More Than a Bike; a Journey into the Unknown

Gorgonzola Goop...

2012-02-23T11:10:00.000-05:00

One reason Gorgonzola isn't as strong flavored as Stilton is because the surface growth gets scraped off periodically.

I just scraped it for the first time...very interesting!!

The surface was covered with white mold, blue mold that seemed to be dying, and yellow-orange bacterial smear.

I scraped it off, and ended up with a lot of goop!

The cheese smells quite repulsive, but I tried a small piece that broke off the side, and it tasted amazing.

It was creamy, with nice blue mold flavor.

The final scraped cheese looks a little less wild than before....and hopefully the blue mold will be able to take over the rind.

It goes to the basement to age for a couple more months....

Neck Carving...

2012-02-20T11:24:00.001-05:00

I was somewhat intimidated by the prospect of carving a new neck for the fiddle, but it has turned out to be less complicated than I thought.

All I've done is carefully follow instructions, and remove small amounts of wood at a time!

I started by making a pattern from a piece of paper and tracing that onto a block of straight-grained maple.

Next, I roughed out the shape with the bandsaw.

I then used a microplane to remove the extra wood outside the lines.

The next step was to start shaping the scroll. That began by tracing the pattern onto the scroll area. Then the bandsaw and a fine-bladed Japanese saw were used for roughing it out.

My brother let me use his carving tools to do the fine shaping. It took a while, and I forgot to take pictures of the process...but here's a photo of the scroll today, when I was working on shaping the peg-box.

The book Violin Making: a Historical and Practical Guide has been very thorough in explaining the process, and I would be lost without it! I'm also using the old scroll as a visual aide...

Will it work??

2012-01-24T14:48:00.003-05:00

I pulled the Gorgonzola out of the mold today, and wasn't terribly impressed by what I saw.

Because there were no holes in the sides of the mold, the whey had no way to escape. (pun intended)

I salted the cheese, and put it in a small fridge in the basement, to potentially stay at 55*F for 30 days.

I hope it doesn't just fall apart!

Gorgonzola? We'll see....

2012-01-21T13:22:00.000-05:00

Well, I made my very first batch of Gorgonzola cheese! We shall see, in time, how it turns out...

Here's a photo of the beautiful Jersey milk I used.

I added mesophyllic starter culture, let it ripen for 30 minutes, then added rennet. Here I am checking to identify the flocculation point. "Flocculation" is the point at which the solids begin to separate from the liquids in the milk. The evening milk took 11 minutes to flocculate, and the morning batch 10 minutes. Therefore, I let the evening batch rest 45 minutes total, to get the best curd set for this cheese. The morning milk set 40 minutes.

After the designated time for setting up, I cut the curd into 1/2 in cubes and let them rest 10 minutes.

The next step was to dump the curds into a cheesecloth to drain. The evening bit drained for about 17 hours, and the morning curd drained for only one.

While waiting for the morning curd to finish draining, I mixed up an inoculate so the cheese grows blue mold. I used 1 tsp of Gorgonzola cheese (the moldiest part I could find) and mixed that thoroughly with 1/4 cup of cool water.

Finally I was able to cut up the two batches of curd and mix salt and the blue cheese slurry into them.

I put the larger bowl of curd (the morning curd) on the bottom and sides of the mold. The smaller bowl of curd went into the center, surrounded on all sides by the newer curd.

Now I have to flip the cheese every 15 minutes for 2 hours. Then it goes into a cool room for 3 days. I still have to flip it a few times each day, but not quite as often. After that, it will go to start growing mold!

Disappointing Discoveries...

2012-01-03T11:07:00.000-05:00

Well, removing the fiddle neck in order to re-set it turned out to be much more complicated than I originally thought.

The block refused to be loosened from the back and ribs of the fiddle, so I ended up removing it in pieces.

The neck job was revealed, and much worse than expected.

There were wide gaps between the neck and the block it was supposed to be anchored in.
After much careful work, I successfully removed the neck without damaging anything other than the block.

I smoothed the surfaces with a scraper, then tried to take apart the broken rib to re-glue more neatly. Whooops!!

I gave up after the break, and just glued it back on as neatly as I could...

My plan at this point was to make a new block to correctly fit the neck into. After a little investigation, I realized the base of my neck was missing far too much wood to be re-set properly. How frustrating!

