YNM

Got home and said - why not bike? Load up - head out - get soaked en-route up super prime and straight into the woods to commune with God. It was wet but no one was out - that I could see. Hit the horse trails - no luck...it was really slimy and I could barely accelerate so I hoofed it up a few climbs...the mud was deep and the rain was constant. 6 miles of off road and 5 miles of on road. Stoped and the shop to see Adam's new rig and bolted home - 14 deg drop in 1.5 hours of being out. a few trail pics of the new young nasty man....and some of that his horse dung.

stroll through the park....and then some

Opted for a wonderful ride around the park tonight. 1.5 hours of blissful riding and conversation. With who you say???? Terry on the recumbent. Met him about 1/4 of the way through the park and what an interesting - well educated guy. Topic? Origins of holidays, religious markers etc etc. Now much of the things we talked about - I knew about already... " like why did we settle on Dec 25th for Christmas...Why is it called Christmas...Very neat, very fascinating things and all very true - if you dare to look up history books or read your Bible. Also - this is cool - why on earth do we use a pine tree and where did that come from and why is it not-Biblical to do so? Heck - even the whole celebrating birthdays came up....As you can see, there was much talked about - much to think about...All while riding in the dark with lights...lol. There were many subjects from war to end time prophecy that was discussed and I must say that if I were to bring them up here - the comment section would be extended and added to for a while - so I wont.

Bottom line - it was enlightening and refreshing - not freaky.

with that - a total of 18 miles on the rat bike - and many things to look up now.


ac

saturday morning

wet, cool, not dressed right, 43 miles total for me - headed home at 9am with dave henningsgaard - we stopped at dunn bros in Champlain for a juice and some brew...lots of funny looks. It was PACKED. took the new bridge at french lake...got home in time to play a mean game of scrabble with the family - now its time for chili cheese dogs and yatze while mom works... i was not ready for the chill in the air this morning but it was sure nice to get out.

ac

Great Stuff - follow up to Neil's 40th

"And I didn't have to wipe..." said the nerdman

You really dont want to know...okay, maybe you do so ask Nerdalicious about the husky's in the woods and the time when they found out he was letting loose the #2. enough said.

We ended up heading for a 31 mile ride tonight - great weather and good friends. That is what it is all about. we rode to the fletcher TT course - did it and came home. Early season is not easy... at least for the people that didnt do much all winter (me). I took a sign prime from Jorge and I came in second on the Fletch prime to B-train. I thought, for some reason, that by adding 5 gears to my weapons of mass destruction, that I would stand a chance. The sprint was on - Bernie was up shifting with perfect timing and so was I but when he decided to go to the 53 front ring...I realized that I didnt have one of those. I was spun out with my 42x11 and Bernie was not spun out - the diesel rolled on through with me on his rear wheel by a few inches. Good show Bern-dog. Once again proving that riding a lot in the winter - and being a stud - makes a difference in the on season.

Once back - we headed to Moon rock for b-day cake (Nerdster turned 40 - happy bday Neil) and lemonade. the night then got crazy when I ordered some wild turkey shots, then hemi ordered hot damns ( more than one for the crew), Larry jumped in with beefeater rounds.....and so on....note the pics. It was a GREAT time and fun was had by all. Happy b-day Neil - and thanks for getting older so we could have a good time.

I can say that the best time was spent with Johns daughter Lilly (spelling?)....what a riot and a handful. Kids are great! She was all about entertainment....I LOVE IT (last pic). John, you are blessed - what a great family!

afternoon wind extraveganza

I watched the flag outside my office window stand at attention ALL DAY. It was serious - the email machine was telling me that constant winds over 23 with gusts up to 45 mph....from the south. I took coon rapids blvd to the park and over to the shop. It is mainly heading NW so the wind was at my back - generally speaking as opposed to the ride in this morning. When you are going the same speed as the wind....in the same direction - it is like riding in a vacuum. it is neat...plus its the only time EVER I will feel like Merckx.

The ride around the EC park was interesting - 12 of us and the group split up just about 2 miles before the lap was done. I was spent - with 30 miles in already and I am not in the best shape - I sat up and then biked home - did two hill repeats up super prime and made it home in time to take the eldest to boy scouts.

So - 46 miles today - not bad - it was sure good to see everyone today. Geez, even Jorge came out with his freshly waxed cycling outfit and gold inlaid unobtainium voodoo road bike....good to see you bud - as always.

