28 days, finally finished...

Hard to believe that a simple cold can turn into so much more.  Bacterial pneumonia, that morphed into strep throat, that morphed into sinus infection and ear aches...is finally over.  I got back to the fire department last week and worked 120 hours in seven days, then felt shitty again.  Today is the first day that I feel really good, I think 3 solids nights of solid sleep really helped.

In the interim, I've been piddling through the shop work, trying to keep at it a few hours at a time.  Not a lot to share that is earth shattering, but can update y'all a bit.

I was able to get the balance of the March bars sprayed up in ceramic and out, thanks everyone for their patience...

I had posted pics of Dirks race bike in the paint booth, but I also got it assembled and delivered in time for his first race of the season, which he took 6th overall in the Open Expert category...way to go Dirk!

Kalten forged a friendship with the nice folks from Rickshaw Bags while at Nahbs.  As he commutes 10 miles each way to school daily they kindly selected him to beta test one of their new designs for 30 days to help them dial in any changes that are needed in the "real world".  Thanks to Christy and the team for making such sweet products.  I'll have Kalten post up a review here at the end of the testing period...

I've had a pile of tubes set aside to build me a road bike for about 3 years now, so I started piecing it together the last two days to get me back into the shop groove.  A Ti road bike with a beefy bi ovalized down tube, .875 stays and a little higher front end than my last bike built 18 years ago as I'm not as flexy as I once was.  I single pass welded the frame in the fixture and put it on the alignment table...dead on tight.  No cold setting, no witch wanding, no magic fairy dust needed.  Proper weld sequence, good penetration and heat control, and the right fixturing make all the difference.

If y'all follow me on Facebook, you'll know that the Groovy Jerseys arrived and look dandy.  It would be nice to see them bopping around the local trails and by ways...but alas, most went to my adoring customers afar.  Thanks for flying the colors y'all.  Here's Carey in all his enthusiastic glory...

 Glad to be back in the saddle, gonna work hard to catch up on communication, shop work, and taking better care of myself (soon).

cheers,

rody