Been driving the FX to try and get it to 1000 miles break in to switch to synthetic oil. Almost there, but I noticed some clunking and roughness in acceleration. Got under yesterday to take a look, the rear transmission mount was loose. Dropped the transaxle tonight and here a better look. This is the mount that I welded solid, looks like its too much stress. Case is cracked and stripped out on one hole, bolt snapped off in other. Will be taking this to Ted’s to see if they can repair this. Also been looking into fabricating custom mounts to use polyurethane bushings.
A little late blogging about this, last weekend I participated in SCCA’s display at the First Hawaiian Auto Show. I put the rally FX on display. I get a kick out of people seeing this unassuming unglamouros vehicle among all the shiny ginamormous turbo and sleek cars. I didn’t even have time to wash it, it still had a coating of steel dust and weld splatter from the rust patches I was working on. Propped the hood open mainly so people could see the cool airbox art courtesy of Scat and Risu. Only Toyota 4AGE geeks would recognize that the engine was something a little out of ordinary. It did have my concession to bling with polished valve cover, but aside from that and the air intake box and tube it looks pretty normal.
All the IPA, white IPA, orange IPA, triple extreme hop this, angry hop that, making me desperate to find something I might like. So instead of looking for something new, went old. Anchor Steam goes back to the my early beer days but I haven’t had their other offerings. The porter was good, lets try this lager. Pours clear yellow, light head. light aroma, fairly heavy bitter comes in. Some malt. Medium light mouthfeel. I can’t say I really like this, it’s a little too heavy on bitter for me, but it’s not terrible.
2 out 4 old school California monkeys.
At the local J food shops these Kirin noodles have been showing up. Heck, the cute retro design made me buy some. They had ramen and other noodles, but you don’t see as much of hiyamugi so I bought these. It’s like somen, but thicker. Kinda nice to have something with a little more “bite”.
3 out of 4 giraffe monkeys.
Missed my chance to try this on tap at dinner this past Thursday. Pours light amber with light head. Light hint of citrus hop aroma gives it a bit of bitter which fades to a nice malt in the finish. Crisp mouthfeel. I would say this is a pretty “sessionable” beer, but has enough going on to be good.
3 out 4 central coast monkeys
Last Whistler trip discovered a new favorite drink at Blenz, Rooibos chai latte. Good for if didnt want the buzz of the Euro dark chocolate hot choco. And in an attempt to keep my gas production down, witg soy milk. Rooibos is my favored herbal tea, from an African plant its a caffein free herbal tea that is the closest flavor to tea. Imagine my delight when i came across this at Foodland when looking for a refill.
Tea with the nice warming of spices, nutmeg, cinamon, cardamom, makes me feel like im sitting in colonial India!
4 out of 4 allspice monkeys
Pours a cloudy dark brown with medium strong head. Just a hint of tang, and interestingly despite its darkness there isn’t a strong dark roast flavor. Strong carbonation keeps the mouthfeel crisp. Quite easy drinking and pleasant.
3 out 4 dunkel monkeys.
Been passing by this new place in Market City for a while now, finally had a chance to stop in and sample. Its actually a California shop, made on premisis donuts. I got the chocolate with choco curls. Pretty good, but not as good as Tim Hortons. A touch chewier. I think the Hawaii humidity does them in the moment they leave the cooking. I do prefer it to the few times ive had Krispy Kreme, KK made my teeth hurt they were loaded with sugar. Although to be fair some of Timmies does that too. Did not get the maple bacon, which i think is almost their signature item.
Rode sunset solo today, arrived to find only two cars parked identifiable as MTBers. Weird, where is everyone on a beautiful sunday? Trails were primo, Jungle the driest and nicest I’ve seen in a while.
 I recalled Chucky on our last ride commenting we should pitch in more on trail maintanance, he grabbed a rake and cleaned part of trail as Chris dealt with his snapped derailleur hanger. So as i rode up Needles trail, i stopped at the first rake i saw and cleared about 40 yards of trail. Its not much, but i figure if every riderat least once per ride did the same, it would add up. Figure good for some trail karma.
Saw 5 riders the entire day, all people i didn’t recognize. I mixed up the route a little too. Decided on my final run to go all the way to boyscout gate. Instead of slogging all the way used the road, decided to take the Banyan Alley to Elbo trail. Just past the banyan i spotted remnants of an old trail, it looked promising in that it might bypass all the backtracking that Elbo makes you do. Walked on a little in, will need more investigation when there with others. Continue reading ‘Trail Karma’
A beer I brought back from BC, pours bright yellow with light head. Hint of funk in the aroma. Touch of sweetness. Quite light in flavor, light bitterness in finish. Carbonation does not persist, lending to a medium mouthfeel. I can’t say I’m very excited by this beer.
1 out 4 lakeboat monkeys