Pasta, salad, hershey's cookies and cream bar and an overpriced mocha - recovery foods in that order.


see yall on the road.


ac

the sum of my shortcuts.... morning ride

To not be out done by the Duke, I am staying on course to bike all week to work. It seems that each time I want to do what I know I should...I am met with doing what might be easier or more suitable to my immediate desires. Hence, sleeping in and driving to work sounded like a really nice idea.

I am not saying that I am the cycling dianetics zen master by any means but I opted for the bike, the ride in the 30 freeking mph wind....etc.... Why is it that it takes like 15 mins to realize why you were smart in the choice? I have grown accustom to reaping the reward of the immediate to the point that I cant see the forest through the trees...I mean I just about throw the baby out with the bath water or better yet I end up counting my chickens before they hatch....lol....

Still with my frustration mode on, I get to the half way point of the commute and I am still thinking - which way is quicker I just want off this bike and....whoa! I mean HOLD ON! Yeah, there are shorter paths to the end...there are little off shoots here and there that can reduce the amount of frustration....the end of course is the same either way so find a reason to enjoy and you will enjoy. Sounds like that could work for just about any application huh? Again I am not L Ron Hubbard here but the simple truth is that if we short our experience - there is no going back to get it and we live in the game of shoulda coulda woulda.

From a biking perspective here - I see that the total culmination of my efforts means that years may be extended on my life, Fat Tire 40 might be easier, group rides are more enjoyable, my clothes fit better, I may be able to beat Bernie on a sign prime, I can experience the simple joys of a morning ride and most of all my mind is able to release and know that the journey is well worth the extra miles and effort – some of these are immediate and some are 5 months to 50 years away…that is a good outcome for just getting on the bike this morning – high yield.( by the way, that was one long...run....on sentence....i know it was not gooder english)

So if I decided to plod through the easy route all the time, I must also learn to accept the fact that the sum total of my shortcuts will result in the misfortune of my soul.

Bird of Prey...

en route this morning - I witness a pretty darn neato experience. Normal commute - down the busy w.river road to the coon rapids damn - south out of the park - up behind target and of course Caribou coffee - they are so nice....then into work....

Okay - rewind...the Coon Rapids park. This is a series of paths that resemble riding over parking curbs...the heaves and buckled asphalt is horrible. so I take it easy through here...So I am near some pavilion thing and I look up - there is an eagle soaring above. yes, an eagle, white head, huge wings....looming over the water. So I stop, listen to a few screeches and watch this amazing creature skim the water and latch onto what appeared to be a mid sized carp or bull-head.

As I watched this happen, I realized I wasn't alone - about 4 joggers had opted to stare with amazement. One guy with purple shades on looks at me and says with a plain face - " you don't 'f-ing' see that every day huh?".

So I was hesitant to bike in this morning - I guess it took 12 miles to realize that gratification doesn't always come quickly.

ac

Highlights from the weekend...

For the three readers of the blog - recap. it is good for me to log a bunch of crap so I look like i am doing something important on the computer.

For the first time in a while - the weekend was free. I was a bit worried on Friday as I had a specific assignment at work to locate a few people willing to relocate to Iraq for a year or two...it ended up being a late night - some really cool conversations with non- linguists for a change but rather organizational management people. So when 8 pm rolled around and I was supposed to pull a rabbit out of my bag of tricks by 4 pm I was concerned that my efforts were pointless. I hope they weren't.

Sat morning - up early....anticipating some semblance of a ride I saw no indication. So I head out with the Rat single speed for a low gear high spin around the park. I didnt have all day so I tried to get cardio in full swing - it worked. The trail was fraut with 2 inch slush/snow which actually made it safe to ride but it was really hard for some reason. I did some hill repeats on super prime about 4 times and then hit the park - taking off shoots here and there the google map thing said I did 22 miles in all. I made it to the shop on my way home - looking for the new bike - and met up with an old but crazy friend - Justin....the Samurai is alive and well - got a new gig with some nuclear electrician job and he seems to enjoy his work.... so about 30 mins later its time to leave and Justin said he would once over the rat real quick and found out that my rear brakes were off and the right side pad was forced into the rim the entire time - hence the hard ride. Funny - I thought I put an easy gear on for spinning and it ended up being a watt maximizing exercise.

