Welding and Brazing: a Visual

When I wrote about fillet brazing (a lugless form of brazing) earlier, some wanted to know what was the difference between that process and welding. The quick and simplified answer is like this: welding involves heating up and joining two pieces of metal to one another directly; brazing involves using another material (one with a lower melting point) to join them, sort of like a hot glue. Last week I photographed an unpainted frame made for Josh of Bike Safe Boston that shows the two methods alongside.






Here is a shot of the underside of the frame, by the bottom bracket area. On the right is a welded kickstand plate, and next to it on the left are two little braze-ons that are (I think) cable guides. Notice the pools of golden liquid (melted brass) that surround the braze-ons, but not the welded plate. Instead, the welded plate and the chainstays it is attached to are a sort of rainbow colour, from the weld pool that is formed when joining the two pieces.






Similarly, here you can see that the seat cluster joint is welded (weld pool rainbow), but the little rack attachment point on the chainstay is brazed on (brassy border).






My description is simplistic and leaves a great deal out, but it's an easy visual for a layperson to identify brazing vs welding on a "raw" or unpainted frame. I love the colourful look the juxtaposition of both techniques creates on this one - built by Ted Wojcik and designed by DBC City Bikes. More pictures here.

What I did on a Saturday in Luxembourg City

Luxemburg (or Luxembourg) City is a very small cosmopolitan city. It is a trilingual city, locals speak French, German and Luxemburgisch. I guess it should be quadringual if you throw in English into the equation which most people speak anyway.



The country has a reputation of being a tax haven which is the reason why it is rich in the first place.







Now, many people who come to visit the Grand Duchy find themselves wondering where to go, what to see and what to do here other than shopping. Shopping in Luxembourg is definitely better than PC Hooftstraat in Amsterdam, and that is if you are into signature labels. But other than that, in order to enjoy this city, you really need to know where to go.



The easiest resource in order to get to know the city would be Luxemburg Tourism’s website and of course some intensive googling, which is the reason why I blog my travels in detail; experience by experience and bit by bit. It is my way of giving back to the travel world for all the great advice I received online.



Nevertheless, I was planning to do some art viewing but realised I was too lazy to stare at other people’s works so I stuck to my fall back plan—go slow, walk around, do nothing, just be free. I need this wandering aimlessly to de-stress and recharge myself. It helps empty my mind when I do not have a plan and when I do not think of serious stuff, like work.



Well I did went to the Grund as planned but other than this, I just went with the flow. Here’s what I did.









First thing that I did was to check in to my hotel, Le Place d’Armes Hotel on Place d’Armes. I have a very strategic home base to explore the city. Place d’Armes is the heart of Luxembourg City.



Then I chilled out at Cafe de Paris located just beside the hotel with a glass of port and did my favourite pastime, people watching. The city and women are quite fashionable, just my kind of style--classy, with taste. Of course expensive, but not show off.









Checked out the Grand Ducal Palace along the way of course.









When I am wandering around aimlessly, I love to look at delicatessen and bakery shops. Sometimes I buy something, sometimes not, but it gives me warmth to see the lovely delights on the window display. It was Three Kings when I was there and this deli-patisserie shop and restaurant called Kaempff-Kohlercomes highly recommended. Amust visit if you are a foodie.







Place Guillaume is a big square you will not miss.









Another square you will not miss, Place de Clairefontaine. The Notre Dame Cathedral is located just beside this square.







I was curious of the cathedral of course so I went inside to take a peek. Majority of Luxemburgers are Roman Catholics including the royal family.



Then I went to visit the Grund. I wanted to book my dinner reservation at Mosconi and have pre-dinner drinks at Scott’s Pub. It turned out that Mosconi was closed so I just walked around the little commune and consoled myself at Scott’s with a glass of sparkling wine. Dinner will have to be somewhere else.









Then I went back to the city centre and passed by Place de Clairefontaine again. The squares here in Luxemburg city are very bright and sparkling at night.









My wandering led me to the shopping lanes and surprisingly there were still shops open. What happened? Naturally I shopped. I am an accidental shopper; I only shop when the opportunity is in front of me. I bought stuff at Vicomte A and Massimo Duti, two of the very few shops that were open late.







I was debating with myself if I should just eat at my hotel’s restaurant, La Cristallerie or look somewhere else, when I saw La Lorraine on Place d’Armes. The restaurant looks inviting from the outside and there were many people dining already which is positive. In addition, the French menu didn’t sound shabby at all. This will do.







