The Engleson Files

I adapted this phrase from a Chinese horoscope book and then had it translated and painted onto my bike. I think it summarizes quite nicely my intentions for the big rally to Dandong next year:

Lao Shu is a leader, pioneer and conqueror. He always likes to be at the forefront of the action and can easily find his way around any obstacle. Lao Shu adapts to various environments easily and is very aggressive in nature. He can get more accomplished in 24 hours than others can in as many days. Simply put, Lao Shu is a proven winner.

In order to add a little muscle to the Lin Hai Gang fleet, the second installment was an easy choice in equipping another Yong Jiu with a 20 cc 2-stroke engine - this too is pretty standard custom for all the old guys here in China. I have named this beauty Lao Shu, or Old Rat. Getting this bike properly equipped with a motor was a bit of an ordeal but was worth every minute and kuai spent. Basically, for 500 rmb ($80) the transformation from bike to speed demon was complete. Gunning down at top speed Lao Shu can probably max out at 35-40 kph. I cannot tell you what a feeling it is to be barreling down the street with all the other blue-collared Chinese guys; I definitely feel this purchase has made my assimilation complete. Anyways, I have big plans for Lao Shu and I love booting around on it. More to come…

In order to keep up with young Magnus Bjorn on the bicycle, Dad (or Lin Hai Gang, as he is known in China) decided to go out and get a bike of his own. Now, being the staunch traditionalist that I am it was a no-brainer for me to purchase the classic Chinese style bike. The bicycle you see before you is a Yong Jiu which is a bike company out of Shanghai. There are three major bicycle companies in China which all make this exact same style of bike, which is basically a copied version of the early 1900’s Raleigh bikes out of Nottingham, UK - so you could see why this bike had so much appeal! I was going to buy a Flying Pigeon out of Tianjin, but through careful dialogue with the locals it was very clearly expressed to me that the Shanghai version is the best quality. So, I am now the proud owner of my very own Chinese bike and this is to be the first official installment of the Lin Hai Gang fleet: number 2 will be announced very soon…

Well folks, here it is: The Chang Jiang 750 with sidecar. This is the automobile I have dreamed of having ever since the first day I saw my good friend Adrian Conradi drive his around here in Kaifaqu (yes, envy is a powerful force!) Here in China these babies are dirt cheap and, as you can plainly see, are simply beautiful to look at. Now, for the last 3-4 years I have been begging/pleading Kristin to allow me to buy one and bring it back home to Canada, and for the past 3-4 years she has been sluffing me off. Well, thankfully, those days are gone and finally she has agreed to allow me to purchase one; she agrees this bike is perfectly suited for Penticton. So, the plan is this find a bike that is 13-15 years old (to appease Canadian law), buy it, and then fix it up and bring it back home with me once we return. This project will be drawn out, but as you can imagine, I am most excited to be in the game!

Yes folks, the chinese crokinole board is 100% done and ready to go! This project was officially designed to help keep me and Magnus occupied during the chinese new year holiday, and, to also help me kick Conradi’s ass one more time. I had a great time hanging out with the wood guy and experiencing his craft, and holidays, through his point of view. But, with that said, I am glad it is all over and now we can get down to the serious business of competition. The Liaoning Provincial Championships will be coming up soon - so everybody better get those fingers warmed up! A final side note: the Eastern Hui Ren won the first ever game of crokinole in China.

Well, basically, the final step in making this crokinole board is the boarder that will be placed around the entire piece itself. This has proven to be the most difficult, and disappointing, aspect of the entire project. In researching (thanks in part to Mr. Crokinole, and, Mr. Brown) I realized I should have done this step earlier, but, that never transpired, so I had to make the best of it. I struggled greatly on finding the right wood to place around the piece and ended up settling on long strips of particle board. The board will need four strips to complete it - the inner strip will be glued and nailed to the board, and then the outer strip will simply be glued, which will, hopefully, give the finished product a nice, clean presentation. My fingers are crossed.

One nice touch with this chinese crokinole board (if I do say so myself) is the jade pegs placed along the 15 point line. Now, since there is nothing of anything to do with crokinole in China, I had to improvise greatly on this detail. I didn’t just want screws to be placed in, and I was too impatient to order some from Canada, so, one day while walking throughout one of the local markets I found these small cylinder shaped pieces of jade and knew right away they would be perfect for the job. I am not certain if they will be strong enough to endure the rigors of chinese championship crokinole, but for now they look great and I think they will be just fine.

With the wood securely glued together and the varnish nice and solid, the final stretch is clearly in sight. I still need to put the boarders up around the outer board (but all the wood stores are closed right now due to the holiday), so for now, we are laying down a nice coat of furniture polish on the playing surface along with a coat of wax. This should give a nice, smooth area to play on. Getting close boys and girls!

Once the varnish set, the next step was to glue the two pieces of wood together. My wood guy laid down two coats of glue (one on each board), let the glue set until dry and then placed them together. And in typical chinese fashion, to ensure that the wood was securley fastened, pieces of newspaper were laid down on the board followed by 5 minutes of walking on top of it. Perfect!

For the crokinole chips (or whatever you call them) I had the people down at the poster place burn insignias into each of the colors. The light color chips have “Hao Ren”, which means good people, and the darker colored chips have “Hui Ren”, which means bad people. So, every game will be the good people versus the bad - I like that!

With the board painted and dried, two coats of varnish were spread over the playing surface to help build what should be a nice, clean surface to play some championship crokinole on. Remember, the Liaoning Crokinole Championships are going to be coming to Dalian very soon!

As I sit here before you drunk out of my tree, I can honestly say “I should have seen this one coming.” In China, establishing relationships (both business and personal) means one crucial step must be taken in order to solidify that: get stinking shitfaced with them. Today, my wood guy invited me over to his home (which you see before you) to have dinner and some drinks in order to celebrate the new year and our new-found crokinole relationship. The minute I got to his house I knew I was doomed. In the back his wife was preparing a 10 dish meal and on the table sat 5 bottles of bijou (lighter fluid). Not soon after, we were into the food and beer and bijou and intimately discussing the finer points of how great a man Norman Bethune was. Luckily for my marriage, 3 hours later I was sheepishly able to squeeze out in order to get home. Drunk out of his tree as well, my wood guy insisted on taking me back home in order to hold our new born - needless to say Kristin and Svea had no idea what the hell was going on. A definite chinese expereince and it will be a huge part of what makes my crokinole board a little bit more special than others. Now, I must sleep.

With the boards cut, I now had to take the wood to my favorite place in Kaifaqu (the Poster Place) and have them paint the lines on the board. I first laid down two thin coats of Varathane to ensure the paint would not bleed on the wood, and then the professionals took over from there.

So, with my wood selected and wood guy at hand, it was time to get busy with making this crokinole board. The first step was to get the proper dimensions placed down on the wood and then have the guy cut them to proper specs. I just love how old school these guys do their work!