One year older and none the wiser

Thursday was my 31st birthday. I celebrated by having lunch with some friends at the Watering Hole before going to MWC to pick up my Pugsley, which I dropped off to have the starnut installed, and the Big Dummy frame. Much thanks to Pat for transporting the Big Dummy frame to my house so I could ride the Pugsley back to the office.

The first thing I can say about the Pugsley is 'Wow, what a beast'. It wobbles a bit when you walk with it, due to the meaty tires. It also has a very audible 'weeerr weeerr' as you ride it on street/paths, as if protesting that you would ride it on something other than snow/sand/mud. The ride from downtown to my office at 91st and Hwy 2 (~9 miles) in the afternoon heat was brutal. I forgot to get water bottle cages/water bottles for it, so I was without water the entire way. The 26" wheels, the 18 psi 4" tires, and me being relatively out of shape made for one tough ride. The highlight was a pick up truck pulling up next to me as we were moving in traffic asking me about the bike and its big tires. Apparently people take note of the big wheels as another motorist asked me if the wheels came with the bike. I tried to explain as quickly as possible, due to the light changing, that the bike frame was specially designed for the wheel/tire size.

I went back to MWC Friday afternoon to work out what I wanted for the Big Dummy build with Eric. I went economical/thrify where it made sense, to minimize costs while staying with reliable brands/parts. I should have most of it Wednesday, so hopefully it'll be ready in a week or so. I weighed the fork (2.8 lbs) and frame (12.4 lbs) after unpacking it. I treated the frame & fork this afternoon with JP Framesaver and installed the crown race on the fork. Now to wait patiently for Wednesday...