Last bit of the patio

Okay, still have a few holes to patch. Otherwise we are nearing completion on the patio project. Okay, okay so there is still the sump project but the rain has decided to finaly clear out here and we are near drought conditions here again. Weird!

So at any rate, holiday weekend here. Tomorrow we are off on a family adventure with some friends up into Tennessee. I have managed to seal up the vinyl paneling and built a server/shelf unit at the dining end of the patio. I think once we have the place 99% sealed to the bugs life will be very nice. For now we are enjoying the new living area, but we are still getting random mosquito bites.

Some pictures (everyone likes pictures)





and one from the outside at night. Kinda hard to capture it on our basic point and shoot...


We are actually digging the lanterns. I had to barter a bit with Erin to get them in. In the end I think they really fit the bill. They light the room, but are easy on the eyes.

That's that.

No riding this weekend. I had wanted to, but didn't make it a priority. I did a bit of wrenching. Had to do a bit of repair. Wednesday's ride turned out to be a pain in the ass...


First time I have snapped a Gravity Dropper. It snapped just as one might predict, at one of the detents drilled into the inner shaft. Nice stress circles don't-cha think :-)

I also managed to score some cheap wheels and some fork parts. swapped the front end out to 20mm thru axle. Noticeably stiffer. Between the thru axle an the solid crown/steel steerer things are much more rigid out front on my bike. As a side note I also discovered that my original fork was overfilled and only getting about 3in of the advertised 5.5in of travel. No wonder it felt a bit harsh in the really bumpy stuff.

At any rate, Wednesday's ride turned into a hike and standing pedal back to the lot. It really isn't all that cool to have to ride a full suspension bike standing the whole time. At first it seems like no big deal, but in short order it works over the calves and the upper body. I hobbled my way back to the parking lot, about 6mi, fortunately I was in good company. Clay had wrecked pretty good about a minute before I broke my post. We met at the bottom of Warpath and both decided turning back was the wisest choice. By the time we got back to the lot he was pretty stiff and I was dog tired from all the standing.

Oh, and the end of an era...
I signed up for Facebook. I made it through myspace, but too many friends and family are using facebook to ignore. If you are on it look me up and send a friend request.

That's all I got for now. Erin just gave me orders to look up some info on where we are going tomorrow, so I am outa here. Take care.