Today was warm and sunny, perfect for travel in the Jeep with the top off. I was privileged to be Phoebe’s chauffeur to her favourite, annual painting in the park event in Langley, about forty miles distant. I knew parking would be at a premium and become more so as the day progressed so I loaded the e-bike into the back so we could leave the Jeep in it’s spot. The park was along a small river with winding trails following the valley in each direction. I would use the bike to run for lunch and other necessities while Phoebe painted her masterpiece. We had a wonderful day and Phoebe was delighted to win some beautiful sketch books in the afternoon draw for prizes.
Real steel fenders!
I’ve pondered how I would make the fenders for the diminutive trucks for the Sign Invitational since I first designed them. I considered many different materials but always came back to making them out of steel. Steel is strong! The fenders need to be sturdy to stand up to the abuse they will encounter during shipping to Florida, and at the show as well. Today, I designed the cutting files, threw a scrap of light gauge steel on the CNC plasma cutter and let it do its magic. In less than a minute I had all the pieces I needed plus a few spares to try my ideas. My designs were just an educated guess as I knew there would be adjustments as I bent things to shape and fitted them. The job turned out to be much easier than I imagined and in about an hour I had both sets of fenders shaped, welded and mounted to the chassis.
Golden hour
One of my favourite times to go for a bike ride is right after supper. Typically that is between six and seven o’clock, as the sun dips lower towards the horizon. They call it the ‘golden hour’ for good reason because the light casts a magical warm glow over everything. The trails I love to ride are along the Vedder River, which is only a few hundred yards from our house. They stretch about ten kilometres in each direction, on both sides of the river through a heavily wooded area. The scenery is breathtaking, changing every day with the different light and through the seasons. Here’s three pics I took on this evening’s ride.
