These images came from recent rides around Draper Lake. This first image is some peculiar “art installation” along the bikeway at SE 119th Street. It didn’t show up well in previous attempts to shoot it because the sun was always behind it. On an overcast day it shows up well. The other two shots are simply more early fall flowers prospering in the not-so-hot temps and sufficient rain.
Outsiders are not going to understand this. I’ve been running the skinny hybrid tires recently until I got some inspiration about how to resolve the wheel alignment on the rear axle. Up to today, that was okay. I was waiting until the next financial windfall in a month or two to buy some better knobbies, but the Lord told me today to put on what I had.
I was all primed for a long ride across town on the Grand and River Trails, but after just a couple of miles, I felt a strong urge in my heart to stop and pray. So I rode out to the vacant soccer fields at Ray Trent Park and sat on the old bleachers. It was beautifully isolated and a stiff breeze was blowing. I sat for quite a long time.
My conscious aim was to ensure that what I felt and saw were not my flesh getting in the way of something important. There is no fleshly reason to do all that work on the bike, aside from the fact I simply like the fat knobby tires better. But the sense of needing to change them was persistent when I asked myself some questions that should have caused me to waver if it was just flesh.
Side note: The idea is to check and see if your sentiments arise to claim something. The flesh has a tendency to sway back and forth, depending on how you paint the mental context. Convictions pay little attention to the context except to tell you how to stay consistent.
So I turned back to home. When I got there, I gave the bike a bath. The last part of that was cleaning the chain very thoroughly. Then I rolled it back inside and tore into it. First I changed out the tires. I have some really nice knobbies that fit okay on the front, but are too wide for the rear forks. I put that on, and checked to make sure — yep, too wide for the rear when fully inflated.
I mounted my best used knobby on the back. Then I worked for a while with retooling and shimming the axle slots in the frame (called “drop-outs”) so the wheel lined up better and the tire wouldn’t keep rubbing the frame when it flexed just a little. It was tricky getting the shims to stay in place, but I managed it. The last thing I did was lube the now dry chain and do a test ride. I made some adjustments here and there and I think it will work fine.
But the whole time, I kept having this sense that I needed those knobbies on there for some purpose I cannot yet see. It was something my heart recognized in the foggy future somewhere out there, but my flesh was unable to make it out. If this unseen thing doesn’t come right away, it’s not a bad idea to have at least a couple of long rides with the current set up to make sure everything is fine tuned.
But of course, in our hearts, sometimes very small things point to very big events God will bring into our lives. I sense that some kind SHTF event will come my way very soon.
I had a problems off and on with the back tire grinding against the seatstays, usually because when the tire gets old it kinda warps and bulges enough in some places that some parts will rub. Adjusting in those contexts is hard because another part of the tire will just end up rubbing, or the wheel will be too far out of alignment. I’m cheap so this happens to me often; I don’t change tires unless I absolutely have to.
Well, you have to keep in mind that my tire switching was the result of changing how I was riding at various times. I was testing the different ways of using that bike, and I believe I’ve settled on something. So the tire I bought to put on the front is pretty high quality and will likely run out of tread before it starts to bulge anywhere. It’s 2.25″ wide; I’m waiting for that windfall to buy a similar tire for the rear, but made slightly narrower (2.15″). They are the same brand as the skinny hybrids I ran for almost two years, so I expect these to last quite a while, as well, because they are rated for high mileage.
I have two Schwin Stingray bicycles cut up and ready to be enlarged to adult size.
These are bicycles built in the style of Orange County Choppers and are kid sized. I’m way too big for one and so are the kids now. They are cool looking but, useless on anything except flat pavement. So one day, I thought I would combine the two kid bikes into one adult sized bicycle. They are cut up and ready for welding but, I lost interest after their purpose expired which was to ride with the kids on our family camping trips. I will probably get around to it one day. Tis a pity you’re so far away because I could fab the rear of your bike to whatever width you’d desire, it would be a worthy challenge because there are a number of problems to solve such as comfort, balance and chain alignment. Too bad because, mechanical problem solving is my super power.
PS. The top pic is a sad waste of a late fifties Mopar, even if it is a four door.
Yeah, I wondered at the choice of that particular beast. The whole series of MAPS projects, of which this bikeway is just one, includes some strange stuff that no one explains.