A few options now presented themselves: I could make a new neck from scratch, buy a neck blank, or risk getting a bad neck and buy one from a parted out fiddle off ebay.

I decided the most economical option for me at the moment was to try my hand at making a neck myself. The blanks from Stewart MacDonald were more than I wanted to pay at the moment, and plus, if I made one myself, I sure would learn a lot! Wow! The prospect of carving a neck out of maple myself is a rather daunting idea!

Fiddle Trouble...

2011-11-30T10:51:00.001-05:00

The repairs necessary for making the fiddle playable ended up being much more extensive than I was expecting.

I was hoping a new bridge, strings, tailpiece, and a re-set sound post would be all...but I was wrong.

When I strung it up, the neck was slowly pulled forward...bad news!!

I now have to take it out, and re-set it properly. A previous repair was done very badly, so that needs to be un-done. What a pain!

Oh, well...that is why I bought a damaged instrument....to learn!

Dad did some research on how to get the neck off, and I have started that process by removing the front...

It appears that the fingerboard was glued on with something other than hide glue...so it cannot be removed.

That could be an issue...but...I'll need to build a new block anyway, since it is cracked....

There is also a messy repair that I'll hopefully be able to fix on one of the ribs near the neck.

You can see in this photo the bad neck job and the broken rib.

I know this is a huge undertaking...and I'll do my best.

The fiddle is a beautiful instrument; I hope I can make it playable...and not ruin anything!

What have I been Doing?

2011-11-17T13:52:00.001-05:00

I'm sorry, it has been a very long time since I posted anything. I haven't been doing any interesting cycling-related activities.

I have just been regularly riding across town for various reasons. My ankles healed completely, and now I am sure to remember the correct height for my saddle, to avoid any other such mishaps. My knee doesn't give me trouble, unless I exert it more than normal without stretching.

A local cycling group recently advertised my canvas bags to those on their mailing list! I haven't gotten any responses, but it is a first step...

A fellow bicycling traveler who decided to stop in Buffalo contacted me through Warmshowers, and now we are making a bicycle bag for her bike together!

I've been renovating a room in the basement to turn into a cheese cave, for aging cheese. It has been a lot of work, but it is nearly done.

Just recently I was the happy recipient of a supply of milk for cheesemaking. The farmer gives me milk, and I give him some of the cheese I make! A pretty swell deal for me I think!

I got my first shipment of milk last Thursday, and made Gouda, Neufchatel, and Ricotta out of the three gallons. Neufchatel is similar to cream cheese; just made with more milk than cream.

Here's what the Gouda looks like...and for some reason there are holes in the surface...I guess the curd was more firm that it should have been.

Another project I've wanted to get started is repairing a fiddle. I was able to buy a damaged fiddle off Craigslist, and now have to figure out how to fix it up. I'll get some books from the library on repairing violins, buy some tools and supplies, and carefully try to make it sound like a quality instrument. This will be my first time repairing an instrument, and I'm hoping to do well and learn a lot!

Here's the project as she looks now...

So there you go, these are a few of the things I've been doing while not updating my blog.

Life really is a journey into the unknown. I had no idea at the beginning of the year that I would be able to get back into making cheese. Not in my wilder dreams did I think I would get good milk for cheese making in exchange for just some of the product. You never know what will happen, what opportunities will present themselves. Always be open to the unexpected, it is probably the beginning to a great story.

I could use this blog to document all the random adventures of my life, or I could keep it focused on cycling. You, my readers, help me decide! Focus on cycling, or allow for any adventure life throws at me?

First Flat...

2011-09-14T15:08:00.000-04:00

Well, finally the inevitable happened.

Yesterday I rode across town, and just as I was reaching my destination, I discovered my rear tire was almost completely deflated. I was pretty bummed. I didn't want to fix a flat tire!

Thankfully it was very easy to find the puncture...a wire had gone through the tire and into the tube.

I took the wheel off, unnecessarily, to fix it. The hole in the tube was quite obvious, so I didn't have to do anything fancy or complicated...

After patching I pumped it up and two hours later rode home. Today the tire is still as firm as when I inflated it yesterday!

Hurray! I can successfully fix flat tires!!!

The Ride to Allegany

2011-09-13T13:58:00.000-04:00

Family and friends were planning a vacation at Allegany State Park, so my brother Willie and I decided we wanted to ride, instead of drive there. It was a little over 70 miles, and predominantly uphill. We left shortly after 7:30am. Getting out of Buffalo was terrible! We had to traverse rather busy shoulder-less 4 and 6-lane highways. Thankfully most drivers were nice and gave us room. Once out of the city and suburbs we were in farming country for a bit.

