I Never Though It Would Be This Complicated...

I decided to install some upgrades & replace some worn-out parts on my camper, nothing really big but all quite good.

The reality is that I always knew it would challenge me and push me past comfort zones. I didn't expect some of the twists that came my way today though.

I've handled all the ones that Babe delivered, my ISP on the other hand... very frustrated with them still.

Upgrades

While camping in New York I finally got around to installing one upgrade that I knew I wanted and expected it to be a little tricky. It meant I'd have to take a drill in hand and make new holes in Babe. It wasn't something I was comfortable with and it was something I wanted to get right the first time. No room for error!

I refined the design to suit Babe and it works great. I still need to add a few touches but the difference was obvious right away. It was intimidating drilling holes though! and I didn't put holes for every snap (yet). I'll see how it works over the summer but the few days in NY after it was in place were pretty much bug-free inside.

I now have netting for every opening

Since we got back I've been planning a few additional changes but one thing needed to be addressed first: on the drive back from NY my muffler mount broke so it was rattling around and making extra noises. Fortunately when Dave made the stainless exhaust system I got him to add a second muffle mount on the driver side so this failure was a nuisance but not a real problem. I also had a few upgrades that I acquired at BusFusion that I wanted to take care of.

The muffler mount was fairly straight forward, I just had to hunt down a place where I could attach the new mount (I opted to add a new one rather than try to repair the old one). Eventually I bolted it onto the original mount and it seems to be doing its job just fine after a short test drive. I'll keep an eye on it after a longer drive to make sure it's still tight.

New muffler mount next to the old one

The third upgrade was a little more complicated. The end caps on the rear bumper were cracked and I didn't like the look of them so I had purchased a new pair at BusFusion. I didn't get the mounting hardware because I still had it all. Somewhere. I had taken one of the bolts off because I didn't want to lose it but that was a couple of years ago and I forgot where the safe place was that I put it.

I did eventually find it and then proceeded to work on removing the old ones. The previous owner had drilled two holes for each end cap and used some stainless bolts threaded into the bumper. Needless to say they didn't want to come out easily. Some PB and some persuasion worked for three of them but the 4th snapped. I tried drilling it out but knew I'd have problems with that spot so I decided to mount them the way they were designed to be installed. Which meant drilling a pair of 1/4" holes through the 1/4" thick steel bumper. I bought some stainless nuts & bolts plus a new drill bit for the occasion knowing it wouldn't be an easy task. It worked out fine though and I like the look much better.

New bumper end caps

The final upgrade was to finally mount the front license plate properly plus add the vanity plate from Germany that Andrea give me for my birthday. If you look at any of the old photos of Babe you'll see the plate attached to the lower grill with zip ties. Not pretty, plus it blocked a little airflow to the radiator.

I carefully measured where the mount would go and drilled two more holes, this time in the front bumper. Everything lined up and I got out the stainless nuts and bolts and discovered that I couldn't get the nut on the bolt from the back-side of the bumper. There wasn't room for tools or fingers. Well... I'll let the next three photos tell the story. I'm pleased with the result.

The old plate still in place

The bumper had to come off to do this

Bumper back in place, including the BusFusion plate trim and the German plate

As for my ISP... meh. Something went wrong with their router and eventually I had to do a factory reset and start over. I never stick with defaults so for years I've been using addresses in the private "10 dot" range rather than in the 192.168 range. And some of my devices use static addresses  to make them easier to acceess (like the various NAS I have). I've been able to get all of the settings back except for the IP addressing. The router won't let me use anything other than something under 192.168!!! I'm waiting to hear back from their technical support but meanwhile all of my network storage is offline. As is my printer and a few other devices. Sigh.

Something to be proud of in Toronto

Rest assured there will be no F@rd content here; he's a disgrace and a shameful example of everything we should strive to avoid. Instead I'll simply say that I'm proud Toronto has a respectful culture that celebrates diversity... welcome to Pride Week in Toronto! There will be much celebrating and a group wedding like this is an awesome moment worthy of recognition. 


