Schierer Space

One area I had planned to mention, but completely failed to write about was the new^[1] bike.

This process began back on Nate’s birthday when he received a “big boy bike”. Throughout the summer, he’s become more and more comfortable riding it. About a month ago he spotted my bicycle on the rack in the basement and asked if I wanted to ride my bike with him. I looked at the thick layer of dust on the frame and the crunchy rubber tires and said doubtfully, “Well, we can try.”

So a bit of background on this bike. This bike came to me as a gift from my parents when I was a teenager… a fairly young teenager. It was used when I got it, I’d estimate at least ten years. It is what today is referred to as a “vintage ten-speed”: massive steel tubing, utilitarian but robust equipment, standard flat pedals with the built-in yellow reflectors, friction lever shifters on the steering column and relatively wide hybrid tires.^[2] This was a dream machine at that age. It was to a 14 year old what a cherry red mustang is to an 18 year old. Shiny painted freedom.

Over the high school years this bike underwent multiple upgrades, new shifters, a front and back generator driven light set,^[3] a gel seat. It was completely stripped, overhauled and repainted with primer and sparkly metallic blue paint. This was my primary mode of personal transport^[4] until after I graduated from high school. ^[5]

I don’t remember taking the bike to college, but when I reached graduate school it became a significant transport again. New tires, tuneups and the best maintenance no money could buy kept it in working trim. Hampton, VA, was far from a bike friendly environment, but I was in my early 20′s and cars didn’t scare me. That was 1997.

The bike has essentially sat idle since then with only a few rare exceptions.

So, I haul the battleship upstairs and hook up the compressor. I eye the tires warily as the cracks in the sidewalls expand revealing the weave inside… one holds… the other holds…

So we ride around the neighborhood and all seems well. Oh yes, the rims are so bent that the tires roll unevenly, the brakes pulse horribly… but we make it around and Nate is thrilled. A few days later we discover that one of the tubes has given up the ghost. No problem, I have a spare in my seat bag. Somehow, the spare is soft and supple. The installation goes relatively smoothly… except for the crumbling bits of tire which come off of the bead. We get another ride around the neighborhood. Now K and the kids go out of town, and I decide to use my after work freedom for a bike ride. I check the tires, saddle up and head out around the lake (about a 12 mile total ride). It’s all going rather well, although I’m noticing that the rear tire has begun to bulge in a worrisome way. Just before the awesome downhill reward… the tire starts losing pressure. I abuse the increasingly flattening tire all the way down the hill and it’s completely shredded by the time I reach the bottom. No problem, it’s only a two mile walk and the evening is still young. After some friends help me haul the old horse home, it’s clear I’ll be needing a new bike. Sure, new tires, wheels, brakes and possibly shifters and it could be a passable cruiser… but it’s so far past its prime and the gearing just isn’t high enough. ^[6]

So a scoop of Craigslist and a dash of research and I pick up a ~10 year old GT ZR-4000. It’s far from high end by road biking standards, but it’s in great shape with some add-ons: updated seat, clipless pedals and a bike computer. Bike shoes, cleats, Presta valve adapter and new helmet^[7] later and I’m feeling like a teenager again. ^[8]

Yesterday morning ride: 27 hilly (1100 ft of variation) miles including two fairly brutal hill climbs. One is about a mile at 5% grade, the other is a mile at 7-8%.^[9] The downhills were long and steady with one spot where I reached 45 mph.

Elevation profile from MapMyRun

1. To me… [↩]
2. This was just how they came, I think the concept of mountain biking really hadn’t come into the mainstream yet when this bike was built. [↩]
3. I always wondered just how visible I was on those long hill climbs, but the light always seemed to reach as far as I needed it as a function of speed. [↩]
4. besides my parents [↩]
5. Yes, I drove the parents’ car, but that was never really mine. [↩]
6. I’m in high gear pretty much all the time. [↩]
7. Apparently you’re supposed to replace these periodically, mine was made in the previous century. [↩]
8. Well, at least in bicycle terms. [↩]
9. This is the hill on US-20 heading east into Cazenovia from the blinker at Oran-Delphi Road. [↩]

Where does the time go? I was driving home from work a few weeks back and noticed the goldenrod already starting to yellow. It was still July and summer still felt young. For me the goldenrod is the harbinger of fall. I am so very much not ready for summer to be over.

I don’t feel like I’m doing more things than usual, although N&R keep us plenty busy. If the blog is any measure of my free time, or at least my level of time/energy for free thought, apparently the heart and soul are feeling pretty shackled.

There is evidence of this in my photography habit hobby too. I actually let images sit on the media card for ten days before downloading and cataloging them. For this, I blame K, for taking herself and the kids to Maine to visit her family for a week. The sudden culture shock of pseudo-bachelorhood seems to have left me in a rather unmotivated state through to the present.

I also blame the monitor on K’s computer which failed for the second and last time. Viewsonic has replaced it with another unit. Unfortunately this took a week of outbound shipping and a week of return shipping. Still, you have to love a 3-year warranty in the era of disposable electronics.

