Return to civilization

I've been missing for quite a while. It's been a tiring week and hadn't had time to use the PC. The particle accelerator is relocating to a new location. Had to clear my workshop table and equipment and move everything into boxes. When I was done with that, I started working on the finishing touches of the bicycle... not exactly 'finishing' - I cooped myself up at the workshop for 3 days and only left there to make 3 trips across country to replenish the materials and tools, and do some testing on the empty roads in the morning.

Fernando likes the ideas on the bike: I restored a few old parts; looked through the Encyclopedia of Electronic Circuits for a tracking device design that will fit bicycles - I settled for something you'd fit on a model rocket to track it as it falls back to the surface; and did away with the need for blinkers entirely with some nuclear energy - Trijicon's ACOG gunsights gave me the idea for self-luminous lighting using beta emitters. Saves weight too. Installing these around the derailleur and seatstays makes the bicycle look like part of an airport runway at night.You can read a map off the light! Should last 10-20 years, if nothing else on the bicycle breaks down.

I received the DMT Radials in the mail. I love them! The Aerolite cleats have engagement problems as usual and should really have been supplied with a pair of washers. I shuffled through old medicine bottles and found what I needed with a little flexure - rubber washers to place between the adapter plate and the cleats, and now it works like a charm. ^^

And FINALLY, I finished all that work. Henceforth, I hurried over to the local bike shops to get some degreaser (ran out) and shoe covers for the TT... out of stock. Must be thanks to the OSIM triathlon upcoming this weekend. I can't be bothered with the shoe covers already... I have an idea... since my legs have large Reynolds numbers, some fabric should reduce flow separation... beats a pair of shoe covers.

 Boundary layer zettai ryouiki (絶対領域)?

^OK, I obviously can't go out cycling looking like that. But seriously, pro cyclists should wear stockings given that the legs take up a good 36-39% of the body's surface area.

Lastly, I know I dreamt of building the lightest bicycle in Singapore when I started out, and now it's nearly done, I realized that it's an obsolete dream: I'll be leaving for Massachusetts soon, and I won't be returning even after college.