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Categories: all aviation bicycle gadgets misc motorcycle theater Tue, 09 Sep 2008I just pulled my second ripe tomato off the vine. This time, it was a "Health Kick" tomato. Don't ask me what that's supposed to mean.
The flavor was pretty good, relatively strong (compared to store-bought on-the-vine tomatoes), and in the middle between sweet and tart. The texture was slightly more mealy than one of the on-the-vines, but not objectionably so. It was much less wet: if an on-the-vine tomato from the store is wet, this was merely damp. Not dry, but it also didn't leave the cuttingboard looking like I'd dumped a cup of water on it. It wasn't a dramatic improvement over the store-bought tomatoes I've had recently, but it wasn't bad. And, hey, I grew it! Posted at 22:43 permanent link category: /misc I headed up to Jesse's house last night to put the finishing touches on the trailer. We attached a short tubing stub to the back for mounting a blinkenlight, and I drilled the mounting holes for the trailer-side hitch. That was actually pretty interesting, since I just set up the drill press on the ground, and rolled the tongue onto the table. I took a bunch of pictures, from different angles (click for the gallery):
And after standing around admiring my new creation, it was time to put the rubber on the road, and see what happened. Not bad, all told. I had to stop several times to check bolts and tighten the 8mm bolt I was temporarily using as a hitch pin, but other than that, there were no technical problems. I was able to hit my normal speeds, although there was clearly more weight involved in the situation. Stopping didn't prove to be a big deal, but it probably won't be until the first time I try to load a couple hundred pounds back there. I didn't have my wave washers with me, so the wheels shuttled side-to-side a little (the stub axles are cut a little bit long to allow the wave washers). That was the only noise as I rolled along -- once I get the wave washers on there, I think the trailer will be about as quiet as the bike. I measured across the axles and across my handlebars, and decided that if I allowed 3" on each end of my handlebars, that was a fairly accurate gauge of how wide the trailer is. The bollards that protect the bike trails I was on (through Shoreline) were plenty wide enough, although I'm a little concerned about the bollards on the Burke-Gilman trail in Fremont. That could be a little bit tricky, and will warrant a careful passage the first time. Now I just have to figure out my deck material and get it attached, and it'll be functionally complete. I've already got the frame primed, and I think if I can locate some OD green spraypaint, it's going to be army-colored. The Swiss cargo trailer on the Cargo Bike Ride was very inspiring. Hooray new trailer! Posted at 07:09 permanent link category: /bicycle Categories: all aviation gadgets misc motorcycle theater Written by Ian Johnston. Software is Blosxom. Questions? Please mail me at reaper at obairlann dot net. |