Over 100 couples tied the knot at Casa Loma:
http://www.blogto.com/city/2014/06/huge_group_wedding_highlights_world_pride_festivities/

Lake Champlain, Wilmington and 2015

Three themes evolved over the past week which revolved around another trip in my camper. This was a shorter one though as it was "only" 1,100 miles in total to upstate New York and back. The reason for going was a bike race that Andrea wanted to compete in. She's been moving away from the local short race scene as it's not as much fun as it used to be. Instead, longer enduro and epic events are becoming more interesting to her. So she signed up for the Wilmington Whiteface 100 which is a 100 km race (actually 108km) along gravel roads, a little pavement and some singletrack. All of this in the Adirondacks so you know there was some serious climbing involved.

That was the reason for the trip. It isn't the full story though as we headed down a week before the race to enjoy some time away. I had originally booked us into the nearby KOA for the week but Andrea said she wanted to spend some time relaxing on the shores of Lake Champlain. She found a campsite that looked promising at Crown Point State Park near the bottom of the lake so we juggled reservations and plans and fit it all together.

Andrea, Perry & Cooper

First up was a Father's Day / birthday visit with her dad and Karen along with John and his family. It was a beautiful day with much of it spent in or around their pool. In the morning it was a long slow drive under Lake Ontario as we made our way to Crown Point. It was an uneventful drive other than the naps resulting from a crappy sleep for Andrea.

We spent much of the week in the same spot, only driving up to Burlington once on the Tuesday and then not even starting Babe until it was time to pack up and go to Wilmington. I won't recommend the campground as it's nothing special, has no particular services worth mentioning and is next to the southern bridge across the lake so it has a lot of traffic. But if you do go... book the lean-to site. It's the only one that has even a hint of privacy. Of course compared to the KOA we moved to next it was spacious so who am I to complain!

One note:I never would have expected to find a bronze cast by Auguste Rodin in a place like this. That was a real treat...

Look for the Rodin signature...

One thing that didn't work out was getting a new bike rack. I've been trying to find a better way to carry bikes on Babe and have tried to figure out a hitch-based solution but haven't found one that works for me. For my birthday Andrea offered to get the Fiamma rack designed to fit the back hatch of a Vanagon and I thought that was awesome so once we got into the States she tried to order it from BusDepot as they had them on sale. The plan was to order it, have it shipped to a friend in Underhill VT and use that as a reason to get together for a lunch or dinner. Sadly they were out of stock. I told Andrea to hold off and let Guy know it wasn't happening... too bad, I was excited about that upgrade!

Instead I spent the time camped doing some minor changes and upgrades. Plus reading... it's been a while since I felt like just sitting and reading for hours. Two books later I am quite thrilled with having the time and using it this way :)

An upgrade I'd been working to get the nerve to do was installing the screen door for the slider. I bought it last year, and have tried a few options to get it in. The challenge is that it requires drilling holes into my lovely camper and I was really reluctant to do that. I looked at ways to use magnets, ways to modify the screen door to align with existing screw holes, and every possibility I could come up with. In the end I got out the drill and carefully found the right places. I'm very VERY happy with the result. Having proper bug netting there makes things a lot better.
Friday came and with its arrival we packed up and relocated to Wilmington in preparation for the race on Sunday. It was a short drive to get there which meant we arrived well before the 3pm check-in time. They offered to let us in early if we donated $5 / hour to a charity box they had. It was 10am, that would have been almost the cost of an extra night so we declined and headed in to Lake Placid to shop and take care of Andrea's slow leak in her rear tire. I'll skip all the gory details of back and forth and delay this or gotta do that... in the end it meant a new tire. A last minute change a day before a big race is never recommended but in this case it was too late to avoid. Let's just say we spent more on this than if we'd camped early.

With a group of 7 racers and their partners and children we had a great group together. This of course meant some pub grub and get together. And with another Westy owner in the group we had company at the campsite (all of the others were wimps and opted for motels in Lake Placid).  Gonna have to fix that before Leadville!

