PT Sunrise 7:30am

Beauty surrounds us.......... if only we would remember to lift our heads up and look around. 7:30am sunrise. Working in an old run down, 80 year, gray, dirty, noisy, industrial mill can easily lull one into viewing the world and the day ahead as just that, dreary and industrial, unless we remember to poke that head of ours out the window or step outside.

The world we live in is amazing, beautiful, and full of wonder and magic............ the beauty and wonder of life is in the moments............ don't let those moments in your life slip by unnoticed, look up, look around, breath deeply, be present and really see the world around you..................

Sunrise over Port Townsend Harbor, 7:30am............. enjoy.

New Disc Brakes for Sweet Pea!

The highly anticipated order from Price Point arrived yesterday! The new disc brakes for Sweet Pea's new commuter-cross bike are here and ready to install. We have been running Gatorbrakes on all of our mountain bikes for a couple of years now and absolutely love them. The are extremely well made, stay in adjustment, have fantastic braking power and look great.......... and the price is absolutely fantastic! The brakes we use are the cable actuated model and they are regularly stocked by Price Point online. The price is MUCH lower than the highly advertised companies, and the quality and performance is the same or better! I even think they look better.



I'll probably get them installed and adjusted up tonight..............

New Year's Inspiration

This morning I had a wonderful inspirational piece from the "Daily Om" in my email in box. I thought I'd share it with everyone as it really illustrates my own life view and how I strive to live it........... Hope you enjoy it.




January 1, 2010
Your Last Breath
Redefining Your Priorities

Procrastination is an almost universal human habit and one that infiltrates nearly every aspect of our lives. Modern existence is so complex, and much of what we long to do is left to wait by the side. We know what is important but tend to let the weight of worldly pressures lead us astray. To get back on track, however, we need only take a moment to consider where our thoughts will be as we take our last breath on this earth. More likely than not, at that instant, disagreements, bills, petty annoyances, and other frustrating elements of our lives will no longer seem as significant as they once did. Thoughts of loved ones and the positive impact we had on the world would no doubt occupy our remaining thoughts. Whatever we imagine ourselves musing upon during our last breath will almost always be representative of what truly matters to us.

This simple exercise introduces us to a new way of thinking. While our attention is drawn momentarily to the end of life, our contemplations serve to point out that we are masters of our own perspective and, consequently, our own existence. There is nothing preventing us from shifting our focus right now as we imagine we will in our final moments. We can choose to spend more of our time and energy on what gives our lives meaning. We can spend more time with loved ones and do more of what we enjoy. Doing so may not always prove easy, and there will inevitably be times when circumstances interfere with our resolution, yet we do not have to regard this as an indication that our priorities are not in alignment with who we really are.

Sometimes the only way we can see the beauty of life is to remind ourselves that it is finite. Gandhi said, "Live as if you were to die tomorrow." His words are a potent reminder that living life more fully is not about pushing ourselves harder or shouldering more burdens, but about experiencing all the wonderful richness life has to offer.

This article is printed from DailyOM - Inspirational thoughts for a happy, healthy and fulfilling day.
Register for free at www.dailyom.com

Dust-n-Oils Seals for the Reba

I did some fancy bidding and web shopping and came up with a brand new set of dust and oil seals off of eBay for the Reba fork on the Giant Trance 2. A bit more surfing of the web came up with a set of foam oil rings from Cambria Bike down in California for $2.00 a pair as opposed to the $14.00 normal price.....(unheard of sale!)...... when all was said and done, I ended up with all of the new seals that I needed to finish up the rebuild of the Reba fork for a fraction of the normal price of the parts! Now I just need to break down the fork again and pull out the old seals and press in the new sets.



This last Summer, N8 and I did a rebuild and replaced all of the o-rings, seals, crush washers, etc. , but we did not have the needed top end seals to finish the job. The fork still oozes oil out of the uppers, but not for long.......... these new seals will put the fork back in brand new condition.

Ultimate Biking Pants!

Another pending project's been finished and crossed off the to-do list........... Two pair of my ultra-custom, ultra-tough, ultra-hip biking pants! I turned a pair of Carhart double-knee work pants into a pair of bike knickers awhile back and have absolutely loved them. They even took a trip to Burning Man and turned out to be perfect on the Playa.



For this new version, I used two used pair of Carharts that I picked up at a yard sale for cheap. I took two small tucks on the back waistband that run down into the rear pockets to take up the extra waist (I did this to another pair before and love the extra seat room it gives). The legs are a bit short for everyday wear, but perfect for cycling. I'll do my usual tuck-n-fold with the ankle cuffs and hold it fast with my ankle ties to make them "peg-legged" for riding.

I finished them off with a couple of punk patches from Left Bank Books in Seattle. It's a yearly Christmas tradition for N8 to give these out, and I always get around to putting them to good use.



These are definitely the ultimate mountain biking pants. They protect from brush and are like wearing armor in a crash........... and you can't buy them in the cycle shops, you've got to DIY! Oh yes, and they're way cool.............

New Campy Installed! LOOK!

Well I made the plunge, cut off all the old bar wrap, and pulled off the old brake levers and seat post binder bolt from the LOOK bike. The bike's now sporting the new Campagnolo brake levers, hoods and binder bolt. I topped it all off with new white cork bar wrap and a new set of Michelin Pro Race tires. It even looks faster!

HAPPY NEW YEARS 2010 !!!!!!!

Happy New Year's Day from the blustery Pacific Northwest! The wind is blowing a gale up here.... the skies are gray, the seas are white capped, and we are snug and warm in our little house enjoying a great day off at home. We took a little ride downtown and snapped a few shots of the ferry leaving for Whidbey Island and of a little sailboat that is anchored out and slowly working its way towards shore. PT Harbor is a great anchorage in calm weather, but when these winds blow, we seem to always end up with boats on the beach...