Georgia On My Mind...

Among the gems found last week while going through this box was a birthday card that was made by my niece Carrie when she was 9 or 10 years old (about 25 years ago).

Notice that she wouldn't give me all of her gold, just 3/4 of it. LOL.
No, it's not my birthday. So why am I posting this now and what does it have to do with Georgia, you ask?

Well, it just so happens that Carrie has lived in Georgia for nearly 21 years now. And in a few hours I'll be heading south along with my mother, Carrie's sister Tami, and Tami's son Zach for a few days. It's been a little more than five years since we last saw Carrie and her three daughters. The youngest was 2 ½ years old at the time and wouldn't have anything to do with me. The only time I got a decent picture of her smiling was when she was sitting on Mom's lap! Well, it should be a fun and interesting trip, if we survive the traffic, and each other ;-)

The classic Georgia On My Mind as performed by Willie Nelson and Ray Charles. The song was written in 1930 (or 1931) by Native Hoosiers Hoagy Carmichael (music) and Stuart Gorrell (lyrics).

DPS Spoon?

I am a big fan of the carbon DPS 138.



http://dpsskis.com/ski/lotus138







But the "Spoon" is another step on the wild side. With OR coming next week it is fun to look back at what was shown last year and still isn't available yet. I got on the list anyway.











http://www.powdermag.com/stories/first-look-dps-skis-new-spoon-in-action/











"this design has been in the works for a year and a half, and its really cool to see a skiable example of it. stoked to test it in the next bit, once the tradeshow circuit slows down.





the ski is designed to really promote super high edge angle powder skiing with out seeing drag and reduced speeds from snow contact on your leg from loosing the plane. when a flat-base ski gets higher and higher edge angle , the amouint of float gets lower and lower. this spoon shape starts to engage at the point that a normal flat ski starts to dive. and then keeps going... so like really from dragging your hip in pow super powerful GS type deal.



aside from that, the goal was to open up a totally news style of drifting into and railing/carving super cleanly out of turns and terrain features.



the cleats were added to enabe the ski to be somewhat controlable on runouts. it is pretty different from magnetraction where you are trying to gain edge grip by undulating in and out. the cleats go down to add a small level of stability and edge so a fully convex base will change direction and slow down etc on 2dimensional snow. as it is now, you will not be carving turns. if there were no cleats, the ski would be in essance a death trap. ~20deg base effective bevel otherwise.



this ski shape is based around a lotus 138 + 12mm. full rocker (reverse camber). 192cm. his particular ski was built in eden utah in the engineers garage. it is not ready for retail production, but the tech will see trickle down in the future, is the goal. once the amount of base convexity and positioning and amount of cleats and height of cleats etc is finalized.



base prep out of the mold is a pain, but once that is done, tuning is straight forward actually. far easier to wax etc than i thought they might be. hand prep the base. really no biggie. flat enough to mount bindings without issue upderfoot.



stephan sees this as being the future of powder skiing, based on his testing of it the past 2 days, and well... going by how it looks in my hand, i am inclined to agree... but i have not skied them yet. these skis literally came out of the mold 4-5 days ago."



Last edited by marshalolson; 01-27- at 08:51 PM.



http://dpsskis.com/blogs//january/dps-spoon-150-patent-pending-dps-cleat-technology



www.dpsskis.com

Kangaroo Temple ..

Weather wasn't great, but we managed to summit in a long day. No real issues during the day other than some rain showers passing through. We stopped for the first shower, but climbed right through the following. The approach was a little difficult to follow through the talus fields, but it didn't seem to slow us down that much. We did don crampons for the snow up to Kangaroo Pass, but they did not seem necessary. (All these minor 'issues' seem to add up.) Slightly off route on the first pitch caused an intermediate belay. Then smooth route finding on the rest of the climb. The step around move was not as intimidating as I thought it would be, but it is never comfortable climbing without solid hand holds. We introduced an extra rap to get to the summit rap anchors, and found the descent route description to be somewhat off. ("Two double 50m raps to the packs.") The rap from the summit is a single 60m and the second rap is a double 60m back to the notch. Overall, a fun climb on decent rock, despite the rain.

