eSaner.com

Spyclists: how Hitler Youths cycling tours caused panic in prewar Britain

Eric — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 16:59:25 +0000

Spyclists: how Hitler Youths cycling tours caused panic in prewar BritainNazis bid to forge ties with Lord Baden-Powell and boy scouts rang government alarm bells

via Spyclists: how Hitler Youths cycling tours caused panic in prewar Britain | World news | The Guardian.

Congrats to Portland, Oregon

Eric — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 00:41:45 +0000

The Portland City Council unanimously approved the nation's most ambitious bike-projects initiative Thursday, with Mayor Sam Adams promising to submit a $20 million “kickstart” funding plan within 30 days.

The goal of the $600 million 2030 Portland Bicycle Plan is that 25 percent of trips in the city be by bike in 20 years.

At the heart of the proposal is nearly 700 miles of new bikeways that would make up a “safer and more comfortable” two-wheeled urban network for new cyclists.

via OregonLive.com

A.N.T film

Eric — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 23:42:47 +0000

A great film about custom bicycle builder Mike Flanigan. Mike was the first custom bicycle builder I ever contacted. I met him personally in Indianapolis at NAHBS last year. He’s a wonderful guy with a great eye for everyday bikes.

Kayak Vagabond

Eric — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 01:27:03 +0000

One of my recent interests has been kayaking. Last summer I fixed up a kayak that had been sitting in the backyard of my apartment for several years without ever being used. My landlords were kind enough to let me have it for free. After a good scrubbing and about $300 in parts, I had a very functional kayak. I managed one mini overnight expedition down the Elkhart River, camping on a small island where I was serenaded by an owl just above my tent. See some pictures here. It was lots of fun and I plan on doing more kayaking this summer.

Despite what appears to be a very keen attempt to match my swim trunks to my kayak, I had actually purchased the swim trunks in Nashville months before I even knew what color the kayak was.

So far I’m still quite the novice kayaker, but I’ve enjoyed lately reading fascinating tales from more experienced folks. Take a few moments to read about Greg Stamer’s, a.k.a. Kayak Vagabond’s, adventures kayaking around Iceland.

Eye-Fi

Eric — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 21:37:30 +0000

I recently decided to take a larger bite into the proverbial cloud computing pie by purchasing 200G of space on Google. I’m slowly moving all my pictures to Picasa Web Albums and all my files to Google Docs.

To help with this transition, my 200G purchase included a free 4G SDHC Eye-Fi card. When I use the card in my camera, it automatically uploads the photos I take to Picasa.

Here are two photos I took and auto-uploaded to Picasa of some granola I made this afternoon:

So far the card has worked. There are settings to automatically upload to one of many online picture sites (including Flikr, Photobucket, etc) and/or to a personal computer. You can also turn of the auto-upload and manually control when pictures are uploaded.

I was disappointed to find out that you can’t just use any wi-fi spot to upload, you have to setup each wireless network through your online Eye-Fi account before it will work. However, I think as long as you have some way of connecting to your account on the network you want to use (and you can connect your eye-fi card to the device you’re using to access the network) you can upload via any network. I will try it out at my sister’s house this evening.

Goofy in Motor Mania

Eric — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 14:12:01 +0000

All finished

Eric — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 03:20:15 +0000

Me and Helen

Eric — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 16:53:46 +0000

Unpacking

Eric — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 16:39:54 +0000

The frame arrived in fall of last year.

Helen II – in the womb

Eric — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 23:59:09 +0000

The folks at Bilenky were kind enough to take some pictures of the frame while they were working on it.

Fork pictures:

Seatcluster unpainted:

Seatcluster painted:

The frame:

Visiting Bilenky

Eric — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 23:01:27 +0000

After I placed my order with Bilenky, I planned a trip to visit their shop in Philadelphia. It took a little planning to find the place – it’s not in the kind of neighborhood you might imagine. The area around the shop is anything but similar to the high end frames that Bilenky produces. The shop is at the end of a dead end street, in a scruffy brick bruilding with vines and brush growing all around it. Here are some pictures:

This is right next to the building, just before I entered.

The front door with bikey sculpture ready to greet you. (Man this picture really makes me look like I’m losing hair!)

Me with Bob, the first to greet me.

Yes, that’s a tandem being made in to a triple!

Crazy buddhists…

There were many, many frames lying around..

Cool cargo bike.

Me riding the cool cargo bike.

Me chillin with the man himself.

See the rest of the pics here.

Helen II

Eric — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 03:06:44 +0000

I’m sitting on the couch with the TV on mute. It is amazing how much louder commercials are than their accompanying TV shows. I’m wathcing The Office. Very funny and worth watching. And I’m sipping some hot tea. This is the first post of this blog. The blog will mostly feature projects that I work on. Mostly pictures of those projects. i don’t plan to write very much. I’m not a big fan of journaling.

The first project, and the impetus behind starting this blog, is my new bicycle. Several months ago I ordered a custom frame from Bilenky Cycle Works in Philadelphia, PA. I ordered a custom frame because I couldn’t find a production bicycle or production frame that had all the features I wanted. Most notable of those features: steel frame, low trail geometry, standard size tubing, disc brakes (with rear tab on chainstay), and touring braze-ons.

So I started collecting parts for the frame about two years ago, and now finally have all the parts and the frame. Here is picture of the bike CAD drawing that Stephen Bilenky to guide the building of the frame.

The bicycle will be named Helen II. The first and only car I have ever owned was named Helen. I sold Helen a few months ago and no longer own a car. Next post….a visit to Bilenky Cycle Works!