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rebeccmeisterSaturday morning we had Yet Another Beautiful Rowing Practice. I did my best Rowing Paparazzi impression.
Immediately after rowing, I met up with some other bicyclists for a Coffee Outside expedition. I was so thrilled to have the company!
We rode up to Peebles Island, found an empty picnic table, and set about brewing our coffee.
The other people who biked are all members of Albany Social Cycling, which makes me really want to make it to at least one Social Cycling ride this year. We'll see.
I brought along a glass vacuum brewer and the teacups in the hard-sided box, but neglected to notice the vacuum brewer didn't have its filter disk. So I was very glad to have also brought along a moka pot. Everyone enjoyed the pumpkin muffins I brought along (shh, made with butternut squash puree!).
Back at home, I continued work on the coxbox charging shelf. On Saturday I mostly determined that I didn't know how to use my pocket hole jig, sigh.
There are definitely NOT supposed to be pointy screw bits sticking out!
But after that failure, I read further instructions, so today I had much greater success.
I am adapting the cover from an old coxbox charging station for this new one:
It will look somewhat silly, but that's fine. What matters the most is that all of the charging wires and other accessories will soon be organized!
I do need to obtain and install some hinges next. But I will be really glad to have this project done and out of the house soon!
I did not make any progress on oar blade repairs, but people are going to come over next Saturday to help and learn. So that will happen next. In the long term I am hoping to work on rowing projects at a slower, consistent pace. This year is still Way Too Much.
Immediately after rowing, I met up with some other bicyclists for a Coffee Outside expedition. I was so thrilled to have the company!
We rode up to Peebles Island, found an empty picnic table, and set about brewing our coffee.
The other people who biked are all members of Albany Social Cycling, which makes me really want to make it to at least one Social Cycling ride this year. We'll see.
I brought along a glass vacuum brewer and the teacups in the hard-sided box, but neglected to notice the vacuum brewer didn't have its filter disk. So I was very glad to have also brought along a moka pot. Everyone enjoyed the pumpkin muffins I brought along (shh, made with butternut squash puree!).
Back at home, I continued work on the coxbox charging shelf. On Saturday I mostly determined that I didn't know how to use my pocket hole jig, sigh.
There are definitely NOT supposed to be pointy screw bits sticking out!
But after that failure, I read further instructions, so today I had much greater success.
I am adapting the cover from an old coxbox charging station for this new one:
It will look somewhat silly, but that's fine. What matters the most is that all of the charging wires and other accessories will soon be organized!
I do need to obtain and install some hinges next. But I will be really glad to have this project done and out of the house soon!
I did not make any progress on oar blade repairs, but people are going to come over next Saturday to help and learn. So that will happen next. In the long term I am hoping to work on rowing projects at a slower, consistent pace. This year is still Way Too Much.
no subject
Date: 2025-10-06 02:12 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-10-06 01:05 pm (UTC)https://thecrewstop.com/pages/rowing-gloves?srsltid=AfmBOoqAZjj5jmoNf7sHkvoZBDvinB4WbkwNNfyAlqtkh0zkdCGH0LZ_
You might want to try out a pair, because if you aren't rowing with oars, your hands won't have a chance to develop the calluses for rowing, and then if you go to row with an oar, you will wind up with major blisters.
I have never used the gloves because I am old-skool and back in the day they were very much frowned upon.
no subject
Date: 2025-10-07 12:15 am (UTC)Thank you!
no subject
Date: 2025-10-07 02:13 am (UTC)The gloves look wonderful! I worked for years as the person on top of the ladder, pulling lights up on a rope and installing them. Then a week or two later taking all the lights and sending them down to my ground person. I ended up using leather gloves that were padded in the palm. I'd cut the fingertips out and restitch the sides of the fingers so they wouldn't rip out. I really wanted my fingertips bare to tie knots in the string that held cables to the pipes. Non padded palms got too hot as the rope slid across my palm. Good tools like that are indispensable.
no subject
Date: 2025-10-07 08:47 pm (UTC)It sounds like some styles of bicycling gloves could have worked well for that particular job!
The rowing gloves can be a tricky topic. One of the issues that can arise with them is that they can inhibit the development of "feel" for the oar and blade. And that sense of feel can be super important in certain contexts, most especially mildly choppy water or when racing at a high stroke rate.
On the other hand (har har), people can vary a lot in their skin chemistry, such that it is easier for some people to develop and maintain calluses, while other people just wind up with totally shredded skin (ouch!). Oh, and I've had teammates who do work with their hands such that they CANNOT have calluses (e.g. massage). So there are some clear use cases for the rowing gloves.