NYC Journal

Know that I was pretty much on a low fat diet in sympathy with “Maggie’s” needs. This is no longer possible as I have to feed my carnivore needs.

Know that “Maggie” hates fish, but I love seafood, how can I not being Cantonese. Pretty much the meals I made were kinda bland. Also I’m the better cook, so I’m cool with cooking for myself.

Cal
 
I un cocooned the cedar shed pre-fab and migrated and organized the parts and assemblies into the back-backyard.

Also finished moving about a half yard of gravel that is left over. I just wanted to clear the driveway and stage everything to get ready to begin assembly now I have my foundation ready.

Even though it was cold out I pushed through and garnered some momentum and built out the floor, before retiring for the day. A good days work. Having my tools organized and all kitted out sped things up.

The kit is actually a lot of weight to move around, but my garden carts made it easy. Not a lot of struggling.

Eggs for breakfast, vegan chili for lunch, a good handful of cashews and a protein bar for a snack. For dinner I took some leftover grilled Salmon and made one of my Udon noodle soups flavored with miso, seaweed, kelp, and baby spinach.

The grocery by my house is Korean run, and they have the real deal noodles imported from Japan. I can make an Udon soup better than any I have had in a restaurant.

They say it takes a weekend for 2-3 people to assemble a shed, but I figure about 3-days for me by myself. The work is relaxing, and because it goes up quick it feels rewarding.

Milder weather expected beginning tomorrow through Wednesday, but Wednesday I have my appointment for a physical. Pretty much I want to see my baseline since I’m out of shape.

I got a lot of work done today. Tomorrow I’ll be putting up the walls. Nice to have the small shed just across the yard for staging and storage. The Sunshine Garden shed I’m assembling has 6 windows and the offset gable roof displays exposed roof trusses and also has a skylite roof.

The location is very pretty overlooking the marsh and tucked under the canopy of some monster spruce trees that are my neighbor’s.

”Maggie” is excited… This is her 70th Birthday present.

Cal
 
My friend Jack had this T-shirt that read, “Real Men Don’t Need Instructions.” LOL.

So I’m skipping ahead to the roof after building out the floor, the reason being I have a level flat surface to exploit that is open without walls.

The most difficult part is assembling the roof, anyways…

It took a while for the day to get above freezing, but the temperature is expected to hit the high fifties today and its a sunny day with blue skies.

Let’s see how far I can get today.

Eggs again for breakfast, but know I leave the yokes on the plate.

Cal
 
The walls are up and so are the roof trusses. Not bad for an old man.

Doing physical work that makes for sore muscles translates into adding an extra hour sleep to allow a good recovery. Been hammering for three straight days with no ill effect.

My exploitation of the flat floor paid dividends and allowed me to construct the half roof assemblies with a good amount of precision that allowed the assemblies to fit well and easy placement.

I’ll complete the roof tomorrow.

Cal
 
Cal,
I received the cranks this evening after I got home from work. XC Pro is always top notch! Thanks very much.
The Breezer is home and at one of those points where I'm looking at it and wondering which way to go with the build. It's getting a set of NOS vintage XT M700 hubs which will be laced to a pair of Rhyno Lite rims. I'm using the old standby Rhyno Lite because they are cheap, reliable, and have a known track record of being able to withstand Magura hydraulic rim brakes. I had a set of these on my Specialized M2 S Works which I built in 1996 and rode in every port the ship stopped in while I was in the Navy. The Maguras are my favorite brake and I'm glad to have found a working ugly set for cheap.
I'm also thinking of building up a fixed/free single speed rear wheel to exercise my balance with some log and rock crawling.
Breezer has a good XT rear derailleur and an unknown front, but I have a good XT waiting from years past.
Tonight I pulled off the old handlebar and stem then stuck on my Salsa stem with Answer riser bar. I'm not sure I'll stick with the riser, I need to get a saddle on the post then figure out if I'm in a too aggressive position. If so, I'll swap in a swept back "Mary" bar for a slightly more upright position. I'm not building this for street riding, so the upright position may be unwanted, I'm intending on using it as a mountain bike, perhaps even bringing it up to Blue Mountain. I showed my friend a video of it and he said it looks amazing.
Not sure what I'll use as far as tires go, we'll see.
It's going to be a blast riding on another piece of serious mountain bike history.
People keep telling me I need a new bike but somehow I can still keep up with them on my decades old throwbacks...
Phil Forrest
 
Phil,

The idea of a Trials bike I kinda love. 30 inch gear for real rock hopping. I always admired guys who had trials skills.