The ride home was all on the street and in the snow fall - sleet really. I am really beginning to loath the cold/wet weather. It is time to warm up and it looks like that will happen.


Sunday was low key - home from church...left over papa murphy's...lazy games inside with the kids and the low hum of the new washing machine cleaning my cycling clothes. Happy times.

Monday....all is set for the commute...it is time to add to the miles in better weather....Fat Tire is about 5 months away and I still dont have a mt bike to do it with...wait - the Rat is ready and so is that Monocog I am going to win.


drew

i found one. wow.

Russian Doll

Long story - not gonna get into it...pointless to explain...other than Neil was the Russian Doll. it really isnt that funny but it works for a title. On the Local - nice ride...bit chilly but not snowing. Mr.Anderson gets a flat and I do some down and backs to stay warm and literally about 15 min later...I come by again with Jay H and there was the most amazing struggle - 4 guys all working on the same tire/wheel. That tire kicked their butts. It was funny.

New Bike -

trigger pulled - Bowery mine....worry about the monocog later.

whoa....these are at TH

THIS COULD BEAT OUT THE MONOCOG FOR MY NEW BIKE

What the......

Mid day - my office - my car hard to
believe i logged 20 miles on the bike yesterday.

Another mid day shot in the arm....

Leaving today - tonight rather.
20+ mph winds - it sucked

I tried clicking my heels together three
times but all i got was a pound of slush in my shoes.


So now its a few beers - against my diet - and
Sum 41 vids
its a playlist with 10 songs - scroll bar on right and down a touch
click to view - it might work.

drinking beer and photoshop

CONFIRMED! Pain in Sept

Thats right - I saw the phone number to check if the MO was cleared...FAT TIRE HERE I COME. Time for that friggin mt bike! Now, I just need to figure out which one...the rat is always ready to rumble but after last years rally - and the chain coming off 4 times - I think i need a real single speed or at least an ENO hub. I think i got in b/c i clicked SS again - maybe they give you extra consideration for being a bit stupid.

So now onto the training - as this is the pinnical of the year for me and my exceptionally limited racing season. I heard that smoking actually helps your O2 intake...right?

Found this pic - no reason - me at age 4 in the black hills of SD. I do still have that shirt - its a bit tight but thats how I roll.

see ya at FT40!

tried something new....

seeing that my "new" bike is worth exactly what I spent on my new wheelset - I am game for adding a few choice bike tattoos. So in an effort to boost my stigma amongst my cycling gurus, I added something that is bound to add a few mph to my resume...a piranah. LOL..... I have got to be kidding but I did paint one on the bike. using touch up paint isnt easy so I tried to tape off an abstract fish. it worked - kind of.



not the best - but I get to live with it.

my wife....

Cant complain about weight gain when she makes things like this. She is amazing in many ways and this is one of them. 3 inches of cheese cake topped with oodles of fruit and glaze. I didnt even bother to ask about the calories...so I had half a small chunk.




Pics of today - the kids and my kids manning the camera....please note that Peter can NEVER take a serious picture...okay maybe a few here and there...the beauty of kids.

As you can see...

My new theme song is " I fought the law....and...." Yeah, I buckled and without much pressure I guess. I was on my way home and with the family out at a friends house - perfect time to stop by the bike shop....spotting bikes and ready to spend my loot. Of course, a suitable thing to do since my Bianchi was in the hands of someone else. hmmmmmmm...... commuter, mt bike, new something - heck wheels, shorts....my list is long and I have options. One of the lesser known options was the front loading washing machine. Swing past the shop - closed....damn. Across the street - Appliance Smart - open....double damn.

OOOOOkay - lets go look - but I am not buying. Ever heard/said that before? I will say - Greg Gonzolas is great and if you need any appliances - go see him. So I ended up with something that looked like an 3.7 cubic foot escape pod from the star wars movie I just watched with the kids. Scratch and dent - save water, energy etc....plus our old one barely works so this was inevitable. I reach into my pocket of loot - I have enough....triple damn. So I can show up with my old one - they take it off my hands no cost - minus one damn but maybe add a dangit cuz they arent light.

