Fixing the Door & Fixing to Race

We had a big storm come through the other day, or the threat of one at least. The Weather Channel was forecasting bad things for those of us in the Mid-West most all the day long - rain, high winds, hail, maybe a tornado. I had both of the cars in the new barn but the truck was sitting out so I figured it would be a smart thing to put it out in the big barn. Except I really had to work to get the big sliding doors open. Dirt and grass had accumulated along the bottom of the door and was preventing it from sliding. I got the shovel out and skinned the schmutz out of the way. That took care of most of it but one door was still giving me some trouble. Apparently, the roller in the photo was the culprit. The bracket is bent and not only was the bottom of the door rubbing on the bracket but the roller was pinching the door as well. 

I rarely open those doors. The farmer uses them a few times a year when he's moving/storing his equipment so I didn't realize they were that hard to open. I'm glad I found out before the rain came in. I wouldn't have been at all happy struggling with a couple of big ass doors during a monsoon. I'll take the assembly to work and get it straightened out and add an extension to the top of the bracket so I can move the thing down a bit and still be able to fasten it properly to the door frame. I'll get the nut loosened up that holds the roller in place also so I can adjust the roller in and out as need be. Always something to do around the farm.

I did finish up the driver's side floor pan on the VW. All welded, primed and painted. Looking pretty sexy in there now. I've still got a ton of work to do on this thing but having the floor buttoned up is a major milestone. 

I'm planning on doing a bicycle race in about a month. I talked to my running and cycling compatriot and she says she's in. I've done this one a couple of times before and it's a fun event - eight miles in length. I won my age division last time but that was seven long years ago. I've been getting out a bit on the bike of late and while I'm in pretty sorry shape, I should be able to shed a few pounds and shape up a bit prior to the event. When I was doing all of the big mileage bike trips, my normal cruising speed was about 15 mph. I'll be lucky if that's my race pace a month from now but that's OK. Just need a goal to keep me moving.