Blog the Travelogue

Parts for Wea, Ama, Iakos, and Gunnels

Here's my Star tarp idea, instead of cat cuts it uses diagonal cuts to reduce wind flap. The main goal is to make a tarp with the advantages of a cat cut, but saves time in the making. Instead of ploting each point and drawing a curve you just plot one point, draw a straight line, cut, and you're done. What do you think?

Sorry I haven't written in a while. I have several projects taking up my time; therefore, I'm declaring this blog dead. Thanks for reading for these many months. Have a nice year. Remember to get plenty of rest of your days off work.

Thank you,

Sir Funbun, Steward of Words

P.S. I may post periodically to let you know about some of the projects I have going.

And I'm not riding.

I don't like riding in traffic, especially the people on cell phones in SUVs. They act brain dead. What's the deal? If I see a cyclist on the roadway, I'll treat him just like a car, giving him the whole lane. If I can't, I'll just wait. It's not like cyclists have 200 horsepower to travel at the same speed as a car. This is why I ride out in the country, or in the industrial district. Those big trucks are proffessional drivers; they treat you with respect even though they outwiegh you by many tons.

I know I'm preaching to the chior, but please give a cyclist plenty of room on the roads. 3 feet ain't gonna cut it. Give them at least half a lane. Remember we have to maintain forward speed in order to keep rolling. And we are unstable in gravel; therefore, ditching onto the shoudler of the road is dangerous. We also have to dismount in order to stop. You car people don't have to worry about this. Please be kind. Please slow down. You just might add a few years to a cyclist's life.

Hope you liked the pics. Here’s a summary about the bike so far.

First, I love the bike. For three years I've worked and sweated and cried and bled to get this bike running. Now I have my own recumbent bicycle for 1/3 the cost of a new Volae or Bacchetta. The bike is just as fun now as it was during those first roll tests.

But I have found areas which need improvement. For a while I road without adequate cushioning. That caused a lot of tail bone pain. But a 2 inch thick open cell foam pad solved that problem.

The center of gravity was too far forward. Thus making the bike very sensitive at high speeds. So I moved the seat back, and bought handlebars to allow for better arm positioning. Now my knees come behind the handlebars. This takes pressure off my tail bone, makes my arms much more comfortable, and is much more stable at high speeds. In fact, you could ride the bike with one hand now.

The Cinelli cork tape makes for a good grip. Before my hands would ache because the bare handlebars were too small to grip over a long period of time.

The Schwalbe Marathons are great. These are the first real "touring" tires I've ever bought. I like how they stick to the road, especially through turns at speed. They're a much smoother ride than my old Specialized Crossroads.

The Cateye handlebar mirror rocks. My Third Eye helmet mirrors have lost their "grip." It's like the bushing have gone bad or something. So I don't use them anymore. The handlebar mirror is bigger and their is no learning curve. Helmet mirrors, they're like an optical illusion in your field of vision all the time. Your eyes don't know what to focus on. You get used to it, but I'd rather have a handlebar mounted mirror.

Next? Smaller cranks and chainrings. Then panniers. Then paint. Then touring.

Rear view mirror by Cateye.


Finaly, I got some pics. Today was my day off. Hope you enjoy these.

The Volae handlebars are awesome. I like the open ends. Notice the shifters on the bottom and the mirror on the top end.

lol, Volae handlebars and Bacchetta Stem and riser. For those that don't know Volae and Bacchetta are competitors. Kind of like Auburn vs Alabama, Miami vs Florida State, or Notre Dame against everyone else!

Cockpit view.


The Cinelli cork tape looks like the hilt on a lightsaber.

Front view.

Here's the latest photo. Check out the Cinelli Cork Tape. Great feel. Reminds me of my saxophone days with cork built up keys.

Just installed the Volae handlebars.

At work last Saturday I cut my hand. I was dumping the trash and someone had left a tin can lid in the trash bag. I picked up the bag, slung it in the dumpster, and felt something slice through my left hand. Just imagine, you get to work and five minute later you hand is sliced open. You look down and a mixture of blood and cheese cover the space between your middle and index fingers.

Luckily both managers we're there. And one of the employees was in nursing school; she gave me first aid.

Off to the emergency room. On the way I wondered, should I put on the emergency blinkers and drive 90 mph to get there faster? Well, it was a football weekend for my almer mater, and the cops were out in droves. I kept "close" to the speed limit.

After 20 minutes of driving, I get to the hospital. Frell, the parking lot was like a freaking lab rat maze. I parked in the parking deck and wondered through the hospital trying to find my way to the emergency room.

I got there. They checked me in. Then came the questions. Two stuck out, "can we help you with any spiritual needs?"

"No, I'm okay." I didn’t really care I just wanted my hand patched up.

"What is your religious preference?"

"!@#$%^%^&*()," I thought, in the confusion I muttered, "Christian."

"Baptist, Methodist, Catholic, Protestant, Episcopal, yadda yadda yadda."

"Uhh, Protestant." Again I didn't care. I wanted my hand patched up. Although I didn't want any Satan worshipers patching me up, but I didn't think about that 'til later.

After that, I waited in the lobby for 30 minutes or so. Surprise. The nurse was an old classmate. She was a music therapy major. I guess she went on to become an LPN. We chatted a bit, then she left to do her other duties.

About 3 hours later, the doctor came in. She was pissed. Someone had misplaced my file. Scary.

She took a look. "Stitches." Crap! More pain. She walked out, chewed out someone for misplacing the file, and ordered the stuff to patch me up. After a while, she came back with a tray of needles and liquids and towels and thread.

"Is this gonna hurt?"

"Hmm, it'll burn a little, but not too bad."

I thought, "Yeah, right." I laid down, and she spread hospital green towel separating my left arm and my body.

"Do what you gotta do, doc." I braced myself for the pain.

"Okay, stick." It stuck. I waited for the pain. Dude, she was right. It burned a little, but it wasn't too bad. I felt fluid ooze throughout the wound.

"Stick." More ooze. It left good.

A few seconds later, "You ready?"

"Okay, go!" She inserted the needle and started sewing me up. It was strange to feel the thread going through my skin. It felt the way a kite pulls against the string. I needed two stitches.

Talk about an adventure. Anyway, the stitches get taken out in 8 more days. So I won’t be able to ride until then. And I just installed some new Volae handlebars.