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The Pinarello build, part 2

The replacement bottom bracket arrived a day earlier than expected, and given the increase in the number of items that are being shipped these days, is something of a surprise.  A good surprise.  Confirmed that the BB is the one I ordered and installed it, torquing the cups to the proper spec.

HOWEVER, the axle in the cartridge BB, being the correct length is not the only part of the puzzle.  The original axle is asymmetric, meaning that the drive side extends further from the centerline and the non drive side is closer to the centerline.  The difference is enough that the chainrings don’t have enough clearance with the symmetrical axle.  So, the search begins for a replacement BB with an asymmetrical axle.  Luckily enough I found one and it finally arrived.  The cup and axle races are in excellent shape, so we are back on track.  Cleaned, greased, and installed.  Crankarms are on and torqued, and the clearance to the chainstays is good, for both the chainrings and the crankarms themselves.  This crankset is old enough that the crankarms are straight, not curved, so the clearance is set by the width of the bottom bracket axle.

The Nuovo Record RD is lubricated at the pivots and the main bolt, and installed.  The spiral SS housing and liner are cut to length and installed.

The front derailleur attaches to the seat tube by a band that clamps around the tube.  To position it properly, the cage that encloses the chain needs to have 2-3mm clearance between it and the largest chainring.  There is some debate about the proper orientation of the cage to the chainrings.  Some folks say they should be parallel – others say the rearward part of the cage should be slant towards the center of the bike by a couple of degrees.  I’m going with parallel for now.  Friction shifting is more forgiving than indexed shifting.

Installed the chain (without going through the derailleur cages) and sized it to big-big plus 4 links.  I think it will wind up 2 links shorter than that, but I’ll let the shifting performance tell me if that is necessary.  Ran the shift cables, using cable liner around the BB shell for both FD and RD cables.  The RD hanger was not straight, it was in a bit at the bottom.  Adjusted it to straight, then reinstalled the RD.  Fished the chain through the FD and RD, installed the quick link.  Set the hi-lo limit screws and adjusted the shifting.  Installed the pedals and torqued to spec.  Adjusted the axle locating screws in the rear dropouts to center the rear wheel.

A bit of headset drama – whoever assembled the bike before I bought it used 5/32 balls in the upper and lower races, and I found out that Campagnolo used 3/16 balls in their Nuovo Record headsets.  I ordered a bag of 3/16 balls so that I can replace the existing balls with the correct size.  So until they are here, I’m pretty much at a standstill.  A good friend used the phrase “parts pause” and it certainly applies here.  Frustrating, but a part of the C&V build game, at least for those of us without a large parts inventory.

Until next time…

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Pinarello Turismo – the build begins

I’m finally getting around to the Pinarello.  This frame was built in 1983, so it’s coming up on a 40-year birthday.  Columbus SL tubing and a full Campagnolo Nuovo Record group make it a great example of Italian craftsmanship.  I’ve been riding outside a fair amount, and that always spurs interest in completing bike projects.  This build is no exception.

Duane at chestercycles.com painted and decalled this frame, and it’s stunning.  I had been putting off starting the build because I was hesitant about reinstalling the headbadge and it needs to be done first.  It’s held on by two “drive screws” which have very coarse threads and are hammered into a properly-sized hole.  There’s no real stress on the screws, they just hold a small headbadge to the headtube.  Not wanting to risk denting the headtube and not sure about a good way to prevent that I was hesitant about the job.

I decided to use a deep-well socket that fit nicely into the head tube as an inner support, which, as it turns out, was not needed.  I used a small dab of glue under the badge, set the drive screws in place, and tied a strip of cloth around the badge and the headtube to hold it in place while the glue dried.  Since that task is now done (whew!), on with the rest of the build.

Waxed the frame and fork.  Cleaned the headset cups and the fork crown race.  Pressed the cups in, one at a time, and turned the frame upside down in the stand.  Added grease and the appropriate number of bearing balls in the lower race, then installed the fork.  Next was grease and bearing balls in the upper race.  Keyed washer and the top nut completes the fork install.  It’s a little rough, the lower cup and the crown race might need to be replaced.  I’ll take it apart after a couple of rides and see how it looks on the inside.

Cleaned the bottom bracket bearing cups in preparation for installing the BB.  Cleaning up the axle I noticed a badly galled section on one side of the axle.  No point to install it, it won’t last long and would make ugly noises while riding.  I ordered a Campagnolo cartridge bearing BB to replace it, and I’ll keep my eye open for a replacement axle.  I would like to use the original BB if at all possible.

