Last Gasp SARATS Entry!

Hey there! Long time no write! How have you been? I sure have missed you these last 9 days... I have no good excuse. Just got busy again. Somebody else who got busy was Darin from Duluth, Minnesota. He submitted a picture for SARATS at 9:01 PM (Eastern) on December 15, bringing the total number of entries to a whopping 18! There were 12 entries in the Smackdown's first year. Now, does that translate to 150% growth or 50% growth? I've always been a little slow on growth percentages. In any case, it is awesome. Thanks again to all who entered.

Here's Darin's email:

Hi Rantwick,

I guess I've procrastinated as long as I could, so here is my entry into the smackdown.

 

These two beautiful maples are in my back yard in Duluth, Minnesota. Not only are they the perfect distance apart to hang a hammock, the squirrels and chipmunks who frequent them keep my dog, Loki, entertained and out of my hair for hours on end. 

Thanks for putting on the contest, and despite what Loki may think, I find reading your blog much more entertaining than watching squirrels and chipmunks.

Darin

http://northwoodstrekkers.blogspot.com/

 

 

 

 

Pretty damn good entry if you ask me.

 

I consider Darin an excellent new acquaintance for several reasons. First and foremost, he appears to be pretty crazy about bikes and has a number of them that I envy and/or covet quite badly. This leads to a second reason; one of said bikes gets ridden in Winter in Duluth, Minnesota.

 

 

 

 

Look at those fat tires. So cool. The last reason I'm pleased to have "met" this dude is that Duluth Minnesota and the pictures from his blog remind me very much of my birthplace and childhood home of Thunder Bay, Ontario, which I openly pine for sometimes on these pages.

 

Look at this map:

 

 

 

 

 

Hell, we're practically brothers! Darin, please don't be alarmed. I won't be showing up at your house or anything. I may, however, be sending you some syrup; only the voting will tell.

 

Speaking of the voting, it may have to wait until the new year, meaning a SARATS winner may not be declared until later in January. Sorry for the delay, but I've been kind of swamped lately.

 

I probably won't be writing again until after Christmas. I want to wish all of you a truly peaceful and loving holiday. Whatever you think the real point of Christmas is, cling to it as best you can and try to just dump all the rest.

 

Yer Pal,

R A N T W I C K

PS - I take issue with Darin enjoying reading my blog more than watching squirrels. Squirrels should win that one hands down. Darin, you're not my new best friend anymore, you anti-squirrel watching jerk. So there. 

A SuperMutant, Boeshield T-9, and a Tree

I have sad news. Mutant Winter is no more. When I got around to trying to clean her up for this winter season, I found that the disc brakes had deteriorated into rusty clumps of unfixable goo. I didn't want to buy new ones. Other things were also pretty bad, so I stole the studded tires, the second best tub in town, pedals and a few other components and slapped 'em on an old SuperCycle mountain bike. SuperCycle is a house brand for Canadian Tire bikes. At the lowest end they are about the same as NEXT or any of the other cheaper department store bikes. The Gary Fisher Bitter that Mutant Winter was based on was nice, but while I wait for the time and resources required for my next sweet winter bike build, I figure this will suffice. One nice thing is that by combining parts from Mutant Winter and this SuperCycle, I have created a SuperMutant!

SuperMutant, sans Tub

I guess it doesn't really look like a mutant at all yet. I'll get there, I promise.

The Deore derailleur from MW wouldn't work on this frame since it required a derailleur hanger, so I bought a new, cheap ($15) Shimano "Tourney" from Village Cycle in my neighbourhood. Looking at it, I knew its screws and other silver bits would begin to rust immediately in the salty road conditions here. That's where the Boeshield comes in.

Boeshield T-9 is really great stuff. I originally bought it to treat the insides of my steel Trek touring frame. I also sprayed it on a heavy chain that I use to lock up bikes on my porch. That chain has been sitting outside in the snow and and mist (although not direct rain) for about 15 months and it still looks pretty good...

 

I only treated it with Boeshield that one time over a year ago, so I'm pretty impressed. A steel chain left outdoors would normally get rusty pretty quick, I think. Anyway, I hosed down that derailleur and many other parts of the bike with Boeshield and I bet it'll help considerably. When I get around to building a new winter bike, I will use Boeshield from the get-go on everything (especially spokes, nipples and rim eyelets: I've had nipples break due to salty brutality) and every few months in the hopes of keeping it nice despite the salty crud it will face.

If you are thinking of commenting about how I should give the bike a rinse after riding in salty slush, I know, I know. I also know myself and that I'm too lazy or hurried or both most of the time to do what I should and Boeshield or something like it may be my only hope.

Where was I? Ah, yes, a tree! There is another SARATS entry. It is a Steve A find from a blog post he read. It is, however, being entered by the owner, Durango, who shot it in Fort Worth, Texas with Steve's encouragement.

Love that dome shape, man. Thanks for the tree and good luck in my contest! 



Yer Pal,

R A N T W I C K