Arcturus' Travels » bicycling

‘Mater Goes Fishin’

Gary — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 04:44:06 +0000

Remember “‘Mater“ from the Disney movie, “Cars?” He was the rusty old Tow truck, hence his name from Tow-Mater. Well today we were on our afternoon ride on “Purple” when we passed a big shiny new Red and White ‘Mater and his big brother Big Blue ‘Mater. Big Blue ‘Mater had his cable strung out into the desert near Mojave, California. In fact it disappeared into a very deep drainage ditch alongside Highway 14.
We were riding the frontage road that parallels the freeway for a couple miles. When we reached the end we spotted two more ‘Maters coming down the freeway from the north. These ‘Maters were orange. From our vantage point it looked like the orange ‘Mater brothers pulled in beside the red white and blue ‘Mater brothers. We hurried back to the fishing hole.
By the time we got back both of the big Brother ‘Maters had their cables laid out and were fishing in the same drainage ditch. We were on the far side of the freeway so we couldn’t see what they were using for bait, but soon their lines came up tight and they started pulling together. After a while the shiny red top of a big rig Peterbuilt began to show above the sage brush. We would stand and watch a while then go ride another 4 mile loop on the frontage road.
Eventually they were able to drag the whole 18 wheeler up onto the highway. It was quite an operation. They had all four tow trucks attached from time to time. They mostly used the smaller ‘Maters to stabilize the rig while they repositioned the Big ‘Maters for another pull.
I call them smaller, but they probably would be suitable for towing Arcturus; He probably only weighs a third the weight of one of those 18 wheelers.

'Maters Fishing for A Big One

Gary Watches 'Maters Drag in an Eighteen Wheeler

For those of you who have been waiting anxiously; Here is my annual summary of our travels for 2011.
Bike: 382 miles
Walk: 566 miles
Arcturus: 12,137 miles – A big loop trip to the EAA Fly-In in Oshkosh, WI
100 stops
121.4 miles for an average day’s drive
Year – - Arcturus – - – Walk – - – Bike
2004 – - 04,053 – - – - n/a – - – - 777
2005 – - 18,738 – - – - 56 – - – - 1318
2006 – - 10,548 - – - -183 – - – - 1795
2007 – - 13,375 – - – -240 – - – - 1900
2008 – - 10,465 - – - – 35 – - – - 2097
2009 – - 10,504 – - – -235 – - – - 2086
2010 – — 6,051 - – - -256 – - – - -552
2011 – - 12,137 - – - -566 – - – - -382
Grand total for eight years on the road…98,549 miles driving, walking and riding. (Doesn’t count Little Blue’s miles.)

Tandem Migration:

Gary — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 05:17:46 +0000

It is not what you think. We are not riding the tandem bicycle south for the winter. This year for the first time we are taking our Honda Civic, “Little Blue,” south with us. Since I still insist on taking my trailer with my shop along, that means Judy has to drive the Honda in tandem with the coach.
Here are some of the changes:
First: we have gone retro on the tandem bicycle. The “Purple People Eater,” (our 1995 vintage Co-Motion upright tandem bicycle,) came out of a seven year hibernation to take over from the “Path the Green Dragon,” (our hand crafted recumbent tandem bicycle built in 2001.) “Path” has always been strong willed, and a handful to keep him on the straight and narrow bicycle path. Now with my P.D. I have poor balance and take the whole road to herd him along. “Purple” is much milder tempered and he only eats purple people.
Second: We have done a good job exploring areas that are bicycle friendly. Now with “Little Blue” we will be able to expand our horizons. Oh yes “Purple” will get to go along on the back bumper. I am modifying the bicycle rack to fit him. It turns out that bicycling is one of those excellent exercise regimens to help control the tremors from Parkinson’s.
Third: We plan to move less often and stay put longer. Who knows we might even find a host position that suits us for a couple months.
Driving two rigs does change the game plan a little. I lead the way with “Arcturus.” (Yes we really do give everything a name.) Judy follows with “Little Blue.” She has her paper maps and written directions in case we get separated. We have Walkie-Talkies but they are only good for two miles under ideal conditions. That means no hills or crooked gorges. The backup plan includes a cell phone for each of us and Bluetooth hands free sets. You should see us old dogs learning all this new technology. I bet I have installed the Bluetooth devices six times already, and I still don’t know why they disconnect themselves. I’ll bet I could fix them with a hammer and a wrench.
We spent the day in Redding, California. We have stopped over here at the Elks Lodge a couple times already. There is a very nice and interesting multi-use trail just behind the Lodge property. We did a twelve mile ride on “Purple” along the Sacramento River and crossed the beautiful sundial bridge. We did the same exact ride last year on “Path.” I am pleased to report that “Purple” was very well behaved and didn’t even nibble at the people we passed on the trail.
I am a little worried about Judy, however. There are a couple streaks of purple in her silvery hair. Do you suppose that “Purple” might mistake her for a true purple people?
Goodbye for now from sunny California.
Gary and Judy