Cleaned the downtube shifter parts in the ultrasonic cleaner and installed them using a thin film of grease, not an excess.  No grease on the adjuster threads.  The tension adjustment works predictably, hopefully it will hold it’s position while riding.

Went to install the brake calipers, and realized a mistake on my part.  The replacement Nuovo Record calipers I purchased are nutted, and the original calipers used recessed nuts.  Fortunately, swapping the center bolts took only 10 minutes for both front and rear calipers, and they’re freshly lubed and installed.

I can’t do much more without the BB installed, so I’ll lateral over to filling the seatpost and stem pantographing with paint in the meantime.

Stay tuned for the next instalment…

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2020 Rides

I’ve been looking at a calendar and conversing with some fellow C&V enthusiasts (inmates) about meeting up at some rides next spring, summer, and fall.

The COVID-19 problems have put a wrench in many planned rides, and some have been cancelled or delayed as a result.  As soon as I have information for the rides I’ve included here, I’ll update this post.

There will be the Wednesday evening shop rides, and the Saturday morning rides throughout the season.

CANCELLED FOR 2020 – May – on the 9th, I’m planning on the Rockin River City Ride, a metric century in Evansville, Indiana.  Should be a good warmup for the Storming of Thunder Ridge ride later this month.  I’ve emailed the ride organizer asking about 2020, but have not received a response.

CANCELLED FOR 2020 – Later in May – on Sunday the 17th is Storming of Thunder Ridge in Lynchburg, Virginia, which is a very popular ride and a challenging century.  Registered for this one.  I’m planning to ride the Masi, but if the weather is iffy, the Merckx is well set up for climbing.

June – a couple of riding days are planned in and around Mineral Point, Wisconsin. Good friends, good roads, and hopefully good weather will make this an enjoyable trip. I really enjoy riding with this group, so an opportunity to do that won’t be missed.

CANCELLED FOR 2020 – July – on the 18th is the Ride Across INdiana (RAIN) that goes from Terre Haute to Richmond in a single day.  165 miles, mainly on US-40.  I sure hope it’s not as hot as it was last year, that was just brutal.  The organizers are planning a go/no-go decision by June 1.

August – the Wabash River Ride is on the 29th.  I haven’t ridden this one before, so right now it’s tentative.

RESCHEDULED – September – the Bourbon and Tobacco Tour will be the weekend of the 12th-13th.  Road on Saturday, gravel on Sunday – should be a good weekend of cycling in the hills of western Kentucky.

CANCELLED FOR 2020 – September – the Big Dam Bridge century in Little Rock is the last Saturday of the month.  Registered for this one.

The Tanner’s Orchard ride is planned for sometime in September.  I hope the weather cooperates, I don’t want to miss the ride this year.

CANCELLED FOR 2020 – October – the Kent Jones century is scheduled for the 10th in Jackson, Tennessee.  A nice route, good rest stops, and a good warmup for the Hilly Hundred later in the month.

CANCELLED FOR 2020 – Later in October  – is the Hilly Hundred century, in and around Bloomington, IN.  Unusually for a century ride , this one is split into two days of riding over Saturday and Sunday.  A good time, great route, hills (as you would expect), and fun rest stops.

This is a tentative set of rides.  Life happens, so changes are possible.

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An interesting ride

The temps were close to 60 degrees which is a little unusual for early December in Kentucky.  Not willing to let that pass us by, we headed over to Land Between the Lakes for a paved/gravel/trail ride.  I rode my Cannondale ST600 with 35mm tires, Bobby was on his Trek Boone.

We started at the same place the Bourbon tour started, and rode north.  There are some good climbs in the first few miles – all of them over 8%, one at 10% and one at 11%.  A quick wake-up for the legs.  We went north to the 4-way stop and turned right.  The Bourbon tour route continues north to the nature center.  Today we chose a more circuitous route.  We rode to the old Empire Farm and saw the Silo. Quite the visitor attraction a few years ago, closed now. Check out this article about it.  For some reason that I cannot remember, we rode back to the nature center on a hiking trail.  We crossed a gravel causeway over Honker Lake.  Roots, slippery leaves, a creek crossing, a sketchy descent down a hill with leaves covering the trail and roots hiding under the leaves, and some stairs going up and down all thrown in for good measure.  I’m not sure we should have been cycling on the hiking trail, but we made it just fine.  Maybe not our best decision, but we made other dubious decisions today – just to keep things in perspective.