Ready

Eventually Sunday morning came and it was race time! The start was at 7am so all of the racers were up early having breakfast around 5:30. I opted to relax and eventually strolled out to the road where the race would pass the campground just after 7. I published a few photos to Facebook, then I went back to working on the magazine article I'd been trying to finish (which I submitted earlier today, there will be two pieces of mine in the next Pedal magazine). I had hours to work on it before heading to the finish area and it started to come together nicely. Then I hopped on my bike to get some finish line shots. I've seen some beat-up riders at the end of a race before, never like this though. Pained. Drained. Destroyed. Any yet there were still smiles of accomplishment. It's a brutal race and everyone who dared start deserves recognition. Finishing is an extra accomplishment and getting a good time is awesome.

The post-race activities went on for a long time and that's because there are coins that get handed out which entitle the recipient to enter the Leadville 100...

I'll describe that in another entry. For now I'll just say that leading up to August 2015 I'll be driving Babe across the States to get to Leadville. Andrea got offered a spot on the startline and took it. Let the training begin!

Each coin is a place on the startline of the Leadville 100

Andrea with Rebecca Rusch

Sip UBU Sip

The Idea of Father

The impending arrival of Father's Day has instilled a mitt-full of thoughts in me, as it generally does every year. It's not a calendar event I rank very highly, nor do I generally invest much energy in recognizing it.

It's been a long time since I've had one (a father), my dad died in 1970 when I was 16. I know a little about who he was from the things I got to learn while he was around and I've learned a little more from my mom in the time that's passed since he passed. It's a mixture of emotions, I do appreciate knowing more though. It's not a happy place and making the most of it means a lot. So that's what I focus on.

Immigrants who left a war-torn country. Raising a family in a new culture. I have great admiration for what both of my parents accomplished. I only wish I'd had more time to get to know my father. I will give him credit for teaching me a lot though. Including a lesson I hold dear still...

You never know, so take every opportunity and make the most of every day. Now... he'd never have tried to express that, he wasn't that kind of person! And yet he was exactly that kind of person in how he lived.

Actions, not words. I learned that from him and I live by it. So, thanks dad. And happy Father's Day.

Karl Christoph Kraiker. 1913 to 1970

From Basements to Birthdays - 60

Last weekend was an awesome VW bus event. This week was constructive work in the basement. Today... well it's my birthday. Sixty years old, still here.

I am older than my old man
I am older than my old man ever was
I try to keep it in context
(Lyrics from "Older than my old man now", Loudon Wainwright III)

My father didn't make it to 58, so 60 is a meaningful personal moment and I'm glad to have gotten here. It's not about the age though, being here, now... that's what matters. I'm very much here, and happy to be alive and living in the moment.

It's been an interesting day, I've quite enjoyed the pace and feelings. A slow start, lingering in bed... I enjoyed my day's beginning. A relaxed middle, puttering, contemplating. Chatting with a neighbour, learning and sharing. Fresh local asparagus for dinner, cooked the way I like it (since I cooked it). Very much a reflection of how I view this phase in my life... low key suits me just fine.

When I turned 50 I was determined to make some changes. Ten years ago... wow.

Since June 12th 2004, I've:

• quit smoking.
• taken up bike racing (and stopped).
• gone up some amazing mountain passes (on a bike of course).
• broken more bones than in the 50 years before.
• gone to places I'd only dreamt of, like Moab.
• "retired" and worked hard at enjoying it!
• gone from having a ponytail to shaving my head. 
• learned to fix an old VW.
• driven that old VW to some amazing places.
• gotten over a fist-full of fears.
• dared to write things, some destined to be printed in magazines.
• ridden a bike in places I'd never thought I would. New Zealand comes to mind.
• smiled more. And hopefully mellowed a little.
• taken a photo or two.
• ... and more ...

I expect just as much more from the next 10 years... we'll see how that works out!

No photos from the day though... this is a "words only" post.

I'm sixty... how the hell did that happen?!?! 