Tandem Milestone:

Gary — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 03:04:23 +0000

Today I finally was able to install the key assembly in the power train for the new tandem. This assembly is a jack shaft that allows the blending of power from the rider and the auxiliary electric motor. That is the rider can power the wheel with no auxiliary power. The auxiliary motor can power the wheel and the rider can coast. Finally both can power the wheel at the same time.
At the same time the shaft itself functions as the pivot for the rear wheel suspension. This is good because the chains don’t vary in length as the suspension flexes.

This is the New Power Distribution Assembly

The next task is to configure the front wheel drive. It will be pedal power only. The tricky part will be that the pedals will remain fixed to the frame and the chain will have to bend with the steering. I have ridden another person’s bicycle with a bending chain drive so I know it will work. I just have to position some idlers at the perfect point.
It was exasperating trying to compete this task today. The rainy season has started in Hillsboro where we are staying. We would get a delightful “sun break” and I would unload the bicycles and start working on the shaft with the lathe. About then the light would go away and a cold rain squall would descend on us. I would quickly return the bicycles to the trailer, lock up and retreat to the warmth of the coach. Half an hour later the sun would be back. Out comes the bicycles again and I would get back to work. Repeat the scenario several times.
The other complication occurred when I started to drill the setscrew pilot holes in the collar that locks the shaft in place. I wanted three equally spaced setscrews in the collar. I have the perfect tool, a dividing engine that allows you to rotate the part with exact precision. I dug it out of the tool chest and was horrified to see that it had rusted in the damp air. I spent about two hours disassembling the tool and polishing each part and carefully oiling and reassembling it. When compete I mounted the collar and drilled three pilot holes at exactly 120 degrees from each other.
We need to get out of this damp weather and back to the warm dry part of the country.
These years I have written extensively about “Path” the green dragon. This is our recumbent tandem bicycle. I designed and built “Path” back in 2001 and he has been our trusty steed these ten years and 13,701 miles. Path replaced our regular garden variety upright tandem named “The Purple People Eater,” (because it is purple, of course.)” Purple” has 8,428 miles on his odometer. Last week “Purple” came out of retirement and will replace “Path” as our ride of choice.
What I need to explain is that “Path” is harder to balance on. There are two reasons. First: we are closer to the ground so you have to correct for errors in balance quickly. Second: because my feet swing with the whole front end of the bicycle to steer, it takes more strength and coordination to ride a nice straight path at the edge of traffic. Over the past year my balance has been deteriorating and it now takes most of the lane to keep my balance. In April of this year my diagnosis was confirmed, I am in the early stages of Parkinson’s disease.
The new tandem will be designed for Judy to be the captain. I will become the stoker. As soon as we can finish up the new tandem we will probably retire “Purple” again. In the meantime I expect to hear “Shift!” from the back seat every time I start lugging the cadence, and I will have to remember to yell “bump” when a chuck hole rears up.