All in all - it will work and about 3 times as efficient - so when I called Tina and sent her a pic of the new washer - she was happy - minus a damn. The fact that they arent cheap and I sacrificed a new bike still leaves me at one damn - and I have the right to keep that - but I cant show that to my wife. There better be some "brownie points" in this....to which my wife will say " yeah, you get clean clothes." and I am back to the triple damn (with an added dangit) status once again.

.....the law won.

andy

at work today

its now my only road bike...weird.

It's Gone....

In the blink of an eye and the exchanging of memories - my Bianchi has found a new home. A good friend from the cub scout world has opted for the Noodle Cruiser as his new rig. On top of that - the new owner got some shoes/pedals " which i might now get " from Larry at TH.

So now I am free to get the ride of my next desire....just which one was it again? The Redline Monocog????? The Redline 925 commuter???? or as my dear wife said....the new front loading washing machine????? I think i know which one will earn me brownie points.

For now - I will scout out, read about and drool over the next adventure. Maybe I could purchase ALL the tickets for TSH for the Monocog flight and get the commuter too. wait ... that may not be the cost effective route I was looking for.

Ahh, I did get some freddy fenders for the cannondale and what a pain to install. That bike was not made for fenders and the geometry is not normal - tight angles. got them on - they work and I will stay dry.

see ya on the road - I need to start doing hills - what about that ER hill route to start? We need to get miles in and pounds off.


ac

Not sure what I am doing really

In doing some riding with gears again - I have tried to limit the number of gears to six. Reason - there are enough rides in MN that could really bennefit from some extra mechanical advantage. I never claimed to be the almighty ss'er so I have no guilt in doing this. Anyhoo - i switched some gears around to accomodate for rides like ramsey, preston, la crosse etc.... here is my spread in gear inches.













This looks okay to me - and I really dont know what these numbers mean but having 3 over 80 will allow to keep up without dying and one/two close to and in the fifties is good for brutal climbing.

Where I am at now - i will need some improvement to say the least. PR IV proved that. It is good to get some hard rides in to get a feel for where I am at compared to where I was and want to be. In trying to find a pic of Ramsey hill to show some folks in VA, CA - I was unsuccessful - except for this painting. it shows to some extent the steepness of this hill - but not really - you almost need to take a camera out there - but i have not found any.

PR IV...a free race brought to you by friends out for a ride

Another Great Day....

Tina had some girl scout stuff going on with Maria so I was not able to partake in the first half of the race but I did make it for the last 2 laps. I did notice that I am not at the same level as the other guys...but then again the 1st and 2nd place did just ski the Birkie - and that is no small task. So I dont feel so bad.

For my non-cycling friends - the race today was the Prairie Roubaxi IV ( link 1, link 2, )...this name is taken from the famous Paris-Roubaix held in France. It is our version of the race - cutting through black-top and gravel roads alike 40 miles in all. It isn't easy for early season and I SUCK in cold weather and suck less in warm weather. I was lucky today as the temp hovered below freezing so the dirt roads were not muddy whereas in the Paris-Roubaix race - it is almost guaranteed to be full of rain and slop....oh by the way the race in France is like 160 some miles and about 1/4th of that is on the Roman Cobblestones see vid links..( link1 eddymerckx and paris-roubaix 1976 -watch that one link3 )...I just forgot to bring my lungs.

No pics taken during the race but the post race pics are below as well as on Neils Porthole to Reality.


The winner of the PR-IV
Wonderboy ( aka no gravity )















Neil with the signature
goof ball game face -
2nd place










B-Train (right)- shivering like a
little school boy caught in
the rain and Me on the left
prepared with jacket.
I guess you could say I came in
4th but i didnt do the entire
race...but i did show.









The traveling trophy of
grace and the spoils of
victory.

Great Day....Man I love these days....

I actually got up in time to ride into work today. I had it all ready to roll from the night prior and that saves SO much time. Headed out in the dark/cold morning - dodging the sheets of thin ice on the road....got the middle finger for opting to ride in the road vs. lake Dayton...its okay, if all someone has is a middle finger I guess that shows their intelligence. As a biker, and I use that loosely, you get used to people in cars flipping the bird. Maybe they are jealous.....no....just stupid. Anyhoo - pulling up to the intersection leading to west river road and 169...i pulled up along some cars - waiting for the light and a guy with 93x on...very loud...rolls down his window and I was expecting some sort of smart ass comment and I got the hang ten gesture and a loud " you kick ASS dude!" while one of my favorite songs blasted - Megadeth Symphony of Destruction. That was a feel good moment. The other cool time was pulling up by Mavericks - by Neils home - I was doing intervals on that stretch and got to ride along side the Metro bus until Bills gas station just b/f I almost puked....the adults were like grade school kids in the window staring at this idiot biking in the dark...lol.