We witnessed a group of workers harvesting cabbage...

Then we got on route 75, or Sisson Highway...which took us through a variety of areas...from farms to hunting cabins. It was very low-traffic and we enjoyed riding it.

There were a lot of tanker trucks hauling manure, but they didn't bother us at all...they didn't even smell very bad!

We paused for a snack at one point and I documented the

Mom's Mini Bag...

2011-08-31T16:15:00.002-04:00

Since I'd been home for a few weeks, I was ready to start making bags again.

Mom wanted a small handlebar bag that would work on her light speedy road bike. She only carries a handful of necessities with her, so I designed it to fit just those objects.

At 6 inches wide, 4 inches tall and 4 inches deep, it is a very tiny bag....

It could hold about 11/2 liters....the volume is 96 square inches.

It weighs 0.9lbs...400 grams.

I put pockets in this one...a little one in each side...

There are two inside flaps, closed with elastic, for keeping stray raindrops

To Sum It Up...

2011-08-26T10:30:00.000-04:00

It was good to get home, but it sure felt like a big part of the trip had been completely skipped. Driving in a vehicle rather detracts from the journey...

We got to the house and it felt very strange...it didn't even feel like home!

It took me a couple of days to adjust...but I eventually got somewhat used to normal life again.

My ankles healed quickly, and in a little over a week I took a 30 mile ride with very minimal discomfort. Thankfully they are healing faster than my knee did!

My bicycle was well worn and desperately needed a thorough going-over before she was taken on the road again.

The rear brakes were completely shot; front brakes, severely worn; chain, filthy. I replaced the rear brake pads with a pair of new ones my Dad had lying around. The front brakes still work, so I'll wait on those...

Dad was concerned that my chain could have stretched, but it was just fine! I cleaned it with a toothbrush and kerosene....then thoroughly lubed it with Tri-Flow chain lube. That stuff worked great! We used it when our chains had been rained on every night...it eliminated the developing rust and kept them well lubricated.

I was very happy with my Bontrager Select Invert tires....I had no flats or leaks despite having to ride through broken glass occasionally. Over 1000 miles...and no flats!! They probably aren't as fast as smooth road tires, but they do well on both dirt roads and pavement.

My bags worked satisfactorily. They kept all the pouring rain out, securely held our stuff, and weren't troublesome to access...unless the sleeping bag was strapped on top.

I do wish I had designed pockets into my handlebar bag. Having my loose change mixed with all the other small junk in the bottom of the bag was extremely messy and inconvenient. My next bag will definitely feature pockets!

I really enjoyed this trip, and am ready to start planning another! I'm definitely hooked.

A Trip Cut Short...

2011-08-22T10:15:00.001-04:00

It was a beautiful morning that we woke up to. Chilly, but lovely. Mist quietly rose off the creek water. Everything on the mountains was completely shrouded in fog.

A pair of Bald Eagles came and perched in a tree near our camping area. I was able to get a couple pictures, but they were shy of the camera.

Our legs and ankles were still painful, but we could ride. I came to the conclusion that my saddle had been set too high. I had adjusted it during our visit, and must have

Wet Gravel and Jerky...

2011-08-19T11:22:00.001-04:00

I slept better this night, but Tuck didn't sleep very well. Strange.

We ate dry cereal for breakfast, and then were on the road by 8:30.

This time I was planning on nearly completing the Pine Creek Rail Trail by evening. First, we needed groceries and water. In Jersey Shore we stopped at a gas station to relieve our bladders and bought a gallon of water and some pretzels. I asked the cashier if a grocery store was nearby, and he gladly informed me of a Weis just up the street.

Since our diet had deteriorated considerably during our visit, I wanted to bring it back up to a somewhat healthy level. I bought cabbage, apples, grapes, granola, cookies, soy milk(so it wouldn't spoil un-refrigerated), and peanuts.

We then proceeded onto the trail. It was a lovely place, but I got

Rain on the Mountain

2011-08-17T15:44:00.000-04:00

Tuck slept well in the graveyard. I had a terrible time falling asleep, and then didn't sleep very well anyway. I wasn't tired enough, after only 40 miles. We got out of the cemetery early, rode to Boyer's to get milk for our cereal, ate there, and then were on the road by 8:30.