Tourist Destinations:

Gary — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 22:58:59 +0000

Yes, we often show up in odd ball destinations like Wickenburg, AZ, visiting obscure attractions like the “Jail Tree.” This week, however, we set our sights on a top tourist destination, Mackinac Island in the Mackinac Straits between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron in upper Michigan. By the way up here it is pronounced “Mackinaw,” the “c” at the end of the word is silent. The name is a shortening of the original Indian name Michilimackinac which means “place of the great turtle.”
The area has a colorful history controlled from time to time by the natives, French, British and Americans. The island has been a tourist destination since the Civil War and was made the second National Park in 1875. It attracted the rich and famous of the day.
Mackinac Island has a singular distinction. It has no cars. Well we did see a modern ambulance, but other than that we saw no cars. Horses rule the day. The streets indeed are littered with “horse exhaust.” Even that is picked up by… yes, a horse drawn wagon. The story goes something like this: In the infancy of the automobile one resident brought a horseless carriage to the island. The machine frightened the horses and several were injured as a result. The city fathers got together and banned the contraptions from the city and have upheld the ban ever since.
The result is a booming bicycle rental business and thousands of bicycles parked along all of the main streets in town. Path was certainly in his element. We did a romp around the eight mile shore line trail with new friends Randy and Cindy. The loop trail is perfectly flat and at least 16 feet wide. We saw sights like Arch Rock and Devil’s Kitchen.
We spent most of the day in Fort Mackinac. They have historic re-enactments throughout the day. Cannon firing, musket firing and Court Martial re-enactments by people in 1850 American Army uniforms. The previous day we visited Fort Michilimackinac in Mackinaw City at the northern tip of the Michigan Mainland. The re-enactments here depict the French time period and the actors wear French uniforms from the 1750’s. This fort is a total reconstruction. The British took over in 1761 from the French, lost it to the Chippewa in 1763. They regained control in 1764 but got worried at the end of the American Revolution and moved it ‘Lock, Stock and Barrel” to Mackinac Island in 1781 and built Fort Mackinac. What they couldn’t move thy burned to the ground. Understandably Archeology plays a big role in Fort Michilimackinac and many archeological displays are included in the basements of the various reconstructed fort buildings.
Enough with the history, already! We are finding many new things to sample. A local delicacy called pasteys, made of rutabagas, carrots, onions and some sort of meat and sealed in a pastry shell. Our new friends introduced us to “Pudgy Pies.” This is a toasted sandwich made in a special cast iron clam shell with very long handles and cooked over the campfire. Yummy!
If you didn’t get this last night it is because we again have no cell phone and no internet. We are in the U.P., which is the Upper Peninsula. The people are known as “Uppers.” This is in contrast to the people south of the Mackinac Bridge. They are known as “Trolls,” i.e. below the bridge or “Fudgies” because they come to Mackinaw City to get fudge. The Upper Peninsula at first look seems a little more rural and laid back, the southern areas more industrial. They all agree that we are a long, long way from home in Oregon.
Goodbye from Lake Michigamme near Lake Superior in U.P. Michigan
Gary and Judy

Oklahoma!

Gary — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 20:32:09 +0000

I woke up this morning with the first phrase of Oklahoma spinning through my mind. I searched the net and came up with the real words. Here is a quote of the first verse.

Oklahoma, where the wind comes sweepin’ down the plain
And the wavin’ wheat can sure smell sweet
When the wind comes right behind the rain.
Oklahoma, Ev’ry night my honey lamb and I
Sit alone and talk and watch a hawk
Makin’ lazy circles in the sky.

We have driven one full day into Oklahoma. Down from the rarified cold winds of New Mexico at 8,000 feet to Black Mesa State Park in the very northwest corner of the Oklahoma panhandle at 4,000 feet. Now today we are camped in a Corps of Engineer Park on Fort Supply Lake at 2,000 feet. It was a two hundred mile drive along the full length of the panhandle.

