s.  Bare frame, which means I'll need to find a fork and do the complete assembly myself.  Should be fun.

I had an encounter while on the water.  "Jason" hailed me from the shore, so I paddled over to see what was up.  He had a wood strip boat, which he'd built himself.  I was impressed; that's no easy feat.  He asked if I wanted to paddle.  No, sorry, I was finishing my boating for the day, off to watch the bike races.  Then he talked about mountain biking.  Then we talked about my boat.  He seemed quite intent on talking to me, and I have no idea why.  I'm really not that exciting to talk to.

Now I'm home.  A little sunburned on the face, but not bad, considering.

*bonus tale of boating blunder:  My kayak is narrow.  17' long, 22" wide.  It's made for moving efficiently on the open ocean, it's a little overkill on a mellow lake.  In kayaking with such a long boat, it's helpful to "heel" the boat, tilting it to one side or the other with your hips, to aid in turning.  This lifts the bow and stern out of the water, and helps it to "carve" a turn.  Trouble is, my boat is so low to the water, and so narrow, that I can easily heel it to the point that the edge of the cockpit goes under water.  Normally, you have a spray skirt on, and there's no problem.  Today, I did not have a spray skirt.  So that water just came right on in the boat with me and made itself at home, dousing my pants in the process.  Note to self:  do not practice extreme heeling maneuvers without a spray skirt.