Merry Christmas and Another PBC Video

Merry Christmas!

Things around the house are pretty busy. A birthday, an anniversary, relatives are visiting and some decorations are going up. Here, the cat is checking things out. After today I have about a week and a half off. All that I have planned is some Beemer and Ural maintenance so you may hear about some of that in subsequent posts.

My first Polar Bear Challenge post wasn't accepted by the site due to several deficiencies. First, it was too short. The videos themselves need to be longer than 3 minutes. My interpretation of the rules is that the ride needs to be longer than 3 minutes but apparently the video itself needs to be between 3 and 7 minutes long not counting introduction and credits. My time lapse video was only 48 seconds long. Second, I need to speak the temperature and odometer readings in addition to showing them clearly in the video. The thermometer used must be a mercury or alcohol with allowances for digital.

I tried an electronic thermometer but the display started to fizzle out after only a few minutes outside so that wasn't useable. The aircraft OAT gauge mounted on the bike isn't a qualifying thermometer. So today after purchasing a thermometer, I tried again. The initial and final video recordings were made with my iPhone instead of trying to use the GoPro. At least that way I could see that the digits were in focus. The GoPro video was actually pretty long and boring so I cut it down to just under 7 minutes. In fact, I had recorded long enough that I needed to change the GoPro battery halfway through the ride. I left the University shortly before sunset, headed west and north on Sheep Creek Rd, west on Goldstream Rd, south on the Old Steese Hwy, south on McGrath Rd then finally east on Farmers Loop Rd. This used to be my scenic route home when I had first started riding and is 40 km or 24.85 miles.

By the time I came home, my left boot had oil on it that was pushed out of the engine at the valve covers and push rod tubes. I suspect that maybe the breather was frozen shut and pressure was building up in the crankcase. I drained almost 6 oz of liquid from the crankcase vapor recovery canister. I think that it may have been completely full and water and ice were blocking the hose.