Yesterday was long. I’m feeling pretty bad. I’m not sure if that is because I spent 3 hours at the dentist again, taking antibiotics for 6 days or racing 3 cyclo-x races, with 2 being pretty epic. Whatever the reason, I’m beat. I rode 3 hours yesterday and didn’t hardly go anywhere. So, I’m going to rest and wait it out I guess and try to catch up on some stuff I’ve been putting off.

I started messing around trying to get another scooter up and running for motor pacing. It went pretty good. I have two more Honda Elite 150 Deluxe scooters. Both are from 1986. I bought one in Minneapolis and one in St. Louis a few years ago. One has 700+ miles and the other a little over 2000. Pretty crazy low mileage for both. Both run. One was missing a gas tank and the rear brake light and a few other parts, but I have most those by now.

The problem is that neither came with a title. So, I have to figure out how to register them and get them retitled. Both the guys I bought them from we not scooter thieves. They just hadn’t had the scooters running forever and didn’t have the titles. I’m not sure how to go about getting a tag, but I’m sure I’ll figure something out.

Today I’m going over to a friends house and starting to put a rubber roof on his porch. It has a tar and gravel roof now, but it is leaking and he wants rubber. I’m not sure how long that will take. It is supposed to rain by Friday, so I’d better be done before then.

Both my cross bikes are pretty hammered from last weekend. I could hardly turn the cranks on one of the Eriksen’s. It turnout out to be a seized up derailluer pulley. It was a Enduro ceramic pulley. I haven’t had very good luck with either their crank bearings for my Trek road bike or these pulleys. They just aren’t sealed good enough to withstand the elements. Too bad, because they are super smooth.

Okay. I’m making sourdough pancakes for breakfast before I head out. I’ve had this sourdough starter for nearly 20 years now. I thought I lost it once, when the jar exploded in the refrigerator when I had been gone for too long, but I’d given some to Catherine. She had never used it and it was just sitting in the back of her refrigerator. I snagged it back and then gave her some more later. The pancakes are more like crepes, really good. Only pure maple syrup of course.

The two scooters. I like it when the headlights pop out when you turn the key.

These is the one I"m making work right. I put a new speedometer cable in last night.

Pretty low mileage.

I had to go and pick up a friend Nan Gatewood and Trudi yesterday. Nan got this piece of glass in a tubeless tire. I've never seen anything this big sticking out of a tire. It obviously didn't seal.

My dentist, Dr. Johnson is a wizard making crowns . Dentistry has really improved in the last 10 years.

I like the long shadows out riding this time of the year.

And the sunsets. Trudi took this out riding with Bromont at sunset yesterday.

Pancakes

It never ceases to amaze me how unfit I can be doing movements and being in positions I’m not normally in. You’d think with doing cyclo-x, it would be hard to get sore doing any sort of construction. That isn’t the case.

Yesterday I spent most of the day on a tar and gravel porch roof, preparing it to cover it with rigid insulation and then a rubber roof. It isn’t that big of a roof or project. It’s been leaking, mainly along the flashing. That is always the big problem with flat roofs, leaks along the edges. The sides of the house are covered with 100 year old cedar shingles that are about 3 feet long. It was a time consuming effort trying to remove the bottom course without destroying the shingle above. That is what I am paying for today. Laying on my back in an awkward position for hours, sometimes holding a worm-drive circular saw with my arms extended. Plus I have an enormous amount of saw dust lodged in my sinuses.

Whatever, the results are the same, I’m toast. I have to go back and secure the plastic to cover the opening better. It is supposed to rain/snow all night and be pretty cold. I didn’t ride yesterday and am not looking forward to it today. I’m not use to the cold yet this year. The wind is blowing like crazy, plus it is hardly going to be 40. Maybe MTB bikes before it gets too wet. The only problem with that is my left knee is kind of jacked from Jingle Cross, plus going up an down a ladder a million times yesterday didn’t help much.

Last night was the annual Sunflower Bike Shop holiday party in Lawrence. It seemed kind of early to me, but I think it is normally the first Thursday in December, which happened to be the 1st this year. Here’s a post on it I did a couple years ago. The party was great as usual. Lawrence is a much more progressive city than Topeka. I think all the liberal arts college towns in the Midwest are. Sunflower is the perfect gathering spot for a bunch of interesting and fun people. It is nice that Sunflower gets them together at one time during the year. Dan Hughes, czar, has a megaphone and keeps the reins on the party. There is a ton of swag given away. Tons. I never seems to get anything, but I’m never over in the fray when the throwing begins. Anyway, it was a good night.

I’m not racing this weekend. There are two local races in Kansas City, but I think they both use a BMX course for part of the course and it is going to be extremely muddy, plus cold. I haven’t really recovered from last weekend. My equipment sure hasn’t. I need to get on that today.

Old leaky roof.

The flashing and first course of shingles removed.

Sunflower bike shop last night.

Dan Hughes' belt buckle from the Leadville 100 this year.

It not just a bike shop, it's a full on camping/gear store. I loved this movie.

The pads for sleeping on the ground have really improved since I last shopped.

I liked this hard case for packing your banana on the go.