Great weekend for just about anything

How often do you get to say that with the funky weather we've had?

Well it was, so, despite the somewhat chilly nights, I even managed to fit in a barbecue. This time of year the cold almost guarantees it's mosquito-free! If Gordo liked the chicken breast, you know it was good. Tasted it myself and despite erring on the side of well-done (for safety) it was still extremely tasty.

Now Lenny stiffed me on this one, but no problem: we'll eat his share of the chicken during the week, and his allocation of Aidel's Chicken sausage flavored with Asiago and roasted pepper went bye-byes in seconds. There were even requests for more. It was that good.

With the painters at the house, it was hard to break free, but with the usable golf weather possessing the earliest expiration date, Chuck and I combined for a long overdue round at the brutal executive nine-hole at Harbor Links. Without much practice recently, the result was a shoddy 47. Which included a dreaded "snowman on the 115-yd 6th. That's what happens when you rush things and don't pay enough attention.

By the time We exited the, er, clubouse/19th hole, my feet were on fire, and I knew I'd walked a nice few miles during the day, dog-walks included.

SUNDAY - "Wrenching" and Cycling

Was bike day. After making the mistake of staying up late to watch the NY Rangers lose to Edmonton's young and up-and-coming hockey dynasty-to-be, I got up late. With everybody else scattered, it was a great setup for a bike ride. Last good one was a month ago, and I paid for it with pinched-neck disc-induced arm pain for the next month. But things had mellowed and despite a bit of ashthma going in, I took a puff of the inhaler, swapped out a new stem, screwed the handlebars and headcap star-nut screw back in place and rode. Carried a 4mm allen wrench in the bag just in case anything showed signs of coming loose.

I rode fairly slowly and tentaive for the most part, since I was not 100% sure of my mechanical adjustments. I used "feel" tightness to gauge the torque on the star-nut, the handlebars and the stem collar and bar-clamp.

When I took the carbon fiber headcap off the star nut, I was shocked at how loose it was. Surely that had to be a little tighter? But not "too tight" or you risk buggering-up the steerer tube. The bar clamps were loctite solid and mucho clamped down, so I buckled them on pretty firmly. I'm strong with wrenches, so I have to be careful not to overdo it. The stem collar was about mid-low medium-tight. And with a carbon steerer tube you don't want any tighter than that. I'd prefer to carry a 4mm allen wrench on the ride, and check and re-check regularly, than to mess it up.

As for the ride; Sand's Point was as tranquil as can be, for an October Sunday afternoon. The Sound showed nary a ripple from the Barker's Point to City island. Just a few yachts and fishing launches puttering about. Definitely cause to pause and soak in the fine view of Manhattan and the Bronx.

The Bike work held up well, with only minor tightening of one screw ... but I could use the HB's up much higher, so I don't have to angle my neck to see ahead. A steerer extender will be the next option, and I'll revert to the old stem for that, it's a longer stretch but a less cramped stretch.