From Buses to Basements

The glow from the past weekend at Busfusion is slowly fading, and I've been getting back to things I'd started before I left for Moab. I've made some good progress this past week, and that includes time invested today. Steff has been really helpful and together we nailed a bunch of things on my bucket list. I did a bunch more today too.

And let me say for the record... the ONLY time I'm ok with shopping at Ikea is when I know exactly what I want and it's in the bulk area at the end of the line before the cash. Twice in two weeks really pushed all those buttons.

But I have 2 thirds of the space built, one twist I didn't expect means I'll have to buy a couple of brackets to replace ones I wanted to re-use. Not a big deal, just a slight delay.

So here are a couple of photos... on top of doing the grunt work I also decided to hang a couple of photos.

The bathroom, seen from the guest room

The back storage area... starting to fill up

2014 BusFusion - Trip Report

After months of preparation, the 2014 edition of BusFusion is now a string of awesome memories.

It started on Thursday (June 5th) with cool weather however by Friday afternoon the sun was out and the warmth tempted a lot of people into going for a swim in the Mississippi River. And the wonderful weather lasted throughout the rest of the event... more than a few people got a little too much and went home with a sunburn.

I had hoped to get on the road Thursday but Andrea wasn't able to and then there was the muffler repair that Babe needed. The weekend before the exhaust pipe broke (rusted through) and so I took her to the spa to get a replacement crafted. Dave and I agreed to fabricate one out of stainless steel, adding a mount for the pipe before the muffler and connecting the muffler with a clamp rather than welding it together since the pipe will outlast the next few mufflers. Turns out getting the right pipes wasn't as simple as he expected it to be... but in the end he did get everything back together and nice and solid. It just took a little longer than expected and he didn't get the job done until late Thursday afternoon.

Stainless... I expect it will last a while!

As part of the organizing committee, I was also in charge of getting a new edition of the fleece jackets & vests. I had arranged everything and the order was completed a week before the event but some of the jackets had oil on them and had to be redone. They were supposed to be done for Monday but the guy doing the embroidery ran into a series of problems including having his brother take his car (with the fleece in the trunk of course) on the Wednesday. I finally took delivery of them just before I was going to head up to pick up Babe... just-in-time delivery! They were a big hit though, everyone who got one loves it. And don't for a moment think I am unhappy with the service... it just needs a little extra effort to make sure it happens right.

We tried to organized a bus caravan (known as a "carabus", I personally like busavan though ;) for the Friday morning and we got close. We never did connect though, I think we were in between two other groups of buses and the closest we came to connecting was text messages. It was an uneventful drive though, the best kind. And I think we got there early afternoon. Just in time for a sourdough session, which Andrea quickly headed to. She had brought some of her rye sourdough that she's been nurturing for a few years to give Nancy, who has been developing a white sourdough starter for a while with great success. A room full of bakers!

Meanwhile, I set about getting our camp spot organized over a beer with my friend Dake (from Maine). Followers of my blog might remember Dake and the ice cube tray and the story behind it. It was great to see him again and to have a little time getting caught up.

Home for the weekend

 Having missed this event last year and not having seen many of the extended family members for two years I had a lot of catching up to do. Any walk-about would take three times as long as expected, even sitting reading I was frequently setting my iPad aside to chat (inspired by my trip through the Four Corners I decided to go back and read some Tony Hillerman books that I haven't read before). And I loved the interruptions as much as I'm loving having time to read. It's been far too long since I last picked up a book to read.

There were probably around 100 buses (and a few "foreign" vehicles without a VW on the front... riff-raff!) on Friday and by Saturday that number swelled to 185. It's really very cool to look across a field at sunset with that many tops popped.

Friday started cool (before we got there), and then it turned hot. And stayed hot... people would stop by just to spend a little time in the shade of an awning. As evening began to settle in, lots of us gathered in the fairground hall to watch Circle The Wagen... a playful tale about an impulse purchase. It was delightful and entertaining, yet I actually found it painful to watch at times. And the ending felt very disappointing to me as someone who's gone down a similar path. I'll stop at that, no spoiler!

