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1up USA Quik-Rack Fat Tire Spacer Kit

Published October 18, 2011

While waiting for my Salsa Mukluk 2 to ship I’ve been slowly picking up the various accessories I’ll need for it. This is one of them, the spacer kit to make my bike rack, a 1up USA Quik-Rack support fat tire bikes. Since I don’t yet have a need to carry the bike I haven’t installed it yet, but hopefully that’ll happen soon. I’ve got a few concerns about how well the rack will work for non-fat bikes after fitting the kit, since it might not hold the wheel as securely, but if I have to slightly augment the now-wider rack to accommodate smaller tires that won’t be a huge problem.

This kit cost US$29 shipped and while I likely could have fashioned something similar for a bit cheaper, it would have taken a fair bit of work. Purchasing this kit saved me a bit of time and allowed me to get something ready to go which is known to fit. Now I just need to get the bike…

UPDATE: The kit has been installed, and it works quite well. This photo shows the expanded rack easily holding a Salsa Mukluk 2 (Surly Rolling Darryl / Larry front wheel). The only disappointing part is that the Fat Tire Spacer Kit did not come with a wider anti-rattle band for one of the spacers. Instead the previous band must be reused, and it doesn’t fill the space nicely (photo).

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Shower Beer

Published October 15, 2011

Here’s to one of the greatest pleasures in the world: a quality beer while showering. I guess this is the evening corollary to drinking morning coffee in the shower, another one of life’s great pleasures. Not only does one get to enjoy a comfortable, relaxing shower a tasty beverage comes along for the trip.

The beer shown here is Big Sky Brewing Company’s Moose Drool, brought to me by my parents from their recent trip out west; seen poured into a glass here. Also in this sampler is Scape Goat Pale Ale, Big Sky IPA, and Trout Slayer Wheat Ale. All of these beers were quite good, and if I can find this stuff in Michigan (I think it’s distributed here…) I’ll likely pick some up.

This shower comes at the end of a long, and slightly frustrating, day. Today was Massive Fallout, a lengthy group bike ride around a number of local trails and an event that I’d looked forward to all year. This morning the weather was rather poor, and being not-quite-properly dressed for it and somewhat uninterested in riding in cold and rainy weather I skipped out on the ride. I don’t regret my choice, but I can’t help but be disappointed at the weather which kept the event from being what I’d hoped. Oh well, maybe I’ll be able to do the ride next weekend with friends or something like that.

(For what it’s worth, this photo was taken with the Olympus Stylus 850 SW that I’ve had for more than three years and which has accompanied me on almost every sweaty bike ride that I’ve taken, a couple of international trips, a few swimming adventures, and random other hostile places and it’s held up great. I’d highly recommend a camera from this series if one is looking to purchase a decent-image-quality pocket camera that can be taken along on almost all trips.)

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New Single Track at River Bends

Published October 13, 2011

I’ve been on vacation for the last week or so (since the 3rd), and much of this time has been spent working on a new 1.3 mile segment of single track trail at River Bends. As of this afternoon it is now signed and open and can be considered complete. All work on this segment from here on out will be tweaking or maintenance; initial building is done.

The image above shows the entrance to this new segment. This spot had previously been a wall of brush, best illustrated here at the end of a trail ride video from River Bends where the rider turns left after exiting the single track. Now riders can continue straight and ride another long segment of twisty single track. This takes the place of riding some relatively flat two track which had a couple unpleasantly blind corners. An updated copy of the River Bends Trail Map (PDF) shows this new segment of trail, the eastern yellow line which flows north between the asphalt and two track.

While I did a fair bit of work on this trail segment laying it out and doing a bunch of the rough cutting and such, it would not have been possible to build this without loads of help from other volunteers. Some folks (in particular Jeremy Verbeke and Paul McAllister) were able to help out in the middle of the week, while others donated their time and effort during a scheduled trail day on October 9th where our numbers (21 people!) allowed us to finish most of the work resulting in something recognizable as a trail.

Thank you to everyone who was involved with this; we’ve got more trail!

