27 months

The Myth of Integration

{ Posted on Feb 19 2007 by Bill Zimmerman }

Tags : culture, Peace Corps
Categories : From the home office

In the foreword to Margaret Mead’s ground-breaking and controversial first book Coming of Age in Samoa, her advisor, Franz Boas, wrote that: Courtesy, modesty, good manners and conformity to definite ethical standards are universal, but what constitutes courtesy, modesty, very good ...Read More »

Building the African Fixie, Part 5

{ Posted on Feb 15 2007 by Bill Zimmerman }

2 Comments

Tags : bikes, wrenchin'
Categories : From the workshop

Today I was very happy to find a bright yellow and red DHL padded envelope waiting for me at work. It weighed a mere 1.5 pounds (you needn’t ask the cost to send it) and arrived in my hands ...Read More »

Building the African Fixie, Part 4

{ Posted on Feb 08 2007 by Bill Zimmerman }

3 Comments

Tags : bikes, wrenchin'
Categories : From the workshop

Part of doing a shakedown ride on a project bike is to find out what can go wrong. Find it I did, indeed. Thankfully, it didn’t happen in so much of a spectacular fashion as it could have. ...Read More »

Building the African Fixie, Part 3

{ Posted on Feb 07 2007 by Bill Zimmerman }

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Tags : bikes, wrenchin'
Categories : From the workshop

The wheels that I negotiated with the frame purchase were in bad shape but, for Cameroon, they were a find. The rear hub lacked an axle, bearings, cones and the wheel itself was missing a third of its 36 ...Read More »

Building the African Fixie, Part 2

{ Posted on Feb 07 2007 by Bill Zimmerman }

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Tags : bikes, wrenchin'
Categories : From the workshop

I made my usual Friday stop at the bike shop in Limbe to pick up a wheelset I’d stashed in the back weeks before. They are nothing special, but that they are alloy (not steel) and of the size ...Read More »

Building the African Fixie, Part 1

{ Posted on Feb 05 2007 by Bill Zimmerman }

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Tags : bikes, wrenchin'
Categories : On the road

During my visit to Yaoundé I told Donald, my bike mechanic buddy, about my idea to build a bike. He shared my enthusiasm and asked lots of questions about this “fixed gear” thing (“You have but one gear and ...Read More »