During the commute home, I spotted this VW Camper for sale. I always wanted one of these - perfect family camper, mountain bike race vehicle, and still small enough for regular transportation. I stopped to check it out. As expected, price was a little loopy for the pretty ancient rig - asking $14,900. We're talking a '89 van with 133,000+ miles. Not in bad shape, but the usual rusty looking exhaust and some oil drips, comes with the territory on these rigs. From the vintage buses from the '70s to the Eurovan models of the '90s - all the camper versions are crazy priced. They do hold their value however. Still, a steep surcharge for basically a small ice box, stove and fold out beds. You still need to crap outside and "shower" with a wash cloth. Even so, I'd love to score one of these.
Here's actual photographic proof of what's been taking up lots of time - baseball. Ian at bat from a recent game. This little league scene gets a little crazy. This week, practice or a game for 5 days straight. That's 10+ hours of baseball in a week - for 10 year olds. Then fit in homework and family time - kind of nuts - my take anyway. This is Ian's first year for little league and he's enjoying it, but is getting a little tired of the practices as well. We plan to skip a few for his interest sake and our family sanity.
After I arrived home, before even changing out of sweaty bike clothes - started wrenching on Ian's bike to cure the screwed up shifting we experienced last weekend. I sorted the rear out a few days ago - easy cable adjustment. Discovered the front shifting issues revolved around the left crank arm not being fully seated, allowing the crank to drift a few millimeters. I also moved the spacers around on the BB - one on each side as intended. I had moved both to one side to get a better chain line. With all that fixed, shifts okay now. I buzzed it around quite a bit myself to be sure. I also swapped the stem upside down to lower the handlebars. With the Stack-O-Spacers, the bars were a few inches above the seat (I don't want to cut the fork, this way it could fit a larger frame down the road). I think this contributed the weird cornering feeling Ian mentioned (plus the fact it was the first ride on 26" wheels).
After the adjustments, Ian gave the shifting and lower position a thumbs up after a quick test ride. No actual photographic proof - you'll just have to take my word for it. You can trust me. We'll hit the woods again this weekend for a real test.
Here's actual photographic proof of what's been taking up lots of time - baseball. Ian at bat from a recent game. This little league scene gets a little crazy. This week, practice or a game for 5 days straight. That's 10+ hours of baseball in a week - for 10 year olds. Then fit in homework and family time - kind of nuts - my take anyway. This is Ian's first year for little league and he's enjoying it, but is getting a little tired of the practices as well. We plan to skip a few for his interest sake and our family sanity.Maybe if I was a baseball fan, I'd be digging it all. Even if I was a fan, I think one practice and one game a week is enough for 10 year old kids. When they hit 7 or 8th grade, or even high school - and really dig baseball - then play 5 days a week. No?
Oh well. Time to pull the plug on this rambling post and hit the sack.....
Yeap, I remember those VWs and hauling kids around all so well. It was all good, and having more time now, works well also.
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