The ups and downs of house building

We have been SLOWLY building the house. The digging and plumbing went along well. both did a good job and the electricians also completed their work as requested. Then came the concrete, poor weather and the need to bring the mix from far away held the slab up for too long. The mix is called eastern beach with 5% bluestone. This is to be polished and has cost about 10k more thanthe original quote. It is finally down and the shed slab followed a few days later.

POLISHING. We are polishing over 1/2 the floor instead of having floor coverings and after more rain, a small attempt at polishing we still don't have it done 2 weeks after the slab was laid. The polisher has fractured his jaw and is off work for a week so hopefully this coming week will see it done. He has kept me informed all the time so that is good and I beleive the things he has told me.

THE SHED. After being promised delivery 2 weeks ago and paying the final payment we are still waiting for the local shed company to deliver the shed. I keep getting told it is going to happen but they all turn to be lies. I am still waiting and hoped to be putting it up this weekend. He trusting companies is getting less and less. No more full payments before delivery. I would sooner be told it isn't going to happen than being told it is but then it doesn't happen.

The FRAMES. We decided on steel frames with a mid state company and were promised 4 weeks delivery. We are now going into 6 weeks and again the stories turn out to be untrue. It is hard to trust trades companies when they don't tell you the truth until you have made all the plans. I have planned holidays and allowed extra time just in case but have been dissapaointed again.

Pissed off at this stage. Moving soil will be the work of the weekend again.

The house is underway

We are building a new house. It is local so easy to check up on. We are owner building and doing the eco thing. 6.6 star rating, double glazing, north windows, high insulation levels. Hope to complete in about 18 months.

Long time quiet

I have been busy for sone time and probably a bit lazy.
Still enjoying my bent riding around Gippsland. I tend to ride the Attack on road more and more. The trike is used for work commuting and the road bike hangs around for a ride about once a month or sundays with the riding group.
I broke the trike before the last GVBR with the hinge failing. I returned it to Greenspeed and they did a good job repairing it ready for the GVBR. I should get it re powder coated but cna't bear to lose it for long enough to get the job done.
I removed the rear rack off the Attack to lighten it and layed the seat back a little more. It goes like a rocket and I have had it up to 80 km/hr. That was on the Fruit loop ride coming down off the strathboggies. A good ride and another good show case for bents. Rode with a loose group of BV forum riders and had a good ride. 200km in a total of 9 hours. My longest single ride to date.

First Fall

I slid out the rear wheel of the attack the other day. Going around a left hand corner at about 25 to 30 kph(guess based on other riding around this corner) I think I may have applied the rear brake, not sure but have to justify it to myself. The rear let go and I was slipping across the road behind the bike. The left foot released from the pedal, the right did not, the left elbow lost some skin, the left buttock hit hard. I have a bruise on the bum and a sore elbow but nothing serious.
I am waiting for a speedo mount from the lbs next week. I also need to look at smartubes for drink bottles as the current bottle location is too hard to replace after drinking and this prevents drinking while riding.
I am enjoying the riding and the balance is getting better.

New Bent in the stable

I have bought and am now riding a TW-Bents Attack. The first ride was today, a bit shaky at times but generally a great ride. I need to do a few more adjustments. I have the disk brake version and fitted shimano SPD pedals

Noted items on the bike includes
1. The lower chain tube bounces a bit and sometiems flicks into my shoe.
2. The very rare foot wheel interference
3. The unit could fit 700 wheels if required.
4. I noticed more road noise/vibration. This could be due to the higher pressure tyres
5. Speed looks good but I will need aa speedo to confirm this. I have a mounting kit for an Echo F2 on order to use a spare speedo I already have. This model also has cadence.
6. The SRAM shifters are stiff but operate well and took little time to get used to the correct direction.

In all I am looking forward to riding this bike.

Riding in the City

Wednesday evening I had a meeting in the centre of the city so I drove to Malvern East Station and rode from there on the wedgie. The path is closed in part for repairs and I failed to see all the detour signs. I rode 19km to the city and only 13 back. It was an interesting and enjoyable ride for the most part. Some of the path is not best suited for the road bke and I understand why most people have fat tyres for the paths. I almost come a guttsa on tram tracks at one time but managed to survive.
Friday I did a short ride to work of 9 km and 200 km after work. It was a great day for this time of year and the ride was enjoyable both ways. A bit cool in the morning but that is to be expected at this time of year. The ride home I watched the sum moving down to set. A nice evening.
Saturday I rode the usual 42 km Inverloch Wonthaggi Cape ride and had a good ride. A 70+ km ride is planned for next sunday. Look forward to that if the weather is good.

I'm back

I haven't been blogging for a while due to life being busy. I was riding fairly often over summer and we holidayed on the Murray to Mountains rail trail. See http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?o=3Tzut&doc_id=3572&v=2D for the story. Shortly after this I developed AF in my heart and this slowed me down for a bot while it was sorted and riding was greatly reduced.
I have resolved the AF for now and am back riding. Took me odometer readings toady after 50 yesterday and 43 km today on the trike. My reading are 11620 km for the trike, and 3401 for the wedgie. This gives 5767 and 2931 since the end of june 2007. 14 months i have covered 8718km or average of 622km per month. This is above what I had thought I have done lately.
Anyway, I am looking forward to another year of riding with the improving weather. I hope to do the Slog to Sale to get a 160 (100 mile) ride and do the GVBR again this year. I also hope to purchase a 2 wheel recumbent high racer as a tax and heart special.