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Burchfield Time Trial

Published October 3, 2011

Early yesterday morning I headed out to Ingham County’s Burchfield Park for the first Burchfield Time Trial. Despite being almost two hours away I figured it’d be a fun time, and it was. The trail was a mixture of Tree Farm-esque twisty single track with lots of roots, more flowing sections through the woods, and lumpy grassy trails through fields. There’s also a couple super-nifty areas that wind right along the banks of the Grand River. Weather started out cold with temperatures in the upper 30s when I arrived at the park, but by the time we started it’d moved up nicely to the mid 40s, and finished around 50. Insulated knickers, a base layer, a short sleeve jersey, toe covers, and medium weight gloves were perfectly comfortable for this, and the only thing I had to change was pushing my sleeves up while out in the sun in a field.

After reading a bit about the trail and getting input from some folks I took my rigid single speed Salsa El Mariachi to the race, and for the most part this was the perfect bike for there. The grass field areas were a bit rough, and lacking the ability to shift gears I was a bit slow on the flat sections, but it was still fun. In the end I placed 15th out of 18 (with 5 DNFs) in Class A, which was the geared or ss, sport or expert class. Had I pushed a little harder and cut only 30 seconds off my time I would have moved up two places.

The awards for the race were also really nice. Each was an 18T cog stuck in a slot cut into a birch log with a finishing place decal applied to the cog, hand-made by one of the people who’d worked on the race. These were a great alternative to the traditional medal.

The photo above was taking near the top of one of the longer hills, a mile or two before the end of the race. Here is another one of me from the same spot, taken slightly before this one. I’m not quite sure who took the photos, but they were posted here on Photobucket under the username DeadTreeRun. I particularly appreciate that they offer the full res photos for download without charge.

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Almost Shat Upon

Published September 29, 2011

After lunch today I took a few minutes to visit the bathroom, sitting down in a stall and playing a bit of Solitaire on my phone while going about my business. The man in the stall next to me seemed to be moving around a lot, his feet pointing all manner of directions, and generally having a difficult time and using a lot of paper, but I generally paid it little attention even when I heard him cough and start swearing. A couple minutes later, after there was much rustling from the next stall, I was finishing up the game† and getting ready to file my requisite paperwork I glanced down and noticed that something was wrong. There was a growing pile of slimy yellow-brown toilet paper spilling under the stall wall (photo). This was not good.

With the filthy paper monstrosity growing I quickly finished my business, all while the man next door kept up his vigorous wiping. When I turned to flush I realized the gravity of the situation: I had almost been shat upon.

The floor of my stall, only inches from where I rested my feet, had been caught up in this man’s issue. Judging by what I saw (photo) it appears that while standing this person had continued to defecate liquid, doing so with enough force that it sprayed multiple feet away. Into the stall where I was. Almost hitting my boots and lowered jeans. I suspect that the exact moment of this was his cough and subsequent burst of profanity.

Just as I noticed this mess the man exited his stall, and being a bit in shock and not really knowing what to do I looked out the gap in the panels to see who it was and waited for him to leave. The smell was almost overpowering and required me to breath through my sleeve to avoid gagging, but no matter how much I wanted to leave the stall I was even less interested in interacting with the man who had nearly sprayed me with his bowel liquid. After he left the bathroom I quickly hurried out to a sink and scrubbed my hands clean, only to realize that he’d carried his inner smell along with him. Hopefully he was on his way home to burn his clothes and shower.

I’m still amazed at this. There’s been countless times where I’ve accidentally happened into a stall which has been ruined by someone’s imminent need to vacate, but I’ve never been around to experience it, much less be caught up in it. I can’t really fault the man because I doubt he intended to expel diarrhea all over himself and his surroundings, but I do wish he’d both done a somewhat better job at staying seated until the process was complete and refrained from dropping multiple pieces of filthy tissue on the floor.

And yes, I’ve checked my boots and jeans numerous times just to be sure. I was spared.

† I will frequently play single-card-draw Klondike on my phone while using the toilet. Played correctly I can win almost any game in 3-4 minutes, almost exactly the amount of time it takes to do my business. This is enough of a mental distraction that I’m able to disconnect from whatever task I was doing and come back to it feeling refreshed once I’m done.