We took Rte 61 to Sunbury and though it was mostly a 4-lane highway, bicycles were legal, and the shoulders were wide enough for us to comfortably ride.

We picked up the PA bike route J in Northumberland. A few miles later, we stopped to eat lunch at a little river-side park in Milton.

Here I discovered my back brakes had worn down so far they completely ceased to work! I had no back brakes, and still had a steep mountain to descend at some point!

Heading Home....Finally!

2011-08-15T11:13:00.001-04:00

After six weeks of visiting our dear friends in Berks Co, PA, it was finally time to head home. Thankfully, they weren't sick of us yet!!

I re-planned the first leg of the trip so as to avoid a few undesirable roads we had traversed on the way down. This time, we took Rte 183 over Blue Mountain, instead of 645. It was much more manageable, but also busier. We sailed down the far side, reaching the fasted speeds we had reached so far - 37mph!

We appreciated the wide shoulders on most of the highway...

There was a lot of evidence of coal mining in the areas we rode through today. Towns with names such as Minersville, and Coal Castle. Chunks of coal littering the banks along the highway. Interesting...

Neither of us was feeling very well, and the uphills tended to make us

Pleasant PA...

2011-08-04T15:38:00.001-04:00

During my stay in Pennsylvania, I did a decent amount of riding. Most of it was between friends' houses, which were only a couple miles apart, but I did occasionally venture elsewhere. The ever-present hills took some getting used to...but I did! I sure enjoyed the downhills...and managed to reach speeds near 35mph! I must add, this was on an un-loaded bike. Actually, according to my speedometer, I have topped out at 76mph....but that must have been when I fell asleep for a moment, because I sure don't remember!

One longer ride that I took was about 40 miles. I rode down Route 183 and spent some time at the Bernville library. After that I continued down 183 for some time, then took some side roads and ended up all the way out in Leesport! On my way back I stopped to eat a take-out sandwich on the steps of the Blue Marsh Canteen. My lovely ride looked lonely waiting for me by a distant fence, so I took a picture...

On another ride, as I was heading back to where I would spend the night, the sunset was quite spectacular. I was so happy to be right where I was. And I took a picture. Of my bike, of course.

For a couple of days there was a pretty good heat wave...the temps were in the 100s for at least 3 days in a row...

I did ride a little in the heat, and didn't mind it so much. It was annoying to be soaked and dripping as soon as I stopped, though!

So, as it turned out, we didn't spend the summer in Buffalo...but neither did we want to, once we got to PA! Summer in Pennsylvania farm country was good enough for us...

Blue Mountain...

2011-07-28T11:09:00.001-04:00

Since we were staying in PA for a couple weeks, I decided to do a little exploring. A friend had told me about some trails on Blue Mountain, and I wanted to check them out.

North Northkill Road took me to the base of the mountain, where it turned into a dirt/stone old logging trail. It was steep at points, but since my bike wasn't loaded, I had little trouble.

Once, when I stopped for a drink, I noticed some wintergreen growing beside the trail...it tasted nice...

At one point, as I was working my way up the mountain, I suddenly thought I could hear a semi-truck behind me. Since all traffic sounds from local highways were muffled by the forest around me, I was rather mystified. It didn't take long for the mystery to become clear...an empty logging truck was lumbering its way up the one-lane road. I thought of holding the lane, but since there was nowhere for the truck to go, except

Mountains...Three of Them!

2011-07-21T12:37:00.000-04:00

We were able to get started pretty early this morning, since we had little packing to do. Of course it didn't rain...we had a roof over our heads! It was a foggy morning, but the sun was shining, and this was going to be our last day! I had enjoyed the trip, but was ready to be at our destination. It didn't take long to ride out of the fog...there was just a pocket of it...

Right away we had a mountain to climb...but it wasn't too bad. The first few hundred feet were steep, but

A Day of Firsts...

2011-07-19T11:02:00.001-04:00

We woke up ready to ride this morning...

Packing went smoothly and quickly, and we were back on the road between 8:30 and 9:00....if I remember correctly.

The trail ended in the PA town of Jersey Shore...where we stopped to take care of our now-dry, but very smelly, unwearable clothing.

Squeaky Kleen Laundry did the trick...

Across the street from the laundromat was a store I had never seen before. A store of addictions...and it was very busy...

