Wonkemtel.com

2010-04-20T13:37:00.003-05:00

Getting Back At It...

2009-05-06T15:30:00.002-05:00

Well the past year was rather a difficult time for me so I was a bit out of touch. Hopefully with the new riding season coming up I will be a bit better at writing.

Looking to start a local group to ride. Going to do Saturday Morning rides.

Ride On!

Sore feet

2008-07-29T00:30:00.002-05:00

Continuing to climb at the gym once or twice a week, I felt like I wasn't making much progress. I made lots of excuses, one of them being the "big clown shoes" that I was using. Sure they seemed pretty snug compared to, say, bowling shoes, but standing on the smallest of footholds felt like standing on ball bearings. So last week I bought a new pair of climbing shoes one size down. They look tiny compared to my regular shoes, but they've instantly upped my climbing ability by a whole level. Now the tiny footholds feel like stairs coated in superglue. The downside? The angry red spots on the tops of my toes. If I get calluses in the right places, I'll be good to go.

Dust off the blog

2008-07-10T14:59:00.002-05:00

A temporary end to excuses is at hand. I have now biked (triked) to work 3 tines, twice this week since I am down to grad school once a week for now. It is less than 20 miles round trip but better than nothing. At my best (today) I barely averaged 10.1 mph according to the stats but it is a start.

20 Miles two days and no weather to worry about.

2007-10-31T09:36:00.000-05:00

Well I have been riding inside this week and in the first two days hit about 20 miles. I took yesterday off since my backside was a little sore from not being in the saddle that often the past month. I plan on riding daily and hopefully get in good shape prior to next season. Not much of a post because the flat lands in my basement are not that exciting, but hey I can watch movies and have my kids talk to me while I ride.

When is it good to have a dented frame?

2007-10-31T00:07:00.000-05:00

So my free road bike was too big for me. I think I rode it 81 miles total. 75 miles on the Apple Cider and then 6 miles tuning it up. The previous owner might have taken it around the block. I took the tags out of the spokes.

Riding it was fine...but standing over it was a bit tricky. I ordered myself a similar but better frame off ebay and it showed up with a dent in the seat down tube! So I got upset and started talking to the guy who I bought it from. Turns out I'm a moron and its there on purpose for braze-on derailleur mounts. The old frame had the exact same thing upon inspection!

This free bike is getting expensive, though! The fork from the old bike didn't match well so I had to buy a new fork and well it had to be a pretty carbon one. Then I start looking at the components on the old bike and well gee....I can find used upgrades on ebay.

I ordered some more tools (headset press and fork vise) that I really need before I can do much more and of course I get an email back that the tools won't be delivered until 11/20!! Glad I have more bikes. I could have just had a bike shop press the headset, but I decided I'm going to do the whole build...or at least make the attempt!

And I forgot to take a picture of the old bike before I disassembled it! Woops...

About 20 minutes to disassemble everything I wanted off the old bike and now I just hope to build the new bike by spring! :P

Davenport

2007-10-29T00:23:00.000-05:00

The weekend before, there was 20-foot swell for my annual Mendocino trip, which didn't bode well for prospects of getting into the famous (to kayakers at least) sea caves in the area. This weekend, however, was a different story. When I saw the forecast for 4-6ft swell, I knew I had to get out and paddle along the coast. So today, 3 of us did a one-way trip from Davenport to Santa Cruz, approximately 15 miles by water. This stretch of coast has a bunch of (less famous) sea caves, plus a few rock gardens, arches, pourovers, and other interesting features. The problem is that it's fairly exposed, so you have to choose your day. Today was that day. About half our paddling time was spent in the first 4 miles poking into a bunch of caverns. Some were maybe 6 feet wide and 6 feet high, while others were the size of a football field. After lunch, we decided to pick up the pace a bit. A 10-knot breeze at our backs and accompanying wind waves gave us a boost. The GPS clocked us doing about 5 knots, where a typical paddling speed is closer to 3 knots. We made it back to the harbor as the sun was getting low, shuttled the cars back to Davenport at sunset, and enjoyed a nice meal and beer afterward.

Component Killer vs Physics

2007-10-28T22:19:00.000-05:00

And in this corner riding the Banana Bike we have Component Killer! Today he'll be taking on the undefeated Laws of Physics!! Let's get ready to TUMBLE!

So CK and I went to a ride with the meetup people I ride with. This was the Sycamore Pumpkin Festival ride. Its a 20 mile out and 20 mile back ride from St Charles to Sycamore on the Great Western Trail. If you like flat and straight this is the perfect trail. Its ok to close your eyes for a mile. As long as you don't twitch and turn you'll still be on the trail. Think Kansas.

