Taking a Brake

I'll be checking out for a bit.  Like a week or so.  Going on an adventure.

Adventure number eleventy billion for 2020, for those that lost track

This will more than likely cap off the adventuring for 2020.  Between now and January 1st, I still have three weeks off on our firm's every other week off for essential workers policy.  To be honest, I can only see that extending through at least the rest of winter.  

So there's that.

My turgid and also Minion DHR 3.0 equipped Vertigo Meatplow V.7 will be accompanying me.  I'm not headed to places that need a proper forking nor where the garvel will be calling my name (but mebbe, read on).  I'm gonna ride some new stuff.  I'm gonna see some familiar stuff.  I might stare at the sun.  No reason.  I heard good things.  I'm hoping to bump into a friend...

Or not.

It was all systems go, but then I got a message yesterday that threw a wrench in the works.  My little friend can't meet up with me.  This saddens me, but that just means I gotta make a choice.

I'll be without four wheels and an engine for an entire day, so I was considering bringing my garvel bike (in addition to or in lieu of) my mountain bike cycle.  Problem being, my flat bar SS conversion was being held up due to the tiny little bits I was waiting on from Rodeo Labs, with 95% of the blame on USPS.... which means 99% the fault of the Commander in Cheeto.  All I really needed was this:

Because I took out my rear gorilla wire, I didn't want the extra hole in my rubber frame plug.  I also ordered a no-hole plug for the opening in the bottom of my down pipe, but it was less important because the rear hydraulic line couldn't be attached to the lever UNTIL AFTER it was fed through the correct plug up top.  I also added a SS specific slider to my cart, because my vanity was worth the very small amount of money they were asking for it.  $12 for those that would care.

So I was slowly putting this thing together, not wanting to get the cart before the horse in case I needed to reinstall the noodle bar for the trip.  Last night, I just went all in.  Rooted my drooper (which I made harder than it needed to be and ended up with less than perfect results... because... reasons).   I realized that my one-hole rubber bit from low down looked like I could jam a hydraulic line through it, so it was time to no longer remain on the pot and henceforth commence with the shitting. Then I went ahead and hacked off the oh so sexy GRX brifters.  That was painful.  They were so... choice.  Pretty much the main reason I wanted to try noodle barring again. 

*sigh*

This morning, I woke up to the email that of course my Rodeo Lab bits would get here today.  Of course.  Of course.

So, in the theme of continuing the doing of things the wrong way, this is my morning today:

One bike, two cups.

Sorry not sorry.  The work stand I like to do brake bleeds on is mounted permanently inside my screened in front porch, and it's like 35° out there.  Instead of pushing happy mineral oil in from the caliper, I painstakingly added it one bubble's worth at a time.  Two cups is speeding up the process, so @ me.

At least now, I'll have options for this trip.

Which I don't know if I need, but as the guy who packs two pairs of riding shoes, two pairs of flip flops, one pair of slip on shoes, six pairs of glasses, and five tiny hats for a three day road trip, it's obvs that I like options.

I might have left late for work today when I realized that my garvel bike has sixteen steel bolts, of which twelve are extraneous.

Four in the fork, five for a rear fender, two on the horse poop catcher water bottle mount, and one on the rear gorilla cable guide.  I got plenty of ti rotor bolts doing nothing, so...

I mean, T 25 bolts never hurt anyone... except that time I lost the Shenandoah Mountain 100 by one minute and seventeen seconds because of them... but who remembers that?

Anyways... that's like twenty grams... and I just remembered that I have ti brake mount hardware in a baggie, so I just got that much faster for $0.

Had to ride it to work today... you know.... to make sure I tightened all the bolts and got rid of the air bubbles and such.

See you in a bunch of days from now with stories to tell.