Randy & Nova's Bicycle Scrapbook

Grand Forks North Dakota Greenway

nospam@example.com (Randy) — Fri, 18 May 2012 23:55:00 -0400

This is a paved path system that's centered around the Red River in both Grand Forks, North Dakota and East Grand Forks, Minnesota. 2 dedicated pedestrian/bike bridges allow you access across the river. Yesterday we rode 26.5 miles on these trails and in town. We ate lunch at Whiteys Wonderbar on the East side of the river.
It was pretty hot and windy. Last night I heard something on the TV about a record high there. 90some degrees.

Video...

MoPac East Rail-To-Trail Nebraska

nospam@example.com (Randy) — Wed, 16 May 2012 21:19:48 -0400

We're off on a road trip to add a couple of states to our "states we've ridden in" list.
Yesterday we rode in Nebraska for the first time riding the MoPac East Trail. It's a 22 mile crushed limestone rail-to-trail that goes between Lincoln and Wabash Nebraska. We rode from Lincoln out and back and got in 45 miles. The trail and Lincoln were both better than we expected. The trail has a nice surface, was mostly tree lined and made a lot of turns. Nothing worse than a straight, wide-open trail. Along the trail we spotted deer, many rabbits & squirrels, turkey and many birds including blue birds. The town of Lincoln appeared to be a bicycle town. A lot of bikes and paths all over the city.

Video...

Below are just a few of the many bike art sculptures that are part of Lincoln's 1993 Tour De Lincoln art project.

Changes To #14

nospam@example.com (Randy) — Sun, 13 May 2012 00:27:34 -0400

I made a couple of changes to the #14 Huffy Byke. Before pic here .

I swapped out the aluminum 24" wheels (24x3 tires) for red 26" wheels (26x2.125 tires). Also painted and did a LED conversion to the headlight to match the bike.

Great-Grandma & Great-Grand-Kids

nospam@example.com (Randy) — Thu, 10 May 2012 21:00:54 -0400

One of my Mother's motivators to get on a bike again was so she could ride with her Great-Grand-Kids. After practicing a couple times over the past couple weeks today was the day. Mom, Dad, myself and the 3 kids all rode to McDonald's for supper. The ride was pretty uneventful which was a relief and once home we rewarded ourselves with Twinkies.

All of us with the bikes parked and locked at Mickey D's

2 lovely ladies and their Schwinn Hollywoods

Video...

Cracker Ride

nospam@example.com (Randy) — Thu, 10 May 2012 12:14:07 -0400

Ok so maybe every ride is a "cracker ride" for me but this one even more so. I was given a simple task to go to the store just a few blocks away for crackers but I took a wrong turn as soon as I left my driveway.

Edit: I was mistaken about the 1 room schoolhouse. My Dad informed me it was 2 rooms with 2 teachers. 4 grades in each class.

Mom, Dad, Steamin Weenies, Dirt Roads And Paved Paths

nospam@example.com (Randy) — Tue, 08 May 2012 17:33:11 -0400

Afternoon ride in the country

Mom, Dad and I went for a short ride this morning. For lunch I went and got a couple hot dogs/sausages at a new restaurant in town that sells "Steamin Weenies". With my recently installed front basket loaded with wieners, chips and drink I went to the park to eat. After my lunch l went for a ride outside of town. This evening I took another bike out that I recently made changes to (more on that later) and rode the local loop.

Take The Long Way Home

nospam@example.com (Randy) — Sun, 06 May 2012 17:10:58 -0400

After arriving home from McDonalds and considering my poor lunch choice, it was decided we should have took the long way home. So we retraced our tracks and did just that.

Cinco De Mayo

nospam@example.com (Randy) — Sun, 06 May 2012 09:33:01 -0400

We attended a party last night at a friends house. Here are a few crappy cell phone pics of just some of his many bikes.

Riding An Icon

nospam@example.com (Randy) — Fri, 04 May 2012 17:02:25 -0400

I hadn't ridden this bike in a while so I decided to take it out for today's ride. This is probably my most iconic bike and the one most associated with me. I'm guessing I built this 8 years ago (details here). I couldn't resist taking photos of it in and around the wheat fields.

Once back in town and on the bike path I bumped in to Mom and Dad.

Video...

Mom Going Solo

nospam@example.com (Randy) — Thu, 03 May 2012 17:09:00 -0400

Not having ridden a bike in many years, Mom has been riding on the tandem with me lately to get a feel for riding again. Today she decided to go it alone and did just fine. She, Dad and I rode a couple miles on the local path. One of her goals is to surprise and ride with her Great-Grandkids.

More photos from the ride...

Update On Blakes Bike

nospam@example.com (Randy) — Thu, 03 May 2012 16:36:33 -0400

Update On Blakes bike.

I cut up another fender brace to make a rack brace and moved it to the side holes. I like the rack cantilevering over the supports. I then customized this reflector to plug the hole in the back of the rack.

I told him we'd add a sticker to the rack like a previous owner had done.

I also put a taller sprocket on rear wheel so it spins a little easier for him.

LED Headlight Conversion

nospam@example.com (Randy) — Wed, 02 May 2012 19:14:42 -0400

A friend was recently telling me about an LED bike headlight that worked great for converting an incandescent bullet style light.

I purchased this Sunlite brand headlight at my LBS. It contains the LEDs, circuit board and batteries all on the back of the lens. All of that just unscrews from the housing. I cut the wires at the switch.

I removed the old bulb holder/reflector from the bullet light and cut the wires. Put the new light in it's place and put the retainer wire back in place to hold it in. Spliced the wires together and done. Pictured above is the new light in the bullet housing.

I thought it looked a little better with the original lens still in place so I left it.

I Biked When I Liked

nospam@example.com (Randy) — Tue, 01 May 2012 08:51:00 -0400

Nova riding with me on the last day and ride of April

Ok so I was kinda keeping track of how many days I didn't ride during their 30 Days Of Biking, my Bike When You Like thing. I'm not totally sure but I think there were 3 days I didn't ride during the month of April.
The rides, none epic (even by our standards) included 3 group rides, a couple rides with my parents, many rides with the wife and Grand-kids, one ride with a friend and some solo and errand rides.

I just recently pulled the Schwinn Hollywood (pictured above) from it's hidy hole and dusted it off in case my Mother decides she wants to ride solo.

Benefit Dinner And Ride

nospam@example.com (Randy) — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 15:45:25 -0400

Yesterday afternoon we attended a fundraising pot-luck dinner and ride for a lady who is part of our bike group that has cancer. We had a really nice time and raised a nice little bit of money for her. We're really fortunate to have such a great group of custom and classic bike enthusiasts here.

Video I put together...

Thinning The Herd

nospam@example.com (Randy) — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 09:10:36 -0400

Pictured above is my space at last Sunday's Midwest Bicycle Swap. It was another great swap and fun time! I brought 9 complete bikes and one frame/fork. I priced them all to sell and sell they did. 2 bikes and the frame were already sold when I took this photo early morning.

Here is what I sold...
Alenax, All Pro muscle bike, Cat in the Hat muscle bike, Western Flyer muscle bike, Western Flyer Buzz Bike, Pirate bike frame/fork, Columbia hybrid, Stratoflyer, new bmx, new girl's 16".

I just did a quick count and that still leaves us with 25 ride-able bikes. In addition to those, I still have a few holiday theme bikes and future projects disassembled and stashed away.

Nova and Mom at our booth.