 And as usual the campfire action was great. This event has a few things totally dialed in and a good supply of wood is one of them. At the start of the event a perfect load is dropped next to the campfire and it's used generously so the fire is bright, warm and inviting. Surrounded by a ring of volks and featuring an ever changing band so you never know what to expect other than good company.

 Saturday was a delight. Andrea and I had talked about going for a nice ride together in the morning, in the end she felt the need to get a hardcore training ride in and wanted to get out early. I on the other hand enjoyed lingering in bed and then being treated to some of Nancy's sourdough pancakes with blueberries and home-made maple syrup. Great way to start a day.

The sun continued to beat down on us all day, shade was a precious commodity and the beach was a popular destination. And it's the perfect day for a tour of the fairground to look at all the buses and pick "the best of 2014". Here are a few photos I took... unlike previous years I didn't spend too much time trying to capture them all in pictures, you can check out the BusFusion FaceBook page or the website for lots more photos as they get published.

Classic beatuies

Most buses have a name. Some trailers too...

Yup

As much as I enjoy looking at the buses and seeing how everyone uses them, I'm actually much more interested in the people who drive them, live in them, travel with them. And I actually took more photos of people than buses this year... I expect I'll do even more of that next year as it really interests me. I'm not a portrait photographer, I do love taking candid shots though. And I have some delightful shots from this year. Here's a small selection (I don't know what to do with the full set, it's not something for my website and they won't be for sale... perhaps a few will make it into a gallery display).

Guy (Vermont) & Brian (New Jersey)

Gord, Brent, Jim and Jerry

Frank, with Greg & Linda

The winner of the one-of-a-kind BusFusion quilt (Nelly)

Gord... a patriarch with an infectious laugh and inviting smile

Saturday wrapped up with a communal dinner, door prizes and live entertainment (BeatleJuice). It was still hot and it took a while before people were interested in coming back into the hall to dance after dinner. The band was great though, and they played well into the eve. In fact, for the first time ever at a VW campout I didn't go to the Saturday evening camprfire. Instead I relaxed at home, and spent some time with the Potts clan. I think something good may come of that in the future! Stay tuned...

Bottom right... yes, that's an airplane. Dropped in for a visit

All too soon it was Sunday. How did that happen?!?!?
But sure enough it was, and that meant breakfast burritos. Greg is in charge of that and he knows how to deliver (he's the organizer of Buses of the Corn and has the breakfast dialed in). Great way to start any day!

And then it was time to make the rounds... there are a lot of people to say good bye to, I think it was over an hour before we actually left. And one friend (Charles, who had camped beside us the first year we came which was before we had a Westy) made a point of coming over while we were stopped to chat with someone else. We'd looked for him earlier in the weekend but struck out so this was awesome... brought smiles all around.

Eventually there was no avoiding it... time to head home. Jeff (a cycling buddy) opted to busavan back for much of the way. I'm glad, it gave us a little extra time to chat. He's part of the group Andrea and I have cycled with in North Carolina, he's one of the people around when I crashed last year and he helped big time in getting me out. Plus he's a funny guy... glad to have him as a friend.

After all the blue skies and UV rays, when we got back to TO it started to rain. I'll take full credit for the best weather BusFusion has had... it arrived with me and stayed until I left :)

Seriously though... this was an exceptional campout and it sets the bar very high! So let's see what 2015 has in store.

Defining Moments: Breaking Away

As I'm getting caught up on all the social media stuff that I've missed during the day, one item caught my eye.

It's been 35 years since the Oscar winning "Breaking Away" came out, wow! The movie was amazing on many levels when it came out... 1979 wasn't a time when bike racing was really big and popular in North America. And yet... this event that's the backdrop for the movie was happening and is still happening. The Little 500 is an Indy tribute (?) to the motorsport event. I can't help but wonder about the playfulness but that's just me I think.

I do appreciate the Hoosier side of things. And I love the underdog perspective that's represented by the Cutters. I think it's the amazing passion about cycling, in a time when it was very much a sub-culture here, that impresses me the most though. And it's a very delightful movie... time to watch it again! Really though, it's been 35 years???