Delicious pumpkin soup.







Escargot! Garlic buttered snails. They are so delectable. I can do another serving really.







My main: Salmon with sea snails, cooked egg and vegetables. This was nice except for the vegetables--dry and overcooked.



No desserts for the evening but a little cup of espresso. Service at La Lorraine is top comparable to real fine dining restaurants.







Place d’Armes at night. A quick stroll on the square after dinner.









Then it is time to call it a night, and go back to my hotel. I will be pampering myself with a nice hot bath.

All the Leaves Are Brown

Looks like the foliage season is officially over.

All the leaves are brown (yes, and the sky is grey la-la-la). And while I would not go so far as to say this makes me dream of moving to California, I do find myself curious - for the first time in my life - about what it would be to like to live in that year-round cycling paradise where the Rivendells roam free with the carefree riders upon them wearing nothing but the thinnest layer of soft merino. But these are just idle thoughts really; I need seasons and I love the winter. It's just that this bleh season between the beautiful leaves and the arrival of snow can be a little dreary.

As you can see, Eustacia Vye is doing well, and the gray weather does not bother her too much. She is especially proud of having perfected the act of carrying my satchel in her basket. We have figured out a way to shove it in sideways and diagonally, so that only a corner sticks out. I am hoping that my next laptop (the current one is slowly but surely dying) will be the smaller MacBook Air, which will solve my transportation difficulties altogether.

One thing I keep forgetting to comment on, is cycling in a long coat. All of my cold-season coats are long - with the hem ending either just at the knees or below. I was nervous about cycling in them, but I am glad to report that it's been just fine. My Pashley and vintage Raleigh have skirt-guards, but the Globe I rode in Vienna did not, and even that was problem-free. I think that wool coats are too stiff to fly into the spokes, but I am curious whether other people have had this happen? Also, I find that the heavy wool texture of my coats has excellent non-slip properties, so that I can wear even the silkiest skirts underneath and not worry about sliding on the saddle. So really, give it a try - winter outerwear is great!

Driving As a Cyclist

Until last week I had not been behind the wheel of a car since 2007. ButI knew this day would come - the day I would want to drive again.




Over my years as a driver, the cars I've owned have always had automatic transmission - I never learned how to drive manual. When I mention this to an Irish friend, he shakes his head and roars with laughter. "Automatic!"He says it as if the word itself, used in relation to cars, is amusing in its absurdity."Automatic?! Okay, so you never learned to drive properly in the first place. Well come on - I'll learn ya!"




And just like that, I am in the driver's seat. I feel ready for this, looking forward not only to being behind the wheel after such a long time, but specifically to trying the manual gear-shifting. And the funny thing is - this enthusiasm comesfrombeing a cyclist, not in spite of it.





The 8 mile stretch of Benone Beach is like an unpaved extension of the road. Cautiously I maneuver the rickety Saab along the sand, my left hand on the gear shift knob, my senses heightened, trying to listen to the engine's sounds and feel the give in the clutch.



Things do not go as badly as I thought they might. I am not stalling out. I press the correct pedals. My hand is getting used to the positions of the gears, so that I can shift without looking. Operating the gear box makes sense, having gotten used to the concept and feel of gears on the bike. When the gear is too high, the car makes a straining noise - not unlike a cyclist grinding along at a painfully low cadence. When the gear is too low, the car feels as if it is spinning out, unable to pick up speed efficiently. It is not a perfect analogy by any means, but it is just enough to make sense. And I can feel that with some practice this will become intuitive.



I think of driving now differently than I did 5 years ago. Cycling is a very physical activity, and it has made me more viscerally aware of the mechanics involved in operating a vehicle. I think of driving as a serious skill, rather than a perfunctory action. When in the passenger's seatI now find myself more aware of the driver's technique and degree of control under different road surface conditions and speeds.Having worked so hard to learn how to handle my bike on winding mountain roads, I appreciate the handling skills involved in operating all vehicles - be they motorcycles, tractors or cars.Some of the people I know here are extremely skilled drivers, and I must admit that riding with them is exciting. I am impressed with the smoothness and precision with which they operate their complicated, heavy 4-wheel motorised vehicles. And if I do drive myself, I aspire to aim for the same degree of proficiency.

