Stretched@Birth

Wasn’t sure whether to post this here or in Song of the Day! Not everyone’s cup of tea but wow, you have to appreciate the guys art.

I was thinking about you guys and your project last night, what’s happening? Are you ok?

It is easy for us to speculate, we were not there. All I'm saying is that it is not as cut and dried as that. That the biker who was hit is absolutely blameless isn't disputed, wrong place, wrong time, that's why it is an accident. What we do not know is at what speed was the truck driving? Assume though it was keeping to the speed limit, which for a goods vehicle with a GVM exceeding 9 tons is 80km/h, when he pulled out in front of her and she was doing 120, the speed limit for passenger vehicles, that already is a differential of 40km/h. Perhaps the SUV was travelling faster, we don't know. The way I see it, the truck was in the left hand lane, she will not have seen the "bike marshal" in the left lane as he was ahead of the truck, moving even slower, for who the truck had to move out, into the fast lane, so she did not anticipate the truck moving across into the fast lane (it is unclear on the video if the truck indicated, but it does not seem so). Truck moved in front of her, she climbed on the anchors, lost control, accident happened. In my opinion, and that is all it is, is an opinion, the "bike marshal" has some culpability, He must have crossed the solid line to get into the lane to try and keep the lane clear for the group to merge onto the highway. He was travelling slower than the traffic with which the group needed to merge, causing an obstruction and a dangerous situation. One of the biggest problems on our roads, and the difference between SA roads and the roads where you live is the speed differential between vehicles. That and the unlicensed/bought licensed drivers who have no clue of the rules of the road, never mind how to drive defensively. That is also why I don't have a bike anymore, it is virtually impossible to anticipate what other drivers will do on the road, and in general, SA drivers do not see motorcycles, bicycles or pedestrians as road users. Stepping off my soap box now, apologies for the rant...!

Road Marshall blocking the left hand lane at the onramp to keep the lane clear for the large group to get onto the highway, truck changes lane at last minute in front of Fortuner, speed differential between the truck and the Fortuner, driver jumps on the brakes with nowhere to go and loses control. I think there's some proportionality of blame. Could have ended a lot worse.

For us here in SA, all of that music went to Hot 102.7, along with a bunch of those old DJ's. For those of you in NZ who may not have heard, Mark Pilgrim passed away on Sunday.

I can remember as a little boy looking up at my cousins (RIP) Tenere in Yamaha white and red thinking what a huge bike that was with that oversized tank. His sister had a boyfriend with a Suzuki Katana, I’d look at that one thinking “one day when I’m big!” The Katanas seem to have gotten a bit of a cult following as of late. Saw a nice one on Butchered Classics:

Looks like you have a new favourite coffee stop…!

I engraved a message and logo onto a wooden Swiss Army knife on the weekend, getting placement right was critical. I've cut a 90 degree corner out of 6mm MDF. My laser's origin point is set to the top right corner of the workpiece. I stick a piece of masking tape to the honeycomb grid, then pulse the laser to make a mark and I set that as the origin. I then stick the corner piece so that the corner is on the pulsed mark, and stick it in place with masking tape too. Helps to line up odd shaped work pieces, or where you require repeatability. On the knife, I did an initial pass at 8% power and 400mm/s, so it just marked the knife. Wasn't happy, was able to sand it out, adjust and rerun. Once I was happy, I upped the power and ran it. Edit: Added pics

This is a useful site for making boxes. I can see how you're going to now start making boxes for all of your other tools...: https://en.makercase.com/ Enter your dims, material thickness, joint type and size, download the file to DXF or SVG, load it onto the laser, and away you go. The other one where you'll find lots of useful files is 3axis.co Looking at what you've cut, it looks like yellow MDF. Here in ZA there are 2 types of MDF available, yellow (also known as laser or blonde MDF) and the brown MDF. The yellow has a higher pine content, and cuts or engraves a lot better than the brown. When you start with acrylic's, again, 2 different types, cast and extruded. The extruded cuts better, gives a nice clean edge, though the cast engraves better. Masking tape is your friend, mask the area you want to engrave, this stops the smudging. Don't cut/engrave PVC... Just a few tricks I've learnt along the way!

I once dragged a hand operated one across the ice, on a sled, so that we could make a hole in the ice to draw water for cooking. Best cup of coffee ever, sitting in the frozen wilderness, after having had to work for that cup of coffee!

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=fhBYr8frzO0&feature=share

One Day Only Parktool Special: https://www.onedayonly.co.za/products/professional-bicycle-tool-kit-20220912

Nice, I test rode one of those a long time ago at a Trek test day, just wanted to put it on the back wheel all the time. Apparently it doesn't do well as an SS though, something about flex of the chainstay, which doesn't make much sense to me, as it should then flex with gears too. Maybe just Google it though.

Just remember the safety lanyard....

Just check, 28C may not fit, I put a 28C Gatorskin onto the old Alpina wheels, the front rubs on the bridge of the fork.

A friends bike featured on Moto Media. His bicycles get treated in the same way as his motorcycles, all spotless, none standard, all special. Skip to the end for the Soundtrack...! Edit: spelling

I had the same issue on my build. I took a file to it and filed out sufficient material to get the tire to fit, without filing through the piece of pipe. Not sure what he wall thickness is of that piece, but it is thick enough that I didn't go through it. I could do with another couple of mm, but am a little scared to take it any further. I managed to get 35c rubber in there. Edit: Giant XTC 26er frame

Late afternoon Thaba Trails with my youngster.

A friend has this, and yes, I'm jealous. Apparently available from Sprocket and Jack: https://silca.cc/products/tattico-mini-pump

Where is that Bennie?

Agreed on the price, it is a bit (ok, a lot) steep. I just look at that scenery and those mountains and dream. Go and have a look on the same site at the Norwegian Fjords trip, it looks to be absolutely awesome, but ja, only if I win the Powerball... Grab a coffee and watch...:

This is on my things that I dream about list: https://www.mountainbikeworldwide.com/mtb-tours/slovenia 2 - 9 July, 8 places available... edit: date availability

My butt likes them, my current bike has a Giant saddle on it, not nearly as comfy as the Spoon, hence me looking for a black on black one!

Where did you find the Charge? I have a couple of them, White and Orange, Black and Red, Brown and Black. Looking for a Black on Black. The Brown and Black one my son bought for me for my birthday after my previous one disappeared with my bike that was stolen!