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Kenda Slant Six

Published September 29, 2011

A few days back I got a good deal on a pair of 29″ x 2.2″ Kenda Slant Six tires. I’ve been interested in these since they came out over a year ago, and finally having a chance to try them I first put one on the rear of my single speed Salsa El Mariachi. Trying this out on a quick pre-rain ride at River Bends last night I found it to be a very nice rear tire; a bit grippier than the Small Block Eight that it replaced, but without any notable additional rolling resistance. Being much better in greasy corners than the SB8 and a nice compliment to the 2.4″ old-style Schwalbe Racing Ralph (now this tread pattern is called the Rapid Rob) I think I’ll leave it on there for a while. I might even fit one on the back of the Titus once I’ve got its rear wheel working correctly again. (It broke another spoke this past weekend and is desperately in need of a rebuild.)

The only downside I can see to this tire is that at 700-some grams it’s fairly heavy, although I’m not too concerned about weight and don’t notice this very much. It’s also got rather pitiful graphics and a 90s throwback .com branding, but this is forgivable as it works well.

(These are mounted on the Salsa Semi-based wheels that I built up in April. This nicely wide rim has worked out really well this summer.)

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Rejuvenating Desiccant

Published September 27, 2011

In preparation for kegging a Final Absolution clone for Danielle’s birthday I am rejuvenating the desiccant used in the Kegged Beer Cooler by placing it in a 245°F for the proscribed 16 hours. I also put a smaller bag and the indicator card in there as well hoping that they too would change back to their original spec. This seems to be doing the trick as the indicator card is definitely returning to its original color, but I have slight concerns that the H2O produced by the gas flame in the oven might cause this process to not be as effective as it could be. Still, I’ll leave it overnight and seal up the pouches come morning. After baking all night they’ll definitely be drier than they were earlier today.

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Lunch from Sushi Do

Published September 23, 2011

Today’s lunch was at Sushi Do over in Troy. I had two tamago nigiri, a spicy tofu roll, spicy tuna roll, asparagus roll, and a large pile of gari (ginger). I don’t care for wasabi so that sat uneaten.

(Note that the crap color is caused by my phone and the lighting. The food itself looked a bit more brilliant in person, but as I don’t edit moblog photos before posting them they are presented as they came from the camera.)

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Microsoft Excel Date Munging: 1900 vs. 1904 Date System

Published September 21, 2011

While working on migrating data for the upcoming MMBA Chapter Transition one of my tasks was to export membership data, split it into chapters, then sent it off to IMBA for import into their membership system. After getting the information out of the database I used my Mac to create one large spreadsheet with all the requisite fields covering the entire state (including a chapter column) and sent it around to all interested parties for confirmation that it looked fine. The next step was to break it out into per-chapter data so this time I sat down at my PC, opened the file, filtered on each chapter, selected everything displayed, copied the data, created a new file, pasted the data, saved the now per-chapter data, and sent it off to IMBA.

A couple weeks later, once the files had been pulled into IMBA’s systems, I received a few notes questioning the data as some chapters listed only single-digit counts of active members whereas they were known to have exponentially more. Checking over my data I found that the per-chapter spreadsheets were wrong, and that the date columns had been decremented by a good deal rendering most active memberships expired. For example, on my personal row the expiration date of 6/29/2012 became 6/28/2008.

After a bit of investigation I learned about the toggle shown above to set Excel documents to use the 1904 Date System, and this turned out to be a big key to figuring out the problem. As documented here in Microsoft KB article 180162, when I’d first created the spreadsheet on Mac the file was set to use the Office for Mac default of 1904 Date System and the populated with the accurate data. Opening the file on PC retained this 1904 setting and displayed the data correctly, but when the new file was created with the PC default the 1900 Date System and data pasted into it became offset by roughly four years. I’d presumed that the copy/pasted data would be the same and with the first few columns in each sheet looking correct I didn’t check the rest, and files with incorrect expiration data were thus sent off to IMBA.

The real reason for this goes a bit deeper and involves how Excel stores dates. Specifically, dates are stored as a numerical offset (called a serial number in Excel) from a starting point in time (an epoch). Toggling between the 1900 Date System and 1904 Date System changes the epoch, but as date fields copied and pasted between sheets are copied as their serial number, if the epoch changes the displayed date will be different. The data behind the scenes doesn’t change, but the information presented to the user does. See Microsoft KB article 180162 for a more detailed explanation of why this occurs.

I understand all of the reasons why this works as it does (legacy compatibility with Mac vs. PC, the use of a serial number + epoch so that all international date formats are easily handled, etc) but in some edge cases (such as what I ran into) the result for the end user is maddening.

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