Ever wonder why Oklahoma has this skinny pan handle? It is only 35 miles wide. I still remember taping it back onto my Oklahoma State piece of my US Map puzzle as a kid. It has to do with making Texas a state on December 29, 1845. The Texans agreed to be limited on the north by Latitude 36 degrees, 30 minutes. Kansas was admitted to the union, January 29, 1861. So Oklahoma got what was left over, November 16, 1907. By the way New Mexico is celebrating their centennial in 2012.

The wind has been “sweepin’ down the plain” these past three days. The wind is from the south at 20 with gusts to 30 mph. Arcturus bucks every time we pass behind a big tree or enter a cut bank. It really keeps you on your toes.

Last evening we helped the neighbors ‘man handle’ their awning into submission. They had spent the day fishing and when they got back the arms were bent and they couldn’t retract it. They come from nearby Lavern, Oklahoma so they should have known better. It is a new-to-them, RV and their first with an awning. I guess we can give them a pass. We aren’t even deploying our living room slide for fear of tearing the slider-awning. The wind and humidity never slackened all night.

Neighborhood Tree House

Fort Supply Lake Patrol

We went for a morning walk into the little town of Fort Supply. It was still windy, but not quite as bad as last night. By the time we made our turn at the neighborhood tree house the wind was “sweepin’ down the plain” full force again. Now we realized the folly of our choice of directions. Yep, upwind all the way. By the way, the tree house seemed to be authentic neighborhood kids’ construction. Check out the photo at the website. I will also include a photo of the local troop of Canadian Geese patrolling in formation along the shores of Fort Supply Lake.

We will close for now, and wish you all good health and safe travels.

Gary and Judy

Look Ma, No Brakes!

Gary — Fri, 06 May 2011 04:43:12 +0000

We are celebrating today, Cinco de Mayo, but is has no connection to the 1862 battle of Puebla when the Mexicans defeated the French. Instead we are celebrating a milestone in the construction of the new bicycle.

Look Ma, No Brakes!

We have enough of the bicycle completed and assembled to be able to sit on the frame and coast down a hill, feet in the air, laughing and screaming “Look Ma, No Brakes.” Both Judy and I have taken turns coasting on the bicycle frame. The frame has one seat, two wheels and handlebars. It has no cranks, no chains and no brakes. There are no gears to shift, no pedals to click into and indeed nothing to put your feet on. But it is a time to celebrate our progress.

Judy Gets to Try the New Bicycle

I do have to back up and re-design one part of the bicycle. I was showing a friend the new frame and explaining how the NuVinci hub worked. Part of the demonstration was to get out the shifter parts and hold them up to the hub. Suddenly a glaring oversight became apparent. I had bought and installed some cast steel dropouts to hold the wheel axles. These are really heavy-duty and strong. However, they are too bulky and the shifter assembly will not fit on the hub. I am going to have to disassemble both the front and rear suspension and hack saw a big chunk of the dropout off and grind it much thinner and then braze them back together again.

Judy Solos on the Frame Rail

Oh well two steps forward and one step back.

Trial Fit:

Gary — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 03:25:49 +0000

Today I reached a significant milestone in the design and construction of the new bicycle. I put the major components together this afternoon for a trial fit. There is a photograph of the new bicycle on the blog. The components are the wheels with tires, the front fork, the main frame with a small front sub frame and the rear suspension frame its Fox Vanilla Shock and one seat.
As you can see in this photo there are no cranks or pedals and no steering. There are cranks, chains, brakes and shifters in the boxes. We have been hauling it all around for a year now. The trial fit was to see that the step-over height matched my design and that everything fit properly.

