The Bauer Family

I was able to finish the bike on Saturday morning.  This took some time as I did some parts upgrading and after playing with the original fork for a while I decided to replace it.  I just could not get it straight.  I do think it would have been ok to ride.  Just playing it safe, not sure if it would have thrown the front wheel off? The bars are Salsa Cowbell 3 in 46cm width.  I like a wide handlebar.  You can see the upper part of the fork here, it is a Salsa Cromoto and is almost exact in dimensions to the factory fork.  I also put in a Cane Creek Ten Zero Stack Headset.     FSA Omega Cross Crank, Tiagra front derailleur.   Decided to change things up and go with white bar tape!   Complete   White saddle to match bar tape.     Complete Bike Spec:   Frame: Gravity Zilla 55.5cm Fork: Salsa Cro Moto 425mm Headset: Cane Creek Ten ZS Crank: FSA Omega Cross 46/36 Cassett...

Last Sunday Michelle and I headed for Mackinaw Island for the Celebrate Your Marriage Conference/Seminar.  This is hosted by Jay and Laura Laffoon.  This was our second year to attend and we again had a great time.  This is a very busy 2 days.  The seminar is at the Grand Hotel which is incredible when you look at the history there.  The trip is worth it just for the meals that are included in your stay.  This is a great way to spend time with your wife and celebrate what you share.  I recommend that if you are reading this blog that you take the time to go to this at least once.  I plan on going every year.  I love you Michelle! Greeted by Mayflies again.     The Mighty Mac!   The Grand Hotel.   One view from our rooms balcony.   Old Glory.   Thank you to all the veterans that made the ultimate sacrifice so that all of us can have the freedom we enjoy today. God Bless You on ...

A couple of days ago I introduced Project Gravel.  Surprisingly I was able to get a few things done on the project during the weekend.  Here is the progress so far. Wheels are specialized front hub with DT Swiss 470 rims and DT Swiss RWS 9mm front skewer, Avid Rotors.  Rear hub is Shimano M525 with DT Swiss 470 rims, Avid Rotor and Sram 11-28 cassette.  Both tires are Ritchey Speedmax 700x40.   Headset was installed along with the fork.  When installing the starnut in the steer tube of the fork I bent the left dropout.  You can see it in this photo.  I think it will be ok?   The wheels were then mounted.   The Shimano Ultegra 9 speed rear derailleur was installed.   Front and Rear Avid BB5 road brakes were installed.   I put the bottom bracket on this evening and will try to do a little more in the morning.  The stem is a Giant 100mm and my bars should be in tomorrow.  Will try t...

On Sunday we celebrated Mother's Day at Church followed by a buffet at the Whistle Stop in Clio.  It was a very good meal and fun for all.   The Bauer's     The Garcia's   The Cody's minus Tyler   Then we celebrated at our house with Michelle's family in the evening with another big feast.    Help Yourselves!   A good time was had by all and one of the best Mother's Day celebrations yet.  Happy Mother's Day, we love you all! 

Mom and Dad came out today and we celebrated Mother's Day with them.  We had a great feast of Ribs, wings and sides followed by desert.  No one waked away hungry.  Brendan and I went to Meijer and we found some nice yellow roses for mom.    Mom loved them so much she insisted on getting her picture taken.     Scott stopped by and played the drums for mom.  She loved it! Thanks Scott!   Mom loves cats and Koko entertained her.   Mom and her boys! Thank you mom, Happy Mother's Day!   Don't worry Dad, we didn't forget you.   Thank you to all the mom's out there and all you do! God Bless!               

When we got home Wednesday a large box was waiting for me on the porch. I had ordered the Gravity Zilla Monster Cross frame from Bike Island.  There was also a small box from Bike Nashbar.  The small box would be to finish the rebuild of my road bike.  That was finished this morning. I unboxed the Zilla this morning after completing the road bike rebuild.  The frame seems very light. The frame is aluminum and disc brake only.  It also came with a cromo steel fork.  Arriving with the frame was a cassette and headset. I sold my Zion Single Speed frame and fork to finance this project.  The rest of the parts I have laying around or made trades to acquire.  I will post the build and parts as I start to assemble.  Time is tight with everything that is going on so it could take a while to get this done.  I am also considering converting my cross bike to a single speed?  We will see. Have a great weekend everyone and Happ...

Hard to believe it is already May.  My last post was on Easter.  A lot has happened over the past month.  We had a lot of rain during April and some flooding, things are just drying out now.  Soccer has started and the boys are both playing again.  I was going to help coach JJ's team, however Brendan's team did not end up having a coach so I took that over.  First time coaching U8 and am having fun with that.  Probably end up coaching Brendan until he is done playing.  JJ's team will be doing a lot of traveling as there are not many U19 teams nearby. Mother's Day is this weekend and plans are almost set.  Then the next weekend Michelle and I head for Mackinaw Island for Celebrate Your Marriage. We went last year and it was a lot of fun. That brings things up to date now.  I will be doing more posting over the next several weeks so stay tuned.