Waltworks Medical Devices, LLC

My good friend Jake + BMX handlebar + Surgery + Phillies game on Monday = time to make a crutch!

Yes, Jake crashed (in the PUMPTRACK!) and attempted to disembowel himself with his handlebar on Thursday. We all freaked out, but Jake is basically fine after some surgery. Recovery is going to take a while, though, and he's not really supposed to walk long distances. And there is a Phillies game against the Rockies tomorrow night...



Solution? Sarah and Jake designed and I built Jake a custom cane using part of an old crutch, some 1"x.035 tubing, and half a roll of orphan bar tape. Boom! Game on!

We also did some surgery of our own - on the Colorado trail near Kenosha pass, and diverted a stream that was running down the trail. All in all, a very productive (and fun, if you're a huge dork) weekend.

Quick pic for Steve, and have a great weekend, y'all

Steve's gigantic (>25" toptube, 21" seat tube, that's big...Steve is one of the only people I know who actually runs a saddle significantly higher than me - and that includes lots of my 6'6" tall friends!) 4" travel 29er, shown here complete, but without the shock or fiddly bits bolted on. Notably, I did NOT use my kinked seat tube design on this frame, because Steve needed *longer* chainstays than stock, rather than my usual super-short ones, so there was no need to do any funny manipulation.

Should be a fun bike for New Mexico, assuming the forests ever open back up.

Have a great weekend, y'all! Oh, and for everyone with a frame at the powdercoater, I'll be picking them up (and hopefully shipping them out) on Monday. We have been fighting some flux removal problems with the new stripping/blasting guy up there, so I am implementing a more aggo flux-removal process here to try to stop all these bikes from having to be re-shot. Hopefully it will help!

Little help - anyone got a front Maverick wheel I can borrow?

I need one to check alignment on a fork, but inexplicably, none of my Boulder friends has such a thing. So if you've got a front Maverick wheel (24mm axle) that you don't need for a day or two, drop me a line. I will come get it (assuming you're in Boulder) and bring it back, and I won't hurt it. And I'll compensate you somehow (beer? cheap bike parts?)

The wheel can be beat up/out of true, not a big deal. I'll take anything. Don't care if there's a tire mounted or not, likewise don't care if there's a disc on it.

Got one? Drop me a line.

Surprise random recipe post! Olive and Parsley Pesto

It's been too long.

No, seriously. Too long since the last recipe.

And the one I made tonight was quite good, quite good.

For the pesto, blend/process the following:
-6 oz of green olives
-1 c of grated romano (or parm) cheese
-1/3c olive oil
-1 tbsp vinegar
-1/2c sliced almonds
-1/2c parsley
-2 tbsp water
-As much garlic (I used 4 big cloves) as you can handle
-Some ground black pepper to taste

Super duper easy. If it's too thick, add some more olive oil. Too thin? Add some more almonds. Serve over pasta (if you're a normal person), quinoa (if you're Hassan and/or a communist), or whatever else you'd normally eat pesto on.

Modeling on Evans

Marcus sends in this photo of himself modeling his WW jersey, captioned "Mt. Evans, when I still felt human."

Which begs the question, just what did he feel like later?

At last... a post about bikes!

Thanks to Joel for the pictures. I miscalculated something when building Joel's frame and didn't do enough seat tube offset (the chainstays here are a very short effective 41cm/16.1" and I goofed, basically). Solution? Do a cutout in the seat tube. I think it came out ok for a first attempt, and I'd even do it again, albeit ideally before building the rest of the frame (doing the cutout with the entire front triangle+chainstays already welded up was nerve-wracking!)



So yes, you can have 16" chainstays on a 29er and room for a 2.3" tire, though Joel won't be running a front derailleur (and can't, no matter how much he wants to). Also check out the nice disc rotor brace that Joel specially requested (and sent the sacrificial rotor for) - I am only doing those by request anymore, since some folks think they look terrible, and others love them. So the default is tubing unless you ask for something else.

Bike riding Honda mechanic needed!

Yes, our beloved rusty 1991 Accord has blown up something in the transmission. I am hopeful that it's just a leak that can easily be fixed (I know the immediate problem is lack of transmission fluid, most of which is now decorating the floor of the Table Mesa park/ride).

In any case, if you're a Honda Mechanic, or have a friend who is, and like bikes - drop me a line and let's do some trading! I'll build you a bike or at the least hook you up with some parts (depending on how dire the situation is with the tranny... um, I mean car). And yes, if you figure out that it's $3k to repair my $1k car - I will of course still compensate you for your time, even if the car ends up on the scrap heap.

Edit: obviously, I should have entitled this "Dire situation with a tranny" or something. But I am not that creative.

Back!

After a 20 hour travel day that included driving, sitting around, driving, sitting around, flying, sitting, flying, sitting, a broken down bus, a full bus, a bus that we actually got on, and finally a car that blew it's transmission pulling out of the parking garage, we are home.

I am dealing with the car disaster (or attempting to) right now, so getting back to work is going slowly. Apologies to all who are patiently waiting!

And no, as usual, I did not take any pictures on our trip, but here's a quick wrapup:
-10-12 hours of sweet singletrack riding at Hawley, Earl's, Kingdom Trails, and Millstone Hill (in Barre - that place is rad now!). My short-stay 6" 29er dualie actually was pretty perfect for the trails we were on - as long as I had the Talas cranked down to 95mm travel in front (and corresponding 70.5-71 HTA rather than the usual 69).
-15 or so hours of great dirt road riding around Caspian Lake in VT.
-An awful lot of kayaking. My arms are like noodles.
-A few nice dirt road runs.
-At least 3 beers a night, each, if not 4. Even with all that exercise, I bet I gained a pound or two!

So, a great trip slightly marred by our less than stellar trip back to Boulder. I am working through emails and such when I have time in between working on the car.

No doubt: I am out

Headed off to MA and VT to ride some slippery roots (and by "ride" I mean "crash on, get laughed at, and soothe my hurt pride by consuming large amounts of local beer")

Back on the 19th (well, the 18th, but that day will be shot due to travel).

I may or may not check email while I'm gone, and I won't (obviously) be doing any work, so don't expect any quick responses to email/voicemail.

Let Eszter tell you how to survive the CTR!

...if you are crazy enough to want to do it, that is.

Check it out: Eszter's Mountainflyer blog/article.