Hotties

I went for a ride on the bike path yesterday. Oh my God!!! The hotties were out in force. It was the best ever. I kind of wish I rode much slower so I could find a nice badonkadonk and hang out behind it for a while. But then I would feel like an old pervert for riding about 2 mph staring at the "angel" on the shorts of some twenty-something. So there I go, riding as hard as I can. Flying by them as if they are going to say "Damn, he's riding pretty fast. Let me catch up to him and talk to him." Or "I'll find out who he is and stalk him till he's mine."
The delusions of a thirty-one year old bachelor. Strange isn't it.

Floyd Landis is the man...

So he was raised Amish and used to sneak out at night to ride his bike. He rode for the Postal team with Lance, and when they became Discovery Channel he joined Phonak. One day while he and his team repeatedly attacked the peloton he sat up and shouted: "You want more of that motherf*ckers?!?! Because if you do, we've got plenty"

Today he won the tour

Good work.

Keeping cool....

I wanted to post this just because of the lack of activity but then 40oz posted about RAMHADAB VOL. 3. Go RAMHADAB!!!
But I'm posting anyways. I found this great place to go swimming on my way home in the Farmington Rover. The water's really cold, but it's really clean (thanks Mr. Fisherman fighting to keep it clean). All the waste water treatment plants are downstream. Anyways, it's only about 3 minutes out of my way home. Monday night, I rode my bike down there, went swimming, then rode home. About a 5-1/2 mile ride each way. It was nice to get there, go swimming after riding, except when I got home I was all hot again. Plus I was all screwed up on the way home, getting warmed up on the ride there, then cooling off dramatically, then having to warm up again.
So Tuesday morning, I loaded up my car with bike, suit, etc. But I worked really late for a friend in town, so I got there too late to do anything with the bike, so I just went swimming. Yesterday, I stopped on my way home, rode 35 miles (it's about 1 mile down the road from the bike path), then went swimming. It was abolutely great. I'm going to check the weather and go there now. Stop reading this and go outside and enjoy the world.

RAMHADAB Vol 3: Mount Up and Ride!

We have recieved official word that Labor Day weekend will work for RAMHADAB Vol 3: Mount Up and Ride.

RAMHADAB!
Riding Around CTLP's House And Drink Alotta Beverages:
a mountain biking, drinking and camping ... with fine RI riding, swimmin, and general mayhem.

When
September 2nd & 3rd. Labor day weekend...
The Schedule:
Friday September 1:
Dinner at CTLP's house off Escoheag Rd in Exeter RI
and set up base camp. He and Mrs CTLP are generously
providing their HUGE....tracts of land for the weekend.

Saturday Sept 2nd:
Morning: Pack up food and water, get on bikes, begin riding through Arcadia to the North South trail. Figure approx 4 to 5....or so hours of moderate riding to reach the lake.
The route will loosely follow the North-South trail
from Arcadia down to Watchaug Pond (aka Burlingame
Picnic Area aka The Lake) For those of you
who don't know, the North-South blue-blazed trail is laid out starting in the "mountains" in the northwest of Rhode Island, and follows off-road trails where
possible. See the full route here.


The trail is about 76 miles long, and we will doing
less than half of it.

Afternoon: Swimming and whatnot, a cookout at the
Lake, head back up to CTLP's house for the night.

Night: Bonfire and Beer!

Sunday Sept 3rd:
Morning-ish: Wake up eventually all groggy... Slurp
down some bacon and bloody marys etc. Ride around Arcadia and Beach Pond, maybe Breakheart Pond. Easy day of riding/drinking.

FAQ

Q. What the f!@#k does RAMHADAB stand for again?
A. Ride Around M@tt's House And Drink Alotta B**rs

Q. How good a shape do I need to be?
A. Hopefully you have ridden your bike at least a few
times this summer.. if not.... START RIDING NOW!
There will be all riding levels represented but we're trying to keep the ride FUN.... it's not a race. You should be fine. If you ride so much you shave your legs... this isn't your kind of thing. If you enjoy PBR and donutss for breakfast on the weekend.. this is for you.

Q. I don't own a mountain bike... is there anyway I can ride?!?!
A. Yup! I will have one P.O.S. loaner mountain bike
available, first come-first served. Beg or Borrow a
ride and show up!

Q. How good a bike do I need?
A. We have had people finish this ride on kids bikes they borrowed. If it rolls and has squishy tires, bring it. Make sure you have somewhat fresh tires, extra tubes, good brake pads, and a HELMET.