I have a set of Rhyno lite wheels built with 16 straight gauge and brass nipples. Kinda bombproof even with only 32 spokes.

I like the idea of having a trials wheel set, and know that the steel IBIS has horizontal dropouts so no chain tensioner is required. I run a 20-16, and use a Middleburn spyder that has a red TrialGuard as a bash ring.

Right now the steel IBIS is a 1x11 XTR with a 11-42T cassette. I use a 30T chainring for old man gears. I enjoy a 17.14 inch low. The steel IBIS has a 39 1/2 inch wheelbase, so know that it climbs very well, but downhills are very scary. LOL. This old man rides the brakes, picks a line, and goes slow on the downhills to prevent endo’s.

I have an IBIS Type2 rigid fork which is basically a tandem fork that is original to the bike, but also mounted a Rock Shox Judy SL with the light weight set of “Speed Springs.” Know that the geometry of the the IBIS is such that it somehow had the long fork length to accommodate a suspension before it was invented. How cool is that?

So the steel IBIS is a “Convertable” and perhaps you might consider making a fixed Trials bike that is perhaps also a geared technical bike for rock crawling. Pretty easy to have a conversion kitted out.

Cal
 
Cal,
Now that I have two sets of XC Pro cranks and another compact drive crank (Specialized "Stout"), that's exactly what I'm thinking of doing. I have a nearly brand new Girvin "Rock Ring" I'm going to put on the XC Pro crank you gifted me, if I decide to run this trials-type rig. I have this way of making things oddly modular and interchangeable. If I go this route, I could simply build up a second rear wheel with a Surly flip-flop fixed/free hub that is spaced for 130mm. Also, this Breezer is currently stretched to 135mm OLD but my NOS XT rear hub is one of the original 7 speed Uniglide hubs. A lot of people will decry Uniglide, and I used to as a mechanic, but as a cheapskate now I relish them. The Uniglide cogs were the first Shimano cassette cogs and had a twist to each tooth instead of ramps. This makes for slightly slower and louder shifting, but when using old thumbshifters with the option of friction (and trimming both front and rear on the fly), "slower" shifting doesn't matter. The really cool part for a cheapskate is that in a few thousand miles when the leading side of the cassette teeth are worn, I will simply flip them over and have a brand new cassette. Add forward modularity to this as well because an 8 speed HG cassette can be "unbolted" and the large spline filed down a bit, so they will fit too. Instead of a lockring, the outer 13t or 14t cog locks the cassette. The final reason of mine for using a 7 speed Uniglide freehub over an 8 speed (or 9/10) is that I will have a stronger wheel due to 3mm less dish. The 8/9/10 freehub body is 3.5mm wider which forces the hub shell the same distance towards the non drive side, necessitating more dishing of the rim.
The Breezer is not as old school in geometry as similar era MTBs. This results in a bike that is effectively a 17" (1.5" shorter than I usually use) so I have mucho step-over height.
Whatever happens, I'll take some photos and share them. One of these days I'll drag a friend up to Blue Mountain and we can go riding.

Phil Forrest
 
Phil,

I did lots of obsessive thinking, and for max durability consider using a Paul’s Component “Melvin” chain tensioner and building a 3x1 with just a front derailleur. The max cap limit is 20 teeth though on the Melvin.

Middleburn has these savage ramps on their 4-hole chainrings that create violent crash box like shifting as if for drag racing. You could use White Industries freewheels and be bombproof with a 2x1 or 3x1.

I tried a 42/32/20 which exceeded the 20T max cap and suffered a slack chain in low gear, but my experiment allowed for a great and useful spread of gearing tat gave me a 30 inch low and a 63 inch high with a usable 48 inch gear for trail riding.

