Monthly Archives: November 2014

One Week since I Rode

This entry was posted in Just Life on by .

I can’t believe it has been a week since I rode last.  That was in Seattle and I haven’t even put my bike together yet.  It’s sitting in Vincent’s garage in the bike bag still.

Man, does a week go super fast.  Actually, now that I think about more, it seems like it has been a super long week.

It’s pretty usual that snow sits a week on the ground,  the front range here in Colorado, especially in November.   That maybe isn’t the only reason I haven’t ridden.  Well, yes it is, now that I think about it.  I could always take a couple hours out of the day to ride.  Plus, I have much more energy when I ride some during the day.

I’ve been following the Jingle Cross results a little.  I can barely stand it.  It is probably my favorite cross weekend of the year.  If you’ve never been there, then you should sometime.   Brian Matter looks to be going great, after his Iceman Cometh win, finishing 3rd and 5th so far.

I got a little bummed when I got an email with a Strava alert and it said that Ned Overend road the 2nd fastest lap somewhere in New Mexico.  I clicked on it and, yep, Ned must be racing cross.  Makes me jealous.

Yesterday went pretty badly, construction-wise.  I was screwing up the backer board most of the morning, with the intention of tiling later.  I don’t know what happened exactly, but the tiling never got started.  We ate a super dinner that Lisa cooked, some pesto stuffed chicken, and then went downstairs to tile.  I had planned to work late into the night, but that didn’t materialize.

I mixed up a bunch of thinset, let it sit while I was measuring the floor for tile.  I marked a few tile to cut around the drain and when I went to use the tile saw, it wouldn’t start.  Nothing.  Man, that put a huge dent in the job process when the tile saw doesn’t cut tile.  Like it comes to a standstill.

Vincent proceeded to to disassemble the tile saw and found that it was missing a brush, so he couldn’t fix it because he didn’t have the appropriate brush sitting around.

So, I took the batch of thinset and put down some Ditra membrane, which supposedly keeps the tile from cracking, something like a slipsheet.  I’ve never used Ditra, only cement board, but we are tiling a cement floor, so putting concrete board down would be redundant I guess.

Vincent came back with a new tile saw this morning, so the coast is clear to actually make some progress.

I hope to watch some of the Superprestige Asper-Gavere, on video later today since I missed it live this morning.  Don’t tell me who won.

The shower is ready to tile now.

The shower is ready to tile now.

Messin' around with the floor layout.

Messin‘ around with the floor layout.

I didn't want to waste a bucket full of thinset, so....

I didn’t want to waste a bucket full of thinset, so….

I put this Ditra membrane down with it.

I put this Ditra membrane down with it.

Groundhog Day

This entry was posted in Racing on by .

It’s sort of been like Groundhog Day, the movie, here for me.  Seems like I keep doing the same thing over and over again, with nothing much really changing.

Don’t get me wrong, I like the process of tiling, or even construction in general.  It takes intellect and physical ability, plus nothing is even the same twice.  At least in the construction I do.

This project is bigger than I had anticipated.  I never get the time right when guessing how long it will take to do something related to construction.  I’m not always guessing shorter, but usually.

I should be done with the shower today,  not grouted, but all the tile set.  I’ve never attached tile to a ceiling.  At least big tile.  This is big tile, 18 inch porcelain.  Wish me luck.

This whole process makes me appreciate cycling more and more.  I don’t mind the “Groundhog Day effect” when it comes to cycling.  I think that is because cycling never is that repetitive, even though it seems like it is.   I’ve written about this before.  Cycling is attractive to me because it is always a little different, thus new.

It is super windy here in Colorado today.  It started last night.  Vincent lives up near the mountains, by Golden and for some reason, the wind get channeled down and just blows like crazy.  It is so windy that the whole house nearly shakes.  I like weather, but some much wind, at night, when I’m trying to sleep, is a little disconcerting.  I remember riding Tour of Southland, on the South island of New Zealand, and the windy would be howling all night and I sort of dreaded the next day.  And it really never stops there.  Luckily, that isn’t the case here.

Looks like Jingle Cross was super successful again last weekend.  John and the guys there do an amazing job.  The race has been going on over a decade and only gets better.  I’m not missing it again next year.

I went for a short hike, more like a walk with Vincent yesterday, up some singletrack, on the snow.  There is no way I could be racing cyclocross, so at least I don’t have to worry about that decision.

Vincent was talking about riding fatbikes today.  Not sure if that is going to happen, but I do need a little change of pace.  My current pace seems to be slowing as the days go on.

 

I've never used 18 inch tile on walls. It looks pretty good. The shower is huge, with nearly 9 foot ceilings.

I’ve never used 18 inch tile on walls. It looks pretty good. The shower is huge, with nearly 9 foot ceilings.

I didn't have a saw to cut the hole for the shower head pipe, so I just tiled around it. Don't worry, I measured pretty carefully to make sure it was the right size and square.

I didn’t have a saw to cut the hole for the shower head pipe, so I just tiled around it. Don’t worry, I measured pretty carefully to make sure it was the right size and square.

My hands are pretty wasted. I never can seem to keep gloves on very long.

My hands are pretty wasted. I never can seem to keep gloves on very long.

 

Got this friend request on Facebook. Vincent said it is computer generated. Not sure why her name isn't Jesus Chester or Chester Denis or something.

Got this friend request on Facebook. Vincent said it is computer generated. Not sure why her name isn’t Jesus Chester or Chester Denis or something.