WiFi @ Store Broken

After 45 min. on the phone wit AT& T tech support yesterday, the internet no longer works at all. Blogging with the phone stinks. Hopefully I'll get it sorted out Monday. Have a good weekend.

Wardrobe Change Please

I'd really like to put away the arm and knee warmers now please. I think I've only ridden without them half a dozen times or so this season, and yesterday was no exception to what has been the norm so far this spring. I waited around the house for it to warm up, but it never did. Around noon I set off all bundled up with arms and knees covered, and a vest to boot. The temperature stayed a steady fifty degrees, and a light rain fell off and on throughout the afternoon. Perfect. It wasn't all that bad in the end. My legs felt great, and I got in a solid four hours of saddle time in aboard the 29er with gears. WNR tonight @ Kipp Rd. It's supposed to be rainy and cold. I'll see you there. Over and out.

Done

The new shop is officially done. Well, at least as done as it's going to be for a while. I've still got to trim out the windows and door, but I'm going to save that for the winter when I've got a little more free time on my hands. Without the help of Hugh on the walls and electrical work, there is no way I'd be done. Thanks Hugh, stay tuned for many presents in your near future. Now I've got more time on my hands to ride which makes me a happy camper. Just under a month left before the Lumberjack, and I feel like the training's going pretty well. Enjoy the rest of your holiday weekend. WNR @ Kipp Rd. this week. Be there or be square.

WNR # 6

My riding yesterday was more of an all day affair than a "night ride". I rode to work in the morning. I rode home after work in the afternoon. Then I rode over to Matt's house for a tire/tube changing tutorial. After the lesson, he and I hit up a little urban singletrack to warm up for the ride of silence. Three + hours in the saddle, and it sure feels good to be ramping up again. I think that my recovery week was perfectly timed. I was feeling pretty run down and my legs were really heavy, but after a week of reduced volume and intenstity my legs are feeling pretty darn good. This morning I got up early and rode into to Petoskey for yoga practice before work, and that will get me close to another three hours in the saddle again today.

In other bike related news: I did some major work on the stable tuesday. I got two new tires sealed up and mounted on the first try. I did a minor overhaul on a hydraulic disc brake caliper. And I changed the middle chainring on my Q29er. I still need to mount up one more tire on the rear of the singlespeed, but after that mountain bike maitenance should be done for the time being. The commuter on the other hand is in need of some serious TLC (new chain, new tires, and possibly a new crankset). I'm also thinking about installing the original steel fork on her for a possible front rack. That's all to report for now. Hope everyone has a good holiday weekend.

Ride of Silence

Here is my last minute reminder to those following this that the Ride of Silence 2009 happens May 20th at 7:00pm - Please join cyclists worldwide for this event to honor those who have been killed or injured while cycling on public roadways. Visit the RoS website for a location near you or gather your friends together for a silent, memorial ride. All of the details are available online.

Here's a bit of why it is important to ride a bike & to allow others to do so:

"Bicycling is part of the solution to many of our nation's problems: the obesity epidemic, traffic congestion, air pollution and more. Some 64% of adults and over 15% of kids are overweight today, resulting in 300,000 premature deaths and a cost to society of $117 billion a year. Over 22% of all motor vehicle trips Americans take are less than one mile long, and 50% of the working population commutes five miles or less to work, an easily bikeable distance. If the average person biked to work or shopping once every two weeks instead of driving, we could prevent the pollution of close to one billion gallons of gasoline from entering the atmosphere every year. The League of American Bicyclists' new television and radio PSA campaign encourages Americans to visit www.bike-to-work.com and bike to work instead of driving. The League promotes bicycling for fun, fitness and transportation, and works for a bicycle-friendly America.– League of American Cyclists"

And when you go out for a ride, remember to follow the same rules that you would (or should) if you were operating an automobile...obey stop signs & lights and use proper hand signals.

Be seen & Ride safe!

Monday Morning

I don't have much to report from the weekend. Had a good time at Benson's 40th birthday party saturday night, and I took some pictures. But I left my computer at home today, so you can't see them. Perhaps they will show up later in the week. Yesterday Sarah and I met up with Matt, Jess, and Erin for a ride on the NCT up at Sturgeon Bay. Matt tore the read derailuer off his bike. I turned his rig into a ghetto singlespeed, and he was able to limp back to the car. We had planned on staying at the beach for dinner, but there was a hatching of some sort of annoying insect recently so we packed up after a beer and headed back to the HQ for grilling and more beer. Recovery week ends tomorrow with a 2-3 hour leisurely ride, and then it's back to business. WNR this week is the Ride of Silence. Meet at the municipal tennis courts in downtown Harbor Springs @ 6:30. Over and out.

Foto Friday

Benson leading out Doug on the way back home during this weeks WNR.




A cool sculpture at the start of the new section of bike path in downtown Petoskey.



A nice section of chain linkage cordoning off the Bay Harbor toxic waste dump site along the beautiful bike path. What a bunch of fu**ing a**holes.




My commuter posing on a scenic overlook directly adjacent to aforementioned chain linkage.

That's it for the week folks. We'll be riding/hanging out at Sturgeon Bay this sunday afternoon. Give me a shout if you want the details. Have a good weekend.

WNR #5

Attendance: Myself, Benson, Matt, and Doug.

