how do I become super-human?

Crap man!  i have to hand it to some of these super achievers out there.   What am I talking about?  I can’t seem to get anything of substance freakin finished!  Between the house jobs, working on the rentals, the website, or those inevitable life things its a wonder I ever finish anything.   But then again, some in the bike world like Bob Brown or Drew from Engin cycles are just freakin amazing.

I think they are endowed with super human powers.  Heck, they build bikes, work at real jobs, build a house or two in their spare time and it would surprise me if they brought home the bacon and fried it up in a pan too.

So, it’s either continue with my obsessive compulsive ADD life or hyper focus and let the house fall down around me until the city gives me a citation for five foot tall weeds like Burt Monroe’s house in the movie “the Worlds Fastest Indian”

To be a frame painter

So, for the last two years or so I have been working very hard on learning how to paint. I have always wanted to get a handle on the entire process from design, fabrication and paint.

So, I started by calling up Doug Fattic and asking if he would show me as much of the ropes as he could for a few weeks. Later Doug and his assistant Marc helped me to paint my NAHBS award winning tandem and the “Orange Crush” mountain bike.

So back to Tucson to build a paint building, outfit it with materials, lights, ventilation, air conditioning (a massive priority in Tucson AZ and many other goodies. Fast forward a year or so and since that time I have been painting everything in sight and having a lot of fun with it.

Good paint, like good framebuilding is a matter of detail. Sure, it is not too hard if one is conscientious to get a pretty good looking job from five feet away, even with rattle cans. It is another thing entirely to get nice crisp edges to your lugs, good transitions and smooth even coats.

Painting I think is a little like golf. There is always the possibility of doing better/worse tomorrow.