happy st. pats, everyone...

bairdco

bairdco

a guy who makes cool bikes
today marks the second anniversary of my life-altering, over the bars accident.

2 years ago i supermanned off my bike at 40+ mph, breaking 4 ribs, 2 fingers, a wrist, and seperating my shoulder. also bruised my heart, lungs and kidneys.

since then i had to change careers, trading in an 18 year stint at climbing communication towers for a gig pouring pints and mixing drinks.

i'm all healed up, more or less. shoulder gets sore at times, got some mild carpal tunnel syndrome, and i can't do chin-ups anymore (used to be able to do 40. plus v-sits into handstands.) climbing towers for so long, i could pull myself up by my fingertips. now i have to stretch every morning just to start my day. but i am getting older...

my crash also made my enthusiam for these novelty stunt cycles wane a bit.

by "a bit," i mean a whole lot. i used to dream about building faster, cooler bikes. now i don't even have a motorized cruiser to putt over to the donut shop with msrfan.

the only riding i do is at the races. with full padded leathers and a full face simpson helmet. my race bike is too fast for a sane person. i just rebuilt, tuned and tested it for the race in two weeks, and it scares me too death. took off down the street yesterday and wouldn't even go full throttle. but i had shorts on, no shirt and no helmet, the whole time thinking i was gonna die. freaken bike pulls faster than my 50cc morini motored moto beta motorcycle. don't have to pedal off the line and if i clutch it right it'll do a wheelie. .

it's like riding a live grenade, waiting for the pin to fall out.

but damn, it's fun. :)

got the day off from managing/bartending at the shanghai'd room in huntington beach, but i'll probably end up there tonight in my green 50's sharkskin suit...

be safe. drink responsibly, blah blah blah...
 
Happy St. Pat's, Bairdco! Glad to hear you're recuperating. I've had a few spills on my bike , and even have a titanium-pin in one of my legs to prove it, but nothing that serious. Last week just as I started my ride to work, I heard a dull snap, and my seat leaned forward a few degrees. I thought "Uh oh! That's not good!". Hoping it was my seat, I stopped to find that the large down-post just above the engine had failed catastrophically just above the engine-mount. I was close to home, so I walked it back. It was a cheapo Walmart bike, but the frame has served me quite well for 2.5-years. I went out and bought a comparable and equally cheapo Walmart Genesis as a replacement, and spent the weekend rebuilding the bike PROPERLY, adjusting bearings, spreading the frame where required, and fine-tuning the engine-transfer. I say all this since whenever I build a bike top-to-bottom (and it's been over 2.5-years), I take it REALLY easy on the throttle while I feel her out, monitor the chain-behavior, and make sure bolts stay fastened. As I gently put-putted along, I realize how I'd FORGOTTEN how delightful 15-20MPH cruise can be. Granted, the injury I sustained which left me with bone-hardware occurred at LITERALLY 3MPH, I've had enough brushes with disaster otherwise that could only be attributed to speed and/or recklessness. Enjoy the putt-putt man.

I gave up booze et al for Lent (every year), AND I'm Irish, so St. Pat's is a really test of character for me! If I'm ever out on the Left Coast, I'll be sure to drop in @ Shanghai'd; it looks like EXACTLY my kinda place. (Apparently, it's also "World Famous"!)
 
Yes, bairdco, I'm glad you're, more or less, mended as well. I remember reading about your accident in your thread that described it. It was caused by a front drum brake.

I now have a front drum brake and you're never far from my mind.
 
I got a nice cold corned beef brisket in the fridge and a jar of Bubbies Saurkraut.

Gonna have me some corned beef & cabbage tonight. Jewish style on rye bread with thousand island.

It's called a Reuben - :)
 
kioshk, there's a simple preventative trick to keep your frame from snapping at the seat tube. get a long seatpost and slide/jam it all the way down into the frame. that way the frame doesn't crush, flex, or snap.

i dunno why i never posted that before...
 
glad your doing fine bro, you are the hardest racer out there. 110 deg, full black leathers, pedaling like a mad man, no $950 engine, and always in it.
 
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