A belated update.

So... about 30 days ago I was merrily ripping down my favorite ski slope when a (checks notes on how to be polite) rather clueless individual cut across the line of travel without looking. My buddy I was skiing with narrowly avoided the guy... I didn't luck out as much, had to slam on the brakes, hit ice that wouldn't have been an issue had I not needed to brake hard, and went down HARD. Big crash, slammed my head really bad, was out for around 30 seconds.

Next few hours were kinda a blur. Snowmobile ride down the mountain. ER for a few hours. Nurse saying I likely wouldn't be alive were it not for my fancy MIPS helmet (safety tech is good yo!) Extremely painful drive home. Lying on the couch for 48 hours.

Finally starting to resume normal life a few days later. Doctors visits. Tracers at night... which then went away! Being able to drive again. Finding out I can ride my bike again 4 weeks after the concussion, which was a big win.

Fast forward to now and I'm finally back at it! Definitely still have some lingering effects with paying attention and whatnot, but feeling a lot better and healing well.

Lessons learned here? I dunno. Probably will ski a little slower in the future but accidents happen and it was a genuine mistake on the part of the guy who caused me to crash so all good there. Very glad to have the right safety equipment and I'll never ski or ride without a helmet, that's for sure. But at the same time I'm mostly happy to have healed and be back at it!

Woke up really early to catch the lunar eclipse that was visible from the west coast today... Not bad!!

that is all.

@Photography ... with a lot of increased contrast I got a hint of northern lights last night here at 45 degrees latitude!

Here's some kittens in a potted plant.

I've heard of this, but never actually seen it today. With just the right conditions, big mountains can cast a big triangular shadow...

See this shot (absolutely not mine) from Mauna Kea for a more clear example, but I think the view from Hood today was doing the same thing on a lesser scale.

Also, pretty alpenglow shot from tonight as well.

@Photography

Proper writeup to follow... sometime. But here's some photos!

Lined up to go look at aircraft

We never figured out what this was

Boat trailer + Samurai/Jimny

@CB and @decay-still-has-too-many-beaters and @evilellie666 and @AestheticsInMotion (on three motos) setting off for camp. Not shockingly, all four of them out accelerate my automatic station wagon.

Water crossing by @TheBarber

Making fire!

So back in January I was a little annoyed with the sizing on my 90s mountain bike/bar bike/city bike, a Specialized Hardrock. The 16" frame was a bit small, bars were too skinny etc. I sought out a new frame to quickly move all the parts over to and do a simple build...

...which didn't happen at all. In fact I re-used TWO parts from the Hardrock in building up my new frame of choice, a Bridgestone MB-5 Trailblazer from 1991. In the end I mixed and matched three decades of parts to make what some (redditors, mostly) call an "xbike." It's not a road bike, mountain bike, or gravel bike and it's not really about the bike... more the nature of mixing old and new tech and riding fun more than riding fast. Here's the results, a ton of photos, and a ton of notes.

Day 1! Completely bare frame from California.

Out of the box, the bike was spaced for a 130mm rear hub. Some ugga duggas fixed that and it now accepts modern 135mm hubs, which allow for 8-12 speeds instead of just 5-6-7.

New and old...

Swapped. The Hardrock frame went off to a buddy who is now building it up for his significant other. Re-use everything!

REI did the bottom bracket and headset adjustments as I lack the tools for those. Shown here I have a 1x1 singlespeed, which went away pretty quickly as I remembered that I like my bikes to have gears.

Test fit of the Velo Orange Porteur bars. These are sort of like a mustache bar but MTB clamp diameter and quite a lot more backsweep.

More progress... note the 2x crank now, a New Albinon number from my previous Kona Rove. Was still debating drivetrain options at this point... considered 2x1, went with 2x8 in the long run.

First test ride, with one sketchy brake, but it did roll!

At this point my concussion happened and several steps were not documented. But more progress was made...
Shifters installed, along with a new set of wheels and tires.

Close up of the shifters. Microshift R8 2x8 or 3x8 thumb shifters. Silky smooth with adjustable tension and absolutely my fave part of this bike.

Those shifters got paired to an old 8 speed Claris rear mech from my Kona, a fresh Tiagra front mech, and a fresh chain. Gearing right now is an 11-30 8 speed rear (I plan to throw a 13-34 or 11-34 on there eventually) with a "wide/low" 42/26 crankset. This works pretty darn well. The thumb shifters have an option to index the rear mech but I have yet to use it, love the feel of manually shifting into gears without hard detents and it lets me adjust trim on the fly.

First ride as a fully realized bike, with clip pedals (half/half so I can also ride in street shoes).

View from another recent ride. The handlebar bag holds lots, up to three sodas/beers, or phone + keys + wallet + spare tire kit.

Finished bike! Well... there's a bunch of changes that will inevitably happen but all minor stuff now. Rear rack, some small fenders, maybe a taller stem.