Day of Rest

2011-07-18T11:29:00.001-04:00

Once again it rained in the night...but this time only a little.

We decided this campground would be a convenient place to rest for a day. I was very tired and needed to rejuvenate.
We installed a temporary clothesline and hung our now-pungent clothing up to dry, hoping it would do some good...

We had the rest of the cheap milk on granola for breakfast...I thought it was disgusting, but Tuck was still in great appreciation of the substance...

My hair looked terrrible after three days of lots of sweating and no showers...I decided to try washing my

Pine Creek Rail Trail

2011-07-13T17:52:00.002-04:00

We woke up pretty late...and once again it had rained in the night...

No bears discovered our food stuff. We had parked the bicycles near the food since I had used beeswax on my panniers and I wasn't sure if bears would be attracted to the smell of it.

We had been planning on this being a rest day, but changed our minds due the the presence of way too much stinging nettle. We still took it very easy today...

I walked around before Tuck got up and enjoyed the quiet morning in the woods...

A deer bedding down above the trail at the top of a bank carefully watched me as I walked by and then took pictures of it...

Pennsylvania!

2011-07-08T14:12:00.001-04:00

Once again there was pouring rain and plenty of thunder during the night. Our freshly washed clothes were not dry, our freshly dried tents were soaked again...

All the wet clothing we ended up stuffing into a plastic bag and strapping onto the trailer. We filled up with water, ate breakfast and soon were on our way.

Today we were planning on entering PA and reaching the Pine Creek Rail Trail.
As we neared the border we traversed a very pleasant back road through the woods...

Once, when we passed through a cluster of dingy houses (I think it could be considered a small town) we suprised a young couple making out on a porch. When they noticed us passing by, the girl suddenly stopped, turned, and hollered " 'Ello!" then watched us ride past, as if acting like nothing had been going on....

We got back on route 19 to cross into Pennsylvania...

The wide shoulders were great...especially when there was truck traffic...

A Short-ish Day and a Fascinating Lake

2011-07-04T16:01:00.000-04:00

Camping in the hidden hollow along the creek was great...except for one thing. That night there were thunderstorms and rain....ALL NIGHT LONG! Ok, maybe not all night, but it sure seemed like it to me. I had a very hard time sleeping with all the lightning and thunder and pouring rain. At one point there was unceasing lightning....but the thunder seemed to be fading away. It took me a while to realize there was a firefly caught beneath the fly of my tent....flashing incessantly...imitation lightning!

A few photos of our campsite:

Can you find our tents? They're in there somewhere...

Overnight, the creek just about doubled in size. I wish I had taken a pic before it rained...

Under the trees along the bank was where I took my swim. Mostly flat bottomed, about 3 feet

Beginnings, Discoveries, and the Hills of Insanity

2011-06-28T19:04:00.002-04:00

Monday we packed, since Sunday was too busy. By the time everything was ready, it was 11:00! I had been hoping to leave then, but we would have hardly gotten anywhere, and we still needed to stop at the store! Tuck finally convinced me to leave Tuesday morning, like he had wanted to since the beginning...

We left around 9:00 and it didn't seem to take long to get out of the city. Shortly after that, we started riding on slow rolling hills. Route 16 was pleasant riding. Wide shoulders and gentle hills.

Around lunchtime we stopped in a little cemetery right along the route.

That is where we discovered that we had forgotten to slice the bread before leaving! Tuck's Leatherman included a serrated blade, so we managed to slice the bread for sandwiches with that. As you can see, the bread is MUCH bigger than the blade!

We also partook of mashed muffins...

The frozen baked beans worked well as an ice-pack for my knee. It was doing well, but was a little warm

Food...

2011-06-18T10:49:00.000-04:00

Food is one of the most important supplies for a bicycle trip...so I have been preparing quite a bit for us to take. We will be able to re-supply along the road, but I want to start off prepared for a few meals.

In addition to all the spices I gathered, I have made granola, muffins, pancake mixes, and cookies. I am also taking rice, pasta, beans, oats, tomato paste, bread, and eggs. It is a lot, but should be worth it!

Here is most of the food...but I haven't made the bread (I haven't even ground the grain for it!) or hard-boiled any eggs yet. We will be taking both hard-boiled eggs and raw eggs. My brother will carry all the food stuff in his BOB trailer's stuff sack. That way we can also conveniently hang it out of reach of bears!