Surly Long Haul Trucker

After the accident I thought it wise to upgrade to a more reliable bicycle.  Bicycle touring really appealed to me so I did some research on the net into the various bikes available.  After test riding a Trek 520, a Marin Muirwoods and a Surly Long Haul Trucker I decided that the Surly Long Haul Trucker worked best for me.  I bought the bike from the guys at Revolution Bike Shop on Blackwell Road and highly recommend them as they provided top notch service.  Here's some pictures of the new bike and the old.

Have a look at my Michigan Circle Tour blog post back in December of a tour I did with some friends from the Bike for Bibles ride to see the new bike in action.

Bicycle Accident

My commute to work is really a great ride.  It takes me through the downtown area of Sarnia and follows the St. Clair river through Corunna, Mooretown and Courtright to my work at the Lambton Generating Station.  We have showers at work as well which is all the more reason to get some exercise.

Last August I was returning home from work on my bicycle after working a night shift and made it all the way home but somehow I crashed at the bottom of my driveway.  I can't remember falling but what I think happened was my front tire came off and sent me over the handlebars.  I landed on my head and was knocked unconscious.  Here are some pictures of my helmet.  You can see in the top picture how it is cracked where most of the force from the fall was absorbed.  The bottom picture shows the abrasion from the fall.

I must have suffered from amnesia as I cannot remember falling or waking up.  My watch was damaged and stopped working at the exact time of the fall 07:35.  I also remember checking my time as I came up the street and it was around this time.  My first recollection was stumbling into the house and going the bathroom to check myself out and wash my wounds.  After getting a bag of peas from the fridge to apply to my face to keep the swelling down I went back outside to collect my bike.  My wife Trish found me at this point when she came back from a run.  It was 08:05 so I must have been laying unconscious at the bottom of the driveway for at least twenty minutes. 

She took me to the hospital where I received stitches to my cheek and nose where my glasses had cut me.  After several x-rays the doctor pronounced that I had not broken any bones.  Here's a picture taken after the fall.  You can make out a faint red spot on my fore-head where I must have received the blow that knocked me out.  I had abrasions all over the place as you can see from the picture below so it must have been quite a fall.  My neck and back muscles were sore and would take quite a number of visits to the physiotherapist and some time to heal. It was early on a Sunday morning which probably explains why nobody saw the fall or me lying there.

When I arrived home from the hospital I asked Trish to look for the lens from my glasses which were missing from the frames.  After she couldn't find it I went down and had a look but couldn't find it anywhere.  Later that day I found them in my fanny pack where I must have placed them earlier but I had no recollection of putting it there.  It could have been much worse - I could have broken my neck!

Bike For Bibles 2011

My brother Don works for the Canadian Bible Society (CBS) and every year he organizes a bicycle tour called Bike for Bibles.  The CBS website describes the event as "...an annual CBS event that brings cycling enthusiasts of all ages and walks of life together for a time of fellowship on the road - with one purpose in mind - to help raise funds for Bible distribution and translation projects."

Last year I finally made it to the event which was taking place in Southwestern Ontario and was raising money for a Bible called The Key to Freedom Bible.  After meeting up with the other riders at a church in Cambridge my old Norco was parked next to the other bikes in the gym.  It seemed a little out of place next to the other more modern bicycles costing much more than my humble ride.  It was purchased four years ago at a garage sale for $80 and judging by it's condition was probably sitting in someones garage for several years.  The tires were worn and cracked and were replaced with a new set.  After a checkup from the local bike shop and a few modifications it was ready for the road.

Up to this point I had used my bicycle mainly for commuting to work and for exercise.  It had served me well but I soon learned it's limitations during the week long ride.  The shifting levers were located on the down tube wich was not the safest place since you needed to take your hands off the handlebars to shift.  The gearing was also not the best for climbing hills which had not been much of a problem in the past with little or no hills back home. 

By the end of the week I had learned how to draft behind others to make the riding easier, especially if there was a wind.  I also learned how to signal to others of dangers on the road like gravel or potholes.  It was also necessary to signal if you were stopping or slowing down.  I made lots of new friendships and am looking forward to this years ride which will be in Eastern Ontario.  Here's a video of last years ride.