On the way out we didn't leave any scorch marks on the trail or anything like that. It was a good social ride out there. We mostly rode with just the two of us, but ended up with 5 of us together by the end of the trail. After crossing the parade a couple times (it weaved up and down the streets), we grabbed some lunch. CK's trike was referred to as the Banana Bike by a kid along the parade route. Yes, CK rode in the parade waving at people!

The 20 miles back would prove to be a bit more treacherous. Not a mile out one of the riders ran into the back of CK's trike. I think she hit his tire? Doink...down she goes. Luckily no injuries there on the pavement.

On the way back, we dodged the streets and cut through a park. Not just any park. A park with a 100 degree turn to the right if you followed the pavement. Most people have cut that corner and killed the grass. Not a true roadie though. Respect the grass. Feel that pavement under your tires. And when you're a roadie riding a limestone trail (heavy on the sand, low on the rock), you're going to accellerate as much as possible on those rare occasions that pavement presents itself. And so CK arrived at this 100 degree junction and scorched the earth. With his tires pointing right and his momentum going straight ahead, a disagreement began between CK's desire to turn and Physics. And while an object at rest tends to stay at rest. An object in motion at high speeds with its wheels suddenly pointing sharply to the right will Tumble. And thus CK proved that cows aren't the only thing tippable in the farmland west of Chicago. The trike hopped and skipped over itself before the automatic emergency braking system engaged...otherwise known as CK's face meets the dirt. When the trike was purchased, they hadn't advertised that you could climb under it upside down when you just need a little rest and shelter. I'm pretty sure its not good for 4-season camping though.

No CK's were significantly injured in this demonstration of just how well the trike corners. I'm sure he has some bruises though where he used his forearm to bend the left handle out of alignment. Nothing that was a big deal to fix on the bike either...realign handle, chain off, and a fender adjustment or 2. The trike and rider made it back the last 20 miles from that point. I was right on his tail so I'll have to see if I can pull his speed out of the bike GPS.

And when CK starts twitching when he see dogs, I understand. Every dog was in love with him. "Hey! You're my height! Let's hang out!" I would ride by and they wouldn't look at me...their eyes were locked on CK.

The remainder of the ride back was uneventful...everyone managed to keep their rides moving along nice and straight on the path. I certainly wouldn't call the Great Western Trail exciting, but its a nice trail as far as minimal road crossings. Its also very flat, so its a good place to bring new riders. Although one person turned around 3.5 miles in because it was just too "intense."

Getting the Trainer Ready

2007-10-28T07:06:00.000-05:00

With the weather starting to turn and my time to ride in the evenings almost gone it is time to set up the trainer. I cleaned up my bike the other day and broke out the towels for under the bike. Starting tomorrow I plan on riding daily on the trainer. During the week I can easily find 30 minutes to and hour and once the yard work is done I can probably get some 1 to 2 hour rides in on the weekend. The past couple months with 7yo having football 3 to 4 days a week it made it difficult to find the time to ride. Now with the bike in the basement there is no excuse to not spend some time spinning.

Ride On...

Road Rash, Broken Toes, and Repairs

2007-10-24T11:44:00.000-05:00

So here I am finally blogging again after a long dry spell. Monkey Light, Dirt Jr. and I really enjoyed your posts. We hope your available to ride when next we can make it to IL.

So what have we been up to?

Dirt Jr. had a nice spill on our last road ride about 5 weeks ago. We were tooling along with the wind behind us at about 18 miles per hour when I hear the unmistakable sound of metal scraping the pavement. I turned just in time to see my son sliding like a penguin on his belly with the bike trailing out behind him still caught up in his feet. A recap of the damage to the bike: The face of the computer was scraped but still readable and still working, a whole was ripped in the side of his seat, one of his grips was nearly torn off, and there were other cosmetic scraps and scratches. Now the really important damage report, Dirt Jr. had a scraped elbow (pretty deep) scraps on his knees, ribs,and shoulder, and he bruised his hip or pelvic bone, but in true CK and HandyRider fasion he got back up and road the rest of the way home. he healed quickly and though he will have a scar on his elbow his love of biking hasn't dimmed in the least.

