For several weeks now, I've been training on an Eagle wheel clearance time bomb. Because the steer tube had gotten bent from maybe hitting a curb or from all the pounding it endured with a 40 lb load last summer when I rode to Salt Lake, the front and rear wheel were running so close I could not put new rubber on and the next bump it hit could cause them to hit each other.
Well, trying to avoid some people, I hit a small 3 inch ledge today and the small amount of clearance you see above, went down to none at all in the one high spot we still have to tune down. And 6 miles away from home, my pedaling became very labored. I called Shawn Raymond. He and I had been talking about this problem for as long as I had been back on the road.
While I talked to many engineers and mechanics and the possible fixes were many and often complex, Shawn stood by his two by four fix and said he would come right over after he finished his dinner 20 miles away to show me. He actually believed that we could build a lever strong enough with wood to bend steel. I did not believe it was possible.
Well as the picture below shows, Shawn once again saved the day!!
The job was done in 15 minutes! This guy is a full on mechanical genius...
Too awesome!!
Too exciting!!
So much going on all at once - 15 days...................
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