Blog Motivation

Whenever I choose a photo to put in my blog, I put it in a folder so it is easy to find when I need to upload it. This folder is creatively named "blog photos."

I was going through that folder tonight and noticed that most of those photos are from the "off-season" for riding bikes. Which makes sense, because Summer is such a busy time of year and I would rather be outside than on the computer anyway. 

So I guess that would make this "blog season."

Added some bar mits to Evans bike

Started the weekend out on a mountain bike ride with Mike and Pat.  My kid, Evan, has been bugging me for sometime now to bring him along on these rides with Mike so I finally gave in and told him to come along. 

I figured he would have the best time of his life, because that is what I do every time I get a leisure ride in the woods with friends. Unfortunately Evan is still getting used to his coaster brake. So when he gets freaked out on a downhill he takes his feet off the pedals and tries to stop with his feet, which doesn't work. 

I have seen some pretty fast riders go through trails, but none as fast as my 4 year old that doesn't understand how to use his brakes. The speed he carried down the hill was incredible. I was so proud.

I just wish that tree hadn't gotten in his way and sent him flying through the air. He just clipped it with his right hand, which started a handlebar swap that no one could have recovered from.

Now Evan doesn't want to ride in the woods anymore... Hopefully he changes his mind by next weekend because I thought we had a great time.

The Pabst Theater

After the bike riding, my wife and I did something we never do. We went out without the children.  Not by choice of course, we were invited by Brian and Janel to go see Larry the Cable Guy in Milwaukee. I did not know that we would also see Jeff Foxworthy there as well, which was awesome. These guys will have you laughing so hard you'd think you spent the night doing sit ups, because your sides are so sore.

All you need for 100 miles

Sunday I got out for a long one. My goal was to find a good route to my new job in Rockford, but after 88 miles of scouting I hadn't found anything I would recommend on a regular basis. In town isn't bad, because everyone is doing 35 and hitting stop lights. and 10 miles out of town is good too, because it's country roads. The dangerous part is the 45 mph zones in between, where there are no shoulders and everyone is doing 60 mph on an overpopulated two lane road.

For example look at the photo below, a 45 mph zone with a telephone pole broken in half and car parts 100 yds into the field.

When you see it...

Not ideal for riding bikes. Not 5 miles after taking this picture I was ran off the road by some bitch on a cell phone. That is another long story I am not ready to get into. 

I am not writing off the bike to work idea just yet, I have a couple more ideas. For now though, I will be driving.

So here is to another season of base miles, cold weather, and good times.

Hugh Jass Fat bike race #1 at Minooka

The Hugh Jass fat bike Series put on by Wheel and Sprocket and Badger Bikes started off last weekend.  It was an extremely well run event, and definitely offered some "twists" from typical bike racing. 

Hammerschlagen

I think the biggest twist was the hammerschlagen. In between each lap you had to hammer a nail into a board in order to pass go and begin your next lap.  I had a hard time with this, it was almost like a duathlon, just when you get done climbing this giant hill you turn and sprint to the bottom then hammer a nail. It was a challenge and made things interesting.

My dude and I getting ready for the start

Gooo!!!!

Unfortunately last weeks snow melted with some rain during the week and left the single track a mess. So the course was made up of entirely cross country ski trail. This time of year that is just the way it goes.  That makes a course that favors someone who is in good shape and can turn a big chainring. 

Currently I am not that person...  Spent too much time drinking beers and hunting deer, instead of grinding gears the last couple months.  So my plan was to start hard, hold on to the top guys as long as possible, then back off  and save some for the end.  

Everything went to plan, I got a really good start. Hung out with the lead 3 guys for a lap or two then backed off.  When I backed off two guys got by, but I was able to get one back on the last lap for 5th overall.

Like I said earlier, it was obvious that the promoters of this series really wants it to succeed.  I was really impressed with the prizes, the turn out, the smooth registration, the timely results, the free beer, and the not so typical bike race routine.

New Camera Mount

When I went up to Almanzo last week, Kurt showed me his camera mount.  It makes it so I can take my regular camera and mount it to the handle bar.  Its pretty sweet, works as advertised, and wasn't very expensive. It leaves the camera pretty exposed to damage in the event of a crash though.