rollerdavem

It's heeeeeeere.....!

I waiting and watching for the Midwest Motor Express truck, and I see a semi with 'MME' on it go by southbound on hwy 61 and start laughing.

Sure enough, soon a big ol' semi comes rolling down my dead-end street, stopping with the end just past my near-vertical driveway.

I'm laughing my ass off at this, as I have backed my boat up this drive and know there is NO WAY that thing is gonna back up here, and that the liftgate won't function with the truck pointing down a steep hill and the parking pad being fairly level.

So the poor guy gets out and stands there looking up my driveway and sadly shaking his head. There's no way he bargained for THIS! I mean they were calling me hoping I would have a loading dock and a forklift, here he is at the bottom of a flipping bluff looking at a house 150ft up?

A bit of juggling, and he has the crate on a pallet and begins pushing the huge thing up my drive with a non-powered pallet jack!

I'm like, "no freaking way!"

He gets halfway up, and I'm sure he's gonna die or something. He stops and says he he needs just a couple minutes and I'm reminded of the movie Princess Bride where Inigo waits for the Man in Black at the top of the Cliffs of Insanity...

Then a Comcast van pulls up to do something or other at my neighbor's and the guy offers to help push.

They get the thing up and into my garage, and it just fits in sideways. Just barely.

I sign and the poor guy gingerly leads that pallet jack back down the steep-ass drive to turn his semi around in a cul de sac.

I don't envy that fellow, and am sure impressed by the job he did.

So then I realize my tactical error, me and my scooter are on the outside, the only way I can get into my house is on the inside of the garage....

In between is this massive freaking crate!

So I do some shoving, toss some junk, and manage to squeeze in.

I see that the top of the crate is held on by a mess of stainless steel panheaded screws and fill my hand with an electric drll... but I notice the cord is all chewed up! So I pull three or four screws with a hand screwdriver, see how tough it is, look at how many there are left and say "(un)SCREW THIS!"

I find where the wires are bare, and jam some litter and crap from the floor that looks vaguely non-conductive in between the wires, use two channel-lock pliers to chuck up a phillips bit, and back the rest of them damn screws out, all the while being hyper conscious of the cord and keeping that frayed bit away from me and held 'just so.'

OY VAY, UFF DA!

More to come!

RD

Tom Stormcrowe

By the way, I think you just accidentally gave your trike its name. Eagle!

Mazama

Nice box.

rollerdavem

Eagle, eh? Maybe maybe...

So I found a couple batteries in a cordless mouse in my room (thanks to Beck for the suggestion) and went back down to do a bit of un-crating.

I slid the top back on to get a few shots, then put it aside.

I had an unfamiliar and somewhat shady fellow come walking up my drive, he said he was out of gas and asked if he could buy a gallon, I kept the crate between me and him and only showed him my weak-side hand because my strong-side hand was in my pocket....

After I told him I had nothing for him, he glanced around, complimented me on the nice piano, my nice new bike... and departed.

I got a good idea who this fella is, where he comes from, and what he's doing. I got good locks and have run off home invading intruders before, I'll keep my eyes open.

So, I peeled back the wrapping, took a few shots, set the seat in place, took a shot, secured my garage, and came back up to post these pics.

Tonight, I go pick up my trainer, finish uncrating, and setting up!

Oh, and I have put all of this up at my photobucket

I wish I knew how to make it sort them properly, but notice the picture numbers and you'll be all right.

Well, more to come!

I am so excited!

RD

bdinger

Your driveway reminds me of my street. Every morning I battle three blocks up that #!@!# thing.

Funniest part was this morning, I was battling it and went riding by some young guy walking his bike up the hill. I just smiled and said "hello".

Someday Dave, hard work will pay off and you can do the same.

wayne pattee

I'll bet that truck driver was glad there wasn't a fresh coat of freezing rain on your driveway.

v1k1ng1001

That is hilarious but I'm glad you finally got your rig dave. I had just assumed that it came assembled.

Tom Stormcrowe

Paste the [IMG] code into your post from photobucket and you'll get pics like this.....

JosephPaul86

Trike is going to be a NICE ONE!
Have fun and safe riding.

rollerdavem

Whew!

What a lot of work!

Tho I'm nothing compared to the poor guy who delivered it, I still got one hell of a workout today. If simply uncrating and setting this thing up has wore me out this much, I don't know who I was fooling that I was going to actually BUILD something in my condition!

All I had to do was unscrew a bunch of screws (I found MY drill with the non-zapping cord), lift away crate components, unbolt the front dropouts, put on the front wheel, attach the seat at its base, and each of two rear struts, mount the stem, and check it all over.

A few little hitches, a problem with one of the rear seat supports. A hole was drilled slightly off center so the strut would scratch paint if installed as supplied. I just whipped out a hacksaw and whacked 1/4 inch off the end.

Wasn't long and I was sitting on it and was amazed at how comfortable it is! I'm sure the 'muscles I don't remember I have' will more than make up for THAT once I get pedaling, but it sure don't hurt for the seat to, well.... not HURT!

Got my trainer hooked up and found a simple solution to the 2wd/climbing block problem, I just lifted the chain off the jackshaft sprocket leading to the side with no trainer and viola! I was able to use a medical encyclopedia I had lying around to elevate that side, hop on, and start pedaling!

