okay... maybe it is a little too long

done.

the day before this project started I saw some photos of some celebrity getting the FACEBOOK tour... who was that?
I forget... either way... there was this shot with the kid founder guy and there were these two signs and one of them read

"it does not need to e perfect... it just needs to be done"

or something to that effect

that was the objective before this project started

initially I had wanted to video the project... then I realized I did not really do video
then I thought I would at least try to photo document the process
and then.... after it got started... I snapped a few shots but not much more
in a week and a day I took a few beaten up old bikes... cut them in half.... then with the assistance of an artist friend of mine I welded them together.... well... Adam welded the together

in actuality Adam was the director and the grunt... I was just his assistant
I did some cutting and some grinding
but the hardest work was the welding
since I do not know how to weld
so... Adam did the welding
which was really more than just welding

there was not so much as a sketch on a cocktail napkin
no protractors or compasses were used
jig? ha.
the laser level was a big part of day one
then after that... Adam eyeballed stuff
marks were made with Sharpies
all sorts of cuts were made

simultaneously I worked on my bike and adam worked on his
a few years ago Adam built a "bakfiet"
his plan was nothing more than poking around under a few "bakfiets" that he saw when visiting his sister who at that time lived in Amsterdam

it was funny....
we had talked about these projects for years
then he started saying he was going to build a box bike
I tried to point him to"the Internet" for inspiration
he had none of it

I blinked and he was on his box bike
I rode that box bike and immediately wanted to have one

I tried planning it out
Adam was not interested in discussing it
in my mind I thought about how I wanted things to go
most of my design based around keeping things simple
have the rear wheel larger than the front.... use a wheel barrow as the cargo section... and disc brake in the front

well... the basis of my project was to make this happen on the cheap
RECYCLE-RE USE-REPURPOSE
the small wheel with disc option did not present itself
the thought of building a small wheel on a disc hub was out of the question
more money than I was looking to spend

the search for the perfect parts on the cheap was the project
that was all that I was doing
I was not drawing things out
I was not reading about things on the web
I was just sitting around waiting for the perfect parts to present themselves

well... they never presented themselves

then Adam gave me the word
Adam told me to get my deal together... he was about to start his second bakfiet build project and I could piggy back along with him on his

I gathered stuff together
in panic I gathered stuff
for the rear end I decided to use the Jamis Exile 29er with horizontal drop outs as the rear end
then thought about what I could use as the front end with a 26er

I wanted rigid with disc option
it did not present itself
I sent an email out to the DCMTB list serve and got nothing but crickets
then I opened things up to anything

well... Vince chimed in
as it turned out Vince had a dumpster dive frame I found in an alley on the way to a DCMTB meeting at Looking Glass Lounge in Columbia Heights

it was lower end than I was looking
but it sounded better than what I had
which was nothing... well nothing other than some bikes with front shocks that I have kicking around

I thought about things
there was a thought about getting the rest of the parts for the Bob Trailer that Cargo Mike gave me when I helped him move
loading that trailer up and riding across town
but then I realized that there would be less "work time"

my effort to decrease my car dependency would need the assistance of the car

over the course of a week I made visits to Adam's house on Capitol Hill where we worked on bikes in his garage and on his cobble stone back patio

it was amusing how mellow Adam was about the need to be precise