All the Major Pieces Get a Trial Fit

I did discover a problem with the width of the front fork dropouts. I allowed an extra millimeter for shrinkage when brazing. Unfortunately it shrunk three millimeters. It has to be 165 mm wide between the dropouts for a rear wheel to fit. (Fronts are normally 110 mm but my front wheel is driven by the captain.) I hold the dropouts firmly in place when I braze the tubing joints. Everything gets real hot and expands during the operation. The brass cools and the parts shrink back when they get cold. I think I can thin the locking nuts down on both sides of the wheel and get things to fit. Right now I have to use a crow bar to spread the forks enough to get the wheel in. Not a good plan for the roadside tire patching operation.
After placing the new bicycle back in the shop trailer, Judy and I went for a ride on Path, our green dragon recumbent tandem bicycle. There are about five miles of roads in the campground where we are staying near Congress, Arizona. We rode all the roads in camp at least once each and logged a total of six and a half miles. This is our first ride since I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. My balance has been questionable since the first of the year and we have not ridden as much as normal. Today my balance seemed better and we got along very well. Hooray! Just to be sure, however, the new bicycle is designed so either of us can be the captain.
The new bicycle does not have a name yet. We will have to see what his personality is like when we get him all together and go for that first ride. Path may be getting suspicious with the new set of wheels hanging out in the trailer, but so far I don’t think he has a clue that he will be replaced as top dragon.

So long from sunny Arizona

Gary and Judy

Rage Over a Lost Penny

Gary — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 04:26:03 +0000

I guess I know about how Beethoven felt when he wrote the piano rondo, (“Rondo alla ingharese quasi un capriccio in G major, Op. 129”, better known as “Rage over a Lost Penny”.) I have been making little doo-dahs for the new bicycle. I needed a dozen or so braze-on binder bosses and a dozen or so water bottle bosses. What I have been doing on the cold mornings is to get in my trailer with the electric heater. I set up the Smithy Lathe with a steel rod and start turning out bosses. Today I was finishing up some water bottle bosses. They are three eights of an inch in diameter necked down to nine thirty-seconds. They are about five sixteenths of an inch long and are drilled and tapped for a five millimeter bolt. I whack it off with the hack saw and dress it up a bit with a file. It takes me about fifteen minutes to create each one.

Poor Man's CNC Machine, Note Tools Lined Up in Order of Use. Binder Bosses in Foreground

You guessed it. I whacked one off and it spun out of sight behind the lathe. Now there is not much real-estate back there so I should be able to find it. A quick visual inspection revealed that a quite a bit of lathe turnings and other debris had accumulated in that cramped space. I tried getting at it with my fox-tail brush and dust pan but they were simply too big and awkward. I finally found a wall board taping knife and a paint brush that fit perfectly. An hour later I had a nicely cleaned space, but still no sign of the wayward water bottle boss. I got out my magnetic wand and searched under the motor and in all the crevices and still no boss. By this time I could have made about six more of these little suckers, so I gave it up as a lost cause.

Tool Line-Up for Poor Man's CNC

Here are the Binder Boss and Water Bottle Boss Ready to Braze Onto and Into the Bicycle Frame

Path got a nice little tune up today. Earlier this week I removed the front suspension arm and wheel to get accurate measurements of the joint. I need to replicate the joint on the new bicycle. What I discovered is after nearly ten years the bearings were in really bad shape. There was nearly a sixteenth of an inch of radial play in each of the bearings. That means the suspension arm can wobble, tip and veer as I try to steer the bicycle. I bought new bearings and installed them today.

We immediately took Path out for a romp around the island. Wow, what a difference!

Even ordering the bearing turned out to be a challenge. The shaft size is three eighths of an inch and the outer race press fits into a one inch shell. All of the sources had no bearings that fit that specification. A couple nights ago I woke up with a brilliant idea. I would fit the one inch shell and then sleeve the shaft to fit. I couldn’t wait to search the internet the next morning. I searched for a one inch outside diameter ball bearing and to my amazement the first bearing in the list fit a three eighths inch shaft. Not once but each vender had the same sizes when you search by O.D. There must be some logic there somewhere, I just can’t see it.

It is time to wrap this up and ship it off. We are still at the Beachcomber Resort in Lake Havasu City and the weather here in the Sonoran Desert is getting warmer. Today broke into the seventies.

