Okay, I mounted a new handlebar bag. I took one of those nylon padded lunch bags that come with a hard plastic tub inside, drilled holes in the backside, used a thin metal plate to catch the screw heads inside. On the outside I mounted a couple of bent wire hooks to grab the handlebars, and held them in place with big flat washers and lock-nuts. If I hadn't punched holes in this thing, it would have wound up in the trash anyway, because nobody wanted it.

Iain is supposed to be working on a front rack, if he can make any sense out what I sent him, and if he can make the materials he has fit what I requested.

I got my cheap solo tent out and inspected it. Then I walked through a set-up in the living room. The instructions were about half useless, leaving out critical details, which is typical of Chinese made stuff that, if made in America, no one could afford it. At any rate, I can now probably set it up out at a campsite. A couple more times and I could do it in the dark.

My sleeping bag and mattress should arrive tomorrow. I hope I never have to mess with Amazon again. I have collected a bunch of tiny hygiene items and all I need to find now is a compact boiling pan with a lid, and I have to make a Sterno stove.

We have a start on the fund for the new bike. I'll probably shuffle it off into a savings account to protect it; I suspect this is going to take awhile given how much it will have to be. Then again, if this attracts the wider support I'm hoping for, I'll need a separate account like that, anyway. It becomes technically self-employment if I ever receive more than break-even on what this project costs, so I'm keeping track of every dime I spend for it.

Tomorrow should be my first long ride around town. In the near future, I'll be planning my first over-nighter to Red Rock Canyon, Hinton, OK -- about 60 miles away. I'll come back a different route and there should be lots of nice pictures and a grand story to tell. This will show me how my body responds to repeated long rides. The goal is to be able to do this for a week or two at a time.

Sleeping bag and mattress are in my possession. Both have been tested and rolled back up inside their carrying bags.

(02-17-2020, 03:07 PM)Ed Hurst Wrote: Sleeping bag and mattress are in my possession. Both have been tested and rolled back up inside their carrying bags.

I'm convinced your military background is 90% of this. Nearly every time I try to pack or repack something like this, it never works out as designed.

We had plenty of idiots in uniform who never could figure out stuff like that. The Army made me better organized internally and more tolerant of external chaos, but my Mom taught me how to pay attention and compact things for packing. Lately I've had to remind her of things she taught me when I was young; she's forgotten some of it.

Anyway, I got a Sterno stove with a built in water pot. I can handle eating cold food for breakfast, but I really do like a hot drink, even if it is only herbal tea or chicory/grain "coffee."

(02-18-2020, 05:34 PM)Ed Hurst Wrote: We had plenty of idiots in uniform who never could figure out stuff like that. The Army made me better organized internally and more tolerant of external chaos, but my Mom taught me how to pay attention and compact things for packing. Lately I've had to remind her of things she taught me when I was young; she's forgotten some of it.

Anyway, I got a Sterno stove with a built in water pot. I can handle eating cold food for breakfast, but I really do like a hot drink, even if it is only herbal tea or chicory/grain "coffee."

My Daddy taught me how to make a bed that you could bounce quarters off of and he used percolate Lusianne coffee, it was nasty but, like so many things that he did it was a reminder of his Granddad who he was really close to. His Granddad passed away when he was 10 but, he remembered everything about him, it was pretty amazing considering I might remember two or three things from when I was 10.

My earliest memory reaches back to age 2. I was in a movie theater with my Mom. I recall the opening scene was an old steel trestle bridge, then the camera moved to a road crew. A guy running a jackhammer was yelling at someone else. Then I fell asleep because it was so nice and cool in the theater on a hot summer day. I can remember a lot of stuff from childhood like that. Sometimes it scares me just how much I can dredge up that way.

(02-18-2020, 09:56 PM)Ed Hurst Wrote: My earliest memory reaches back to age 2. I was in a movie theater with my Mom. I recall the opening scene was an old steel trestle bridge, then the camera moved to a road crew. A guy running a jackhammer was yelling at someone else. Then I fell asleep because it was so nice and cool in the theater on a hot summer day. I can remember a lot of stuff from childhood like that. Sometimes it scares me just how much I can dredge up that way.

The first movie I went to, the rest of my family says, was Mary Poppins, which came out a good 12/13 years before I was born. So, I assume it was one of those matinee "classic movie" screenings. It was probably the early 80's because I don't remember the trip at all. 

One of my earliest memories was being at a high school football game, but I might "remember" that because there are photos of it. A possible earlier memory was getting my stomach burnt on the kitchen stove. I had reached for something. I don't remember the actual incident, but the aftermath of the bandage and my mom caring for it, etc. Weird how memory works.