2. Hunter Flowers

3. In the month of October, I collaborated with my mentor several times. We also met a total of two times in the month of October. On October 8, we met for roughly two hours to remove the few old rusty parts that remained on the dirt jumper frame that I am going to use to create my own dirt jumper. I collaborated with him to plan this meeting and to tell him what tools he could bring to help me remove these parts. This meeting consisted of removing the worn out chain, taking off the front and rear derailleurs*, and disassembling the bottom bracket* and cranks*. However, as I anticipated, we ran into a problem with the cranks because neither I nor Sean had the proper tool to remove them. This caused us to have to make a trip to the local bike shop, Derby Bicycles, to purchase a crank arm removing tool* for $12.99. I also collaborated with my mentor in the month of October on the 19th, when we planned out where we were going to meet up at the Velo Bike Swap. VeloSwap is a bicycle expo that you can buy all types of bike parts from different vendors. When my mentor, Sean James, and I met up midway through the day, I showed him some of the parts I picked up to make sure they would operate correctly on my bike. He also directed me to other vendors that had dirt jumper parts and tools that I could look at. As you can see, I collaborated with my mentor several different times this month. *see glossary for definition

4. This is a picture taken at Derby Bicycles when I had to buy a special tool to remove the crank arms on my bike.

5. I learned a lot from both my mentor and other resources in the month of October. First off, I learned how to remove a few parts. I now know how to take off a chain without a master link. I also know how to take off a front derailleur, a rear derailleur, the crank arms, and the bottom bracket. Secondly, I learned about the approximate price of a variety of different bike parts so when I was at VeloSwap I could analyze the vendor’s prices’ to see if it was a good deal or too expensive. Another thing I learned in the month of October is that there is a difference between a bottom pull and top pull derailleur. A bottom pull uses a cable to pull the derailleur down and push the chain into a different gear. A top pull derailleur uses a cable and pulls up on the derailleur causing the chain to switch gears. I also learned that they make a part for dirt jumpers and mountain bikes called chain guides. Chain guides mount onto your frame and guide the chain around the front chain ring so that the chain does not bounces or jiggle off while jumping and riding. Lastly, I learned that I need to protect the bearings on the front fork and in the headset from dirt so they do not get damaged. Since I learned that this is very important, I wrapped the front fork in plastic wrap and put the bearings from the headset in a plastic bag. Overall, this month gave me the opportunity to learn a lot of things.

6. This is a picture of me at VeloSwap. VeloSwap is a bike expo held at the National Western Complex and you can go and buy all kinds of parts for almost any type of bike. As you can see from the picture, vendors set up tables full of bike parts and even have complete bikes for sale.

7. This is a picture of all of the bike parts I have accumulated. These are all of the parts it takes to create a dirt jumper. You can also see that I put plastic wrap around the top of my front fork and I put some small parts in individual plastic bags.

8. Since I now have all of my parts gathered, I am ready to give my bike frame, and parts, a whole new look. I am planning on using paint remover to remove the paint from my frame and sand it down so it has a nice smooth surface to apply paint to. I will also fill any cracks and chips in the frame. Then I will apply a base coat, several other coats and a clear coat. This is going to be a difficult task because I have never really painted anything of this size before, and I am not familiar with the process. Hopefully, by the end of November, I will have completely resurfaced dirt jumper components to begin assembling in the month of December. I believe my mentor will be able to guide me throughout the painting process of November, but if he cannot, I know he can point me in the right direction.

9. The picture above shows me and my mentor. At this time, we were discussing how and what to measure for the parts I needed to purchase. Sean James (mentor)

10. Front derailleur- The component of a geared bike that pushes the chain onto a different front chain ring (sprocket) in the front. Rear derailleur- The component of a geared bike that moves the chain onto a different rear gear on the cassette. Bottom bracket- A component on a bike that connects the cranks to the bicycle and allows the cranks to rotate freely. Cranks-The cranks or crankset, is the component of a bicycle drivetrain that converts the reciprocating motion of the rider's legs into rotational motion used to rotate the chain.

11. Methven, Sean. "Cannondale Chase." Top Stories. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2013..