Weather: Rain threatened but never materialized. Temps. were a steady 60 degrees, which made for perfect mountain biking conditions.

Trail Conditions: There are still a couple of downed trees that force a quick dismount and hop over, but other than that things are just peachy on the Loop.

Next Weeks WNR is the Harbor Springs Ride of Silence to honor those killed or injured while riding on the nation's roads. Meet at the Municipal Tennis courts in downtown Harbor Springs @ 6:30 to sign in for the 7:00 ride. Contact Benson for more info. Over and out.

New Roads

I got to take in some new pavement yesterday on my long road ride. I headed over to Burt Lake via Stutsmanville and Brutus Rd. After riding up the west edge of Burt Lake I hooked up with Riggsville/Robinson and cruised around Douglas Lake. After skirting the north edge of the Pellston Airport on Ely Rd I headed down to Jurek's for an H2O refill and a small bag of CheezIts. I got back on the road and headed north on Larks Lake Rd. to Cross Village. From there, it was home via Island View/119/Townline/Wasson's Grade. All told I ended up with 67.2 miles in 4 hours 28 minutes. After longish rides on sunday and monday, yesterday's ride left my legs completely trashed. But I'm headed into a recovery week, so I suppose that's how they should feel. No beer on tap tonight because one of my sales reps. is fu**ing moron. I've got something good lined up for tomorrow though; so at least I'll be drinking tasty draft beer this weekend. See you tonight.

BIke 2 Work Week: Day 1

The thermometer topped out at 28 degrees when I rolled out of the driveway this morning for day 1 of National Bike to Work Week. Now that I've ridden in to work when it's that cold out, I figure it really can't get any worse this week. The local bike shop (Touring Gear) is buying a cup of joe for anyone that rides to work all week at the Woolly Bugger. So not only did I save on gas, I got free coffee to boot. No work tomorrow, but no driving the car either as I'm planning on a super long road ride into uncharted realms of pavement. I'm going to ride over around Burt Lake on part of a route suggested by John Newberry. In other bike related news, Matt and I got out for a good long mountain bike ride yesterday despite the cold and wind. WNR @ HQ. Oberon or Founder's IPA on tap, whichever comes in first. That's all for now. Over and out.

Bike 2 Work Week

May is national bike month, and Monday kicks off the national bike to work week. I made my third commute by bicycle of the season this morning. I know I should have chalked up more bike commutes by now, but the weather has been really chilly. Anyway, I'm planning on bringing in a pile of clothes tomorrow via car (it's supposed to be really cold and rainy tomorrow) so that I can ride to work all next week. I'd like to strongly encourage anyone who can to try and ride to work at least once next week. Riding into town this morning really reminded me of how good it feels to leave the car at home and clip into my pedals in order to get into work. I've been in a good mood all day, and I know that riding to work instead of driving is responsible for at least some of that. Have a good weekend.

P.S. If you do decide to try the bike commute out, wear a fu**ing helmet. That goes for you to Benson.

WNR #4

Weather: Sprinkling and 52 degrees.

Attendance: Benson, Matt, Sarah, Bruce, and myself.

Trail Conditions: Loop. For the most part clear, but it's still really sandy. Hopefully the rain we're getting today will firm things up a bit for this weekends long ride on sunday.

Despite the inclement weather, we still managed to have a pretty good ride. I had to do a little NASCAR move about twenty minutes in though. I've been pushing my luck with the wheels on my singlespeed in regards to the sealant. In other words, I've been too lazy to re-up on the sealant so far this year; and yesterday that laziness caught up with me. I aired up before the ride, but once I started up the climb to the 95 acres, I noticed a serious lack of air pressure in the front tire. I hit it up with some CO2 and headed back to HQ to swap out the front wheel with the one from my geared mountain bike. I was in and out of the shop and back on the bike in under sixty seconds flat, just like they do in the NASCAR pits (right Kevin). The rest of the ride was rather uneventful, and we retired to the screened in porch for beers and food. WNR next week @ HQ again, and I will have beer on tap. I just don't know what flavor yet.

The shop is nearing completion, and I've moved in a few of the necessities.







The bikes and the beer dispenser. Have a happy thursday, and thanks for reading.

Weekend Wrap Up

Saturday: I rode a lap on the Loop with the singlespeed, and my legs felt like crap the whole time. Needless to say I wasn't looking forward to the long ride on sunday.

Sunday: I put off the start to let it warm up a tad outside. I was still hoping someone might call to join me for all or part of the ride too. The call never came, and I rolled out of the driveway around 11:40 on my geared mountain bike. I headed north on dirt whenever possible to the north end of Sturgeon Bay. I'd say it was probably 75% dirt and 25% pavement. Anyway, from there I headed south on the NCT to Larks Lake Road (almost all dirt with a quick detour into Cross Village to refill bottles and Scott and Kathryn's). From there I rode a combination of two track and pavement up to the Stutsmanville tower. A little off road power line action took me down to Geary Rd. for a lap around Pond Hill Farm. Then I hooked back up with the Loop and headed home. Ended up with 6 hrs 5 min in the saddle for 59.06 miles and 3,897 ft of climbing. I may give myself a day off the bike today and do a little trail maintenance. WNR @ HQ this week. Call Sarah if you want to talk about dinner afterwards. Over and out.