Long time no...read?  Lots happened.  I've changed jobs like three times.  Now working at my dream job.  Drawing hotrods for a living.  Pinch me.  Married, new house...what else.  Eh...  Here's what most come here for.

What three years!!

 Yep, it's been three years.  I haven't forgotten you all.  This year instead of Inktober a friend turned me on to Hotrod Inktober.  I figured cars...whew...I won't have to think as much.  Yep I was wrong.  Here's a few highlights from the month.

What I learned over Inktober 2020

 I posted on Facebook that this years Inktober had been the most beneficial to me artistically.  I've spent the last two years jumping from digital platform to digital platform.  Going back to pencil, ink and watercolors was such a huge help.  I went back to my ipad and picked up the stylus and it felt amazing.  It's like going old school for a bit sharpened my pencil to a nice fine point.  I think my style got a little more defined.

Here's a few things from Inktober with some commentary.  

I evidently like to draw things on a flat plain when sketching.  I don't find I have this problem when I'm drawing digitally.  With pencil however I am much more comfortable on a level plain.

I like watercolors that layer very well.  I know some don't, I don't like those.  Gotta be able to put layer over layer.  I'll be getting watercolor specific paper next year also.  The Mixed Media paper was a bit of a mix for me.  Easy on the inking but much harder to control the color.

Make sure your things work together.  I used a pen that pretty much dissolved when introduced to water.  It made getting color on this one pretty hard.  You can see it on the bottom of the side window where it blew out.  Also the exhaust wasn't suppose to be as dark as it turned out.  That was all a result of the pen bleeding so badly.  I only used the pen on this one drawing and only cause I hadn't used it before and wanted to try it out.  Big mistake.

The problem with the Samsung Tab.

What's the major problem with the Samsung tab 4?  It's Samsung's in ability to make the button on the side of the stylus shut off.  I always hit the damn button on the stylus....always.  I'm also working on the brushes in Sketchbook to try and mimic those in Procreate.  Procreate just seems so easy to create a decent stroke.  I'm forcing myself to use the Samsung Tab 4 to make sure I'm not being unfair in my drawing assessment.  

 Samsung, give me the ability to shut the damn button off.  Please.

Inktober 2020 1-8

Well here's my Inktober so far.  I've returned to pencil, ink and watercolor after doing inktober digitally for two years.  So far I've learned a ton.  I can't believe what returning to good old school ways has taught me so far.  I really do need to get back to basics more often.  I wanted a cohesive group that had the same style and look.  So far bar one I think I'm doing that.  The "Wisp" was a little different then the others.  That's the scooter a few pics down.  Really enjoying how things are turning out.

 

Zeroack and all that he is.

 I'm gonna change the format on Zeroack here.  I'm guessing there's not a lot of readers anymore, but I need a place to vent, puke ideas, do some reviews, post artwork, etc..  Lately I've found myself wanting to document my Stylus obsession.  My journey among the stylus trees.  Throw out my knowledge and see if anyone bites.  I thought about going the youtube route.  Still might.  This is easier and much quicker for me however.  Guess we'll see if anyone still reads, or if they just wanna watch there content.

Well there ya go.  Your up to date.

G

Big ouch.

So I was helping a friend get the motor out of a FJ80 the other day.  The engine was going to be given to me for free.  It had some issues but I was gonna strip it down and see what I could do to resurrect it.  Have a back up for my FJ.  So we worked all morning and we were just about to a point where we were going to stop.  I was working on the top bolt of a transfer case.  Pulling down on a wrench when it came loose and split my lip.  It split my lip good.  No teeth, No nose...just lip.  Ben ran me to the ER and I texted Jen that I was headed there.  10 stitches later I was out the door.  My free engine, wasn't so free anymore.

IT LIVES! part 2

Well I've pieced it back together.  I need to find a decent used seat to put on it.  Maybe another used Brooks or some such saddle.  The tires I bought cheap work great and they fit!  I think I may need to adjust the v-brakes a bit.  I think they are rubbing in some spots.  I need to true the wheels.  The rear has a pretty decent wobble in it.  Need to add some sealant to the tubes.  Other then that it's road worthy...top tube shifters and all.

It LIVES!!! well sorta.....

Little update on the old Bridgestone.  I thought it might be nice to have a bike I could lock up outside.  I know this concept is very foriegn to me.  I usually...almost always take my bikes in doors with me.  I've reused almost all the parts.  Adjusting the V-Brakes was a little tricky but I think what I've done will work.  They might need some fine tuning.  Re-hung the 105 Shimano rear derailleur.  Cleaned it up a bit.  Put a nice prologo saddle on top of the seat post that came with the bike.  Added some mustache bars and funky older brake levers that I had sitting around.  I have a more better front derailleur coming in the mail, as well as some funky grey camo bar tape.  I need a set of tires and have been looking at different gravel tires.  I haven't found a set that fits into my budget yet.  Which is CHEAP!  I found some Continental Speed King's used on ebay but I think the seller wanted a bit to much for them.  I really wish I could find some 700c Knards.  Something will turn up I'm sure.  I might get some foamy grips also, haven't made up my mind yet.  If it turns out to be a decent roller I might strip the paint off of her and clear coat it.  IF it's a good roller.

This year's project. The Bridgestone WT-F

So it happened again this year.  I somehow ended up bringing home a stray bike from the Recycle your cycle event.  Do I need another bike...no.  I really really don't.  Is the bike interesting, sure.