Once again - coon rapids dam - that is dam cold...even on summer days but the sunrise is so impressive - rolled down Coon rapids blvd and hit some major headwind to the point of frustration but hit the coffee shop - more looks and i really smelled bad at that point and then had a blast at work and repeated the ride home - 30 miles of Happy Time Turbo. and all on the 1x6 Frankendale bike with really nice wheels.

ac

knock on wood

single speed pain - here I come

THE NEW BIKE

okay, i know it isnt new but new enough to warrant a special blog post. It rode great and shifted great - it is just the cold that got the best of me really. I did the EC outer outer loop...which looks like it is less that the trail system - less turns. 16 miles - and just about 10 deg posted...avg rpm was at 90 plus...only way to stay warm...I didnt care about speed but that constant wind chill was the worst.
Spring.....where art thou?


http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1683511



enjoy the weather - I think i just bought myself a beer without guilt.


Andy




so the new specs - so it sounds all official. 89 Cannondale Frame, Top Shelf Suntour Blaze brakes with original brake cables...Ultegra BB, Tiagra rear derail ( went cheap cuz it still works great), Hyperglide cluster broken down to tight cluster 6 speeds, 42t chainring (single) 42x 11,12,14,15,16,18. FSA RD80 wheels with Grand Prix rubber and a lime green shift cable cuz that was a gimmie from the shop. So why the FSA on a beat up bike? why not? its just a frame and it moves forward and its light - would you give up on an old friend cuz of a few marks here and there?

ac

1x6

So I needed some new wheels for the Cannondale - which happens to be my fav bike to ride....the old open, way open, ball wheel set was trashed beyond expectation, and that is what you get for super cheap. Headed into TH for a look around, and found some nice FSA wheels at an exceptional deal. The goal was to ride the cannondale and sell the bianchi...i guess the stiff frame grows on ya. I really liked the c-dale as a single but i ended up adding a few more gears.

So with new wheels, new d-rail and a very tight cluster of six i am ready. why? good question - b/c it isnt necc to have voodoo technology to enjoy the ride and if I can sell the Italian Stallion - it will make way for a new single speed mt bike.

I sometimes wonder why I even go out...

Got home from church and thought - hey, its about to rain, ice and snow - why not ride? So, I took blue thunder out for the initial ride of the year and headed straight out 144 west bound to the Fletcher TT course - not out to beat any land speed records...I leave that up to the big dogs like b-train, wonderboy and the DUKE. My goal was to spin, take it easy, LSD ( Long Slow Distance - definition for Adolfo) for sure...I suck in cold weather anyway and the Pale Ale didn't help much this winter. I guess it isn't that bad but when you factor in the weather hanging in at or just below freezing, the wet roads, the soaked clothes and the driving wind...and that wind sucked in a big way. So my casual TT (time trial for my colleagues who dont know what "tt" means) time was 29:32 - and I guess I was trying at first with the wind at my back I was happy....the turn was brutal with lateral wind - my core temp dropped and the next turn into the wind was my downfall....I just cannot operate in that temp. What a sissy, I know but admitting is the first step to recovery.

I headed back and returned home the way I came and now the temp was for sure in the freeze zone and now my head wind was pure ice/snow/slop and I could not feel my toes, fingers and my gut was cold and I was really excited about going home...but the rollers were there so instead of cursing them out - I decided to take some pics.

I guess the rides like today really help in the sense that it sucks out there but you do it anyway. It doesn't take super skill to ride in bad weather - just no brains and I have a lot of no brains. I will say that the cold rides make the coffee taste sooooo good. My wife had hot brew waiting for me when I walked in the door - she is a sweetheart.

So 1.75 hours of riding at 18 avg for the entire ride - not bad all things considered.

cold ride yesterday

headed out yesterday to do back and forths on Cty Road 144....the rollers. took the ss mt bike with squatting tires and did 17 miles of back and forths...that was an interesting work out. right now i need more time on the bike and i just dont have it so the heavy, slow single speed made up for the times i couldnt get out...my legs hurt today.