Miss Rubber World publicity keeps rolling on. Another press release went out last week. We’ve got a radio interview lined up for Friday on SiriusXM, Fixe Magazine has interviewed almost all the contestants, and we’ve placed interviews with contestants across the adult press with more coming.
So Saturday morning, I’ve got some time to breathe, and I’m in the other room working while Sherry sleeps in, a perfect time for artwork. I took some time to color in the Goddess Sadie Hawkins portrait. I wasn’t happy at first, but after working it quite a bit again this morning am finally satisfied.
In case you’ve forgotten, this is the Grey Mistress bike. I still need to switch out the generator light.
I’ve also been dying to get in some time on the Grey Mistress. Some things just nag at you from the back of your mind, especially if you’re an artist. The Grey Mistress just hasn’t been working out lately. I’ve ridden it to work twice, and the experience has been exhausting. Something just wasn’t right. Last week I compared the bike to my Dahon and 10 speed, and measured the distance of the crank, the diameter of the front gear and finally, the distance from the center of the crank to the seat.
The seat of the Grey Mistress isn’t just low, it’s way too low, which means more pressure on the knees, and less power out of each push of the legs. No wonder the rides have been exhausting. Two tweaks of the seat and there is a major difference, with one major drawback. Between the back basket and the seat, the bike has now officially lost its cool. The Grey Mistress looks less like a chopper (or bobber) and more like something the homeless guys ride around town. So aesthetically, something needs to be done and the bike’s taking on a whole new direction, but a much faster one.
When life hands you free flashlights, make bike headlights.
After taking the Grey Mistress for a spin, I also did a quick experiment with some great results. There’s a lot of improvisation I see with bikes these days. Headlight laws in LA are pretty specific if you want to ride at night. So we see a multitude of bikes with flashlights taped in oddball configurations to bicycles. While this sounds silly, the flashlight tech has gotten pretty damn good.
Not a bad little flashlight either.
I keep getting these free sample flashlights in the mail from a company that makes promotional products, and they gave me a flash of inspiration, pardon the pun. There’s a product out there called the Froglite, which is really cool and popular. A Froglite is a simple led lite with a watch battery, wrapped with a silicon loop. They’re cheap and last for ages. You take the silicone loop, and wrap it around the handlebars or seat post, then stretch the end around the front of the light. Why not use the flashlights the same way. I used cut pieces from an old bike tire for the loop, and the lights secure quite nicely to the handlebars of the Dahon bike.
You can see the loop made from the bike tire, like an industrial strength rubber band.
They work great and are a great supplement to the lights I have already. Honestly, you can’t be lit up enough at night when riding in LA.
That’s all for now. I’ve got kinky Easter egg sketches cooking up for fun on the drawing pad. Should have those whipped out in a bit.
Dungeon Net
Hogspy