New Cards for 2014

Inspired by a Klout "perk" of 50 free cards from Moo, I decided to look into what their cards look like. And what the perk was really all about.

The perk was really just advertising, the cards all had both the Moo.com and Klout logos on them unless you upgraded to something that wasn't free. Their card designs are nice though, and they are routinely identified as one of the top 5 online sources. Guess what I did :)

Canadian Cyclists & Doping: My Thoughts Today

I read the exclusive update that Velonews published after the end of the Giro (posted to their website on June 2nd) with Ryder Hesjedal talking for the first time in more detail than a press release about his past doping transgressions:

Exclusive: Hesjedal speaks about past doping offenses

I was glad to see the storyline, I think it's long overdue. Having read it, honestly I'm still not sure what I think about it. I've been taking my time to formulate a response, and I expect you'll find it as inconclusive as the overall story.

What Do We Know?

Hesjedal didn't talk much about what took place back in the days when he was learning things from Rasmussen; very few facts came out when he acknowledged it and not much more is known now despite his exclusive with VN. Like many other journalists I tried to get more insight into what happened and what the impact was. I found the most sincere insights came from other Canadian cyclists who were affected by the actions of riders like Hesjedal. A number of them were published online via PedalMag.com and you can find them from riders like Bauer and Kabush here, as well as Pendrel, Parisien & Watson. Good honest commentary, nothing from the folks outed by Rasmussen other than pre-scrubbed responses though. 

The print article I worked on was less rushed and being able to talk to people like Svein Tuft, USADA, Jonathan Vaughters and others for hours gave me some deeper insights from team and peloton but not really a lot more from Hesjedal. I still feel the same way despite his saying things like "It’s not everyone’s right to know all the details in these types of matters" in the VN piece. My opinion is very different... I think being more detailed in responding is in fact required. I can guess at why he's reserving his rights, I'd rather he say what those reasons are or just share the details.

Canadian, Eh?

Having interviewed Michael Barry on the same doping topic, I find the two story lines radically different and I'm less inclined to accept what feels like obfuscation from Hesjedal. When I asked Barry about personal details like how he hid it from his wife there was no tone of deception in his voice. He made it clear that she knew and accepted his right to decide that (and he was equally clear to not to imply Didi approved... just that he did what he did). I get no such sense of honesty from anything Hesjedal has shared yet. And to be clear, Hesjedal has not accepted any opportunity to talk to me since this became public so I only have what's published to go by. I'm just sayin'... talking to any/all/even little guys like me journos give some credibility to whatever is shared. And being Canadian does have some implications...

I get the sense that there are more results at risk for Hesjedal than Barry with more candid answers and can't help but wonder if that might hint at motives. I can only guess though. And wonder about why. The VN piece includes some important comments from Vaughters on the topic and I agree completely... "tell the truth and it’s six months if it’s within statute of limitations. If you lie, it’s a lifetime ban.’ [To suggest] that he might have lied about later years, is a bit ridiculous". Coming out, being honest is hard at the best of times. Still, it leaves room for questions and I wonder who needs to address that. I think the community that thrives on cycling is wondering, not just me.

Does Timing Matter?

The VN piece touches on the timing of the USADA interview, I looked into that too. As well as the investigations by the Canadian equivalent (CCES). They both described a timeline that's consistent with what VN has reported on. And I got a very clear indication that this is still an ongoing investigation, which can only be taken to say that Hesjedal, Barry and lots of others are only pawns in a game that seems to be aimed at one Lance Armstrong. He certainly seems to have a huge target painted on his chest... hard to imagine he didn't have a big part to play in putting it there though. As for the timing... well I am unconvinced as there aren't enough facts in front of me.

The story's evolution doesn't excuse the lack of facts... we're now talking about revelations that were front and center in late 2012 after years of preamble. They flared up again about the same time in 2013 with Rasmussen's book and Hesjedal's outing. And we're already into June 2014 without much more being answered.

So I have to ask: who's holding us back from learning the full story?