Originally Posted by genejockey

Because I don't have 1) Crank extractor, 2) Fixed cup wrench, 3) Adjustable cup wrenches.

Originally Posted by mvnsnd

Excellent!
Hopefully it will help with your Zwift dropouts.

Originally Posted by genejockey

Well, yes and no. The more vaccinees in the population, the fewer susceptible people there are for the virus to transmit to. With enough vaccinees, the rate of transmission will fall below 1 transmission per infected person and at that point the epidemic diminishes. Eventually, it could go away completely.

Unless....

Unless the people who insist on NOT getting vaccinated tend to live together or near each other. But even then, eventually it would burn out. The problem is, the larger the unvaccinated population and/or the slower the rate of vaccination, the more time the virus has to evolve. The goal should be to get as close to everyone in America vaccinated as fast as humanly possible, so the virus doesn't have time or opportunity to mutate into a resistant form

Originally Posted by MoAlpha

Whatever it is, it's letting you do some impressive rides, old man! Has anyone told you to wait for that?

Originally Posted by seedsbelize

But if vaccinated people carry and spread the virus, why can't the unvaccinated get it from them?

Originally Posted by big john

No, the last time I saw the doc was in December, I think, and they did EKG, circulation test, and blood. No chest x-ray, though, but the lung crud has been worse since then.
And you kids should have some respect for your elders!

Originally Posted by datlas

Maybe. My suspicion is the virus infection rate will go UP not down over the next 2 months, because people are letting up their guard and the people who have been spreading the virus are NOT the ones getting vaccinated. Luckily the hospitalization/death rates should not go up much because the vulnerable are getting the vaccine and/or being careful.

How it plays out beyond the next 2 months is anyone's guess.

Originally Posted by datlas

An elderly patient gave me her BP monitor because it was not accurate for her (typical because old folks have heavily calcified arteries) so I checked it on myself against my mercury column and it is correct.

Originally Posted by seedsbelize

But if vaccinated people carry and spread the virus, why can't the unvaccinated get it from them?

Originally Posted by datlas

An elderly patient gave me her BP monitor because it was not accurate for her (typical because old folks have heavily calcified arteries) so I checked it on myself against my mercury column and it is correct.

Originally Posted by WhyFi

So, we should talk about that BP of yours, doc...



That's almost exactly where my BP was when I went in last month. HR, too. Body weight is prolly a little different, though.

Originally Posted by seedsbelize

You shouldn't have to touch the fixed cup.

Originally Posted by big john

My bp, too HR is usually lower, though.

Originally Posted by datlas

If I get really relaxed I can get resting HR down to about 45. But at work I can’t relax.

Originally Posted by big john

I can only imagine what my bp and hr were at work, especially years back when I was still throwing things.

Originally Posted by abshipp

Bike nerdery content. TL;DR at the bottom:

I've known for a while that the aftermarket fork I have on my 710 is shorter than the stock one and it's bugged me terribly ever since I installed it. I finally took the time to take the bike apart and get some actual measurements to figure out exactly how much of a difference there is.

Turns out my new fork axle-to-crown is 10mm shorter than the stock one. This results the front end lowering quite significantly, and steepening all the effective angles on the bike by a little over .5°. Not a huge issue on paper - the 63cm frame that I have was brazed at 73.5°/72.5° so the HTA/STA steepened up to 74°/73°. Still a reasonably shallow STA and that HTA is steep, but not overly so.

What bugged me is that with the front end 10mm lower there is a quite conspicuous downward slope to the top tube, which just looks so wrong on a classic lugged frame. It's been on my mind constantly and there has been handwringing upon handwringing with the different options to fix it:

I bought a needle bearing headset with a tall lower stack height, but that only gave me a few additional millimeters.
I could go back to the original fork but I never really liked how it rode (5cm trail with wide 650b tires just feels a little weird), plus I'd have to get canti posts brazed on and powdercoated. Handling gets even weirder with a handlebar bag.
I could have the original fork re-raked to lower the trail and get the handling I want, but that's another pretty big chunk of change and the front end would drop a bit anyways so I'm still in the same situation, just not as bad.
Custom forks are $$$ I'd rather use for something different.

I eventually stumbled upon someone on eBay that makes taller crown races for MTBs - I guess sometimes for fat bikes you need some extra room below the head tube so a suspension fork doesn't smack the downtube - but all he made were for forks with 1 1/8" or 1 1/2" steer tubes. I figured something like that would my best option - using a cartridge bearing headset with 36°/45° bearings all I had to do was reproduce the fairly simple geometry of the crown race that came with the headset I wanted to use and then add 10mm on the bottom!

Drew up something up real quick and shot it off to him since he does custom parts as well. $30 and a day later the part is on it's way to my house!

Fingers crossed I designed it correctly. Also got a nice little boost to the ego when he told me he'd do it for the same price as his stock spacers - "Very nice drawing will make it easy."

Although, now I'm going to have a bit of a challenge because I'm about 5mm shorter than ideal on steer tube length...

TL;DR - I'm getting a custom crown race spacer to make up for a 10mm too short axle to crown on one of my bikes.

Originally Posted by genejockey

Somewhere in Mom and Dad's house is my Grandfather's sphygmomanometer. (Hey! I spelled it right first time!)

Originally Posted by datlas

If I get really relaxed I can get resting HR down to about 45. But at work I can’t relax.

Originally Posted by datlas

If it’s mercury it may be a collectors item. We have a few mercury ones at work but you can’t get them anymore and they are all gradually getting replaced.

Originally Posted by big john

I still haven't been vaccinated. Was hoping the lung thing would clear up some first but it just keeps on truckin'. COPD, asthma, whatever it is. Some days, like Saturday, I feel pretty good and climb well enough. Then Tuesday 3 of us met up and my friend took us up a couple thousand feet of climbing at the start. I couldn't get my breathing going and they had to keep waiting and I was embarrassed at how crappy I rode. Later I started feeling better and yesterday I went climbing alone and felt good again. Trying not to use the Albuterol too much. Last time I was at the doctor she wanted to prescribe another drug but I decided to wait. I guess another appointment is in the cards.

Originally Posted by big john

My bp, too HR is usually lower, though.

Originally Posted by datlas

If I get really relaxed I can get resting HR down to about 45. But at work I can’t relax.

Originally Posted by genejockey

Results indicate that the vaccines at the very least reduce the rate of infection among vaccinees, compared to the placebo group or the unvaccinated.