This is What 19C on November 9 Looks Like

This is What 26 Degrees in October Looks Like.

Merry Christmas

Our best wishes to you all for this holiday season and a safe, healthy, and contented New Year. 

Lest We Forget

The Adler

 A few weeks ago the Geek and I went on a fruitless mission to the MCC to find a blender.  We found this bike instead.
It is made by the German company, Adler, and at best estimate, is from the 1940's. It contains all original parts except the handgrips (which I will be replacing as they are a rather soft foam and do not absorb shocks at all) and the tires. We have since replaced the skirtguard as it was rather ragged and not up to the task.
I will let you read/translate this link for more information and simply leave you with the eye-candy.

Empty the Fill

This afternoon The Geek and I went to a party at the dump. Not exactly a place most people choose to have a party, but WRENCH decided it was a good way to restock community bike shops. We were there as a part of SkullSpaces pre-August Hack-a-thon.

 

The City of Winnipeg has a compound at Brady Landfill where people are encouraged to drop of unwanted bicycles. The community bike shops benefit as well as The Winding River Therapeutic Community addictions treatment program in Headingley. The corrections officers at the center were  trained in bike building and repair and the treatment participants build bikes as part of their therapy.

 

At any rate, this is the scene when we arrived this morning; hundreds of bikes!

 

Various vintages, styles, sizes, and states of repair.

 Bikes needing very little in terms of repair (and there were a great many of them) were taken as is.

 Today was one of the first hot days we've had this year -the shade provided by the tents was absolutely necessary.

And the pile of frames stripped of usable parts waiting for the metal recyclers.

 

We also found, lost in the rows of bicycles, this elderly Raleigh. Most Winnipeggers seem to have little fondness for vintage bicycles, so we rescued it before it was stripped down for parts. It was likely in perfect condition when it was dropped off -even the tires held air when The Geek pumped them up.

 The test drive went well.

Another frame came home with us as well.

 

 

 

If you live in Winnipeg and you have some spare time, you may want to consider volunteering at one of these shops.

Happy Canada Day!

It has been a miserable, wet, windy day; we have yet to reach our forecast high of 17. I have only been out of the house briefly whereas on most Canada Days I am out all day enjoying the festivities somewhere.

I have a very cheerful song tho', co-written by Chris Hadfield, arguably one of our most famous Canadians, and his brother.

Enjoy what ever you are doing today; one of the benefits of living in this grand country.

This is Why I Prefer my Bike

Earth Day, Blogoversary Day, Thrilled-to-be-Back-on-my-Bike Day

It"s been such a long winter; I've been waiting for ages to be behind bars again!

Bah Winter! This Song Describes it Well

Bah! Winter!!

Merry Christmas and Season's Greetings

From all of us to all of you, the very best in the New Year!

We Remember

Effective Use of TIme

I got some wine for Thanksgiving supper Sunday, pork chops for supper tonight, needles for my sewing machines and goat's milk yogurt at the only place in town that sells it. All in 45 minutes. I'd of been hard pressed to do that with a car since there was no parking at the last three places.

Yes, I'm smug.

Going to a New Home

We no loner use the cargo bike and the bike trailer so The Geek put them on the curb with a big "free" sign.

About an hour late, we heard a knock at the door and a find fellow asking about their providence.

After some chatting, the trailer was swiftly attached to the gentleman's bicycle and he was on his way. And since he lives less than 0.5 kilometer away, he was going to walk back for the cargo bike. He thinks they will be very handy for one of his friends to use at the Folk Fest.

 

And in the the quirky manner of Winnipeg relationships (where seven degrees of separation is unheard of -you are lucky if there are two), I was not surprised to discover this fellow's sister went to university with my sister.

Following Blogs

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Surprising Bike Store

Maple Creek Saskatchewan. Cow Town.

And home to a cute little bike shop whose owner, formerly from the west coast, is, not surprisingly, crazy about cycling. He has a good selection of quality bicycles, and a second store in Swift Current. 

It is good to see prairie town adopting the wire donkey.

Park and Ride

Bike lockers outside the new Osborne Station. 

Maybe one day you'll be able to take them with you on the bus. 

Reduced Capacity

Hopefully no bikes were attached to this rack when it was almost pulverized. 

Moulded Seat Covers

**Note: I've been trying to get blogger to let me rearrange the photos in order for months and it just won't let me. Grrrrrr. So I am just going to number them so I can finally publish this post.

The only real drawback to leather bicycle seats is their intolerance to prelonged exposure to water. I've been using the ultra-classy plastic bag cover, and the Geek frequently forgets to cover hers at all.

In October we decided to change that by going to AssentWorks and using the VacuuFormer (I think that it was called) to make moulded seat covers. The Geek has a membership at AW and has made all sorts of clever things, but this was the first time I've spent any length of time there.

The covers are made of styrene which heats and moulds well.

1. Measure

2.

3. Frame.

4. place seat in vacuu-former

7. removed from frame.

6. Seat after plastic has been heated

8. Styrene roughly trimmed.

10. marking the trimming line.

12. sanding the rough edges.

9. using the heatgun for a tighter fit.

11. trimming off the excess.

14. finished covers

13. the fit.

more fit

Frame with Styrene

Frame

Frame with styrene.

5. Seat inside the vacuuformer