It sucks to be me

Allow me a moment of self-indulgence here. It’s been 5 weeks since my unfortunate incident involving toppled trees, a step ladder, a chainsaw, and the medical community (link here) and I’m feeling the strain.

I didn’t want to admit the docs knew what they were talking about when they said “a minimum of 4  to 6 weeks” for any kind of recovery and expected that I’d be back out there riding and golfing before the end of August. Well, since my seriously abused body hasn’t seen 21 in four decades that’s just not going to happen.

I tried to hit a few balls on Monday – bad idea – and set myself back a few days I think. And riding?  Well it seems there was extensive muscle damage as well and until that heals (which takes a long time for us old folks) I can barely get the bike off the side stand let alone hold it up if it started to tip at a stop. That would be another bad idea.

So I wait. And wait. And wait. And experience the kind of cabin fever that typically rears its ugly head in late February when the dark, cold days get to be too much and you begin to understand why they consume more vodka than water in Siberia. (Although I have recently discovered the joys of good bourbon, so that may not be such a bad thing.)

I know. The world is going to hell in a hand basket and I’m complaining about not being able to play golf? Well, as I said, just a moment of self indulgence and then I’ll get right back to fixing the rest of the world’s problems.

There. Now I feel better.

A custom I could live with

Most custom bikes these days leave me pretty cold, truth be told. The builders try to be outrageous simply to be outrageous. Lines are extreme and many of the components are, in my opinion, questionable. I mean how many spikes, imitation machine gun bullets, and skull-shaped tail lamps is too many? One, I’d suggest.
Then a bike like this comes along and leaves me drooling, even if I can’t explain exactly why.

 

Winner of the 2012 World Championship of Custom Bike Building, Thunderhead’s PainTTless is just an incredible example of fine engineering and attention to detail. The vaguely Steampunk look of nickel plating and bronze fittings, the simple beauty of the custom wheels, and the lack of paint distracting from the engineering details all make this bike a standout in my opinion. Nothing seems superfluous to function and not a single bolt seems out of place. It’s a nice, tight package that is certainly due the honour of being named champion.
While probably not a daily rider (one look at the seat will tell you that) I’d still be awfully proud to have PainTTless taking up a spot in my garage. (I know, dream on!)

So congratulations to all at Thunderbike; you’ve really created something remarkable and unique.
(All photos from Thunderbike web site.)
(h/t to Cyril Huze Post for bringing this bike to my attention.)