Everyman, single or married, needs to have a project from time to time in order to keep his sanity from running away. Some men find savior in making sure the lawn stays green and weed free, while others set their sights on building flashy garage shelves and a work bench that appears to be designed by NASA. And the ones that I tip my hat too are the men who plan and accomplish adventures to far away lands and first time experiences.
For me, every summer I start with at least ten phenomenal and outrageous ideas to find my release from reality. On a good year I will accomplish one of those ideas, and when I do, it feels good! Last spring a close friend of mine, Rob Wudlick and I decided to rejuvenate the Gallatin White Water Festival; a kayak and rafting competition that was an old tradition of the Gallatin County, but had died off in 2002. Rob and I didn't really figure out why it died off, until we realized that its a pain in the ASS TO ORGANIZE. Either way, we had a project, the project had a name, and she stole all of my free time that would otherwise be used daydreaming of a real girl... or my next project.
Sometimes projects come to you in a dream, or strike you in the cortex like a fourth of July fire cracker wick that just ignited. My project for the summer of 2010 was sitting on the side of the road. A homeless bicycle that the owner left on the side of a Farmington county road with hopes that someone picks it up and takes care of it (at least that's what was going through my head to justifying my right to pick it up).
And so it begins, my summer project.


The Bike I found is an Italian bike manufacturer, Fiorelli, this bike dates somewhere in the late 1950's. This is after I drilled the rivets out of the manufacturers front emblem. I'm planning on sandblasting this and re-hand painting this emblem to go with my bikes color scheme.

After my first go of taking this beast apart. The wheels are going to be replaced, the brakes and brake levers are going away also, I'm going to build this as a fixed gear bike with some wheels that will compliment both the tradition of this bike and the idea that keeps running circles in my head.

Below are a few more photos of the beginning of MY summer project. I hope that you have one your as excited about as I am about mine!