shop class

A busy past week with the highlight being a 5 day crash course I took in welding. We were taught the basics in all types of welding applications and I have an even greater respect for the trade now. There are numerous mistakes that can be made and getting it right is not as easy as an experienced welder makes it looks. Plenty of things that can go terribly wrong when welding so safety is always first. We were introduced to using torches and plasma cutters as well. The plasma cutter we used was straight science fiction and could easily burn through a 1/2 inch plate of steel with just the pull of the trigger. I am thinking of trying to get into the machine shop class as well by the same instructor.

I really liked tig welding and found that this was the easiest for me in terms of control and quality of my welds. I have several ideas for things I would like to try to create so we will see how things shake out.

Riding has been up and down. I did get a good road ride in last Wednesday that saw me riding peak to peak hwy via Ward. On Friday, I got Chris out on the new GF Rig and broke out the Surly fixed gear for a little ride from town out to Heil via the reservoir trails. After riding my IF 29er so much, the 1x1 feels super small. I like riding the fixed setup though and wanted to get a ride in on the bigger gear. I knew from the noise that had been growing over the past two rides, that I would need to break it down and possibly get a new BB soon but thought she had another ride or two left. Famous last thoughts and about 2 hrs into it while on the trail, I start to feel some funky knock that grows more frequent by the minute. I begin to get nervous about the bike and want to avoid the crank arm backing out from a a seized bb so I suggest going home over Old Stage rd to shorten the trip after the trail. It's funny to think about descending old stage on a fixed gear but it seemed to be a sensible decision in the moment.

Aside from some nerves about a major mechanical issue before we got up and over, I was feeling pretty comfortable. We top out the first part of the climb and get down and up the next part to start the descent. This is a pretty steep downhill to a stop sign at a 3 way intersection where one side does not yield, so no blowing through it. On the way down, my legs resemble the roadrunner's as he drops the hammer on Wile E. Coyote. I try to control things somewhat with the front brake but its more like 35% effective and makes me wonder. I make it down after all and at the stop sign that I thankfully do not need to stop at due to no cars, things start to level out a bit. A guy on a road bike catches up with me and asks me if I am nuts. I tell him apparently but sometimes you do what you got to do. We made it over and the bike was still in one piece so mission accomplished.

CPM seemed to enjoy his Rig and seeing as how he sold his geared FS bike the same day he bought the SS, there will be no returning from the darkside anytime soon. We didn't officially jump/beat him into the gang but I know the ss will do it in due time.

I got home in time to eat, shower, and run down to Boulder Theater to meet my homie Curtis who had free tickets for the Charlie Hunter trio. It's been a while since I have seen Charlie Hunter and I liked seeing him play with just a drummer and keyboardist. A killer show with a couple little surprises thrown in when you least expected them of course. It was cool to hang with Curtis before he leaves for LA LA land in a couple weeks and hitting a good show was a perfect end to a fun filled day.

Get out the hallucinogens, we are going to see Gonzo next week. I am excited to check it out as I have heard its really well done.

Hopefully we will be in the mtns tomorrow riding trails and hopefully Beltran is the only jackass to be kicked out of the tour.