All posts by Chris Schnaufer

Another Chainmail Bracelet

Allright! Another chainmail bracelet is made and is being worn.

This one is similar to the previous one but not as wide and with different colors.

I find that the width fits me better and since I just made it I’m not so sure of the colors. One thing I noticed with the narrower bracelet is that in tends to collapse a little when it’s not flush against my arm. I will have to see if it changes it’s behavior as time goes on and it gets worn.

As before, there isn’t a clasp, just a bunch of rubber rings to make it stretchy.

One unfortunate aspect of this bracelet is that it’s a little large when I’m wearing it. This is due to the pattern being two metal rings followed by one rubber ring. To get the correct length I needed to add a full cycle. Changing the patter to be one metal followed by one rubber ring would solve that problem.

Chainmail Bracelet Finished

In exciting news today I want to announce that I’ve finished a new chainmail bracelet of my own design.

Black, blue, and silver bracelet
Black chainmail bracelet with blue and silver

As you can see it’s a very simple design. but with the right colors and rings it really stands out. When I started I felt that having less than three rows (or is it columns?) across wouldn’t end up well. Having completed this one I can see that having only one or two rows would be enough. For my size, it’s a bit wide; especially when worn with my Garmin.

It stretches to fit over the hand, which is my favorite way of doing bracelets, due to rubber rings added every third row.The black jump rings are stacked two deep while the rubber rings are only one deep. I have found that using only one rubber ring is sufficient and that they don’t break easily.

RAW Training Apr 8-25 2016

As expected I haven’t updated in a while since I decided to not post every day. There has to be a happy medium between Tweeting and an actual blog.

So what’s been going on since the last time I checked in. Not too much except the weather has very slowly been getting better. Which means more riding outside! My tight hips and other body parts are gone due to yoga and riding outside. Had a break to walk around NYC – lots of real steps, not the FitBit double counting of outside riding and steps/stairs. This past weekend rode 94 miles split over 2 days totaling just under 7 hours (including breaks). Still struggling with the snack while riding issue: how much do I bring? Didn’t bring enough on Sunday and burnt out near the end. I can also see water becoming an issue on longer rides if I don’t stash more bottles on me, or I can stop to refill I guess (as another option).

Feeling good since I was able to do 50 miles – never tried that before. Now to work on slowly cranking up the speed.

RAW Training Apr 5-7 2016

I think that instead of trying to backfill for every day I’ve missed, I’m going to bunch them together into semi-weekly posts. This way there’s less boredom and repetition for all involved.

This week,in addition to Sunday that’s in another post, I did 66 and 25 minute spins – still difficult to be indoors after such nice weather! The snow on the ground is definitely an obstacle. Still hating the standing climbs on the spinning bike. On the 7th, Thursday, I went for a cold, ~43 degree, ride outside for 86 minutes and 18.8 miles (including stops to figure out where I was going: 12 minutes including stop signs and lights). A very mellow pace, with 1266 foot elevation gain. Still figuring out the bike but it’s definitely getting easier! Looking forward to the week coming up where it’s going to be in the upper 40’s and in the 50’s! More outside rides as long as the nasty rain holds off.

Also, trying to figure out food for rides longer than 90 minutes. PB&J? Maybe?

RAW Training Mar 30 2016

Second day in a row of outside biking. Won’t last long since snow is in the forecast for the weekend and next week. Wonderfully warm weather for this time of year and so I was out for 1 hour 40 minutes. The last 15 were brutal since the cold front moved in – too early by my estimation – and froze me. Figuratively. I had a bag but failed to pack a jacket or long sleeved shirt – dummy me. Made it back to car but was cold rest of evening, even after warm bath. While still not feeling 100% I am definitely feeling better and much more normal.

RAW Training Mar 27 2016

Another mellow ride today, this time with my brother. After Easter brunch went on a 22.2 mile, 1:43:02 ride along the lake and the bay. Did hills but fewer than yesterday with 984 feet elevation. Warm day today while yesterday was 3 layers of clothing, today was short sleeves and bike shorts. This week we’re supposed to have a nice Wed and Thu, but we’ll see. I am hoping for more outdoor rides.