I just read in the NY Times website that we lost Bill Russell. 88 years old and he lived a very good, full and inspiring life. Friday morning (its now Sunday) my housemate self-diagnosed with COVID after growing symptoms. He is very high risk but has done everything, shots, Pax?????. I tested negative this morning so I appear to be good so far. I've quarantined several times before after potential exposures but it's different when you know the disease is in the house. I've done little outside the past week as it's been in triple digits and I'm not now in morning routine. Spent my time building up that Pro Miyata, taking it for a spin, drawing it on my CAD program for fit, knowing the top tube was short. Turned on the Mooney layer and guess what? The main triangle is the Mooney exactly. Not just sorta. It's tough to see the two differently colored lines zoomed up close. OK, Mooney bars and stem work! What do I have on hand to copy it. Well, now I have virtually the same bars and stem on the Pro, semi-pista wide! bars, same levers. 13-26 FW. 52-42-30 gearing. Sane but not comfy at my age. Those wide bars might turn out to be nice! Going for a gentle ride in street cloths to further test the bike, staying within walkable distance since I'm not calling my housemate if I break down. Try out a drive-through espresso place. Done one once driving far from home but now the are springing up like mushrooms here. COVID-safe drug dispensers. So on this ride I get to observe that I am alive and well (for now anyway), that this mortality thing is real and think about the near future of Cycle Oregon and the magic of the Painted Hills I've never seen and the past, when my life centered around a bike with bloodlines not far from this one and I could ride it as it was meant to be ridden. (I want to take this bike soon into the hills and do some really fast descents. Speed wobbles? I'm guessing this bike is as good as it gets. What can I and TiCycles learn from this to either get my geared ti stable or create another I can trust. I really don't like the speed wobble mortality reminders.) |