It was getting dark when we left the nature center with about 18 miles to go.  West to to the Trace road, then south to the visitor center, then east back to where we had parked.  Riding on 68-80 with only 1 rear light and no headlights between the two of us was just another not-so-bright (pun intended) decision.  We got back to the parking area just fine and headed home.  Trying to stay on a hiking trail in LBL at dusk is not recommended. In retrospect, we should have started at least an hour earlier, 90 minutes would have been better.

I had a bright yellow jersey on, and Bobby’s bike is painted bright yellow too, so there’s that.  I know both of us should have had front and rear lights, and we will next time for sure.

Our route was a bit over 31 miles, with over 2000 feet of climbing.  Most of the climbing was in the first half of the ride.  Tired legs are the result.

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Masi Nuovo Strada – the tweaks

The Masi build was finished, but there were some changes I felt were needed.

First, the Koolstop brake holders and pads just didn’t look right. I had picked up a set of Campagnolo replacement pads for the Chorus pad holders, but they slipped into the holders a little too easily. Rolling the bike back with the brakes applied would have probably slid the pads out of the holders – not good. A friend suggested that I look for Clark pads and I found them on ebay coming from the UK. Once they arrived, I found they fit the holders perfectly, and installed them. Then I swapped the Chorus holders and pads in place of the Koolstops, and we have Campagnolo braking bliss again.

Second, the tubulars on the Mavic GP4 rims were Yellow Jersey 3-fers, and I wanted top end tubulars for this bike. I picked up a set of Vittoria Corsa Speed G+ tubulars, and decided to use Effetto Mariposa tape to mount them. This would be my first set mounted with tape, I had used Panaracer glue on the YJ tubs the first time. The Effetto rim cleaner worked very well, and you could not tell that a tub had ever been mounted on the rims. The actual taping for the tubs was anticlimactic – it took less than 10 minutes per wheel. I left a small section of the rim untaped opposite the valve stem, to make it easier to remove the tub if an on-the-road swap was needed. Put the tape on, press it firmly onto the rim, and fold the plastic film over the edge of the rim. I used cellophane tape to hold the plastic film in place while I installed the tub. Add some air, up to about 40 psi or so, and straightened the tub so that it tracked as it should. Then you just pull the plastic film out, recheck the alignment, and add air up to 120psi. Let it sit at that pressure for a day or so and it’s done.

The latex tubes in the Vittoria tubs lose pressure after a few days, but I always top off the tires before every ride whether tubs or clinchers so that’s no real issue for me. They ride beautifully, making chip seal roads feel almost like fresh tarmac, except for the sound. After talking with more experienced riders, I decided to try higher pressures than I had been using – I’m at 95F and 110R now, and the performance is great. The Corsa Speed tubs are not renowned for their puncture resistance, but either I’ve been lucky this year or I’m careful where I ride (maybe a bit of both) and they’ve been fine.

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Centenario Coppi 2019 – Hollandale, WI

First, sincere thanks to Dave and Rob for their behind-the-scenes and in-front-of-the-camera hard work. It would not have been the success it was without your efforts. THANK YOU.

I missed the warmup ride on Friday, but the Friday get-together at Tony’s Tap was great. Nice to see some friends from previous rides, and to put names with new friend’s faces. This is a really remarkable group – different backgrounds, ages, education, jobs, from different parts of the country – but we all enjoy cycling and the people it brings together.

On Saturday morning, we met at the guest house for another warmup ride. Immediately, we’re climbing – this is a theme that repeats itself many times. Good roads, and the group stopped often enough to keep everyone together. In Dodgeville, we rode a rails-to-trails that I think is called the Military Ridge Trail. It ran the gamut – pavement, chip-n-seal, gravel, sand, and mud. The muddy parts made it a little risky to keep the speed up, but I don’t think there were any casualties. We agreed to meet up again at the A&W in Dodgeville for a root beer (as a recovery drink, of course), and then to head back together. A quick shower, and it was off to Hollandale to set up the bikes for the show. There were some VERY nice machines there, and some that are the only example of the breed (at least the only examples I’ve seen). A lot of time to talk and meet folks that weren’t at Tony’s the night before. There was a lot of accumulated bicycle knowledge in the Hollandale town hall on Saturday – truly staggering. There was bread, olive oil, and parmesan cheese to take the edge off before dinner. The dinner was first rate, can’t say enough good things about it. Afterwards the awards were handed out, and I apologize for not remembering the recipients. Then we packed up the bikes, cleaned up, and headed back to our various accomodations. Sunday’s ride awaits.

