Pumpkin Orange…???

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Pumpkin Orange Powder Coat SampleMy Fujiyama is crying out for a different color. I can’t explain exactly how I know this, but ’tis true. I’ve been in the process of fixing her up with new cranksets and whatnot.

Well the next step seems to be painting the frame. I’m just not a rattle-can kinda guy so I figure powder coating is the next best way of dealing with things. But what color?

Well I was struck, not literally, by an old frame I saw a couple of years back that had been painted orange and had a black and silver build up. Since I’ve already got black and silver bits, I’m thinking orange is a good way to go. I don’t want fluorescent day-glo orange though, so a nice sedate pumpkin seems the way to go.

That means I’ve got to spend today breaking down my bike though as I need to get it to the Kickstand, a great little cycle shop in Kaimuki. They’ll take care of removing the bottom bracket and the headset, something I don’t really have the tools for, but I’ve got to get the rest.

They have another great option, a Mechanic’s Club. For a fee they’ll let you use their tools and give you the benefit of their expertise while you do one job or another.

I’m thinking of using them to build myself some wheels. I’m thinking the Sturmey-Archer 2 Speed kickback hub for the back wheel and an inexpensive dyno-hub for the front. I’m still researching that bit, but the powder coating is a definite go.

That’s it for now…got to get to work.

*** UPDATE ***

The deal is done. I spent an our stripping my Fujiyama down and now she’s been given over to the able hands of Cyrus and Nicky at the Kickstand. They are charming folks who run the shop in the evenings and on Sundays. I think they moonlight as educators during normal business hours. Really nice guys. I’m looking forward to doing even more business with ‘em.

Last two words for the day… PUMPKIN ORANGE!

Aloha!

Honolulu 6 A.M…

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This morning after checking my email I headed down the street to get some coffee with a coworker. Outside our building we saw that there was a downed power (or other) line. It wasn’t clear how it had come down as there was no downed pole or other indication, but there is was, laying across a couple of lanes of traffic. No sparks were visible but you can be sure I wan’t going to try to move it. My coworker suggested, as no officials were around, that we call 911 about it.

That was at 6:10 A.M. By the time we’d gotten our coffee, just a few minutes later the first officer had pulled up and was eyeballing the situation. Soon several more police vehicles arrived and traffic was diverted.

We watched for a bit from our windows overlooking the scene then got back to work. That’s when I noticed the first email. I’m subscribed to Nixle, a notification service for government and law enforcement, that keeps me up to date on the local goings on.

Nixle notification

As you can see, 25 minutes after I’d called, probably 20 minutes after the first officers arrived, I got this notification. Keep in mind I’m not claiming to be the only one who called this in, indeed it could have been down all night and phoned in multiple times. I like to think, however, that even if I wasn’t the first, the city was fairly nimble in responding. If I wasn’t the first to call it in, I suspect I was within a few minutes of that call. [This is actually the second time I've called in down lines, the previous time was in the same area around the same time, but a much different situation.]

Later, after 7 a.m., I received this notice…

Nixle Notification II

I haven’t paid much attention since then other than to note that the notices also showed up in my Twitter feed as well as on the HPD Facebook page. Actually when you get right down to it, there’s a lot of information available these days one can find on what’s actually happening in near real time. It was kind of fun tracking this, especially as it doesn’t seem there are any injuries or property damage (besides the power line itself) involved. That would definitely have been a bummer.

Coffee break time is over so…back to work!

Tiki Truck follow-up…

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While updating my blog today I noticed a new comment on my previous Tiki Truck post. It was from Abe, the proprietor, dropping by and saying thanks. You’re welcome.

But the story doesn’t end there. The thing is, as soon as I read the comment I got thinking how delicious my initial foray into Abe’s food had been and, as it was lunchtime, I wondered if he was in the neighborhood. Luckily for me the Tiki Truck is on Facebook as well as on Twitter.

Sure enough was just across the street again. Super.

When I got to the truck Abraham did a quick double take and asked if I might be the fellow who’d blogged about his truck. He said that he and the fellow from the Puffettes Egg Puff truck had found my post yesterday.

Last time around I had a Bahn Gyro so this time I thought I’d try something else. I took a look at the menu:

Tiki Truck Menu 1/12/2012

This time I opted for the Twisted Gyro. I sure hope that the “Crack Sauce” doesn’t really have crack in it because I’ll start jonesing for another soon. In fact, I’ll probably being doing that even if the sauce is legal because this gyro, with my choice of grilled pork, was simply onolicious. The veggies were fresh, fresh, fresh, the pork grilled to perfection, the gyro soft and chewy, and the sauce…might as well have crack in it…that good.