Too bad this didn’t work out, but I’m going to see if I can increase the spring tension.

Also the Ti IBIS has a longer derailleur hanger so I have to see if the longer hanger buys me enough tension.

Rather spend my time riding… Also having a minimalist bike is mighty cool…

Could be a very nice three way convertible and recycle capabilities of that flip/flop rear wheel.

Cal
 
Cal,I also have a rear wheel built around a Sturmey Archer kickback hub, so i can build a 3x2 if i want, i just need to keep the rear derailleur on for my 22 tooth difference in chainrings. The only issue is that the rims are WTB Mavericks, old XC rims which have a 16mm cross section while the Rhyno Lites have a 19mm. Adjusting that difference just to swap a wheel is a giant PITA with Maguras. It’s all good though; if this is the problem that I have to contend with, im doing really well and have nothing to complain about.
Phil Forrest
 
Setting up the panelized roof took a lot of time. First raising the panels by myself was a feat, then I had to line everything up before securing it. Anyways a day of fussing…

The She-Shed is taking longer than I thought, but now all the heavy work is done. Know there is a lot of trim and detailed work ahead like installing windows and the Dutch door.

I spread out the branches of a European pear tree, some large spruces from my neighbor’s yard, and two Maple trees that I bent out of the way to build out the walls and roof. Now the shed is nested fully in these trees, and pretty much cover parts of the roof. In a timeless way it almost seems like the trees grew around the shed, but the shed is the newcomer. Very cool…

Tomorrow I get a physical, the first one in years because of Covid. Of course I’ve been in the emergency room for Celulitus… but that was last year.

The past week has been some body rebuilding. I see the results in my arms and chest. The high today was in the low 60’s, and the Spring Peepers were loud today when it got warm. Officially for me it is time to start wearing my Patagonia knickers, my uniform of sorts for mild weather.

Curious to see what I weigh, and my baseline vitals. Will likely walk into downtown Peekskill where my doctor is located.

I’m getting close to putting on 15K miles on the Audi. Only owned it for 2 years 4 months. Seems like Audi is coming out with a few electric models, and pretty much by 2035 no more internal combustion engines. I can see me still owning and driving the A4 I own now at the rate I’m going.

The clock is also ticking, where states are outlawing cars and trucks with gas engines. I expect New York to be one of those states within the next 5 years or so. I think this will conflate used gas cars because new electric cars will be unaffordable for many.

I also speculate that cars over 25 years old will be in demand with the shift in technology. My 1966 C-10 I think is a good investment.

Cal
 
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I only weigh 152 without shoes, wallet, keys, and watch. Officially a skinny bitch.

My O2 level was 99 even with a mask, but I have high blood pressure. I have been aware of this since I retired, less walking, and less aerobic exercise like biking or running.

From other blood work I know my sodium and chloride levels are either below normal for sodium and right at the low range for chloride. Know that I don’t eat processed foods, or ever add salt.

I kinda know it is not stress, and I know it is not due to high salt intake, so it is either genetic or too much caffeine. I abuse coffee, especially in retirement, and I am also fond of green tea another source of caffeine, so now I have to restrict my intake and monitor my blood pressure.

Very likely is due to coffee and tea abuse.

Understand because I’m so lean, muscular, and have a low BMI normally I tend to have low blood pressure because I’m a skinny bitch, typically 110/70 or even 100/60. My resting pulse often drops below 50 BPM.

So I have two weeks of curbing my intake and monitoring my BP. Pretty simple to rule out if the cause is caffeine.

Let’s see.

No shed work today. Oh-well…

Cal
 
Last night at dinner I took my blood pressure, and it was in the normal healthy range. I figure perhaps by then the caffeine likely was depleted from earlier in the day.

This morning I took my BP again, and it confirmed that caffeine abuse elevated my blood pressure.

110/70 at 60 BPM.

So far today no coffee or caffeinated tea. It’s 9:00 AM and I don’t feel really awake.

Believe it or not at 152 at 5’10” my BMI is actually the exact middle of normal BMI. Pretty much my ideal weight.

So my high blood pressure issue was self induced by coffee and tea abuse.