Once I install the computer tomorrow I'll go for my first 'spin' and see how long I'm good for!

Just one pic for now, I wanna clean up the garage before I do a run of detail pics.



(thanks Tom, I don't know why I didn't think of pasting it in sooner.)

I know, I look like a beachball, but hey; this will make one HELL of a 'before picture' so I'm OK with it.

So, on the Rollerplan there are the following things yet to do...

Install computer
SPIN!
Clean up garage
SPIN!
Take detail pics
SPIN!
Oh, did I mention 'SPIN!'?

Then, the river paths, rack up miles, look for more challenging paths, lose weight, Live life, be healthy!

It's better than "gather underpants, ???, Profit!"

Well, tomorrow is a new day, Later, Gators!

RD

Tom Stormcrowe

Looking good, Bro! Welcome to the world of Cycling! If the wife and I make it up to Minnesota this summer, we'll have to all get together fir some riding

markhr

Nice ride dude - remember to get the reflective tape on there, a triangle and a few flags - you can never be too visible.

gators?

Tom Stormcrowe

An American colloquialism, "See ya later, alligator". Started in the 1950's, with a songwriter in Louisiana.

Here's a version by Bill Haley.

https://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=_4Lpk8...eature=related

bautieri

Awesome, I can't wait to read about its maiden voyage!

Neil_B

I don't recall the last time I saw a big fat guy smile so much.

Please, keep the photos coming. I want to read of the initial ride.

Tom Stormcrowe

Agreed Dave, if you keep up this enthusiasm level, if a couple of years you are going to have so much physical change that your friends that haven't seen you in a while will be absolutely blown away......

Keep it up and do tell about the first ride

(EDIT: It won't be long and that mobility scooter in the background will be history )

markhr

yeah, I know

It was a dig. I'm guessing no-one from Minnesota would support Gators unless they spent a significant amount of time in Florida.

Having said that, the little time I spent in Lead and Rapid City, SD, people seemed to choose random teams rather than whichever's closest.

bdinger

Dave, you are the MAN. The smile speaks volumes about your plan, but remember, the first time those muscles are screaming that smile might go away.

Then again, if you are like me it turns into a gladiator-esque scowl of death. I scare small children with that scowl, seriously.

I'll likely be up in the twin cities area this summer for work, and if/when I am, you can be assured that I'll have a bike with. And I'll be danged if I leave without getting a chance to ride with you.

Keep it up, Dave. Just SITTING THERE you are inspiring poeple. Wait until you actually ride!

Trucker_JDub

Thats really cool. That trike looks comfortable too. Looks like just your drive way could give you a good work out. Its easy to get down but you have to push to get back up. Your going to have a lot of fun. I look forward to seeing your 'beach ball' (your words) pic with the words BEFORE above it. As long as you keep that ear to ear smile you can do any thing you want; never give up.

BTW: Not to pat myself on the back but I could have put my truck up your drive way. I had to do a lot tighter places then that. Most truckers are used to fitting a trailer with just inches of clearance on either side. My concern would be breaking threw your drive way with all the weight of the truck. I had a longer truck as well.

beingtxstate

Awesome!! I also eagerly await your tale of the first ride!

B Piddy

Drop the hammer for us Dave. You got a lot people pullin for ya on these boards (whether they post it or not)

bigtruck

Dave reading your threads is like reading a good book, Cannot wait to read the next chapter
Goodluck

Bionicycle

Yep that is what I thought yesterday when I saw the picture of his driveway… If he gets tired of the trainer riding, maybe he could go down the driveway and then pedal back up…In first gear… starting out. At least on a trike if he gets tired or winded he could just put on the brakes and sit there until he gets some of his stamina back.

At least he lives on a dead end street, he said...so he could ride down to the turnaround and back up the drive, and work up some endurance that way… Just a thought

Personally I would have loved to had a set up like that: when I started working on my endurance after my hip replacement. The road I live on… you have to hit the pavement at forty miles per hour, or you are road kill.

rollerdavem

Well, it's a new day and I'm getting ready to go down there and try this cyclocomputer. A CheapyCheapcheaper by Bell from Wally World.

I think I might wind up getting an even CHEAPER one that's wired and doing my soldering iron shrinkwrap shuffle to lengthen the wire.

I'll try this thing first tho because I have a tendency to overly complicate stuff that I address by telling myself to just shut up and try it before convincing myself that there will be problems and figuring out the most Rube Goldberg workaround I can.

Muscles screaming, I'm still smiling, I gotta get me some numbers because if you can't measure progress, you can't GET there from here!

Those who said they wanted to ride with me sometime, oh hell yeah! look forward to it!


Well, I'm sure you all understand, I'm kinda in a rush to go make my musculature burn...

I'll check in later!

rollerdavem

Ho boy!

Still smiling tho.

Shins burn, 'recruiter' area a bit numb... thinking I might get them kneesavers...

Unable to connect computer, the stupid little spoke magnets seem to have gone off somewhere...

Think I might just need to haul it to the river path and just make a time commitement like "i'll stay here for two hours, and just see how I do.

Might jusy do that tomorrow, tonight I gotta go get my van into the shop. "check engine" doesn't tell me much, but it tells me THAT much!

RD