Jul 26
Went to Idaho and rode the Frog Lake Loop on Friday. Then we drove down to ride Fisher Creek later that day. On Saturday we rode Little Casino to Big Casino. I only got pictures from the first ride on friday.
White Cloud Mountains
The climb ends at Castle Peak (elv. 11,815′)
Frog Lake
Jul 19
Started in Big Sky at Swan Creek.
Then did A LOT of this….
Points along the way
Which yields a lot of this….
(First shot facing Bozeman, which you can’t see, then turning counterclockwise from the top of Hyalite Peak.)
Odd things left in the registry over time.
Finished by descending down towards the lakes and all the way back to my house in Bozeman
Jul 14
Started a new bike for my girlfriend last night. It’s going to be a nice townie with a sloping toptube(8 degree), cantilevers, and a flat bar. Mostly OX Platinum tubing with some Columbus Zona S-bend chainstays. I will bend the True Temper seatstays to match.
Jul 13
On Friday night Duke and I loaded up the car and drove to Crystal Lake, which is just outside of Lewistown, MT. We camped at the lake, with plans to ride some of the trails that surround the area in the Big Snowys range.
The trail starts at the boat dock and heads out through the meadow. The first stop is the rock headwall overlook.
The overlook is the halfway point as the trail continues on the ridge to the right. 
We spotted a doe that decided the trail would be a good place to nap. She was pretty reluctant to get up. 
Some more climbing brings you to the top of the ridge were we traveled from cairn to cairn. 
We stopped at the ice caves to cool off.
The downhill was steep and technical with a lot of small curb-sized ledges that kept the fun-factor pegged. We finished the ride off with a swim in the lake.
Tig Welding
Tig welding is rad, I love the honesty of it. It’s lights out when you flip the hood down and when you flip it back up it’s either “maybe next time”, or “not bad kid”. It really makes me want to become better. I personally don’t find it frustrating or too fast paced. It’s relaxing and rewarding at the same time. One thing I’ve learned is how much time you have. There is no rush because the heat is so direct. You can go from barely holding an arc to burning a hole through a tube in the rock of a pedal. On the flip side you can put the heat just were it needs to be and nowhere else.
I’m merely an amateur at best, but I sure am looking forward to progressing with cosmetics, consistency, and technique. From what I understand, you never hit a pinnacle. There is always room from improvement, which I think pretty much sums up cycling as a whole. It’s crazy to watch Carl weld. He has the hood down and dabbing filler rod in the amount of time that it takes me to put the damn gloves on.
Experience
You can sit around all day and scour messages boards, mailing lists, and manuals. You can practice welding or miter till you turn blue in the face. But nothing reveals the truth like actually building a bike. It’s a whole different show when you get down to the real thing.
Generosity and giving back
I get frustrated or confused about the best way to complete a process. However, I can’t help but think of how much easier it is for me. Two mills, a lathe, alignment table, Miller sycrowave, and fixtures upon fixtures are just the starting point. Most of all, I have a resource that’s built three thousand bikes and knows a thing or two about every step along the way.
My learning is undeniably accelerated. For instance when I’m welding, the hardest part is already taken care of. I’m referring to the process of setup. I don’t have to figure out settings, tungsten diameter, or filler rod. I don’t have to fight setup related contamination or argon flow settings. Everything is explained to me with a method that is guaranteed to work. I see two bikes a week go through the shop and I make it my duty to take mental notes.
As a bonus, my first bike was aligned on a plate that had Schwinn Paramounts on it. The 20 year old Miller sycrowave has welded thousands of bikes for Strong, Ibis, Hampsten, Over the Edge, and countless others. There is a history behind every tool in the shop. Everything has a cool aura to it that is beyond inspirational.
I’m not Carl’s first apprentice either. He has shown multiple people what it takes to become a professional frame builder. All he asks for is acknowledgement of the reality of the situation. I don’t work with Carl because he needs help or is falling behind. He doesn’t need to increase production or save time. If anything, it’s me slowing him down and reducing annual output.