Winter Camping

After discovering this site last year I decided to give winter camping a try.  After a bit of research I found a U.S. Army surplus five man arctic tent from calarmy and a Yukon Stove from aasurplus to go in it. 

Here's the tent set up for the first time in the back yard.  It's amazing how warm the tent gets with the stove going.

Our first trip winter camping was a weekend up at the Pinery Provincial Park with Steven, his cousin Ben and I.  We arrived on Friday evening and registered at the self serve kiosk at the main gate.  There were a number of other people in the park mostly in yurts and campers.  We picked a spot off by ourselves but not too far from the washrooms.

The first night was a little wet as the temperatures were around the freezing mark.  I had removed the liner to reduce weight but the result was that any water that leaked through the canvas at the seams would drip down on us as opposed to having the liner and diverting the moisture to the outside walls.

The next day we went for a hike down to the shoreline which is normally packed in the summertime but was deserted now.  The beach was littered with what appeared to be rocks but was actually chunks of ice that had been worn smooth.  I was amazed at how Steven seemed to handle the cold with only a shirt and hoodie.  After the hike we made a trip to the toboggan hill for some fun.

The skating rink at the toboggan hill looked more like a swimming pool due to the higher than normal temperatures.

That night we spent playing Monopoly, roasting marshmallows and eating popcorn.  The temperatures dropped overnight and unknown to us, a major winter storm hit the area.

The next morning we packed up to go home but made a quick visit to the toboggan hill where the ice rink was now under a blanket of snow.  

Knifemaking

If you're wondering what the symbol is in my favicon, it's the logo I designed to put on my knives.   The centre knife in the logo represents my middle initial and is a stylized version of a Randall Fighting Siletto that I have in my collection.   I've been dabbling in knifemaking for a number of years but have never seemed to be able to go into it seriously.  Perhaps when retirement comes and there is more time to devote to it I'll give it the attention that it deserves.

My knife grinder is a KMG (Knife Makers Grinder) made by Beaumont Metal Works in Columbus Ohio.  It is quite popular in the knifemaking community, this one has a 2HP DC motor with a variable speed controller.  In the picture it has an 8 inch contact wheel but I also have a 12 inch wheel and a flat platen.   

These are a few blades in various stages of construction. 

This is the second knife from the right in the above photo.

 This is the first knife on the left in the above photo.  I modeled this after a Bob Dozier Professional Skinner and like it quite a lot.  This is my go to knife for deer hunting.

And here's the kydex sheath for it.

These are some of my earliest knives.

Astrophotography

It looked like clear skies last night so I thought I would drag out the telescope and have a look.  When it's this cold you need to let it sit outsite for a while so that the mirror temperature equalizes with the 

ambient temperature otherwise the image will be fuzzy due the thermal currents swirling around the surface.

Here's the telescope parked out in front of the house.  You can read more about it here on my website.

This thing that is mounted to the top of the telescope is the Telrad finder. Aiming the telescope is done by looking down the body of the telescope through the Telrad where you will see a series of red circles in the form of a bullseye...

...like this.  You point the telescope and place the object you want to view in the centre circle, in this case a bright object in the southern sky which just happens...

... to be Jupiter!  You can see the bands quite clearly but I assure you the view in real time is much better.  The point and shoot camera I was using can not capture the whole picture because the planet is much brighter than it's moons.  To the eye it would look more like...

...this.  This is done by making a composite of at least two pictures so that both the moons and the planet can be captured.   Lots of fun!

Michigan Fall Circle Tour

This past October I participated in a circle tour of South Western Michigan from Grand Rapids to Muskegon and back.  All five of us met and stayed at the Radisson Hotel on Anne St. in Grand Rapids on the Friday evening.  The next day we arose early and enjoyed a buffet breakfast to fuel up for the day.  Here is the route for the Saturday ride which took us to the Shoreline Inn in Muskegon.  We enjoyed a great meal at the Lake House Waterfront Grille where I indulged in a Great Lakes Burger, a burger patty between two grilled cheese sandwiches.

The next day we returned to Grand Rapids (the route) via the many bicycle paths that were converted from old railway lines which in Michigan are mostly paved.  What a fantastic ride with some great friends.   

Here is a video of the tour.