Coconino

After nine months and an interesting experiment in delayed gratification (a totally foreign concept to me,) my new bike made it to the StG on Thursday afternoon. I built it up and was able to enjoy the 60+ degree weather for about an hour before dark.
Here she is in all her glory.



It came out perfectly. I could not be happier with the final product. Fit and finish are superb, and the geometry is spot on.
I even like the color, I was a little nervous how it would come having picked the color off of web page. It's called Black Olive with a pearlescent clearcoat so when you get it out in the sun it has blue, green and even purple specs. Awesome.




This bike is a single speed so no shifting or looking for an easier gear when it gets steep. You can get off and walk or you can stand up and hammer. I read a quote somewhere that "gears make cowards of us all." If you have an easier gear the temptation is there to use it and if your a wuss, you do. I have removed all temptation and opted to just man up.





This last photo caught the last sun looking back towards St. George. I will say that while I do enjoy riding with other people sometimes riding alone is even better.




The best part about riding a single speed besides the simplicity, the silence and the hard work is knowing that in no matter how a ride goes, if you get beat up a hill or if you are the first one to the top you can always say the same thing. "I'm on a single speed." That is straight scoreboard and there is nothing they can say.

Zombies

I don't like scary movies. My wife and I were remembering just last night that the last really scary movie we saw was "The Ring." That was back in '02 and I still regret seeing it.

I do however enjoy "killing" the undead, if that's the word for it, whenever possible through various video games. The very best game for all ages would be the De-Animator by Bum Lee. You all need to head over there and De-Animate some zombies right now. Don't worry, it's not bloody or anything, all the flesh eaters are shown in silhouette and it's very uncomplicated. Fun the whole family can enjoy. Here's a couple of tips, there are three types of zombies, shooting them in different locations will expose their weaknesses. Use the shift key to switch to the shotgun but remember the shotgun reloads really slow. All the zombies die with just one shot when they are emerging from the underworld.

My high score is 138, top that and brag about it right here. Good luck and good hunting.

Edit: 182 at 7:48 this morning. That is the new record.


PS I am not responsible for all the things you will neglect because of this game i.e. work, laundry, children, eating, church stuff, philanthropic pursuits or your social calender.

Bike snobbery.

I know that you have all been waiting for this so here are some progress pictures of the new Coconino. I ripped these from Steve Garro's blog Great blog if you are ever interested.

This is what Steve had to say on his blog.

Mark W., this is your bike! a single speed curved top tube 29er with slider dropouts. nice! i get to use one of the sweeet prestige seat tubes i still have stashed from 94' because it fits jussstt right. a fine mix - true temper, prestige, dedacciai, 4130 and paragon. this baby will be going to southwestern Utah.



So he takes that box of parts and starts working his voodoo magic.






This is the final project ready to go to paint. Steve's shop is in Flagstaff and they got a little snow.



Curvaceous deliciousness.



You don't find work like this every day. Steve uses a brazing technique instead of your normal welds and then files, sands and buffs those babies to perfection.



Sarah didn't realize that this is what she was getting me for Christmas. She is so lucky that I am easy to shop for.
Hopefully the next post will be of the complete bike. Stay tuned.

Worst ever

For lack of any really important or interesting topics I give you this, if you make it all the way through you are stronger than I.

I posted it and I can't make it all the way through





I have seen better film on teeth.

OUT