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I have just finished building my first rear wheel using The Bicycle Wheel as a guide. This book will teach you the technical aspects of the bicycle wheel in both structural principles and practical methods. After a couple hundred miles on my new wheel, it is still true as an arrow.

This book debunks myths and gives you the confidence to repair, build, and rebuild wheels. I can honestly say that I no longer fear any wheel repairs. It has given me one less thing to worry about during my upcoming cross-country trip.

The only warning I can give is about Jobst Brandt, not his book. If you run across him in the Newsgroup or in person, you will quickly find out that he is a very opinionated person. Most of his opinions are correct, but don’t ever argue with him. Jobst has to be one of the bigger know-it-all jerks I have seen on the Usenet. I guess everyone has their failings, but his book is first rate.

The Bicycle Wheel ISBN: 0960723668 at Amazon

I’m sorry, you can no longer win $15,000 by reading this book. It was the announcement of the solution to the 10 cipher challenges, located in the back of The Code Book, that made me aware of this book. Money aside, if you are interested in learning of the history of codes and ciphers, this book is for you! Did you know that Mary Queens of Scots was killed by Queen Elizabeth, because her code was not strong enough to foil the code breakers of the time. Have you ever heard of the Navajo Code Talkers that offered the US Marines a method of secure ground communications in World War II? (Probably more so after the Windtalkers movie.) Do you know the full story behind the breaking of the German’s Enigma Code in the same war? Do you know that the first computer was build in England, not the US?

I knew most of the above facts before reading this book. However, as with most people’s understanding of history, my ideas were seriously flawed in the details. This book allows you to start out with the world’s earliest codes and learn how to do a little code breaking of your own. If you are at all interested in either the technical or historical history of code breaking, you will enjoy this book. This is the first technical history book that read like a good piece of fiction. When you realize that the action packed stories are historical fact, the book only shines more.

The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography ISBN: 0385495323 at Amazon

I have been unable to find a pannier set that works exactly as I would like for the under-seat rack on my RANS Rocket. I like the panniers made by Arkel of all the panniers I have looked at and used.

I decided to make my own set tailored (quite literally) exactly to my needs and I borrowed quite a bit from Arkel’s design work. Below is a description of the process for those who would like to do the same.
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I really wish I had ran into this book before I purchased my “utility” sewing machine. I got a no frills home machine with a few stitches. It was a floor model, but I would have been better to spend the money on a light weight industrial sewing machine with only a straight stitch. Louise was talking about me when she mentioned those who buy a machine with all of these cool stitches. They play with these stitches for a month and then only sew straight seams. I now wish I had a machine that just sews straight seams like a champ. I’m glad I got my machine pretty cheap, as I’ll most likely upgrade now that I am having fun making stuff. (I’ll eventually be loading on the page describing my bicycle panniers that I sewed using this book.)
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