Here’s a shot of it all with a bite or two missing opened up for your viewing pleasure…

Twisted Gyro

I also had a Chicken Adobe Taco which was really, really good. I’m afraid that I ate it all up before I thought to make an image though…maybe next time…and there will be a next time.

I didn’t get to the Puffettes truck…again. I’ve had bite of their product when a co-worker bought some a while back and they’re onolicious too – but if I eat dessert I tend to pass out for the rest of the day – not good at work.

But again, that’s not quite the end of the story. The same co-worked who’d let me try her Puffette last time around went down to the Fairy Cakes truck. They’re on Twitter as well @FAIRYCAKES808. I ended up with a bite of their Banana Dream Cake (at least I think that’s the name). It’s sort of a Banana Cream Pie but on Banana Bread instead of pie crust. Ab Fab!

Fairy Cakes 808 Banana Dream

Wow.

Okay, that was lunch…it’s time to get back to work. I’ll be looking forward to another lunch at the Tiki Truck and Puffettes guy, I promise I’ll get there soon.

A hui hou!

New crankset on my Fujiyama…

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Let’s see…my old Fujiyama had been sitting for several months while I’ve been concentrating on my Riv and my Bike Friday. It’s really too bad because it’s a nifty little knockabout bike. I’d gotten started with this little project a long, long time ago when I bought the bike, rode it for a bit, then stored it until late 2009. That’s when I started playing, documented right here. You can find more with a search for Fujiyama if you are really interested, including this bit on Mr. Fujiyama. As it turns out, he’s still around the shop from time to time.

So, back in the present, Rivendell had a sale recently (actually it’s still on at the moment). It’s was their first ever sale and while they weren’t happy to have to have one, it turned into fairly good fortune for me.

The upshot is that one of the things I bought was an FSA Vero crankset which I figured I could use on my Fujiyama.

It arrived several days ago but I didn’t have time to put it on till this afternoon after work. It turned out to be a pain to get the old cranks off. They were original to the bike with the original welded-on chainrings. I got it off eventually with a little elbow grease (and some of the other kind as well).

The new FSA set went right on and I used the MKS Touring Pedals I had laying around, having removed them from my Quickbeam eons ago.

The only hitch was because my new chainring is a few teeth bigger my chain was now too short. I’m using a 1/8th inch chain on this beast (which helps with the chainline a bit having a bit more play) but that meant I had no links around as I do from the various 3/32′s I have around. Luckily a trip back to McCully Bicycle fixed that.

Ben, the (one of?) son of the original owner always seems happy to see this old beater, given that his dad used to import them as a house brand (name after his buddy, Mr. Fujiyama). Another fellow who’s worked there darn near forever looked at my bike again, laughed, and said I should donate the bike to the Bishop Museum.

In any case Ben put a new link in my chain saving me the trouble of buying a new one. All is well again.

Here’s a photo of the whole bike with its new drivetrain and one of the drivetrain a bit closer up. What next, 2 speed kickshift? Hmm….

Fujiyama with FSA Vero Cranks

A bit of glare but…

Fujiyama with FSA

Aloha!

Erich departs…

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Last Saturday my friend Erich departed Hawaii but not before we got in one last longish, but flat ride. We’d talked about a quick trip out to Sand Island for the photo op standing in front of downtown Honolulu across the harbor but ended up biking out to Waipahu and back on the Pearl Harbor bike path.

And, given the flatness of the route, we actually had time to get in the Sand Island leg before I had to run off to A Prairie Home Companion’s New Year’s show here in town.

Here’s Erich at the harbor…

Erich at the Harbor

I haven’t done nearly as much riding since Erich left – I ran up about 200 miles last week all told. This week I’ve only managed about 25 so far, but I’ve made sure to include some hills as I’m more or less (mostly less this month) beginning to train for Oregon. It’s back to increasing miles per week – though with 200 as my starting point I think I’d be hard pressed to go for more.

In other notes, Rivendell is having a sale, their first ever (sadly noted according to Grant), and I managed to spend too much money on things I definitely don’t need. Still it might all be fun.

One thing I did pick up was an inexpensive crankset for my Fujiyama. It’s been neglected for most of the year and I’ve been thinking about the possibilities. With the new crankset aboard I’ll probably work on new wheels next. They’re pretty trashed but still get me by. What I think I really want to do is build up a 3-speed hub drive for my rear wheel and run really puffy tires. Good fun – sort of a semi-cruiser commuter bike. We’ll see.

That’s it for now!