Ploafmaster General

If you can shop from McMaster-Carr, you know you can get 100 stainless steel M5 bolts (for bottle cages and loads of other #bike applications) for under $17?

What is the best educational typing program these days? Happy to pay. Ideally it should be a native app I could run on macOS that requires neither internet connection nor subscription. Good ol' Mavis Beacon seems like abandonware with issues.

Pretty sure this is the first time since my kids were in school that they’re going to have (so far) 3 snow days in December.

Genosack music selections are always on point, but their latest video drops in “Stars” form Hum, a delicious fuzz/post-shoegaze early 90s classic.

Current state: enjoying our annual family holiday brunch at Can Can.

Alright, so back in 2022 I started riding bikes again, and to make sure I wasn’t putting a lot of money into something without proof of commitment, I bought a used 2015 Fairdale Coaster from Re-Cycles Bike Shop in Richmond, VA. In a short few months I rode with increasing frequency and distance, eventually hitting my first 20+ mile ride on a single speed bike. Then I was hit by a pickup truck on September 1st, and while I was fine (other than contusions), enough of the bike was wrecked that it sat in storage. I was able to have the frame repaired for a mere $35. For my money, that resilience and repairability are why I choose steel bikes in the city.

Anyway, I’ve held on to the frame with the intention of turning it into a grocery bike with gears. But since it was originally a coaster brake bike with narrow track dropouts, I knew I’d have to modify it. The bike was essentially a write-off; I used the money I was paid by the guy who hit me to buy my Space Horse, so I was only off the road for 5 days after all. If I tried modifying the Fairdale and screwed up, it was no big loss on my end. But I didn’t screw it up! I stripped most of the bike down and then I ran into something weird.

When I pulled off the cranks, I wasn’t looking at the expected BSA square taper. Instead there was a splined shaft and larger, exposed bearings pressed directly into the shell. I did some measurements and while the shell width was 68mm, the inner diameter was just over 41mm. And then I remembered that Fairdale came out of Odyssey BMX, so I started researching BMX bottom bracket standards. Sure, I could have stuck with BMX cranks, but I wanted the flexibility to use a wider range of cranks from my parts bin (or swap in the future), and that meant BSA for me. Was this even possible? Based on my measurements, it became clear that Fairdale used the trickiest BMX bottom bracket standard to convert: mid. Now in the BMX world this would appear to be pretty solid; large bearings for a strong and durable BB. But finding conversion options was nearly impossible. American BB shells have just a large enough inner diameter that there are more options, and Euro is really the same as BSA.

Well it seemed like there was only one company I could find that made a “mid to iso/Euro” conversion kit, and it’s the British company Mafiabikes. I still don’t know a whole lot about them, but I know they had the part I seemed to need and it was $35. But there’s basically no information on the website and hardly anything I could find on the web about using these conversion cups. I’m fortunate enough to be able take a $35 risk, so I placed the order. In the mean time I could have a battle with the old pressed-in bearings, eventually knocking them out with the help of a socket extension, some penetrating oil, and a rubber mallet.

Having thoroughly cleaned the interior of the BB shell, it was time to make all this work.

I basically had 2 threaded cups that should press fit into the shell and I would need to use some Loctite green retention compound to hold it in place. I was lucky enough to already have an old 110mm square taper BB that has at least a little life remaining (for grocery runs at least).

The conversion cups had wrench flats which was helpful for dry-fitting the BB, but I wasn’t quite sure how I would press the threaded-in BB to the shell with the spindle in there, so I just tested the fit first by holding the cups in my vice.

Ultimately I added the Loctite and used my vice (with protective cardboard) to slowly, and carefully press in each conversion cup, one side at a time. It didn’t even take 10 minutes before the Loctite was set enough for me to torque down the drive-side of the BB to 50 N-m. Another major step of this slow conversion/build finished!

I don’t know how many bike shops would even know this is possible, let alone try doing this for you. I have to say I’m fairly proud of my self for figuring all of this out and actually succeeding. It’s also nice to know that with enough patience and willingness to tinker, you can figure out almost anything on a bike.

Seasonal drink at Julio’s is a masala flat white, and it’s quite good, with a house made syrup made from whole spices.

The kids are each at a different friend’s house for a while, so impromptu Cask lunch with my wife! Icing on the cake for a great day!

Pretty great snow in Richmond. Enough to give the kids a snow day and quality sledding, warm/light enough that roads are basically clear, already (slowly) melting away, refreezing unlikely overnight. Would only improve if I could take off and play with the kids.

One of the fun things about riding my Crust bike around Richmond is sometimes running into Garrett from Crust when I’m out and about.

Hanover County Animal Control is selling the above t-shirt for a limited time to benefit their shelter after the story of an Ashland Party Raccoon went viral.

I just watched 2025’s Naked Gun, and it was a pretty good time. It’s not entirely my kinda humor, but I have a lot of respect for just how many jokes they stuffed into this thing, from the opening titles to the end credits. We don’t get a lot of movies like this anymore, and I’m glad it exists.

Coming out of Thanksgiving into the gauntlet before winter break is always a little intense for me. Every weekend seems to have something going on (hell, even some of the weeknights have special conflicts with regularly scheduled activities. But this year brings a fresh set of challenges and reasons for additional anxiety. There’s family stuff, work stuff, trying to squeeze in my rides (closing in on 9000 miles for the year), trying to get everything done before a nice long stretch of time off.