Summit shot (photo by Julie Labrecque)

For more pics, click here.

Jessica's pics here.

Of Sand, Wood and Crossing State Lines: The Quest for a Curvy Fork

Because I like to keep things simple, the bicycle I am making is of course a low trail design. And low trail means a fork with a lot of rake. A very curvy fork, in other words. Not only did I want it to be curvy, but I wanted it to be that special kind of French-curvy where instead of a gradual "banana" bend, there is a dramatic flick toward the tips of the blades (like so).






When you buy supplies for making a fork, what you get is two straight blades that are (hopefully) a bit longer than you need them to be, and a crown which those blades plug into. It is then up to you to rake the blades. The style of bend I wanted requires using blades that are designed to withstand such dramatic manipulation. I went with the Kaisei Toei blades, which were already familiar from other projects I've been involved in.






To get the fork blades bent as desired, we needed a special setup that was not locally available. So we payed a visit to Cirlce A Cycles in Providence RI, about 30 miles from Mike Flanigan's shop. They have a fork bender that was made specifically for the French-style bend and could produce the 73mm of rake I wanted. The furry receptionist granted us permission to use it.






Since 73mm is a pretty dramatic amount of rake, Chris Bull suggested filling the fork blades with sand before bending. This would reduce the possibility of damage during the process.






The blades were taped at both ends to contain the sand.






The fork bending press consists of a wooden block curved according to the French bend design (they have several of these presses, used for different styles of bends). There is a notch along the curve where the fork blade sits, held in place by a vise.






A giant lever is then pushed up, forcing the blade to adhere to the curvature of the wooden block.






The further up you push, the more dramatic the bend.






At first we did not have an idea of exactly when to stop, so Chris eyeballed it and stopped when he thought the rake was around 50mm. Confirming that this was correct and that the bend was forming properly, he then continued the process until we finally had the 73mm rake we wanted.






This is the dropout placement mockup. To determine the rake correctly, you need to know how and where the blade will be connected to the dropout.






One thing that can go wrong during this process, is that the steel can get distorted. When this happens, you can see and feel a rippling on the inside of the bend. Thankfully this did not happen.






For the second blade we now knew exactly when to stop and had a marker in place. I did part of this bend myself and it was pretty cool to feel the blade give under the force of the lever. It is interesting that Circle A's setup makes you push the lever up rather than pull it down; I have never operated this kind of press before.






Thanks to Circle A, I now have two symmetrical, beautifully raked fork blades that are waiting to become a fork. All I have to do is braze it.

Cokinos Brothers on H Street

Here it is - the oldest photo so far of the Cokinos Brothers Ice Cream and Confectionery owned by my grandfather, Peter George Cokinos (pictured right) at 11o3 H Street Northeast. This photo was taken probably around 1919- after his brother, Alec (pictured left) came over from Agoulnitsa, now Epitalion, Greece. All that is left now in this spot is a convenience store - in a new building.

Camp Muir - Trash, Construction Debris and Poor Weather

Watch out for rockfall between Camp Muir and Ingraham Flats! Lately, the weather has been less than ideal... I.e. rain, wind, clouds, rain, wind, clouds, rain, wind, clouds... Yuck, and more is expected for the next few days...

Things are bumping along without a lot of fanfare. We made it through the past weekend without any major incidents, though some Colorado climbers did find themselves quite cold on the Muir Snowfield. The team of 6 split up while hiking to Muir, leaving 2 behind for a ranger to meet them with hot water and words of encouragement. In the end, the NPS helped them make it to Muir, but I'm still not sure why the other 4 in the party couldn't do the same?

Camp Muir is drawing more attention lately. Like Glacier Basin, rangers have been finding trash and garbage in the public shelter (left by climbers/day hikers) which (of course) is not cool. On the flip-side, climbers and day hikers have been regularly noting the pile of debris outside the public bathroom. That pile is part of the ongoing construction/restoration project from 2005. We hope to see the contractor complete the project and remove the debris later this summer. In the meantime, watch where you step because some folks have been picking up nails in their boots and shoes.

As a reminder, you can fill-out your climbing registration card before you come to the park. Save time by doing this.