Overall this has been quite the build and I've had a pretty fun time with it. Building a frame up from scratch ain't cheap, and isn't for the faint of heart, but in the end I think I spent around $500-700 (depending if you count re-used parts) and got a bike that's plenty zippy on pavement, has multiple comfortable hand positions, handles offroad terrain very well, and is very comfortable to boot thanks to the (Tange Cromoly) steel frame and big tires both offering a lot of flex. When I want to "go for a bike ride" or go places this is now the first bike I think of. The road bike is faster and the mountain bike can rip aggressive trails, but this lil' adventure all terrain rig can do a lot and be very fun in the process. The friction shifters are very tactile, kinda like driving an old manual sports car vs a modern paddle shift auto (i.e. bikes with brifters or trigger shifters), the brakes have a lot of feedback, and the overall feel is one of a bike that is both cheap and cheerful and also a bit of a cult classic.

Like most builds this one needs some shoutouts to the people who made it happen:

• my LBS and local REI for doing a few things I couldn't
• @atfsgeoff for setting me up with a fantastic 36 spoke wheelset at a crazy low price
• @S65 for tons of advice from their own experience building out a classic MTB and leaving no stone unturned
• @BeaterGT , @ITA97, and quite a few more oppos for general encouragement to wrench on two wheeled things!

So... I'm in New Zealand. For a YEAR almost. To study rocks, finish a degree, and maybe find some professional rock work while I'm at it. Here's a random selection of photos:

Flying in

Southern Alps. I will go there soon enough!

SOFIA, NASA's flying telescope, currently parked in Christchurch.

And then. Uhhh... my self control MAJORLY failed. And 28 hours after landing here. I bought an thing.

It's a Giant Talon which I believe @Wrong-Wheel-Drive has some experience with?! Based on the short ride back to my apartment, feels very nice. Hydraulic brakes (and I got the shop to swap the brake lines to US spec left-is-front so I don't hurt myself!), 2x9 Altus shifting which is quite nice, and 29" wheels and it's light. The fork is... well it moves through travel as intended, but I think I've been spoiled by my Fox 34 back home on my cannondale. But overall this thing is perfect for city use with some trail riding on weekends, was shockingly cheap (NZD to USD conversion rate my beloved), and has the essentials. And a really nice paint color.

Many more musings on NZ the place, Christchurch the city, and what I'm actually up to here will follow... later. For now, here's some DOTS that had me absolutely freaking out. NZ car culture is very cool. Lots of secondhand JDM stuff (easy imports, like half the cars here are JDM). And a nice smattering of Australian rides.

Horrible photo of a GRyaris

HAWT

@RallyDarkstrike idk what this is but I know you'll love it

Mmmm a post 2009 legacy wagon that IS NOT an outback

S CARGO

If subaru had just put a non-CVT in this it would be a wagon of dreams

This is brand new, for sale.

Peugeot wagon (rare af) and 1er hatch (super common here)

Fit wagon and B8 Alltrack

...with my new project bike build! Almost. Send support please the brakes don't work yet

Have an R I saw:

And an R I saw:

Which would oppo rather?

It’s also worth noting that 79 holds a special place in my heart for frequently turning into Bizarro World when it comes to the pace of other vehicles on the road. For all the super-capable, high-end coupes and sedans moving along at a snail’s pace, I’ll often see just as many trucks, SUVs, and random econoboxes going absolutely HAM. Honorable mention this time went to the driver of a Honda Fit who let me pass and then kept catching back up quickly after I'd encounter the next rolling roadblock.

I just encountered a similar thing in new zealand the other day... I've got a fairly new (post-big-update 2019) corolla hatch here and mostly get stuck behind lots of slow tourists and such on windy roads. The other day though was following a land cruiser who was setting an insane pace I could barely keep up with. It's the driver not the car, always.

Amazing and very nuanced review. Really fun to read!

@RallyWrench Can you elaborate on the fuckery afoot in Munich

@orneryduck

@NKato There's still no world where an EV saves you money over driving a car that's paid off. Especially since you're talking about incredibly short trips

@NKato said in EV Shopping Questions:

All this, and I'm already well into the red to the point where I may need to dip into my Line of Credit to get me into next month.

Don't buy another car then!

@AMGtech said in New bike day is finally here!:

@spacekraken you're right. The main upgrades you get from those levels are materials for weight reduction; which to me aren't really worth the often huge added cost. And yes, it's an air fork, not super adjustable, but very capable for the price point and won't let you down.

How's the other side of the world treating you?

Yeah... I'm looking at long travel trail bikes/not-quite enduros for when I return and I think I'll go cheap drivetrain and alloy everything but make sure I get good suspension. The Fox 34 on my trail bike is solid.

Other side of the world is good! Been breaking my cheap coil fork in the best ways:

Lots of MTB, lots of looking at rocks mostly. Renting a car and doing some adventuring soon, will have to post about it here...

@Wrong-Wheel-Drive I'm pretty sure once you hit 12 speed Shimano MTB stuff all shifts great. The road groupsets are the same--if you get Tiagra 2x10 you get almost everything you'd get with Ultegra. And it looks like it has an air fork which is lovely.

@Wrong-Wheel-Drive Awesome! SLX is a great drivetrain and 29er hardtails with big tires are really a great do anything bike.

@CarsOfFortLangley Trying? Succeeding!