We met at the Hollandale town hall again Sunday morning at 8am, for coffee, scones, bananas, and other assorted delicacies. Fuel, you know. Dave and Rob were in the cat-herding business and were mostly successful. We rolled out around 9am, and guess what – a relatively flat start for a little while, then a right turn and a respectable climb. Someone had painted a purple COPPI on the road about 2/3 of the way up. The climb and subsequent descent theme played out often and was unrelenting. A couple of the climbs on County Road Z and Sandy Rock just weren’t fair – you crest what you think is the top, only to see a “wall” yet to be climbed. It wasn’t actually a wall when you got to it, but it was a little demoralizing to see it and realize that you’re not even close to being finished with that climb. But you persevere and you earn the reward on the other side.

One of the descents early on came up to a T, with a left turn and the fresh chip-n-seal had left a fair amount of loose gravel right where you needed to stop and check for traffic. There were a few skidmarks in that gravel when I got there, but I didn’t see any evidence of bandages, blood, or abandoned bike parts – so apparently everyone got through that part safely. County Z had a few rough spots, but for the most part the roads were in great shape. My GPS track showed a couple of descents at over 40mph, so I guess the work to climb up for them was worth it.

The rest-stops-that-weren’t-rest-stops-because-this-was-an-unsupported-ride were welcome, and a sincere thanks to those folks spending their time to help a bunch of moderately-insane cyclists enjoy a great ride in beautiful southwest Wisconsin.

Brats back at the Hollandale town hall afterwards were a nice way to crown off the weekend. Congrats to Allan and Pete  for being beasts. A welcome to his first event to Nic with his very nicely done Trek. Nic and I rode together on Saturday and Sunday, and I enjoyed that very much.

I feel privileged to have enjoyed the people, bikes, and the rides as much as I did.

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Masi Nuovo Strada – the wrap

The Chorus polished alloy calipers seemed a little sluggish.  So I took them apart and gave them a bath in the ultrasonic cleaner.  Lubed them with Chain-L, and reassembled them.  They’re now installed and centered – they look great with the rest of the alloy group.  The replacement pads arrived, but they are loose in the Campagnolo holders.  I’m going to use some Koolstop pads and holders for now, and I’ll sort out the Campy pads/holders later.

The 32 tooth small chainring arrived, so I removed the crankbolt and pulled the crankarm off the BB.  Switching the chainrings took less time than the disasssembly, and then it all went back together.  The 12-30 cassette is here, and I swapped it onto the rear hub.  I installed the Wippermann chain and sized it to big-big plus 1.  That’s the drivetrain ready for cables.

I traded another 13-26 cassette to Rob for a Cinelli 1A stem and Cinelli 64-40 bars.  A little polishing on the stem and the center of the bars and they’re ready to install.  I took a guess at the stem height and bar angle – it’s as good a starting point as any.  The levers are slipped on and tightened (mostly) so that the cables can be installed.

I installed the shift cables and checked to be sure that cable is pulled and released by the shifters.  Fit the front housing sections and put them in place, then cut some cable liner to use around the BB shell – there are grooves for the shift cables, and hopefully the cable liner will cut down on friction and prevent road dirt from causing shift problems.

There is a small hiccup with the rear derailleur housing section – the “diver’s bell” cable stop on the DS chainstay has an opening too small for the stepdown ferrules I have.  I don’t want to zip tie the housing to the chainstay, I want the correct part.  The proper OD of the small section is 3.5mm.  I’m looking for the correct ferrule now.  Found it, and the shift cabling is complete.

I taped the cables to the bars and will wrap the bars once the lever positions are correct.  It will take a few miles to be sure they’re right, but it’s worth it to wrap the bars just once.

Now on to the brake cables.  I usually install the brake housings first – it probably doesn’t matter in the long run but that sequence works for me.  This is the only frame I have where the rear brake cable runs inside the top tube.  It doesn’t use any additional ferrules, and the install was straightforward.  I’ve read that some internal cable runs are a nightmare, but fortunately this was an easy one.  That’s the brakes installed and adjusted.

