Friday, September 6, 2013

Buy; Build or Borrow

To help pay for the truck motor re-build I sold my 700c Cross Bike.  This was a Franken bike cobbled together from a frame I found at the Boise Bicycle Project. The groupo came from Andrew Little Boise, ID Owner at Got Fixed bikes. There is not a photo of it as I only had it long enough to get the stem adjusted for my fit 3 days ago. To ride may age on Sept. 15, 2013 I will need a different bike or Drop Bars on my Mountain Bike converted to a ride to work commuter:
From this
to
This

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Close shave

I should know better that to try to adjust my set height while clipped in.



Now I know why bicyclists shave. I was not really hurt at the time. Fell over while attempting to track stand and adjust my seat for the asphalt ride back to the cars after a great mountain bike ride with friends old and new.

Pride comes before the...fall. And it sure did this time. Hurt the most this morning pulling off the first bandage to put this one on. I'll be smarter and shave. Changing the bandage pulls the hair, it gets stuck in the wound and hurts way more then the fall in the first place. As I pulled up the bandage I grabbed some scissors and cut the hair. I never really noticed how long my arm hare is. After a close trim with the scissors I got a new disposable double blade razor and went after the rest.

The photo above does not show how close a shave there is around AND THROUGH the wound. Yes, I ran the new razor over the wound and finished off any remaining long hairs with the scissors or pulled them out with tweezers. Ouch.

This event should not prevent me from attempting to ride may age. The half way to eternity ride September 15, 2013 if I can get a friend to partner for it. Two weeks to train.

(I plan on doing the shorter ride from Adrian, Idaho. The round trip from there to the end of the road is about 55 miles.)

Come join us:

SUNDAY, September 15 9:30 am is the- Jason Werst Memorial "Century" Ride.

This is an informal century ride that has no entry fee. Actually in a typical Jasonesque manner the full "century" is 112 miles. Turning around at the base of the Owyhee dam makes it a regular century. The full course goes to the end of the road.  If you want to get the best 50 miles of the ride you could meet the front of the group n Adrian, Oregon between about 11;10 and 11:20 at the Adrian Market.

The ride group meets at the lower dam of Lake Lowell and will roll out at 9:30 am. The ride is quite beautiful, very rural and provides views of the Snake river, Owyhee river and the canyon that it dug.

No Entry fee, No Registration, No insurance, No organized support. No Numbers, No T-Shirts. Just a group ride in great terrain with fellow cyclists in memory of a fine fellow. 

You can learn more about Jason and the impact he had on people at this Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/groups/239774832745484/

The Out & Back route was first ridden by Jason and a group of friends on September 19, 2010 in celebration of 2nd anniversary of Jason's stem cell transplant as he wrestled with his Acute Myeloid Leukemia.

The next edition was being planned when Jason's Leukemia re-emerged in September 2011. This world lost Jason last October.

This should show the route http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/fullscreen/56394906/

We have scheduled the ride for the 3rd Sunday every September as an informal fund raiser for the for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Boise chapter in Jason's honor.

The ride is informal and though there will be some limited support this year from G Corsa thanks to the generosity of Mike Cooley. Volunteers to drive sag/water  on course are welcome.

Stores for fuel and natural breaks are available in
Homedale (Miles 13
Adrian Mile 29 (Adrian Market you can do a 45 or 55 mile beaut of a ride from here)
Adrian Mile 83 (or 72 if you turn at the dam)
Homedale Mile 98 (0r 87 if you turn at the dam)

So carry a little cash and support the local merchants.

If you would like we encourage you to make a donation in Jason's Honor online at

http://www.lls.org/#/waystohelp/donate/donateonline/

Whether you can make a donation or not, and whether you had the pleasure of knowing Jason or not, we welcome and encourage you to join us.

If you would like a shorter ride with the group then drive to Adrian and the round trip from there to the end of the road is about 55 miles.
St. Luke's Sports Medicine/ Lost River Cycling 

Sunday, September 1, 2013

Big Surprise


We took the truck in this week for the front end work and got a call with bad news. The main thrust bearing is out.  On Friday I went to go pick it up and got the details.
From what the mechanic said, the motor needs to be rebuilt. It may go 20 miles or 20,000.
We picked up the truck. It just made it home before shredding the serpentine belt so is not drive able now.

The 1991 jeep purchased 10 years ago for $4700 has lasted 10 years and 100,000 miles.
Total miles on it are now near 170,000. I figure all told there have been brakes, tires, fuel pump, water pump etc not more than $5,200 spent in maintenance. For ten years and $10,000 that is cheap transportation.

This year I knew it was time to get ready for a replacement or spend the time and money to maintain it to last another 10 years. To have the wheel and axle bearings replaced might cost about $2k. The motor might last a bit longer and a rebuild one is about $1,200 to $2,000. The body and interior are in good shape.
For this truck I know that to get it to last another 10 years it might take a series of $1,500 to $2,000 dollar maintenance projects. I just thought they could proceed one at a time and not all at once.
My hope was these projects would not happen all at once. Even if $6,000 were spent on the truck it is cheaper than replacing it with one that cost $20,000 - $25,000.
Now is sooner rather than later. Time for a new engine or rebuild this one.
Estimates are at $3,500 installed out the door for motor replacement.


Still not bad considering I had the new brakes, tires and fuel pump done in the last 3 months. With the front end and power steering pump replaced then we should be good to go. Down the road would be the rear end and small paint touch ups. I have been told the transmission and transfer case are good for another 100,000 miles as is. The fluids were changed and looked good.

I'll go to the motor re-build specialists on Tuesday for further research.