Ploafmaster General

Okay, lemme get this out of the way first: these lovely mid-80s SR Sakae cranks were likely headed to the co-op if I couldn’t make this work. When I pulled them off the Olympian I discovered that they only really had usable 110 BCD drilling at the ends of each arm. Where one might expect to find 74 BCD holes inboard were instead a few shallow, unthreaded starter holes. I’m building up this bike for my wife and I want comfortable 2x gearing, so I want the ability to run something in the high 20s for an inner chainring like I use on my own bikes.

So…I found out what size drill I needed to drill holes before using a bottoming tap to cut threads for chainring bolts. I was too impatient for proper work-holding, so I kind of, uh…I freehanded all 5 holes. Kids (and adults), don’t do this at home. This is where I know I was extremely lucky because this could have all gone horribly wrong. In reality, I ended up with 5 holes that are straight enough to securely attach a 74 BCD inner chainring without any weird stick-out of the bolt heads or difficulty tightening any of them!

I did, of course, take many measurements. I used my micrometer to sort out how much depth of cut I needed for the thread past the chainring and I taped the drill bit as a stop marker. I still had at least a good 5 millimeters of buffer. Again though—take the time to sort out proper work holding, particularly if you’re trying this crack-pot idea on a part that you really care about (or is actually worth something).

This is super niche, nerdy shit, but I left the shed this afternoon feeling like Tom Hanks in Cast Away after he built a fire. But he didn’t have a quarter cup of scattered aluminum swarf to clean off of his cluttered workbench.

Second coat of clear on the red #bike. Now I wait like 24-48 hours and I can buff it/polish it and start assembly!!!

First coat of 2K clear coat done on the Diamond Back Apex. The paint is rough, so this is mostly to protect what is left and the steel underneath.

He’s not on here (I don’t think), but I’m super damned proud of my best friend being named professor of the year by the honors council at the university where he teaches!

[in a voice that suggests extreme constipation] Hi. I’m Borkus Nargleton.

Today was the perfect day for the “wet bike”. VO Zeppelin fenders on the Space Horse meant that I could still ride 30 miles in this crummy weather and it was mostly the humidity that made me wet.

This is pretty late coming, but I wanted to share some additional photos from my LA trip back in April. First up is our abbreviated trip to Joshua Tree National Park!

We didn’t really plan to visit a national park when we headed out to California, but Valerie sort of spontaneously brought it up and we went for it. We figured we could have one day where we didn’t spend time with my grandma, but in hindsight we still should have put a little more planning into this side quest. We didn’t really get on the road until 9:30 in Hollywood, so by the time we drove all the way, picked up some groceries for a picnic lunch, and pre-purchased our souvenirs at the main office, it was after 1:00 PM.

With only a few hours to actually explore the park before heading back to the city, we didn’t get to do any proper hiking. We stuck, mostly, to the ring road and pulled off many times to explore some of the otherworldly sights. And you know what? Even a few hours is worth it at Joshua Tree. Every turn seemed to bring a change in geology with mountains shifting from soaring peaks to massive rock piles. The desert grasses and flowers (not many, but they were out there and beautiful!) decorated the otherwise dry and rocky landscape, but the titular Joshua trees certainly were the star of the show. I had always assumed they were more or less the size of a large shrub, but we saw many older plants reaching up over 30 feet at least.

It’s not easy for my family to take the time and cost to visit California, but if I ever get the chance to return I’m building in more intentional time at Joshua Tree. Spending at least a full day there would be easy and worth it.

Oh yeah—we even saw a road runner scurry across the road in front of us on the way out, but I was driving and couldn’t get a photo. Meep meep!

“Chekhov’s mustelid” he said to the deaf ears of his family during the climactic scene of Kindergarten Cop.

Sitting down with the family to watch a star war at Movieland. I have mixed feelings heading into this one, but love going to the movies with my wife and kids.

FINALLY filled out passport forms for me, my wife, and both kids. Passport photo and application appointment made for 6/13 at Clover Hill Library. Trying to do an August trip to Montreal!

Got a text AND email from FedEx about a bill for import duties for a Bluelug delivery back in February that I already received. SCOTUS said Trump’s tariffs were illegal. Can I pay FedEx with a “fuck you”?

Some dumbass leaves a dockless scooter in front of a #bike rack? You better believe I’m HARD throwing that piece of shit on the ground (out of pedestrian right-of-way).

Because I am an insufferable nerd, I just got a set of bore gauges so I can more accurately measure the interior diameter of seat tubes and such on #bike frames 😜

God, this newsletter entry from Mike Monteiro on kids leaving home was really good. The last paragraph extracted some tears from me (via Kottke).

I finish riding my bike only to watch loads of videos about #bikes after I shower. If it wasn’t one million degrees outside today I would be working on bikes in my shed.

This is my first pass at something ridiculous. I have not tried it yet, just planning. The idea is a century entirely within (or along) city borders. I give you the Richmond Stupid 100 v1: www.strava.com/routes/34…

Tired (but beautiful) #bike ride. Glorious food and cocktails at ZZQ. Warm stroll around Carytown. Nearly zonking out on the sofa.

Saturday deluxe.

It’s Bike to Work Day and, if I felt valued by my employer, I might have biked to the office nobody uses anymore.

Instead I may bike FOR work today.

I’m such a huge fan of Maxxis DTH tires that I wish they made them in 27.5 size. Even in 26” with tubes at 40 PSI, they’re comfy and have a versatile, fast-rolling tread.

For whatever reason I’ve never been a big Sonic Youth fan, but dang it, “Incinerate” wore me down over the years. I dig that song, at least.

Because of chaotic kid event scheduling we couldn’t get a reservation for a nice Mother’s Day meal. So I made steak and mashed potatoes (and hard-roasted broccoli) for Valerie. I tried the reverse sear method on some baller NY strips and HOLY GLOB! Best steak in years.

Some gal at this state gymnastics meet just used “Tank!” by SEAT BELTS (theme from Cowboy Bebop) for her floor routine, and it ruled.

Ruby Scoops for the birthday boy (my now 10YO kid)

It’s bike month! Last night there was an open house at the Richmond Bicycle Factory in the Southside that started with a ride-out from Scuffletown Park in The Fan. Roughly 4.5 miles of party pace cruising with 20-30 riders and their dope bikes was a fantastic warmup (after my already 37 miles of riding before I showed up).

It’s super awesome that we have production and custom bikes made right here in town, and we all got to see the operations for Haute Bicycle Co., Far Far (Robbie from the late, great Wheel Simple), Chumba’s Richmond production situation, and G.O.A.T. Bike Co. So many cool people making cool things just across the river from me. There were snacks, beverages, and good vibes enough for twice the crowd. I even ran into an old coworker from my first job!

Check out some more of the sights around the shop:

Alex Melton posted a real banger yesterday, a perfect intersection of my late teenage pop punk interests and the Paul Simon music that was one of my favorite songs (and videos) from my childhood: