“One step forward and two steps back;” That’s what my Dad used to tease me when I complained about the five block walk to school. He lived with his folks near Ewan Washington on a dry land wheat farm. He walked two miles to school and in the winter with drifting snow blowing hard he told me the he would take a step forward and the wind would blow him back two steps. I got suspicious when he told me the only way he got to school at all was to turn around and walk backwards.
One Step Forward:
November 6, 2009
Rear Suspension, Work Day
November 2, 2009
We have moved to Gilroy California and it is once again warm. Today I dug out my entire horde of aircraft steel tubing. When you buy steel there is a substantial minimum order. When I built “Path” I had plenty of steel left over for another complete tandem. The entire horde turned out to be 55 pounds. We have hauled all of this along for five years now
Power Distribution Hub
September 5, 2009
The heart of the electric power assist turned out to be an elegantly simple device. Creating the design taxed my creative imagination for a couple of weeks. My wife, Judy, may have began to wonder if I had lost track of reality as I traced imaginary chain lines in the air and doodled increasingly complicated sketches of Rube-Goldberg devices on scraps of paper.
Son-of-Path
September 4, 2009
I have started a companion blog to our regular travel stories starting here in September. I have started building a replacement for our recumbent tandem bicycle we call “Path.” Until we dream up a new name for the new bicycle it shall be known as “Son-of-Path.” I don’t believe the gestation of the new bicycle will take as long as “Path,” (a couple years.) I do expect this to take several months and be full of adventures and indeed misadventures.
Dinsey Mark III, The Blog:
September 3, 2009
This is the story of the creation of Dinsey Mark III, the son of “Path.”
First: “Path” is the name given to Dinsey Mark II. This name was derived from Anne McCaffrey’s “Dragon Riders of Pern,” a fantasy/Sci.Fi. series about a mythical planet with mythical dragons with telepathic and telekinetic powers. “Path” was a Green Dragon ridden by Mirrim in the series.
The Terra based “Path” is ridden by Gary and Judy Dinsmore and was a participant in the 2009 Oregon Human Powered Challenge May 23 through May 25, 2009 at Portland International Raceway. At this time “Path” had accumulated 12, 121 miles in about eight years of riding. Periodically I would meditate over what the next version of the Dinsey series of bicycles might look like and what improvements it might have.
New Bicycle
June 29, 2009
Back on June 10th I reported that my creative juices were surging and I was busy designing a new recumbent tandem bicycle with electric assist. Well today I can report the first piece of the new bicycle is complete. I can hold it in my hand.
Back in Oregon
June 10, 2009
I know! I know! I have been falling down on my Blog writing. Has it really been a month?
As all our local friends know, we are back in Oregon and hanging out in Hillsboro near Renee and Neil’s place. We have been quite busy this spring. First we attended the Human Powered Vehicle Challenge over Memorial Day Weekend. This is an annual get-together and race conducted at Portland International Raceway. We raced against other laid-back, recumbent bicycles in ten mile, one hour and 200 meter races. We were consistent in that we placed second in our class in every race.
Bicycle Builders:
March 3, 2006
Hobnobbing with bicycle techies can be fun! Well Judy might not fully agree with that, but she was a grand sport and let me have a day at the second annual North American Hand Built Bicycle Showcase. Read More