Wish me me luck 😬

I ride in the cold for the same reason I ride in the heat: so I keep riding. My body (and choice of attire) will adjust pretty quickly, and it leaves me with fewer excuses to stay indoors. #bikes

It’s watching-Elf-with-the-family-o’clock!

Resurfacing an old post because it’s that time of year…

ploafmaster.com/2014/11/3…

The best part of Thanksgiving for me this year was celebrating at home. The last time we were here was 2020, so not having to drive? Great. Cooking a nice, full meal in my own kitchen? The best. It was mostly simple, but I can’t remember the last time I had the chance to make a large scale meal. So here’s what we had and how it was:

• Turkey: I tried to get fancy here, and it didn’t quite pay off. I dry-cured a few thighs and legs for 2 nights over a week ago and poached it all in chicken fat for 5 hours. It hung out in the fridge until today when I warmed it enough to liquify the fat. I threw the turkey under the broiler to crisp up the skin. It was…pretty good—but not so good that I feel like it was worth the trouble. I still have some left and it’s back in the fridge with the cooking fat where it can hang out for up to a few more weeks. We’ll see whether it improves…
• Rolls: I don’t really bake, so I just bought some brioche dinner rolls from Whole Foods. They were pretty good for store-bought rolls and served their purpose of sopping up gravy just fine.
• Cous cous: My kids requested this because they don’t like mashed potatoes (like…seriously…). But it’s quick and easy to make it. I use pearl cous cous, and I toasted it in some of the poaching fat before cooking it in some turkey stock. I only tasted it to make sure it was good. The kids seemed to enjoy it.
• Stuffing: Just a bag of Pepperidge Farm cornbread stuffing. This is mostly because Valerie wants stuffing, but I eat some, too, and leave out the onion/celery. I do add celery seed and dried garlic to get some of that flavor, and I used my fresh turkey stock for the cooking liquid and a little of the turkey’s poaching fat when I baked it in a dish. It’s fine, but mostly it’ll be nice when I use it in turkey hash with the leftovers.
• Cranberry sauce: the jelly stuff in a can. My wife and daughter’s request. My son and I don’t really eat it.
• Gravy: I always forget how dang long it takes for the gravy to thicken up. I try to use just enough flour in my roux, but that means more time on the stove. The fat here was also some of the poaching fat, and of course more stock to add volume. Pretty good, but not my best.
• Mashed potatoes: Necessary, and boy do I still got it. This is probably my wife’s favorite part of Thanksgiving dinner, so I always get her approval before I call them “done”. They were fantastic.
• Brussels sprouts: Accidentally the most successful part of dinner. I can roast some tasty sprouts, but this time I a) tossed them with some of the poaching fat in addition to olive oil, added some lemon zest but, crucially, tossed them with some lemon juice when they came out of the oven. Balanced, roasted just right, and delicious. My wife and I loved them, and maybe some day I’ll get the kids to try them :-P
• Dessert: My wife got a free apple pie from a rep at work, but we’re all pretty wiped out after the meal, so we’re saving it for tomorrow.

Now we’re all loafing in the family room while we digest. Probably gonna fall into a food coma in the next hour or so…

I’ve had way more coffee than I usually do and I am flyyyyyiiiiing

I can tell which of my friends don’t do much/any of the Thanksgiving cooking when I see their turkey day bike rides on Strava…while I’m in the kitchen :-P

After I stumbled upon the in-progress painting of buffered bike lanes on Dumbarton Road during today’s ride, I started wondering about what Henrico County has going on with bike infrastructure. Like so many American localities, Henrico’s bike lanes are a disjointed, often ponderous collection of paths, two-way cycle tracks, and paint-as-infrastructure. But I ride around the greater Richmond metro area a lot, and so I see the progress—such as it is—as it happens.

Well I finally did the sensible thing and hit the ol' web search, and found Henrico County’s bike page. They have links to their current map of bike infrastructure and a draft bike plan map. The current map says it was updated in May 2025, but I’ve already seen a few areas with new lanes and cycle tracks from the draft plan map. The draft plan is ambitious, and the county page on bike infrastructure doesn’t really indicate what’s in progress or actually approved to move forward, but I’m happy to see these projects as they are implemented. For now, you can check their projects page. It includes all DPW projects, even the car-centric stuff, but you can see bike and pedestrian work on there.

Nice new bike lanes (paint only, so far) in Henrico on either side of Dumbarton Road from Brook all the way to Byrdhill. It would be pretty great if the city continued this on Azalea all the way east to the racetrack.

Shakedown ride on the resurrected Space Horse is a ding dang treat.

So, uh…new Strong Bad Email for the first time in years!?

This is my first Thanksgiving at home since 2021 and most of the food will be kinda simple/standard: mashed potatoes, cranberry jelly, cornbread stuffing, roasted Brussels sprouts, turkey gravy. The kids wanted couscous so I’ll make that with some of the turkey stock. But the turkey itself? I’m trying a confit using almost entirely chicken fat. It’s already been in the fridge for a while, and on the holiday I’ll extract it from the fat and crisp it up under the broiler. This isn’t my first time cooking with this method, but the first time with turkey for sure. I’m sure I didn’t invent this and it could all be a bust, but I’m excited to see how it turns out.

I never liked them when the downtown Lowe’s first got them, but I seriously hate the proliferation of these telescopic security camera stands with flashing, blue, fake cop lights. I see them all over the place in Richmond these days, from construction sites to parking lots.