A test ride is next, so I double-checked that all fasteners are properly tightened, aired up the tubublars, and rode out.  Firstly, the brakes work.  That’s the important part right up front.  Shifting the chain to the middle of the range in back, I checked the front shifting – works fine, but takes 1 extra click to shift compared to the double chainrings on my other bikes.  Staying in the middle ring up front, checked out the rear shifting.  It works fine, but the top pulley makes contact with the cogs in the lowest three gears.  I need a Roadlink to move the rear derailleur down a little bit.  The chain has some sag in small-small, but that combination is pretty severely cross-chained and I won’t use it anyway.  Such is the result with a medium-cage rear derailleur with a triple.

Afterwards, I crimped caps on the ends of the shift and brake cables, and wrapped the bars.  For now, that’s the Masi finished.

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Masi Nuovo Strada – chainwrap issues

The first problem to solve is to determine the width of the bottom bracket (BB).  It needs to be wide enough that the inner chainring does not contact the driveside chainstay.  3-4mm is enough clearance to allow for some frame flex during hard efforts.  On this frame, the 115mm width gives me the necessary clearance.  The 111mm version might have been cutting it a little too close, but it’s difficult to see the actual chainline without installing the chain.  For now, the BB is greased and installed, cups torqued to spec.

The crankarms are installed, using blue loctite on the crank bolts.  I greased the washer and the bolt shoulder before torquing them to spec.

Installing the front and rear derailleurs is simple.  This frame has a mount for a braze-on FD, so just a single bolt is used.  I set the bottom of the FD cage with a couple of mm clearance to the large chainring.  The RD fastens to the dropout hanger and is tightened in place.

Now some calculations are needed, to be sure that the derailleurs can properly shift the chain across all of the cogs in the back, and the chainrings in front.  This is called chainwrap capacity, and this number is provided by the manufacturer for a specific rear derailleur.  Their numbers are generally conservative and you can usually exceed them by a little bit without creating a problem.  The medium cage Campagnolo Chorus rear derailleur has a chainwrap capacity of 36.  You can calculate your chainwrap requirements by finding the difference between the largest and smallest cogs in the back (30-12=18) and the chainrings in the front (52-30=22) and adding those results together (18+22=40).  That’s 4 larger than Campagnolo says will work, so I either need to accept some chain sag with certain gear combinations, or adjust the gearing to better meet the RD specs.

A long cage rear derailleur would solve the problem, but they are basically unobtanium and very expensive when and if you find one.  I could use a rear cassette with a smaller big ring, but I’m building a climbing bike and I want the 30t cog in the back.  I could make the large and middle chainrings smaller, going with 50-40-30, which would lower the chainwrap to 38.  Those rings are expensive.  What I chose to do was to replace the 30t small chainring with a 32t chainring.  With 2 extra teeth, I now have a chainwrap of 38 – still larger then the recommended 36, but only by 2.  Some careful adjusting of the B screw and it should work fine.

Sure, you can bolt parts together and they will usually work, but sometimes not very well.  A bike that doesn’t shift reliably, or brake well,  isn’t going to be an enjoyable ride and will probably gather dust rather than being ridden.  Part of the challenge of bike builds is to make all of the components work well together.

Stay tuned for the rest of the story.

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Masi Nuovo Strada – the build begins

An Italian bike – a Masi no less.  They’re none too common in the smaller frame sizes, so when this one showed up, I picked it up straight away.  Getting it home took some finagling.  The seller dropped the bike at Village Cycle Shoppe in Cocoa, FL, and they packed it up for me.  I sent them a bikeflights label to get it up here.

I stripped the frame and cleaned it up, and shipped it to my paint guru, Duane at chestercycles.com.  There are some scratches that need attention, but he will (as usual) do a fantastic job with it.  I picked up the frame from Duane on March 7th, and it is stunning.  The red paint looks about an inch deep and the chrome fork is a great accent.

I have a full Chorus 3×10 drivetrain that I was going to install on the Lemond Zurich, but Rob talked me into Dura Ace on the Lemond.  The Italian Masi practically screams Campagnolo, to me, anyway.  So, the Campy group goes on this Masi.

I’m going to use the Chorus-hubbed Mavic rims with tubulars on this one – that combination seems appropriate too.

