I have been living out off the 44 road well out of cell phone and internet access. When in internet access I spend time socializing and don’t record what I chose to share. Presently I am parked on a side street in Hood River a good stone throw away from Dirty Finger Bike shop and owner Mitchell.
Some catching up. Friday I rolled into town. Gary fixed the chain problem. I asked about my front brake if both pistons are to extend when the brake lever is pulled. He said yes, and if it or they don’t move a simple service is required: remove the pads, pump the lever to fully extend the pistons then clean the surfaces w/ alcohol, then swab on some DOT on the piston sides, spread the pistons apart, reinsert the pads, and pump up the lever and the brake is good to go. I thought about performing this service where I am parked on Fri so if I needed help I was a short walk away from help. Except the shop closed early for a full moon ride. I drove out to camp stopping @ Solara brew pub n Parkland for a tasty pint. I made camp for the night.
Plan was Sat AM to service the brake then ride a loop up here b4 the rains few. My service went well until the final step of pumping the lever which went all the way to the bar. Brake fluid leaked out so there was no stopping the front wheel. Help was 33 miles back into town. I called ahead to reserve a bench spot w/ Gary. He said simple bleed. It took 5 bleeds and my just wondering of pumping the brake lever on the 5th bleed that forced out a hidden air bubble. The brake works like I hoped it would, actually better than when first installed. I can now w/ great assurance lock up the front wheel allowing for rapid deceleration and nose wheelies.
Sat was the sunny day. I wanted a ride and a shower b4 bed. Mitchell sang the rave of the Whoopie trail just outside of town. It is an old school made trail. I followed the given directions arriving @ a newly created TH parking lot. Land is owned by private timber company. A 10 mile loop awaited my wheels. I pedaled off. great views of MT Adams being clouded in and the placid river:
The trail up above was in regrowth and twisty and windy. It dropped down into the clear cut then climbed out on a machine cut trail. Fun close in go to ride. 9.32 miles climbing 1494 miles.
Back into town for a shower, grocery shop, then drive back out to rd 44 area for the night. Sunday is a scheduled trail work day right near where I camp.
Sunday Jimmy T, the FS district trails coordinator, lead maybe 20 volunteers building a climbing single track thru a partial cut timber unit. Cut the timber and a user group will build a trail in it. Actually the trail avoids a gravel road and adds more ride distance. Trail tread is on top of organic material instead of down to mineral earth. Almost a rake and ride over the slash.
Rain spit off and on as we finished early afternoon. Forecast was for increasing amount as the day wore on. I decided not to ride. Everybody left for the river and I drove a short distance back to my spot. Rain did fall and I was content to be snug as Craig is his van. I fired up the heater that runs on propane. The CO and Propane detector voiced its displeasure w/ the heater sounding a warning of imminent threat. I opened ventilation and the alarm went quiet. I closed the vents, it went off again. Strange, never had this problem. I shut it off and let it cool. I started it up again and went thru the alarm vent cycle again. Didn’t need the heat for the night but needed to resolve the problem. I started and ran the heater this morning and all was quiet.
Today I drove back to town. last week I contacted Verizon help about my Jet pack issues. I new one was shipped to me @ Dirty Fingers 2 day air for delivery today. It arrived. I took both units to the in town Verizon store for tech help and inspection of my device which if damaged would result in a great expense to me. The tech said the unit is fine. My new unit is named “fbisurveilancevan” So far it works.
Next was to solve a virus issue w/ my banking. I scanned my computer that took 222 minutes. Issue w/ download was still present. Tech help @ Vipre was great. I switched to Firefox browser which allowed the download. Now I need to figure how to import to my checking register.
Forecast calls for wet until Fri. I checked Sun Valley where sunny skies arrive on Wed. Do I stay here and hang in the wet ( which is not now) till maybe after several rides in sunny weather or split. Rainfall is serious amount here. I’ll put off that decision.
Tonight I will try camping out @ Post Falls area which is just outside the city.
Off to beer me @ Dirty Fingers, a shower, food shop, then camp.
Clear skies make for great front window view of the world:
