Getting things organised

One of the problems with renting is that places never feel like your own.  So far our new place feels much more like home than any of the previous places we have rented, perhaps it is all in the mind but previously we feel like we have been living on rather than in our flats/houses.

Our personal items should be arriving on Monday the (28th January) which I am sure will make things feel even more like home.  Other things that really helped is that we now have little things like a garage with tool board :)

yey tool storage

I also took some time to make some stands for the new bikes we have bought (see here for info on the new bikes).  The design I used was this one https://nuxx.net/blog/2011/11/28/low-cost-fat-bike-stand/ and I think they turned out really well.

Daddy's little "helper"

Almost done

Completed

The next projects will be the ski project for Fiona's trailer and some shelves to make life more interesting for the cats.  We are planning to use the dead space above the kitchen to allow them some height and hopefully fitting the cat's with dusters will enable us to not have to dust up there, access from cat tree to above fridge in the picture below....

Shelves on this wall

Amanda and I also had our trainers studded so we can go running in the snow, well more if we hit ice we don't end up on the floor nursing broken bones.  We have both still to test them out but maybe tonight or tomorrow morning will be the time, I will do a follow up report once we have tested them.

That is all from me, until next time take care all.
Nick

The fat bikes have arrived!

On Saturday the 19th January 2013 to complete my birthday week Amanda and I received our new bikes.  :)

New bikes

Here are a couple of facts about the bikes, the tyres (tires if you are American) are 4" wide and run at low pressure to allow you to float over the snow or dirt, they recommend 5-10psi.  As most people who know my wife know she likes the colour purple a lot.  Since we were finding it difficult to find a purple bike we went with a silver frame and purple accents (cables, nipples, seat clamp) it looks amazing.

Next extra is the reflective tape you can see in the above pictures, since the wheel rims we bought have cut outs in them for weight saving purposes, you get the opportunity to add something a little different to the wheels. (I've seen a photo of one guy who installed lights in his cutouts, here)  We sourced some retro reflective tape from http://www.identi-tape.com/ which allows any light to be reflected back towards the source, hence the reason the flash from the iphone photo above can't cope with the picture so well.

All that was left to do was take them out for a short spin, here is Amanda heading out for a short ride.

Amanda out for a ride

This is me heading out in the snow that arrived later in the day.

Me out for a ride

Finally a shot of my bike in the woods.

Bike in the woods

This week there was also a story on NPR about Fat Bikes here is the link

The next couple of projects will be adding some skis to the wheels on the trailer so we can all get out together.  Some thing like this will be completed in the not to distant future, just waiting on our things from Bogota to arrive so I can make some measurements.  And making some stands for the bikes like this. 

Well that is all from me for now more riding stories and manufacturing stories to follow probably. 

Finally some mountain biking

So after not riding a mountain bike off road for almost 2 years I managed to hire a bike and get out on a ride on Thursday by myself then got really lucky and joined a group ride on Thursday evening.
It was the first time I had ridden a fat bike which is a Mountain bike with extra wide rims and tyres (4"wide) and it was great fun.

This is a stock image of the bike I was on

907 Fat Bike

Casting long shadows at 2pm

Following tracks

Looking back

There is a lake under here

This is the route we took during the group ride and I had a blast, snowy singletrack forest trails.  The bike rides kind of like a tractor and climbs really well over just about anything.  Can't wait to ride one with the brakes set up the right way around.  

Since finishing the ride Amanda and I have taken the hire bike back and ordered two bikes for ourselves.  Can't wait until we get them, hopefully mid January.  Once again thank you to Amanda for being such an amazing wife so I could be a little selfish and get out for a ride.  

8 States of running

2012 has been an interesting year for the Blades family during which I have managed to go for a run in eight States in the USA, we didn't plan this but sometimes things just work out that way.  While filling out this post I realised I missed an opportunity to run in Kansas so looks like we will be returning one day to Kansas so that I can run in all 50 States of the USA!  During these runs I have managed to cover a variety of terrain from beaches to snow.

So here my 8 States of running for 2012

1. Florida

Beach run with Amanda

2. Texas

Shoe test during our short trip to Texas

3. Oklahoma 

5km race on closed roads and I won a medal :)

4. Colorado

Near the airport from another hotel, least this was at a lower elevation compared to where I had been running.  :) 

5. Nebraska 

Gravel road running in the heat :) followed by water skiing.

6. Missouri

Cool and windy, should have turned the other way from the hotel and picked up the bike trail, oh well live and learn.

7. Arkansas

Warm run with nice drivers.

8. Alaska

Brrrrr!!! Moose stopped play, didn't think I would ever be writing that.

A Train, A Train.....

A train a train

 Since we had confirmation that we would be leaving Colombia and heading to Alaska Amanda and I have been telling Fiona that we could ride a train.  On Saturday the 8th December we came through on our promise when we took the Christmas trip on the train up here in Anchorage.

The trip lasted 2 hours and was an out and back trip.  On the trip Alaska rail had enlisted the help of some singers, a magician and jolly fat man in a red suit to entertain the children.

Waiting at the station

We were at the station at 9am for the 10am train, I think they were staggering people to try and avoid big lines of people, it worked for us as there was no line, later on that was not the case.  At 10am we had boarded the train and set off on our ride.  First we got to experience some singers, they performed all the usual Christmas songs, next we had a magician, then judging of the colouring competition and finally for our car we had Santa and Mrs Claus.

The scenery we saw whilst on the train was fantastic and not driving enabled Amanda and I to both look at it rather than one person drive whilst the other takes fleeting glimpses.  All in all the trip was a huge success although Fiona was having nothing to do with Santa even though she had been telling us she wants a green and red present and a present for someone else who Santa won't be able to bring one for which was rather cute.

Ice Climbing road start

Look do you see it

Freezing before getting on the train

Ahhhh Santa Claus!

In other news
We are now living in temporary accommodation, this is until we can move into a house which we are trying to buy, yes we found one though it is not a sure thing yet we are still working out the finer details.

The current place we are staying in is so much better than the hotel for a few simple reasons :-

1. It has more than one room
2. It has a garage so I don't need to clear the car off all the time.
3. It has a kitchen as eating out was wearing really thin.
4. It feels like a home although there is way to much stuff on the walls for Amanda and I.
5. It has a garden with fresh snow so Fiona could do this!

Snow Angel

We have enough space for a Christmas tree.

Mini tree

And finally for this post, on Tuesday night Amanda was told at work to bring her computer home since they were expecting a storm to move in overnight and driving would be difficult during rushhour.  Luckily for Amanda the snow wasn't so bad first thing in the morning, about 3" fell overnight.  After dropping Amanda off I was not so lucky since Fiona and I needed to get things on Wednesday so we were prepared for the arrival of the cats that evening. It is safe to say during my shopping trip the blizzard conditions arrived and during the remainder of the day we received another 6" which made driving a little challenging.  Here is a photo taken after a 1 hour trip to Walmart.

Post Walmart

PS - I still find it strange that when it snows here the whole world doesn't come grinding to a halt... UK please take note!