Motobecane Grand Touring, Town & Country Edition

The Co-Habitant has been riding his Motobecane redux creation for the past month, and as far as what he was looking for it is a mission accomplished: The bike is nice enough to enjoy riding, but not so nice that he is unwilling to leave it locked up in the city.

This project started out as a game of sorts, where the idea was to build up a complete bike using only parts we already had.

The frame is a MotobecaneGrand Touring that an acquaintance gave the Co-Habitant a year ago. Made of Vitus 888 tubing, it is nicer than the Super Mirage model of his former roadbike. Being a touring frame, it is also somewhat more relaxed, so it made sense to build it up as a transportation bicycle.

Many of the components were moved over from the other Motobecane frame.

Others had been acquired in the past, waiting for the right project. It was particularly nice to finally have occasion to use these original Belleri handlebars. Surprisingly, they fit bar-end shifters.The combination looks eccentric, but it's convenient. The stem could be longer, but this one was already filed down to accommodate the French sizing, and we did not want to ruin another one.



Fizikhandlebar tape, in brown. The only exception to the "must already own it" rule, I bought this in Vienna (the brown and honey colours are not sold int he US). "City" brake levers from Velo Orange - these arevery convincingly "vintagey."



The least vintagey part of the bike is the SuginoAlpina crankset. We figure that the out of place crankset and bar-ends lend a sense of humor to a bike that may otherwise have come across as too perfectly French. This way it feels more approachable.

Speaking of approachable, initially we were not sure whether this vintage BrooksColt I'd acquired some time ago could ever be made ridable, as it had a nasty ridge along the center. I'd tried the "blocking" (water soaking) method, but the ridge persisted. However, the Co-Habitant managed to flattened it after a couple of rides on the water-softened leather and reports that it is now quite comfortable.

He mounted a Spanniga Pixeo tail light on the rear fender, and uses a removable CayEye headlight on the handlebars.

In the future there might be a rear rack in this bicycle's future, but for now it sports a roomy (but rather inconvenient to open and close) Minnehaha saddlebag.

I have to say that I am thoroughly enjoying the existance of this bicycle: Finally we can go out and leave our bikes locked up in the city for hours, without the Co-Habitant constantly worrying about his. It is by no means a "beater," but it is sufficiently unprecious for him to relax about its fate.

An additional benefit of having built up this bike, is that it showed us how different two models from the same manufacturer and vintage could be. This Grand Touring frame is exactly the same size as his former Super Mirage, but the front wheel on this bike is considerably "further out" - probably a combination of a more relaxed headtube angle and more fork rake. Unfortunately, he no longer has the other frame to compare exact measurements or to photograph them side-by-side. And while he expected for a bike with Vitus 888 tubing to feel nicer than a hi-ten bike, the difference between the two (with the same wheelset and tires) still managed to surprise him. The ride is considerably cushier and the bicycle is much lighter in weight (26lb with the build shown, not including the saddlebag). Having ridden this bike myself and enjoyed it a lot more than any other '70s-80s Motobecane bike I'd tried earlier, I am now curious to try the mixte version. A number of readers have written me about being disappointed with the ride quality of the vintage French bikes that one typically finds for sale in the US, so this might be a good model to look for. More pictures of this bicycle here, for anyone interested.

Happy Thanksgiving

I have been down with strep throat for the past week, so I missed the dinner at the park. Luckily, Ambir invited us all down to her place the weekend after Thanksgiving, so I was able to celebrate still. All the kids, minus Ashleigh, were there. My Mom and my niece and nephew were there. Austin brought Brittany, so the family was able to meet her.



We did our traditional dinner, cooked by my Mom, the first day. The second day we celebrated as true Floridians do. We spent time in the water by spending the day jet skiing.





I was still recovering, so I opted out. Which meant I got to take pictures all day long.



I was very happy with this arrangement!




Ava was not so happy with not being able to jet ski.



Still, she seemed to enjoy being able to watch the action. It kept her and I entertained all day long!










Hoping everyone else had a wonderful Thanksgiving also! We had much to be thankful for this year, most of which was with us this weekend: our family!

