The Bike Build is finally done..

It's not exactly a custom carbon framed rocket, but my mom has ridden it and is officially hooked on riding. So, it was a success afterall. Just a reminder of where this thing started:

After a few coats of paint, a new seat and post, new handlebars, and handle bar bag, new cables, a cage and bottle, and new tires; We have this (and the gears even work):

and some more shots:

Doing this was incredibly fun. I'm now looking for a aero triathlon bike frame to build up my own. Don't know if I can do it or not, but it'll be fun to try. If I screw it up, I'm sure Gary would be happy to slap it together, for a small fee. The hardest part so far has been locating a good tri frame (that I can afford at the moment).

Heading to the beach this weekend, so I'll throw out the Friday Brew a day early as well. It's Tecate, and I'm going to be drinking a lot of it

Belated Friday Brew...

I completely forgot that since I was on vacation, there was no Friday Brew recommendation. So, in rememberance of the vacation to New York, the Friday Brew is Brooklyn Lager.

Great stuff, and actually brewed in Brooklyn. A good Amber Lager that goes with absolutely any food.

On with the build...

Back from NYC, and it was incredible. Yankee Stadium was amazing. I can't believe they are going to be tearing that place down. There will be pics and stuff from the trip a little later on, but for now I feel like showing how the bike build is going.



Here are some of the parts. First is the box of stuff that arrived from Nashbar. Next, you see the new tires in relation to the old. A little less tread for easier rides on the road. Then the new seat and seat post, and the handlebars and grips. Not shown right now is the new chain, brake and derailleur cables, cage and water bottle, and handlebar bag.


Now that everything was in, I just started to piece the thing together. I hung it on my workstand and just sorta took off without much direction.
So far the seat and seatpost are on, the rear brakes, the cage, the stem and handlebars, and the grips and brake/shifter levers. This is the point where it got interesting, and slow, because up next is running the cables (the first time I will have done that), putting on the chain, and cleaning the bearings in the wheel hubs.

Be back shortly...

I ran my first Olympic (sort of) distance triathlon this past weekend. I say sort of because the swim was .43 miles shorter (.5 miles instead of .93mi or 1.5km). It was brutal and incredibly fun. Spent the weekend recovering, spent Monday recovering, then got talked into doing speed intervals on the bike after work on Tuesday. I'm freaking beat.

I did finish building that bike. It works, and my mom is now riding it. I think I got somebody else hooked on cycling. I give her two months before she ditches the thing and gets a real ride. I'll have the rest of the pictures up later. And by later, I mean Sunday at the earliest. I'm heading off to New York for the weekend to catch some Yankee games. Not a fan of them at all, but I love baseball and I figure Yankee Stadium is a must see.

Enjoy your weekend rides while I'm drinking beer in house that Ruth built.

The Friday Brew

Terrabin Beer: Big Hoppy Monster

Warning: This is not your refreshing cap to a long Saturday ride. It's an American style double IPA, and it might challenge Turbodog as my favorite brew if I could get it on a regular basis. Unfortunately, it's not available in the great state of Mississippi at the moment. I had it in Athens, GA. I forget the name of the place, but I washed a meat ball sub down with it.

Another warning: This is an 8% abv beer. So don't go drinking a sixer and think you can function. You don't want to drink this one too fast anyway. Every sip packs in the hops, with a ton of malt behind it, that you almost don't want to swallow. Seriously, the exact words out of my mouth after I took the first taste were: "Damn... can I buy the keg and take it with me?"

The Terrapin website: http://www.terrapinbeer.com/