Sunday, August 30, 2009

Winter in August



Well, our long-awaited camping trip was a bust. It was pouring rain for almost 24 hours straight and just above zero our first night. So cold and damp in that new tent of ours. We huddled together under piles of sleeping bags and blankets, but still could see our breath. The next day, rain continued for another 12 hours. We gave up. Packed up in the pouring rain and headed home.

We so looked forward to this trip, so did our nieces who were supposed to come out on Friday and spend the weekend with us. We were all disappointed. The torrential rain and frigid temperatures would have made us all sick for sure. There were a few positives, though. The ice cubes in the coolers stayed frozen, as did most of the meat, so nothing was spoiled.

A friendly chipmunk visited us and took refuge from the rain and cold in my lap while I sipped coffee underneath our screen tent shelter. And, a doe and her offspring watched us about 100 feet away while we packed up in the rain, content to graze in the downpour undisturbed, as most campers had already packed up and left hours earlier.

This summer has been the pits for weather. Cold, rain and fall temperatures throughout July and August. Leaves on Maple trees are already turning colors, usually happens in October, not August. Very disappointing.

We had the family clan over for supper to use up the food we had brought camping. Oh well, we did have a few laughs tonight and enjoyed a good meal.

Camping season, if we had one this year, is pretty much over. Almost chilly enough right now to turn on the furnace. No kidding! A risk of frost over night. This is nuts!

If there really is global warming going on, it certainly is by-passing us here!

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

August was a busy month!

We are already in the last full week of the month, and it seems like we've been constantly on the go with new plans, and new stuff. Some of you are on holidays, and may not know what's been going on in the Atomic Zombie world.

So, here's an overview of what's been going on:

Greetings fellow Atomic Zombie krew and bike hackers!

** September 2009 newsletter **
The latest Atomic Zombie newsletter is now online at:
http://www.atomiczombie.com/newsletters.htm

This month's features include:
* Warrior Racing Trike - NEW PLAN!
* Garage News
* Strip a Free Hub
* Painting with Cloth
* Green Handlebars
* Builders Gallery
* Midwest Bike Fest
* Murphy's Moments
* Builders Reports - CycleBully and SWB Recumbent
* Freak Bikers Invade
* Jay's LodeRunner

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** Builders Gallery updated **
There are 21 more additions to the Atomic Zombie family - choppers, SWB recumbents, lowracers, quads, trikes, tandems and crazy fun bikes. There are now more than 670 entries in the gallery. Keep up the great work, everybody!
http://www.atomiczombie.com/gallery.htm

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** T-shirts, Sigg water bottles, stickers, hats and more! **
We keep getting requests to get more stickers and shirts made, but it costs too much for us to get a bunch done and ship out, so we teamed up with Cafe Press to offer a variety of goods - T-shirts, mugs, Sigg water bottles, bumper stickers, decals, BBQ aprons.

More product lines will be available within the next two weeks. There will also be black shirts and more T-shirts for all of you chopper, tandem, trike, tall bike and electric vehicle folks available in two weeks. We've tried to come up with designs to suit a variety of interests and styles: bike builders and riders, garage hackers, tall bikes, recumbents, choppers, trikes, tandems, electric bikes, etc.Check out what we have so far. We welcome your suggestions. Thanks.
http://www.cafepress.ca/atomic_zombie .

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** Take the newsletter survey - you might win! **
Please take a few moments to complete the survey and help us gather feedback to improve the newsletter with content our readers want to see. You can qualify to win a prize! Sorry, it's not a vacation package, money or luxury items, but merely a token of our appreciation for participating.

More information on the survey is posted on the Support Forum.
http://forum.atomiczombie.com .

To contribute to the monthly newsletter, please contact KoolKat through the Support Forum. Submit your story ideas by the 20th of each month. See you in the forum!

Cheers, friends.
Atomic Zombie (Brad)
KoolKat (Kathy)

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*** Subscribe to Atomic Zombie DIY Homebuilt HPV and E-Bike Projects by Email:
http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=blogspot/qcYA&loc=en_US

*** New Atomic Zombie store - shirts, mugs, Sigg water bottles, decals, hats and more:
http://www.cafepress.com/atomic_zombie

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Tuesday, August 25, 2009

September newsletter is online











Greetings fellow bike hackers! The latest Atomic Zombie newsletter is now online at:
http://www.atomiczombie.com/newsletters.htm.

This month's features include:
Warrior Racing Trike
Garage News
Strip a Free Hub
Painting with Cloth
Green Handlebars
Builders Gallery
Midwest Bike Fest
Murphy's Moments
Builders Reports - CycleBully and SWB Recumbent
Freak Bikers Invade
Jay's LodeRunner

Friday, August 21, 2009

Warrior Racing Trike plan now available!



The Warrior Racing Trike takes performance and looks to all new heights. With triple disc brakes, under seat steering, and a general racing attitude, the Warrior would easily pass for an expensive production import. Built using inexpensive bicycle components and steel tubing, the Warrior weighs in at only 43 pounds, and has perfect handling and braking characteristics. There is not one single machined part on the entire trike, and everything can be built using only a basic welder, hand drill, and angle grinder!

More information on this and other bikes can be found here: http://www.atomiczombie.com