Finalizing the Bike

My new wheels finally arrived. Kevin came over and helped me put them on and shorten the chain; the finishing touches. We overcame a few minor setbacks with some good ingenious ideas and late in the evening, I rode around barefoot on my new old bike.

Here it is against a nice red wall. I had to adjust the fenders a little so they follow the curve of the tire but I am pretty sure I will be taking alot more pictures so its alright, you can see this one.

Nice view of the saddle and handlebars against a barnlike garage.

there it is, again.

And a nice shot of some onions from our garden. Who doesn't like garden pictures right? At least it changes things up a bit.

Bicycle Project Progress

Here are some pictures of the Eagle Glider's ongoing transformation. This is the bike I have been riding for about 3 years and found one day as we were driving through Helena. This week, I made some wooden fenders and ordered some great cork grips from Rivendell Bicycle Works. They are probably my new favorite bike site with great commentary on pretty much everything.


The original state of the Glider six speed.


I created this pvc - garden hose - tea kettle steam bending setup when Sara was at work and steamed up my wood for my fenders. It was a pretty stealth operation; her having no idea what went on in our kitchen. Then she saw the picture and said, "well at least you cleaned up really well."


When it got nice and flexible, I bent it around my newly crafted form and clamped it for a couple hours.

Here are both the oiled fenders, sittin out in the sun getting nice and dark.


I was so excited to get them on the bike that I couldn't really wait but they got a little color even just from one afternoon sitting outside. They are made of cherry and I think they came out nicely.


Here is an image of one of the cork grips with a coat of laquer on it.


And the rear fender.

Here we are, the whole banana. I am still waiting for my new rims to come in as well as my seat post. I am moving to a single speed with a coaster break and I am just gitty to get riding. More to come soon...

My First Brooks Saddle

It's an exciting day folks. I pedaled home from work to find a package on my doorstep and it was...



a box


Truthfully, I pedaled very quickly because I knew it was coming and I was hoping it would be home when I got there. It was so I popped open the nice blue box and saw,



one of the most beautiful hand made pieces of equipment I have ever seen, a B68 Brooks saddle. I'm off to get a seat post.


As soon as it's on, I will post some pics of the whole bike.

The Printing Press Project

Luckily I have a fantastically cool brother in law. We were sort of made from the same stone or something. When something old, sturdy, and possibly outdated is sitting around, we automatically want to learn how to use it, to do it the old way. And really we want to have it. We usually ask.

Having Kevin as a brother is a lucky thing for a couple of reasons. First off, it means we can cheer each other on when most of the people around us are saying, "hey man, what are you gonna do with that stuff? where you gonna put it?.

Second, it means we have alot of cool ideas and we can do some of it together.


Up at Mike and Colleens house, there was a press. It was Kevin's from a while ago and he did what we always do: he showed interest in it and someone said. "I've been waiting for you kid. Go ahead and take it." So he did.

It sat up in the garage for a while, but no worries, its already old and getting old isn't really hurting it. Then yesterday we packed it up and brought it down to the Ewing Street Studio(our house). We organized the letters, numbers, and punctuation marks until late. Then we made a matchstick proof.

Now we have another project. It is all ready to go and we can make some things like cards, small posters, invitations, and so much more. If our adventure coincided with you craving a good old letter-pressed card, let us know and we can probably make it happen.

Uraguay

We crossed the Rio De La Plata to Uraguay and ended up in a small town called Colonia. Here is a street leading up to the Church. The old town is full of cobblestone streets and beautiful old buildings. It was a nice relief for the citiness of Buenos Aires.

Window planters on one of the streets

Here is a section of an old rail car. There were a few of these old buggies in a field just outside of the city.

A huge dock rope from above.


Here is a stone wall in the old town. Looking out we are facing Argentina.

Pigeons on a line with great shadows


Here is one of the more famous street called the Street of Whispers.

A beautiful stone wall with window plants.


On a completely different note, last night we went to the Myrna Loy Center here in Helena and watched a Hand2Mouth Theatre production called Repeat After Me . They are based in Portland , Oregon and put on an amazing show. If you have a chance, see this show. It even made Sara want to do theater again. It almost made me want to.Life in Helena is going great and I am in the process of making two wooden fenders for my bike, my first wood bending experiment. I will post cause it is a pretty macgyver like setup. Hope everyone is well.

Buenos Aires

The Family minus Mike in front of the Pink House, the main government building.

Street Corner in La Boca - La Boca is one of the Barrios of Buenos Aires. The people traditionally used left over boat paint to finish their houses making the neighborhood an area of bright, multi-colored houses. La Boca is where Tango Dancing began.

El Puente De Mujer - a bridge by a Spanish Designer who made the bridge to resemble a woman in the midst of a tango dance. It is sleek and beautiful and middle section swings open to let ships pass through.

San Telmo - Biking through the streets of San Telmo here on a tour. San Telmo is the location of the first battle in which Spain did not help Argentina and the Argentines realized they were strong enough to defend themselves against invaders.

Arriving at the Bank of the Rio De La Plata: The river that separates Argentina from Uruguay.

Las Bicicletas Naranjas all in a line.

Argentine Flag

Another government building I think, really beautiful.

We are back from South America now and happy to be in mellow Helena again. While there we had an awesome time with my Brother Mike and we got to know his girlfriend Danae. They were amazing tour guides. One day we crossed the Rio De La Plata to Uruguay. We visited a small village called Colonia. It was beautiful and I got some nice shots so I will post those soon. You can see all the photos on my flickr page if you are interested.