Brownwood Paddock Town Square

After line dancing yesterday, Donna and I grabbed some lunch. Then we headed down to Brownwood Paddock Town Square. Just as the recreation centers are all themed, so are the town squares here. There are three of them and Brownwood Paddock is the newest one.



In fact it is so new, that it is still in the process of being built. There is a movie theater and a few restaurants and stores that are open. Other than that, it is pretty quiet.




That worked out great for us, because that allowed us to take lots of pictures. Just like the recreation centers, the details in the decorations of this place are just incredible.







I'm so glad we got down here and finally I have some pictures. It really is a neat place!

A Visit with Geekhouse Bikes

Today I had the pleasure of visiting Geekhouse Bikes in Allston, Mass. A region of greater Boston that's just across the river from Cambridge, Allston is notorious for how dangerous it is to cycle there and I was fully prepared for a journey fraught with peril. Instead, I found myself pedaling along a bike lane followed by a series of quiet streets - at the end of which was Geekhouse, nestled picturesquely between a white picket fence and a rusty chainlink fence, amidst rows of family homes with tidy back yards offset bya sinister-looking warehouse in the distance.



When I saw this out front, there was no doubt that I had come to the right place.



Geekhouseis a small shop that has been producing their distinct custom bikes since 2002.



TIG-welded steel, clean lines, and candy-coloured powdercoat, make their handiwork easy to spot on the streets of Boston and beyond. The powdercoat is done in-house by the Geekhouse subsidiary, Sugarcoat.



While I generally prefer lugged steel construction, there is something about the "New England bad boy" look of the segmented forkon a neatly TIG-welded frame that makes me feel all funny inside. Now imagine a workshop chalk full of these forks, in candy colours... I did my best to keep calm.



The main man behind Geekhouse is Marty Walsh, who learned TIG-welding while apprenticing for Mike Flanigan of ANT and began making his own frames shortly thereafter. His work embraced the influence of ANT and the Fat Chance legacy, while developing a trademark aesthetic unmistakably his own.



As Geekhouse grew, Marty was joined by Brad in the framebuilding department



and by Gregory in the running-of-the-business department.



The sense of comradery between the three boys is endearing, and entertaining to watch.

They clearly have a good time working together,which makes for a comfortable and lighthearted atmosphere in the shop.

But getting back to bicycles - One development I find exciting, is that Geekhouse has recently made a number of beautiful custom frames for women, reflecting the increasing number of female cyclists who are opting for handmade bikes. Unfortunately none of these frames were at the shop during my visit, but here is a glimpse as photographed by others:



[image via Geekhousebikes]

This "Woodville" model is a contemporary take on the loop frame. And notice the "wooden" rims.



[image via Geekhousebikes

And a fairly classic straight step-through bicycle re-imagined in Geekhouse style.



[image by urbanvelo via Geekhousebikes]

But of course, a "woman's bike" does not have to be a step-through, especially when it comes to road and touring bikes. The bicycle above (shown at NAHBS and mentioned here earlier) was made for Bianca, who rode it cross-country for Autism, from Boston to San Francisco.



[image byurbanveloviaGeekhousebikes]

To me this bicycle is just stunning; definitely my favourite Geekhouse bike.And if the owner rode it from Boston to San Francisco, I take it that it has got to be comfortable.



[image via Geekhousebikes]

What I think makes this a remarkable bicycle, is the combination of all the practical, functional elements - the built-in mounts, the racks, the lights, the sturdy geometry - and the hyper femininity of the colourscheme. The lilac and pale turquoise are unexpectedly gorgeous together. They make the bicycle look very light, almost ethereal. I would not have thought this design up myself, but I love it - and I think it works on a TIG-welded frame better than it would on a lugged one, as combining lugs with such vivid colours would have been overkill. This is also why I think the bright colourschemes of the lugless Brompton work so well, and why I love the TIG-welded truss frame by ANT: Sometimes, just sometimes the clean joints afforded by the lack of lugwork are more fitting to the overall personality of a bicycle.



The personality of Geekhouse bikes is certainly distinct, and I look forward to a possible test ride... hopefully something with a delicious segmented fork!