Urbanus Magnus

As the title of this post implies, I've gone and gotten myself a pair of studded tyres on the cheap - by fabricating them. Those old Chen Shins I had on the bike's rims came off without a single stud, but went back on with a ice-grippin' 104 studs per tyre. Total cost: $12.78 for 250 1/2 in. 8-size screws, compared to $100 + tax for the cheapest pair I could find elsewhere (including the interweb).  My time is valueless, so I won't put a dollar value on the 2 1/2 hours I spent on the endeavor.   Drilling, and a lot of screwing-in  On the road, they are really grippy on ice - like being glued  to it, even while riding on an outdoor skating rink! But, since the tread pattern isn't that deep, it still has trouble in the slush or packed snow. On fresh snow, however, it performs quite superbly! One really can notice the clickity-clickity-clickity of the screws on the pavement, and feel the drag also. Tyre #1, finished - look at that! 1/4 in of spike showing! Her

The conversion of my tourer from its original MTB-style shifters/brakes and pursuit bars to drops has been underway for a while now. It's pretty-much been converted; the brakes are still a wee finicky and the derailleurs need to be precision-tuned. Out with the old.... This was my Christmas gift; a pair of NOS 8-speed RSX brifters, a Nitto B-115 Rando bar and some cross brakes. I'm not complaining - I was expecting  any  old drop bar, with some bar ends and some generic aero levers, so you can understand my elation! Of note: without a mount-on point for the barrel adjuster for the F. derailleur, I have had to "eye-ball" it, just simply adjusting the pull by loosing and tightening the cable bolt. It works OK, but I *might* need to find another solution.... However, nothing else major has come up on the drive train; the standard MTB parts seem to work fine with the brifters, even meshing well with the old 7-speed cassette in back. I also got a 13/15 cone wrench (

Yes, the wonderful "Everyday Carry", or as I prefer to call it, the EDC; n.   Meaning the items, often those which are used everyday, in conjunction with certain commonly-needed tools, which are carried on the body of person.  I finally have my set in  near  completion. It is currently missing a tritium glow marker (look it up - they are really neat, and only *slightly* radioactive), a knife, and a quick-release A&P Aircraft Mechanic's key ring. I've already a knife to go on there, but, because I bring it to school, I don't usually attach it. The admin/staff "frown" upon such things, and as such I would rather not risk it. What I have on it currently: -House Keys -Bike lock key -Ultrafire MCU-C7 flashlight -And one capsule lighter -Knife (occasionally - not shown) The flashlight is real bright - 200 lumens on max. For comparison, the average incand. flashlight is ~25 lumens. The machining ain't great, but for $12 CAD, it isn't too

I didn't do a post for the traditional Christmas celebration this year - I was away. However, I happen to know today is the official Orthodox Christmas, celebrated by most Eastern Orthodox churches (ie., Greek, Russian, Macedonian, etc.). Most don't know this in North America and Western Europe; so, now you  know, wherever you may be! Theses churches run their liturgical year based on the Julian calender as opposed to the Gregorian, and so it explains the date shift. The Catholic church adopted the "new" calender under Pope Gregory XIII, ergo, the namer. The Julian calender, by the same token, was popularized/adopted by Julius Caesar. I get to celebrate both Christmases - I'm Catholic, but my ma's side of the family is Macedonian Orthodox. Best of both worlds, if you ask me! That's all for today, I'm hitting the hay.

Happy New Years everyone! A bit late, yes, but better late than never. Now school is getting busy - exams come in a month, and many final project on the way. But, before all this business started, I managed a few more ice-capades during the last bit of the holidays.  Woke up, and made the best darn breakfast you could hope for - eggs a la over-easy, a few strips of my special cheese-filled pork strips, and an improvised hash-brown-like-thing (involving a few fried onions, potatoes, carrots, and a mushroom or two for good measure). Mmm. It tasted much better than it looks I needed a good load of carbs for the day, if I was to be out, so I complemented the protein from the eggs, cheese and meat with a few slices of toast. Can't be the smell of toast and fried eggs in the morning. Met up with my pal and we biked out to the lake, finding a bay partly frozen. Knowing it wasn't (too) deep, we ventured out on the ice-floes to see what it was like. Not deep enough to make it over