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Rockhopper Fork Crown
I ordered a new front fork for my ’93 Specialized Rockhopper last week and it arrived yesterday, so the next step of the rebuild was to drive the headset bearing ring onto the fork crown race. I used a length of 1-1/4″ PVC as a driver. I needed to ream out a bit of the…
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Late September
This time of year always reminds me of that old Rod Stewart song. I really should be back in school. Steady drizzle for my ride to work this morning. Whenever it rains this time of year, it’s always awkward figuring out what to wear. The temperature this morning was in the mid 60s, which is…
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Rockhopper Headset
The rebuild of my old Specialized Rockhopper continues. Last week I stopped by my local Performance bike shop, and picked up a Cane Creek 1-1/8″ threadless headset for a little under $25. It’s a perfect fit for the bike’s head tube. This morning I pressed the headset cups into the frame, using the nut-and-bolt technique…
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Moving Ubuntu to a New Hard Drive
Well, I guess it had to happen some time… the system disk on my home Ubuntu server started going south recently. Just a few errors here and there, but once it starts, it only gets worse. So I thought I’d write down the steps I took to move my system to a new disk, partly…
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’93 Rockhopper Rebuild
My first “good” bike was a ’93 Specialized Rockhopper, which saw lots of mountain biking action in the ’90s, but has been largely neglected ever since. It has an old front suspension fork with a blown seal. I’ve decided to fix the bike up and use it for winter commuting, and maybe some occasional single…
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Long Sleeves
Not much noteworthy about today’s ride, except that I wore a long sleeve jersey, for the first time since probably May. As hot as this summer has been, I didn’t think this day would ever arrive. Won’t be long, and I’ll be griping about how cold it is and how I wish I could get…
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Mid-life crisis?
My latest kick these days is getting rid of stuff. The junk accumulation phase of my life is over, and it’s time to downsize. My new best friends are the recycle bin, the dump, the paper shredder, eBay, and the Salvation Army. I’d like the house to eventually be neat and organized. I’d like us…
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Grind.
I slogged up Ilchester Rd. again today. It went a little more smoothly than last time. Hill-climbing rule no. 1: If you know you’re going to need the granny gear, shift into it while still seated, before it gets too hard to pedal. If you wait ’till you’re standing up, your derailleur will pick that…
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Rite of Passage
School has started, both at UMBC and in the surrounding counties. That means more traffic to deal with, particularly during my morning rides. The first week is always the worst, after which things start to improve as people fall into a routine. I’m not crazy about this time of year, but it does have one…
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Final Summer Fling
It’s the last week of summer vacation for Howard and Baltimore counties, with students returning to school on Monday 8/30. That means this is the last week I get to enjoy relatively light traffic on my morning rides, before the roads get clogged with buses and other school traffic. This week I’m enjoying a few…