Q. What do I need to bring?
A.
1. Bike (PLEASE make sure its got: good brakes,
cables,
tires, etc)...ask for help fixing it up if you need
to.
2. A HELMET
3. Spare tube(s)
4. A tube patch kit
5. Water carrying device (water bottles, camelbak,
plastic jug duct-taped to the bike...etc)
6. Bag/rack/Backpack/something on your or your bike to carry your spare tube and food.
7. If you're staying over bring a sleeping bag etc
9. Riding snacks (powerbars, bananas, fig newtons,
slabs o' pizza... whatever floats your boat)
11. A chair for the bonfire.
12. Bathing suit & Towel

Q. What about beverages/food?
A. We're getting a keg.

Q. How are we getting our bikes/etc back up from
Watchaug/Burlingame?
A. We need at least a couple volunteers and bike
carrying compatible vehicles to help transport people
+ gear back to Exeter.

Q. I don't ride, Can I come and hang out?
A. Sure! Arcadia is a great area for outdoor stuff,
and the camping will be fiiiiiine. There will be a mix
of Riders and Non-Riders so... you should have plenty
of company...plus you can help drive back from the
lake! :)

Thats it! More details to follow. Spread the word to
your riding (and camping) friends,

Also: Weekly Wednesday night training rides from now till the Labor Day weekend. Email me for details.
Matt.

PS: Anyone want to carry this on your bike?

Breaking in Flip Flops

Whew. I just got back from a record setting vacation... 21 days out of the office, no work phone calls or emails. I bought a new pair of flip flops and didn't wear shoes for most of the time. I put a staggering 50 miles on my car, and didn't leave the state. Thats pretty hard to do when you live in the smallest state in the country.

Anyhow... Most of the time was spent kayaking, mountain biking, sailing, surfing, or fishing. Brutal I tell ya. For the most part the weather was decent, i think there were about 4 or 5 days of rain. Depressing yes, but it made for great river trips.

I took four trips down the Wood/Pawcatuck river, including FARTAB. I took my neice and nephew down the river once with their mom and grandma. Grandma kicked all our butts, she needs a kayak of her own. The kids kept asking for "More rabids!" meaning, Rapids. Eh.. theres not too many of them around RI but I'll take them up to the section below Barberville someday.

Mrs 40 and I took a trip down the Pawcatuck from Biscuit City to Bradford.. this year must set the record for winter blowdowns. We had to stop every 50 feet to lift the kayak over yet another fallen tree. That horse-shoe damn in Richmond spooks me everytime I have to paddle past it. Mrs. 40 wasn't too pleased either.



Kaptin Krunch and I took the yellow beast loaded with camping gear on a mini-Fartab last weekend. Quick trip out to the river camp for drinking beer and to watch some caveman TV (campfire). Yep. Cool trip. Here he is opening a Cottrell with another... er... Cottrell. Yummy Yummy Cottrell.



I tend to wake up really early in the summer, even when I'm on vacation. There's something about being the first person on the trail, out on the lake/pond/river, or in the break. Dawn Patrol rocks. It's a good way to sneak up on 'nature' if you're into that sort of thing. Here is Bambi and mom. I got about 20 feet away and snapped this picture before it looked like Mom was going to charge me and kick my @ss.



Other than that... i spent most days just doing a whole lot of nothing. I did use/abuse/test the iBucket in just about every scenerio... Kayaking, fishing, on the bike rack out to the beach, out in the boat with family, even out in the sunfish. It fits perfectly right in the footwell.



I've gotten enough interest in the iBucket over vacation that I've decided to offer a few handbuilt models to family and friends. I'll by selling them for cost + something extra for my time. Definitely affordable by all of the readers.

If you already have a 12V NiCad or NiMH for your bike headlamp, I can build yours around that so you won't have to buy a battery charger and battery, just the amp/cooler. I'll be offering it in just about any configuration you want (to carry a 6Pack or a Case) or, if you want I can just build you the extremely efficient amp and you can build your own bucket. Email me over the next couple weeks for pricing and availability, and I'll order a batch of parts to get started.

Summer Vacation: Part 1

I needed a day to recuperate from FARTAB before taking off on vacation. I headed back up 'north' to WT-Land to cut the grass, unpack/repack and do a million other things before driving back to south county.

I headed down to stay in my parents house while they weren't there. It is a few miles from the beach and close to Ninigret Pond. I had the place to myself for a few days for biking, kayaking, and sailing. The 'routine' was to wake up early and go out kayaking or mountain biking.

I have two kayaks. One is a 17ish foot yellow 2 seater beast that you've seen in all the pictures from FARTABs, other river trips, stuff like that. Mrs 40 and I got that as a very cool wedding present from my three sisters. There's lots to be said for plastic boats. You can beat the sh*t out of them, drag them down the rocks, beach them anywhere, and bump into things when carrying it, and leave them outside and not worry about damage from exposure to the elements.