I sprayed Framesaver inside the frame tubes, and twisted the frame around to ensure that all tube surfaces have been coated.  Then, it sits for a day or two.

I greased and pressed the headset cups into the headtube, installed the crown race onto the fork, and installed the fork.  The wheels for this bike are already built, I laced Chorus hubs to Mavic GP4 tubular rims with DT Swiss spokes.  I have a rolling chassis (frameset?) now.

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2019 Ride Across INdiana – the RAIN ride

It’s ambitious – a one day ride across the state of Indiana – 165 miles from Terre Haute to Richmond.  Not impossible, but definitely a challenging ride.  The forecasts had temperatures in the mid-90s, with a light wind out of the southwest.  Those forecasts were pretty close, but on to the story.

I got to Richmond about 3 in the afternoon, just minutes after my riding buddy Rob.  We got our bikes ready to go on the bike truck for their trip from Richmond to Terre Haute.  We were supposed to leave at 4pm, but we wound up leaving at 4:45, and after some rerouting around a crash and road construction, finally got to Saint Mary of the Woods College, the start point and our accomodations for the night.  We picked up our bikes, rider packets, and dorm room keys.  I took my bike, overnight bag, and the bag with my cycling gear up to the room.  I put lights, the GPS, and top tube bag with energy bars and gu on the bike.  It’s ready to go, just need to air up the tires before we head out tomorrow morning.

Went out to get a bite to eat with Rob, Allan, and Allan’s wife Donna.  Good conversation and dinner, but we all needed to get some sleep as tomorrow’s start is coming early.  Rob and Allan were going to ride from the Illinois state line to the start, and I was going to meet them at the start at 6am.  While we got ready to go, it was dark but sunrise was imminent.  Filled the water bottles with Gatorate, and the Camelbak with ice water.  Since we weren’t coming back to Terre Haute, my overnight bag went in the back of Allan’s truck for the trip to Richmond.

Turned in the room key, and I was off and riding. not knowing what the day would bring.

The first bit of riding is in Terre Haute, basically south on IN-150 towards US-40 which is our main road to Richmond.  There were some climbs in the initial miles, but nothing I would call a major climb.  Made it to the first rest stop at 40 miles without too much trouble.   I fell in with a group of riders from Columbus, Indiana.  They were riding at 16-18mph, which is a good pace and the paceline made it very manageable.  About 30 miles or so into the ride, the group ramped up the pace on a climb and I let them go.  I probably could have stayed with them, but I would have paid a price for that effort later in the day.

From the first rest stop to the second at 66 miles in, the route was basically east on US-40.  A few climbs,  again nothing huge, and made it to the second rest stop.  Close to the rest stop, we left US-40.  The temperature was climbing and the sweating was in top gear.  I was drinking a lot, and eating as I rode.  I filled my bottles and the Camelbak, and set out for the lunch stop.

The third stop, the lunch stop, came at 95 miles in.  I stopped several times in the shade of trees on this stretch, to drink and eat, and to rest a bit.  This was the hard stretch for me, as the temperature continued to climb and the heat was catching up with me.  This section was on narrower roads, 2-lanes, and being later in the day there was more traffic.  There was a detour around construction just before the lunch stop, by the time I got there I was pretty much done.  Sat around a bit, drinking and eating a little, and made the decision to call it at 95 miles into the ride.  Not an easy decision, but it was the right one to make.

However that left a minor (major) problem in that my truck was waiting for me in Richmond, 65 miles away.  I needed to find a ride from Franklin Community School that could take not only me, but my bike as well.  Luck was with me, because the first people I asked about a ride to Richmond were happy to haul me and my bike.  Really nice folks, and a sincere thank-you to them for their Hoosier hospitality and the ride back to Richmond.

Back in Richmond, I was there to see my riding buddy Allan finish the ride.  That left Rob still out on the route.  Went to take a shower, which was good but would have been better had the water been a little cooler.  Oh, well.  I was back in Richmond, Allan had finished, Donna was there as well, and Rob was inbound.  When I got back from the shower, Rob had texted Allan that he was a couple of hours out.  I made the difficult decision to head south for home instead of waiting 2 hours for Rob to finish.  I know he will be OK with it, but I will probably regret that decision for a while.  I told Allan and Donna goodbye, and headed back home.  With construction delays and closed roads around Indianapolis, I finally got home at 11:15pm.  A long day, but I will be back to start and finish next year.