Huron Mountain Crusher rollout 2014
Sunday, August 31, 2014
Friday, August 29, 2014
The Hats I Used to Make
“The hats I used to make by Mike Beck
I used to make wide
brimmed sun hats out of canvas bank bags. The white ones, stamped ‘return to US
mint” that held currency or coin to specific values. Single layer top and crown, doubled brim,
hand stitched with a curved needle and coarse waxed thread. They were pretty good
hats, and not too floppy.
While hitchhiking, a sun
hat can keep you from searing your noggin in the afternoon sun. Canvas sun hats
can be wetted down, or get wet anyway from sweating, able to provide cooling and
shade in one compact, rollable package. I was pretty proud of my hats, made
some for friends, had a few versions over the years. I made enough I developed
an “ideal” hat pattern.
I lost one once too.
I was hitchhiking bluegrass country, had caught a ride from a couple of fellas in a worn out jalopy that blew a gasket trying to climb one of the ridges of the Great Smoky Mountains of Kentucky. Heading west on one of my speed hitchhiking attempts, a delay of a mechanical was going to set me back.
We got out of the car, popped the hood, and
the owner peered in the engine compartment, covered in oil from the leak, and
grabbed for the first clean looking rag he could find – the hat in my hand! Whether he knew it was my hat and was trying to get out some of his
frustrations on the nearest person of little consequence to him, or did it
unawares, will never be known.
I bid them a thanks for the ride and my adieu, with the owner of the car holding my hat, oil soiled and crumpled up, and walked off into the angled afternoon sunlight.
Having a homemade item of practical value suddenly turned into a grease rag taught me at an early age to never expect things to go the way you’d intended, or to expect even reasonable permanence from ones’ possessions.
Lesson learned. Sometimes your shade suddenly goes away.” © 2014 mikeTbeck ARR
Tuesday, August 5, 2014
Did a preride last week of a 55 mile gravel grinder route across what really is remote country in the continental United States. A buddy and I are hosting the inagural Huron Mountain Crusher, August 24th.
There's going to be more mileage options next year, this year only one distance. The "Crusher" portion of the route is quite stout, and portions of it can be seen in the video.
Upper Peninsula gravel = rocks the size of a football.You can see some of it parts of the crusher in the video.
Friday, August 1, 2014
A video of a gravel grinder event coming up Aug 24th in Marquette County.
There's some great footage of what passes for gravel in the UP about a minute in.
the huron mountain crusher gravel grinder
'warning - the crusher eats cyclocross bikes.
There's some great footage of what passes for gravel in the UP about a minute in.
the huron mountain crusher gravel grinder
'warning - the crusher eats cyclocross bikes.
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