However... Two things plastic boats will never have: glide and style.

This is the other boat. It is a handbuilt, mahogany, 18 foot Cape Charles sea kayak. It only weighs 47 pounds. (The 17 foot yellow beast weighs 72 lbs)



When I was living in Blacksburg Virginia, my neighbor was bringing this out to his truck with a For Sale on it. I skidded to a stop, and asked about it. My neighbor and his father were wooden boat builders from New Bern NC. They built two identical Cape Charles 18s from plans from Chesapeake Light Craft (CLC) and then took them on a summer tour. After the tour my neighbor (who had ten kayaks in his apartment) needed to get rid of one. An 18ft wooden boat isn't ideal for the typical whitewater of the New River so he decided to sell this boat.

I tried it out at Pandapas Pond (yes, the same place this blog and Pandapas.com is named after) and bought it right away. You can't imagine how fast and clean it cuts through the water, and how it just glides forever.

After graduation I brought it to my parents house, then joined the working world. Since it would be cruel to treat it like a plastic boat, it spends most of the time inside the basement. Looking Sad.

Thing is, I don't get a chance to use it as much as I should. A crime I know. So.. this week while I was staying down there I left the boat outside and went out in it every chance I got.

I like to get up really early in the summer... the lakes and salt ponds are mirror calm that early and the water is crystal clear.

The brown blurs to the right of the sign are deer hanging out in the cove at Ninigret National Wildlife Refuge. (Should have brought the real camera and not the camera-phone)



After the deer took off I went onshore to feed the misquitos and drink my coffee.



After that I took a poor man's tour of Arnolda (a very wealthy neighborhood in Charlestown.) Check out the view a million dollars (or a kayak) gets you:



After that, I took more early morning kayak trips and scouted out the coves and tidal creeks around the pond. I even took the kayak out in the ocean once. It was a little spooky but man.. it was awesome. Some more kayak pix, in no order.

A tidal creek between Green Hill Pond and the Charlestown Breachway. LOTS of striped bass feeding this morning.



Misty Morning (Cue Bob Marley...)



Another cove (lots of blue crabs in there)



I took next week off too... I'll post more pictures if I do anything fun. I'm planning a river trip with my sister and her kids, teaching my nephew to ride a bike, and more early morning kayaking, biking, and whatnot.

Speaking of whatnot: I helped Mrs 40's uncle pull this boulder out of the hill at their house. They're putting in a driveway so her uncle can park a camper behind the house.

This is the boulder:



We pulled it out with shovels, some pipes, and a 2wd pickup truck. And some beer.

Check out the hole the boulder came out of... This is Mrs 40s uncle standing in there:



More posts next week...

-40.

40oz's FARTAB Vol 3 pix

Hey! Sorry the posts have been slim in recent weeks... Mrs 40 and I listed our house for sale here in WT-land in hopes of moving a couple miles from work and the beach/lake/trails/family and of course, the Mew's. Also, I've been working like an idiot trying to get everything closed out at work before vacation and FARTAB V3.

FARTAB has been the kickoff to my summer vacation over the past couple years...Last year I took off 2 weeks in June right after FARTAB, and this year I took off almost 3 weeks. Why so much time? My job has been ultra-super stressful this year with the departure of my manager *and* a co-worker... from a product line of three. Ouch.... Anyhow.. Last year the 2 weeks off rocked, this year I decided to go for as much as I could.

I agree with Crayons Taste Like Purple... This year's FARTAB was a complete and resounding success... near perfect logistics (we didn't run out of beer in hope valley or need to set up camp in the dark), perfect conditions (sunny, 80F, and after two weeks of rain the river was nice and high), and the ibucket battery lasting the entire float-campfire-and paddle out..... man.. couldn't have gotten any better.

BBW came down the day before the FARTAB kickoff to go see Mike Doughty at the new new Lupos ("at the Strand"/Diesel). Gavin Castleton (of Gruvis Malt 'fame') opened. I was kinda bummed to hear Gruvis Malt split, but am glad to see Gavin is doing well. Mike D. was pretty cool to see, as always. Been seeing him for years since the 'Ruby Vroom' days of Soul Coughing. (yes I'm that old. :P )



The camera-phone pix (99% of the pix I post were taken with the 1.3meg camera in my phone)that I took of the Ghetto-track ride near here didn't come out nearly as well at CTLPs did. But.. I'm going to post them anyhow.... :P

Here we are on the homestretch of the ghetto-track ride; just as we're passing between the group home and Sanford and Son's. (I couldn't make this stuff up....)



Here is a more artsy less fartsy shot of BBW peering over the edge of the universe... or maybe it's a black and tan. (of course this is at the Owl's House...)