Gary and Judy

Something New

Gary — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 03:03:10 +0000

In six years of travels we have never leased a lot for a whole month and stayed put. Oh yes we have stayed in one area for a month or longer, but always in places that limited our stay. We would have to move every couple weeks to go to the dump station, or to reset the clock. These locations always are close to our children’s families homes in Hillsboro, OR or Gilroy, CA.

This time we are staying on a lot in the Beachcomber Resort in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. It also is close to a relative, Judy’s sister, Sonja lives in the same park. The purpose is to give me some quality time to commune with “The Son of Path;” Or as Judy puts it, get my new bicycle done.

Judy looks over lot 353 at the Beachcomber

We have moved onto a lot that once housed a Park Model Home. I have had to call the maintenance people at every step of the process it seems. I did find the electricity alright, but when I started to use the water I discovered the previous tenant unhooked from the water with a Saws-All. I walked over to the office and engaged the help of Herb, the handyman. Early next morning I had a brand new water standard with two shiny new hose bibs.

It was time to wash the coach and trailer. Since everything is paved here I needed to open the sewer to dump my wash water in. I got out my big pump pliers and tried to unscrew the four inch sewer cap. I gradually worked up to my biggest pipe wrench and a two foot cheater, a three pound hammer, penetrating oil and a propane torch. Nothing could break the cap loose. I walked over to the office again. Herb and his helper finally got it open with a Saws-All.

My guess is that they have not rented this lot in a while.

I did manage to get my very dirty trailer washed and it is gleaming beside our very dirty coach. We are looking forward to sunshine and 70 degrees today, so the coach will get its due.

On a different subject; all of our friends are welcome to log in and comment on these stories. There is a “Register” button in the right hand sidebar. Click that and follow the directions. Choose a name and enter your e-mail address. Then you must solve a “Captcha” word puzzle. You will be sent a temporary password and you log in with that. Be sure to change the password to something you can remember and also be sure to put in your name and some details so I can identify you. I have been getting some spammers recently and I go in and disable them. If I cannot identify you from your e-mail address, I might disable you. To get reinstated, just request a change of password. I get an e-mail when this happens. When you log back in please fill in your name and add a little to the bio. That way I will be able to recognize you. I will immediately unblock you if I have you blocked.

Meanwhile, if you get into Lake Havasu City in February this year, be sure to look us up. We are in the Beachcomber Resort on the island.

Bye for now and feel free to register and comment. Another option is to click my Facebook link and join me there. Sorry, I don’t twitter.

Love Gary and Judy

2010 in Review:

Gary — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 04:06:12 +0000

Here is a very brief summary of our 2010 travels. We have been traveling in Arcturus, our 2001 Alpine motor home since 2004. That is going on seven years now. 2010 is the lightest year of travels yet. We drove just over 6,000 miles, about half our normal rate.

We arrived back in what was once the Territory of Oregon on May 14 2010. That is 162 years from the formation of the territory, actually August 14, 1848. Of course that factoid has nothing to do with our travels. In case you are curious the territory was broken up in 1853 to create Washington Territory of the North half and again in 1859 to create the State of Oregon. Washington didn’t become a state until 1889.

We also bicycled for 552 miles in 2010 and walked another 256 miles. Our biggest bicycling year was 2008 when we rode 2097 miles.

We spent a lot of time with our grandchildren this year. You will remember that Mathilda was born on September 10th. Georgia is now a five year old. Grandson Bryce is 10, Patrick is 17 and Cody is 20 this year. The whole family got together at our son’s place in Gilroy, California for Christmas.

Judy and I were lucky, each night we borrowed a car and drove home to the Alpine for a quiet night. Sure is fun being a grandparent!

We attended five bluegrass festivals last year; four in the southwest and one in Tygh Valley, Oregon. Other than that we helped finish a few hundred diapers for our daughter’s on line business in Hillsboro, OR. See: http://getantsy.com

Good bye and Happy New Year from Gilroy California.
Gary and Judy