I'm still not able to ride bike more than a few miles because of pain in my elbow, but I can help others ride bikes.
Beginning today at 5AM CDT, Rushabh Ingle, Jose Nunez and I are supporting Mark (Chris) Davies at the Texas RAAM Challenge. There is satellite tracking and time station arrival times linked from the race website. Chris is listed as Mark Davies, solo 50-59 age group, racer #501. Also racing in the same division is friend Barry Dickson, racer #507. I wish them both a good race!
Saturday, March 24, 2018
Tuesday, March 6, 2018
If you want something done right, do it yourself
That was a saying that my dad used often, and he lived that mantra, and passed it along to me. My pickup was having some cooling issues. I noted that the radiator was cold, even though the engine was warm. I replaced the thermostat, knowing that was the easiest thing to replace and inexpensive. Still, on a recent drive back from the Puget Sound area, I had to stop every 50 miles to add coolant.
I had put in some Bar's Leak when I notice a few weeks ago that I was loosing coolant. The radiator was still cold and the leak leak was becoming worse. I now assumed that the radiator was plugged because of the Bar's Leak. I was also seeing a puddle of coolant under the vehicle, right below the water pump. I replaced the radiator and water pump. The vehicle continued to lose coolant. After even a 2 mile drive, big clouds of steam were coming off the top of the engine. I utilized Google to find leads to the issue. It seems that my vehicle is prone to a cracked intake manifold and failure of the gasket, allowing coolant to get on top of the engine. Unfortunately, I was unable to locate a new intake manifold, and was informed that they were not repairable. (yes, I considered using silicone seal to patch it!) It was loosing enough coolant that I now needed to add water every 10 miles. It was time to call in the professionals. Today I brought it in to a shop. They located a manifold through a dealer and had me leave the vehicle with them. Finally, the bike part of the story, I rode my bike back home from the shop. I got a call this afternoon that they were running into some issues with sensors not sealing and I wouldn't be getting the vehicle back until tomorrow.
So, today it was 5 miles. 2 back from the shop, plus 3 round trip for lunch.
It was a nice day, not a cloud in the sky. Right at freezing this morning on my way back from the shop, eventually reached 57 F. Too bad I'm not a cyclist, it would have been a great day for a ride. As it was, I got my taxes filed today.
........Road Bike........Rollers.......MTB..........Lifecycle......Total
Today ......5.................0.................0....................0..............5
Jan.........26................ 0................0.....................0..............26
Feb.........7..................0................0.....................0...............7
March.......5.................0................0.....................0...............5
YTD.........38...............0................0.....................0.............38
I had put in some Bar's Leak when I notice a few weeks ago that I was loosing coolant. The radiator was still cold and the leak leak was becoming worse. I now assumed that the radiator was plugged because of the Bar's Leak. I was also seeing a puddle of coolant under the vehicle, right below the water pump. I replaced the radiator and water pump. The vehicle continued to lose coolant. After even a 2 mile drive, big clouds of steam were coming off the top of the engine. I utilized Google to find leads to the issue. It seems that my vehicle is prone to a cracked intake manifold and failure of the gasket, allowing coolant to get on top of the engine. Unfortunately, I was unable to locate a new intake manifold, and was informed that they were not repairable. (yes, I considered using silicone seal to patch it!) It was loosing enough coolant that I now needed to add water every 10 miles. It was time to call in the professionals. Today I brought it in to a shop. They located a manifold through a dealer and had me leave the vehicle with them. Finally, the bike part of the story, I rode my bike back home from the shop. I got a call this afternoon that they were running into some issues with sensors not sealing and I wouldn't be getting the vehicle back until tomorrow.
So, today it was 5 miles. 2 back from the shop, plus 3 round trip for lunch.
It was a nice day, not a cloud in the sky. Right at freezing this morning on my way back from the shop, eventually reached 57 F. Too bad I'm not a cyclist, it would have been a great day for a ride. As it was, I got my taxes filed today.
........Road Bike........Rollers.......MTB..........Lifecycle......Total
Today ......5.................0.................0....................0..............5
Jan.........26................ 0................0.....................0..............26
Feb.........7..................0................0.....................0...............7
March.......5.................0................0.....................0...............5
YTD.........38...............0................0.....................0.............38
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