Holy Crap! LYNDIE ENGLAND (dressed as a Pirate no less!) was at the put-in too...



Here is the latest spy photo of the iBucket strapped to the back of my water based test vehicle. The H20-proof case, carrying 18 frosty cold beverages, side mounted h20-proof speakers, and *ahem* ipod remote, were able to keep the ferocious brown trout at bay for most of the trip. Fishermen too.



The river trip/float/padde itself was a great blur of floating, paddling, running rapids, and relaxing to some tunes. Seriously couldn't have possibly gotten any better. Those of you who didn't make the trip this year.. sucks for you.

Our usual campsite was swarming with *gulp* boy scouts. Without a word, all four boats spun around in almost blue-angel-like precision to high-tail it back UP-river to set up at another site. Far FAR away from the f'ing kids.



Here we are at the conclusion, about to reverse all the driving to return boats, people and gear.



Anyhow.. I can't say it enough... This year was a great trip!

This has gotten to be a pretty long post.. I'll throw the beginning of the vacation pix up in another post. Stay Tuned...

-40.

*continued*

We discover that portages are hard.







Unless......











YOU HAVE MS. LYNDIE ENGLAND TO LEND A HAND!


Boy was she an asset. Strong like bull...

Standing in water is a good time.

Oh- if anyone finds a nice pair of Serengeti sunglasses after the horseshoe falls in Hope Valley/Richmond- send me an email at: sidewaysandupsidedowninakayak@whataputz.net.

I thought I had a picture of BBW petting the baby water mammal as it tried to board his vessel. I think the only reason Marmot the Pirate did not kill him is that he realized BBW is actually a ninja.

Till next year....

fartab... VOLUME THREE!!!

I guess someone has to put lipstick on this pig, and it might as well be me.

I pronounce this year's FARTAB to be a resounding success.

-I finally got to experience the 'ghetto track'.
-Discussed the Pacific Rim economy with Esmerelda's at two fine establishments.
-Had beer at 6 in the morning. Two days in a row.
-Observed BBW commune with nature and try and abduct a marmot from it's mother.
-The iBucket, while the nemesis of the average fisherman, is freaking sweet on H2O.
-Rediscovered the 'Beam tipping point': otherwise known as imbibing enough to look at the pictures on my camera and not immediately recognize having taken some of them...

Some graphic highlights:



Black Label: hydration for the gifted athlete


GUDG making his 'O' face.


If you can pass this sign and NOT giggle, I salute you.


After paddling a solid 20 feet, 40 and BBW express their views on the amount of beer consumption.


So Sleepy offers a solution-

*continued after the break*

WTF is a BFB?

A while ago Bald Boy Wonder and I started a project in the Pandapas Skunkworks... and creatively codenamed it the "Big F'ing Bike".. or BFB for short. I was getting excited reading about the Xtracycle, but am not one for taking the easy route for anything so I couldn't go out and just buy one. We laid out some rough plans on the whiteboard (yeah I have a whiteboard in the garage... you don't? :P ) and just got started. The best way to build something cool is to built anything... just pick up some parts and start building something once you have a rough idea...



So.. I decided to dig through the pile of frames in the basement. It had to be long to carry lots of stuff so we picked an old tandem frame for the base. I arbitrarily determined it should carry FOUR 18 gallon rubbermaid tubs. I use these things for almost everything.. camping, boating, storing stuff, so it is a good size for me. And four... well, thats as much volume as the trunk of a car.

In order to hold all this stuff we needed to build a rack of epic proportions. BBW brought down a busted Pro-Flex which we gave an ass-ectomy so we could use the rear triangle to support the new rack. Then I pulled out some 4130 (cro-moly) aircraft tubing, the oxy-acetylene rig, and fillet brazed a rack. The base rack is tied into the back of the where the pro-flex's pivot points used to be, and then attached to the seatpost with a clamp I chopped from a cheap seatpost rack from Benny's.

Here is a top view of the rack:



Here it is with only half of the tub-rack completed:



The bottom of the base rack is set to use structural channel. For the first attempt I used cheap steel channel, once I get the design settled I can switch over to aluminum. You get the idea:



Yeah it's looking rough, the bike needs to be made rideable etc, but the basics are there: Simple, cheap, sturdy as hell, capable of carrying FOUR 18 gallon tubs. I'll probably reduce the size of the rack to carry two for grocery and beach runs, add a hitch to tow a trailer, a second seat so someone can help pedal with two tubs, and definitely a surfboard holder. Maybe even a grill? Oh, and the base rack is strong enough to support an adult.. yep... it's ballsy.

Is the project ridiculous? Yeah. Is it ugly? Yeah. Is it practical? who knows... it's just a BFB.