So today is the 14th of August. We are one week away from the big family^[1] cruise which will almost certainly be less stressful and more fun than we would otherwise anticipate.^[2] Ultimately, if I don’t fire off the imagery and anecdotes from the last three weeks now, they’re never going to happen. So here goes…

1. My atomic family, the nuptial relations and our progeny. [↩]
2. We repeat this mantra after all communications with my family. We love you all, but you stress us out. [↩]

Our premiere performance^[1] will be Tomorrow (Thursday), 7:30pm at the pavilion at Lakeland Park in Caz. We have great instrumentation and hopefully my chops will recover by tomorrows performance. Despite the release below, we probably won’t actually start playing until 7:30, but generally the lawn is pretty filled up by then. Keep your fingers crossed for no rain (or at least for it to be cleared out by then).

Official press release:

CAZENOVIA — The Greater Cazenovia Area Chamber of Commerce (GCACC) is presenting its 14th season of summer concerts in the park. The 2010 Oneida Savings Bank Summer Concert Series begins Thursday, June 24 in Cazenovia’s Lakeland Park featuring the Cazenovia Community Band from 7-9 p.m. This popular summer series will run each Thursday evening through Aug. 19 with the exception of a special holiday concert on July 4th, featuring three bands, followed by the community fireworks.

A rain date has been set for June 25 at Eastern Hills Bible Church in Manlius. The band will also perform at the July 4th parade in Cazenovia. Under the direction of Marv Arnold, the band will present a selection of favorites, marches and show tunes including John Williams in Concert (music from Star Wars, Jaws, etc.), Percy Grainger’s “Irish Tune and Shepherd’s Hey,” Sousa’s “King Cotton” and Delibes’ “March and Procession of Bacchus.”

All concerts are free and open to the public. Bring a blanket or lawn chair and enjoy a relaxing summer evening and concert by Cazenovia Lake.

1. There was previously a Madison County / Community Band, which sort-of disbanded, but this is officially a new entity. [↩]

The silent auction was last night and the church raised over $7500 as of this morning’s service. Outstanding bids for items not yet claimed were expected to push that well over $9000. That’s a pretty impressive haul for a single charity event of this scale.

As for my pictures, all three that were donated sold, although I’m not sure what they went for. Our progeny forced our departure before the bidding closed. In the end, the top vote getter was, unfortunately not included. The Blue Mountain Lake print came back unacceptably dark. I’l have to toy with the exposure and try again. The LCD monitors we have are sharp and bright, but not terribly accurate at the low end of the brightness scale. As a result, the second through fourth vote prints were donated. Boats seemed to be the most popular based on comments and early bidding. As I said, Orchid and Bench also sold.

I’m going to be printing additional copies of Boats for personal use, and making another attempt on Lake so if you have an empty wall at home, let me know.

Thanks for voting and for your support!

Hello again valuable and discriminating readers!

Our church is having a silent auction for CazCares, a local food pantry and clothing closet. We’ve decided to donate several framed prints. As usual, I’m having trouble deciding which pieces will fetch the best prices at auction and need the help of my varied and discriminating readers.

Take a look at the eight candidates below. We’ve ordered 5×7 prints of each one to review them in detail, but assuming they are all of sufficient quality for printing, please select up to three images which you would recommend for donation. Please consider the aesthetics and artistic quality as well as the likelihood the piece will appeal to a broad local audience. Multiple bidders are the key to a successful charity auction!

Thanks!

Acadia Birch

Nelson Goldenrod

Green Lakes Boats

Green Lakes Bench

Valley Falls Fern

Erie Zoo Orchid

Blue Mountain Lake

Farming Oswego

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With a new member of the household, it’s been pretty busy around here. I have much to report, but haven’t had time to do any reporting.

Here is a list of what I’d like to take some time to write about… as a promissory note and a to-do list.

1. R is growing fast. We have a 1 month growth chart pic and many more. I will get these online soon.
2. N continues to be a joy. He’s learning so fast now I’m not sure school will be ready for him in two more years. He’s working on reading and spelling simple words. He’ll be 3 in May.
3. Snow! We finally got real winter weather here in central NY. Pics of outdoor snow constructions will be coming soon.
4. New PC research. With our tax returns burning a hole in our bank accounts, I’ve begun the process of specing out a new machine for K. We also need to get Win7 installed before N wipes out our much-more-difficult-to-secure WXP household PC.
5. New PC constructed. I’m using it now to write this post… and will use it to edit the pics to post them. I owe you comments on Win7, and performance of the new machine. Not to mention the build process itself. Must keep installing stuff if I’m going to get into a position to clear out this list.

Ok. Must get back to installation.

Still no sign of our little girl… well there’s a sign, but K’s pretty much hoping it won’t be attached to her any more.

In the mean time we’ve been doing our best to enjoy the heart of winter in CNY.

More pics in the new 2010 gallery and in Nate’s gallery.

First, thanks to all our vets for what you’ve done for us and this country.

And secondly, it’s 11:11:11/11/(09). Just thought you should know.

A spooky sunset welcomes the trick-or-treaters

as does a ferocious dragon

and a somewhat more jocular jack.

Roar!

So the photo contest I entered a few weeks back was supposed to have been judged and done weeks ago. I hadn’t heard anything, so I just assumed that none of my pictures had rated.

So then I see this posting from the Madison County Tourism blog and apparently they haven’t even judged the darn things yet.

Now my stupid hopes are going to get up again.