Cal
 
When I lived in Williamsburg, nearby was a garage that specialized in rebuilding P71 Police Interceptors that were based on the Ford Crown Victoria. Pretty much a Crown Vic with heavy duty everything. They would buy these P71 at auction and recycle/resell them these refurbished vehicles to livery drivers.

I was thinking owning a P71 would be really cool, but it never happened…

Yesterday I walked to my car after my doctor’s appointment, and saw a livery car with a Police Interceptor badge/tag, but it was a newer version/replacement for the P71; basically a Ford 4-door a little larger than my Audi A4, a compact.

I talked with the driver a little, and he was unaware that he was driving what was once a cop car.

Cal
 
Calzone said:
I only weigh 152 without shoes, wallet, keys, and watch. Officially a skinny bitch.

My O2 level was 99 even with a mask, but I have high blood pressure. I have been aware of this since I retired, less walking, and less aerobic exercise like biking or running.

From other blood work I know my sodium and chloride levels are either below normal for sodium and right at the low range for chloride. Know that I don’t eat processed foods, or ever add salt.

I kinda know it is not stress, and I know it is not due to high salt intake, so it is either genetic or too much caffeine. I abuse coffee, especially in retirement, and I am also fond of green tea another source of caffeine, so now I have to restrict my intake and monitor my blood pressure.

Very likely is due to coffee and tea abuse.

Understand because I’m so lean, muscular, and have a low BMI normally I tend to have low blood pressure because I’m a skinny bitch, typically 110/70 or even 100/60. My resting pulse often drops below 50 BPM.

So I have two weeks of curbing my intake and monitoring my BP. Pretty simple to rule out if the cause is caffeine.

Let’s see.

No shed work today. Oh-well…

Cal
Click to expand...
With those numbers you should be an athlete
 
Ray,

I don’t have the gift of lung capacity of Phil, nor do I have the size an horsepower of Snarky Joe.

I pretty much have the small build of an endurance athlete though, and a high threshold of pain.

I should or could be active when I’m 100. Not looking or prepared for long term-care, so I have to maintain my health. Little things count like a push mower that is powered by me, I have good genes, no history of Cancer in my family. I could have 40 years more to live. That’s where I’m placing my money.

My dad who was poor, illiterate, and was an illegal immigrant lived to 94, but the quality of his life sucked… It is expected I will live past 100.

Might have to severely taper the coffee and tea intake.

Cal
 
Calzone said:
So my high blood pressure issue was self induced by coffee and tea abuse.

Cal
Click to expand...
If you are like most of us, you have a physical addiction to caffeine. Going cold turkey will most likely give you headaches. Perhaps go to half caff for a while and ease into it.
I am a little older than you and also have sorta high BP. Been that way for over 20 years but it is just on the edge of being what is considered to be too high. I think that each of us is different and using one yardstick for all may not be accurate.
When I measure my BP at home, I do so before I have my coffee, which is limited to two cups. On cold afternoons I will enjoy decaf hot tea.
 
Ray,

The longevity genes can be a liability. Could add to be decades of suffering and limitations.

My rich brother taught me that having and maintaining good health is important for quality of life. I know for me that I have a kinda high maintenance body that needs lots of exercise to maintain. Good thing I love biking, trail running and strength training.

I don’t drink, and use no medications. I have to limit my exposure to cold because of Cold Agglutinin Disease that remains asymptomatic. Dry skin is my only ailment.

Both my parents died from heart disease, they were overweight, but they knew poverty.

Today is cold turkey. Luckily no withdrawl or headaches, although I had some grogginess. Thinking I might severely limit caffeine intake or quit it altogether. I know myself and I have addictive behavior. In the end it might be best to end coffee, and maybe if I have any caffeine then green tea in a limited amount, say a glass in the morning.

So far things are looking great for me.

Cal
 
Cal, I wish you well. I survived cancer, refused to get on statins and know better than to run with scissors. I also used up at least 5 lives when I rode a motorcycle and now just counting my blessings and cook very clean food no alcohol no smoking but that morning cup dammit is my only need and my blood pressure isn’t great. Ray
 
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