Finding Magic in Our Own Back Yard

It was almost a year ago that I first saw it. Making my way home through a tangle of unexplored back roads, I found myself on a tiny side street near Porter Square in Cambridge. Brick sidewalks, Victorian houses, overgrown yards, overarching tree branches. It was getting dark and I rode right past the mysterious structure just as I caught a glimpse of it out of the corer of my eye. It was like something out of a fairy tale. I told myself that I would return the following day to have a better look. And I tried - but for the life of me, I could not find the street again. I retraced my steps and criss-crossed the little neighbourhood several times, but to no avail. Eventually I gave up, wondering whether my tired mind could have imagined it. ...Until two days ago, when quite by accident I found myself on the same little street again and suddenly there it was: A tiny house, fashioned from a hollowed-out tree trunk.






Now that I had more time to examine it, it was even better than I remembered. There was a shingled roof with a weathervane on top. The interior was carved out neatly to form a cozy chamber just large enough to fit a child or an adult in a crouching position. Inside were stacks of children's books, as well as a guest book where visitors left each other messages. There was no indication that the tree house was privately owned; it seemed to be intended for public access.






And as I stuck my head in, it turned out I was not the only visitor. In the corner sat a small cat. Her mottled brown coat blended in with the inside of the tree and I had not noticed her there in the dark. I was doubly taken aback, because at first glance it appeared the cat was reading. But upon closer examination she was just grooming her paw on top of an open book. Her routine interrupted by my presence, the cat jumped out and began circling the tree in a proprietary manner, making communicative chirping sounds each time she passed me.






A woman and her grandson walked by and were equally intrigued by the scene. They assumed the cat was mine and that I'd brought her in my bicycle bag. But I explained that the cat was probably the owner of the tree house. It seemed like a reasonable enough conclusion. The boy climbed inside to look at the books and the cat interacted with all of us - jumping in and out of the tree, circling, and chirping. She did not appear to be disturbed by our presence; it was more like she was trying to talk to us.






This time around I remembered the location and later did some investigating. Turns out the structure is modeled after Winnie the Pooh's House. It's a book and diary exchange for the neighbourhood children. Created by local furniture artist Mitch Ryerson, the house was carved from the trunk of a silver maple that was knocked down in a winter storm fifteen years ago. Since then it's become a secret local landmark.




The neighbourhood we live in is made up of lots of tiny pocket neighbourhoods that are really their own little worlds. It still amazes me how often I stumble upon new things here, especially of an unusual or mysterious nature. More often than not it happens when I am out on my bike - looking for short cuts, or for a shady route away from the sunny main road. Finding a bit of magic in our own back yard is par of the course when traveling on two wheels.

The View from Bishop Pass

The View from Bishop Pass, originally uploaded by ParsecTraveller.

Back in July, we decided to head down to the Eastern Sierras for some hiking. Our first time in the area was rewarding and spectacular. I highly recommend visiting.

On day 2 of our trip, we drove up to South Lake (elevation 9768') to start a hike. After trekking 6 miles one way, we finally reached our destination: Bishop Pass. At 11,972 feet above sea level, it was the highest I've ever been on land. The view from the pass was incredible - the expansive lakes we'd been hiking along earlier looked like puddles you could splash in.

Then it was only 6 miles back on tired-out legs...

Dinner With Friends at Oakwood Smokehouse

This past week has been quieter than normal as far as doing activities here in The Villages. Rich and Donna have been house hunting and are now the owners of a beautiful house in Lake Placid! That means I have had more quiet time at home. I have been able to do tons of scrapbooking, so I have been quite content.



We have managed to get out and play pickleball, deciding after a day at Mulberry to return to Churchill. They are very friendly at Mulberry, but nothing beats the fun level at Churchill.



We also managed to fit in another dinner with Buddy and Diane who are still in the area. This time we chose Oakwood and took advantage of their rib special. They offer a full rack of ribs, two side dishes and garlic bread for $10.99. All of us did not have the ribs, but we all agreed the food was delicious.




We are winding down here for our time in The Villages. We are enjoying every minute we can in the next few weeks, being sure to not waste any time before we do have to leave! We have not had rain every single night for this past week also, so knocking on wood that it stays that way until we leave. When it doesn't rain, we can sneak in pickleball at night and play twice a day!




Living the life in wonderful Florida!