barbara

hello loyal readers, we have on our itinerary a few items worth discussion. firstly, i managed to scrounge up those necessary bike parts for my barbara (see last post) for her reincarnation as a touring bike. upon inspection of these 30 yr-old parts, i was getting the sensation that maybe we would all benefit from a little investing in some newer components. the rear derailleur is missing a spring and the brake calipers are bulky - ancient technology.

also, in light of my recent knowledge of bike fitting, i decided to see how well ol' barbara stands up to my ideal frame. utilizing the finest in ad hoc mock-ups, photoshop, a ruler and some simple trigonometry, i determined all the dimensions of babs. as it turns out, she was nearly perfect for me the whole time. the biggest discrepancies are in the handlebar height and stem length as you can see in the figure: compare the measured values to the values in the parentheses, the ideal numbers. i raised my stem a few centimeters and already it's more comfortable. i'd have to buy a new stem to shorten it the requisite amount, so that's something to look into.

moving on to more philanthropic matters... while i may lack the virtues of a good citizen, i try to associate with better men than myself not so that something decent might rub off, but really just so i get credit by association. leave it to a true altruist to set up a website benefiting the american cancer society. i think you're probably all aware of how these things work: if you have a soul and care about your fellow man, then you give money or if, on the other hand, if you hate humanity and especially those with cancer, then you keep your money: your call.

damn, this is a long friday, but i leave you with a picture of my latest welding masterpiece. if i could travel back in time and give this to my 14 yr-old self (i was a late bloomer, back off!) i'd be overcome with bliss knowing that my life would indeed be the alien slaughtering fantasy i'd longed for.