So lets get down to what it is.  It's a Bridgestone of unknown vintage.  It's somewhere between a 92-94.  I have perused Bridgestone catalogs from the era and have found the purple color of the frame and the original wheel size 26".  What I haven't found are the rack mounts.  It looks like a XO-2 but the fork isn't right.  It's not a MB-3.  The MB-3 doesn't have the rack mounts.  However it does have the right fork and the right color.  The MB series was also a lugged frame.  Mine is not.  So it looks like what I have is a 1994 XO-5 except the wheel size is all wrong.  Have a look, try to figure out what bike I have - http://www.sheldonbrown.com/bridgestone/

Here's what made it home in the back of the bed of my truck...

 So lets take stock of what we have.  It's a steel framed Bridgestone bike.  Some one has added canti mounts to run 700c wheels.  They have also added top tube shifters.  Not downtube...toptube shifters.  It's missing it's rear wheel.  Some one added Tektro mini v brakes.  It has a older Salsa drop bar on it.  It has a Shimano 105 rear derailleur.  There's a lot of rust everywhere.

My plan.  Find a rear 700c wheel add that to the bike and see if it fits me.  I think it will.  IF it fits I will strip it down to the frame.  Then I will strip all the paint off the frame and remove all the rust.  I'll try to work out the pits as best I can.  Add a Bridgestone sticker to both sides of the raw frame and clear coat the whole thing.  Lacquer clear over the whole frame and fork.  After that clean up all the parts that are on the bike and assess if they can be reused.  I'm pretty sure the shifters, headset, 105 rear der, and maybe some bits off the Tektro v's can be salvaged.  I gotta change the huge blocky chunky front derailleur thou.  It looks awful.  I think I actually have a XT one sitting around.  Hope it's a top pull.  Rebuild the bike.  Add racks and panniers front and back.  We will see how far I get on this project.  Should be interesting anyhow.

Food Review: Mountain House Breakfast Skillet

As I am going to start traveling the land some time in the near future I figured I should have some idea of what sort of food I might be making.  This brings me around to my backpacking days.  The days of freeze dried food.  My fondest memory of freeze dried food is Jenny, Jake and I huddled under a tree/bush in the rain making spaghetti.  I probably could have made two more bags of the stuff.  I don't remember it tasting that great but they loved it.

However this review isn't about that time.  This is many years in the future and I'm thinking about bikepacking.  That's right BIKEpacking.  Someone asked me why I'm trying the food before I go.  I told them I don't want to be out on the trail with a empty belly.  I'd like to fill it with foods l like.  Hence trying before I go.  Alright lets get started.

 I am going to rate these all against the real thing.  That's the only way to be fair.  So I prepared it per instructions.  WITH the optional stir point at 5 minutes.  After 9 minutes in the bag the result was about 2 cups of ...stuff.

 You could tell the eggs and the green peppers and red.  That's about where it stopped.  I was hoping for a little more from the potatoes.  They were pretty runny and not the greatest in consistency.  You could tell the eggs were eggs but there taste was pretty bland.  As I ate the taste did get better.  I only ran into a few bits that weren't re-hydrated.  As a test I put some in a skillet and fried it all a bit.  I thought maybe getting rid of a bit of the excess moisture would help it.  It did help the potatoes a bit but it made the eggs very spongy.  I wouldn't recommend this.  I would recommend some cheese if you have any and maybe a tortilla.  These two thing would have made it very good.  Even just the cheese.  As a final test I asked the cats to have a taste.  Both wouldn't come near it.  Fail.

I'll give it a 6 out of 10.  You can eat it but I feel there are better breakfast foods out there.  The consistency wasn't what I was hoping for and I think it would be displeasing to others as well.  Taste was overall ok.  Nothing put me off that much.  The few bits of unhydrated food were a turn off as well.

Icey roads suck....

Ugh....what a morning. I went against the advice of my SO and decide to ride this morning. I mean I've got a fatbike it won't be a problem right? Lowered the pressure in the tires and set out. I should have taken the hint when the bike came out from underneath me 100 feet from the house and turned around. However I didn't. I got back on and kept going. I didn't fall off again the rest of the way. Well until about half way thru my ride my front tire went flat. So walk to work or walk home? I decided to walk home. I called Jen and asked for pick up. Tucked my tail between my legs, licked my wounds and drove to work. Moral of the story is...Icey roads suck and so do flat tires.

#7 - Slingshot Road

This one came into my hands in a sort of odd way.  A fan of Slingshots picked this one up in Durango Colorado for super cheap.  He didn't have the time to mess with it so he passed it on to me.  I've up graded a few bits and pieces but it's stayed pretty much the same.  It's a great road bike.

#6 - Ganna commuter.

This one came to me in a pretty unusual way.  Our club helped out with Recycle cycle event this last year.  This one came in and had a pair of bent up wheels.  Which usually means strip it and junk it.  I noticed that it had Campagnolo components on it.  I knew enough that it was old and Campy parts usually make it a little higher end.  So instead of junking the bike I put it in the back of the truck and took it home.  I've changed a few things on this ol' ride.  The cranks were shot so I put on new square taper cranks and got rid of the cotter key cranks.  I changed out the headset and got a new set of wheels for it.  I also put on some new brake pads, hoods for the brake levers, chain, cassette and bar tape.  Everything works great.  I've got a Chris King headset to put on it this year some time.  It's just a great bike.