daily slice-of-life blog of a Gen-X dad
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“50T” Cedar Park, 2023
My next major update for Piplup is an 44-tooth chainring. The bicycle’s standard configuration comes with a 50-tooth chainring which is a little too high for me. In other words, the gearing isn’t low enough to provide a comfortable “granny gear” for climbing hills, and the common 44T switch should help with that.
I ordered the black chainring, so the silver ring part just inside the black chain-guard ring in the photo will change. I really like the look of the “black edition” Bromptons, so I am going that route with the new components, which include the chainring, fenders, and rear rack. FYI, the 2023 Bromptons have an option for black edition, but it costs more than the silver version. I would have liked to go that route, but I can’t complain since I bought my Brompton during the 20%-off sale.
“Corner Studio” Cedar Park, 2023
I set up my old easel and a small table so I could work on a painting that will be a birthday present. How fun to do a painting in acrylics again. It’s been so many years!
I have a short deadline (which I will miss) and I’ve been procrastinating, but I want to make sure the painting is just how I want it. And I’ve been using my iPad/Procreate to help with the design of it, which is a lot of fun. I’m already thinking of the next painting I want to make…
“Piplup” Cedar Park, 2023
I went for another ride with Piplup today. I love my Brompton bicycle so much! I’ve been getting more and more excited about doing a bicycle tour, and I’ve put some dates on my calendar, but I’m traveling quite a bit this year, so I might not be able to squeeze it in until next year.
Well, at least I can ride locally, which is a lot of fun.
“Ehoumaki” Cedar Park, 2023
It seems like we just celebrated Setsubun, yet here it is again. Yay! As usual, we enjoyed some massive ehoumaki sushi rolls, while facing this year’s lucky direction, South/Southeast. And of course you cannot speak until you’ve finished the whole roll!
This year, we also had soba, which is eaten traditionally at New Years. Since this marked the new year in ancient times, Mariko decided to make soba as well as the ehoumaki. It was so delicious! And now we’ll have double-luck this year.
“Soba” Cedar Park, 2023
“Piplup and Sign” Cedar Park, 2023
I bundled up at lunch at went for a ride to the nearby hike and bike trail. I wanted to see if there was a lot of tree damage due the the ice storm. On the way there, I rode through our neighborhood and it looked like a tornado had come through! So many trees were broken, and some even were leaning on rooftops.
When I got to the trail, I was only able to ride a hundred meters or so before I had to turn around because the clean up crews were cutting and clearing fallen branches. But I did manage to get a rare selfie! As you can see, it was cold! Still, it was a fun ride and nice to get out after being cooped up in the house for the past three days.
“Cold Selfie” Cedar Park, 2023