We have been working on defining the trails we have made around the house. How do you define trails? Well you ride them of course, around and around and like magic the familiar serpentine single track begins to develop. We had been riding almost everyday and one afternoon about 3 weeks ago or so I decided that the corners needed to be a bit wider so that we could really hit the turns hard. The weed wacker had fried so I, still wearing my bike gear helmet glasses and all, fired up the big Cub Cadet walk-behind lawn mower and started to attack the 2-3 foot tall weeds, big mistake! I rounded out the first corner then propmtly hit the second corner, the foolishness of my ways was not apparent until the third corner. I had just pushed into the weeds when the mower bucked and threw a rock about 1 and 1/2 times the size of a golf ball out the back of the mower and directly into my right foot. It stung but I wasn't sure how bad it was. I thought I'd try and ride through it. I put the mower away and hopped on the Stumpjumper. First time around the loop I felt a little numb, on the second time around it was glaringly obvious that the pain in my foot was more then just a nuisance. I hung the bike, took off my shoe and pealed off my sock, it wasn't pretty, already my pinky toe and the toe next to it were a deep shade of purple. As the next few days progressed my whole foot swelled and all of my toes, save the biggest, turned black and puffy. Needless to say I wasn't going to be riding for awhile.

As if broken toes weren't enough during the recovery period I had a gout attack in the same foot. So now my ankle and big toe were swollen read and hurt worse then my toes. More time with my foot elevated. When I saw the kidney doc he informed that since I have a high uric acid content in my system that an injury to a joint can cause a gout attack. Oh the joy :)

Well after three weeks of recovery I started riding again. My toe was still tender and at first all I could handle was one or two miles on our little track around the house before my foot would begin to swell again. By Saturday last I was starting to feel pretty good and hammering the trails pretty hard. Monday after work I was on my thirty second or thirty third lap (6 laps is a mile)when I heard a weird popping sound comming from the front of my bike. Back at the garage my fears where realized I had blown out my Fox fork for the second time. After a shower I threw the bike in the car and took it down to the shop hoping they could fix it, unfortunately the fork is in a box on a UPS truck heading back to its makers to once again be rebuilt. To add to my woes the beans were taken off the back 4 acres Monday evening so now is the time to finish the last two thirds of our trail, but I have no mountain bike. Yes I still have the Moab but I gave it to Dirt Jr. and he'll be riding it. The Tricross can handle the abuse but this evening I will find out if my body can handle the abuse of the stiff frame off road. wish me luck.

Some other good news my wife, who doesn't like road riding, has been riding the small loop around our house. She does about a mile or so (6-8 laps) before the relentless bone jarring trail has the best of her. I'm just happy that she is riding and the trail will smooth out over time.

By the way yesterday we transplanted 4 white swamp oaks (they do well in clay soil) to our property. Next we will be planting Blueberry bushes and Raspberries. We are also laying out a two-hole, par three, disc golf course on our property. We haven't decded if were going to buy the portable baskets or the permanent ones yet. Well that's the happenings in NE Indiana keep riding, padling, hiking, and living in the great outdoors.

Are we there yet? Or, Let's drive 3300 miles!

2007-10-22T20:34:00.000-05:00

A couple weeks ago I took off on vacation for more than a day for the first time in 3.5 years. Crazy, I know. I suddenly found myself going to tulsa, OK for an ultimate frisbee tournament (Masters Regionals) and thought hmmmm....why not keep going? So I started booking hotel rooms.

The tournament was on a Saturday and Sunday. I was picking up with a team that had some people I knew from Minneapolis. They had split the master's team into 2 with an influx of players old enough, and they still needed some more for the B squad. Beats sitting at home and I'd never been to Tulsa! This was a good time. We held seed in the tournament... *cough* dead last *cough*, but we played people hard.

I took off Monday morning before light from Tulsa on my way to the Grand Canyon. The GPS told me it was going to be 1055 miles. It was right. This took a bit over 15 hours to do, which wasn't bad at all I thought. I had taken my Uncle's work truck which had A) cruise control and B) XM radio. The Ranger lacks both. The comedy channel on XM made this a bearable drive. I was pretty tired by the time I rolled in. It was dark when I got there, so not much to see. I was glad I made reservations though as there was nothing left for rooms. A lot of people were being turned away and the "No Vacancy" signs were flickering away everywhere.

So Tuesday morning I wandered into the park itself and found a good spot to watch the sunrise. I took WAAAAAY too many pictures of this event. I've started to go through them and delete the obvious duplicates, but sometimes I swear digital SLRs are a curse. Anywho, it was awesome to watch the sunrise and reveal the Grand Canyon which is really amazing. I wandered around on the Rim Trail the remainder of the day. I turned a corner at one point and found myself staring at a Big Horn Sheep perhaps 30 feet away. I decided to let him have the right of way. He headed down into the canyon and I took pictures for awhile.

Wednesday at the Grand Canyon I hiked down in on the Bright Angel Trail to Plateau Point. This is 6.1 miles one way. The mules go on this same trail. They aren't as fast as me walking, so that was a good way to save a bunch of money. They stop regularly and the cowboy leading the group talks about things. I got stuck behind them on the way up so got to listen as you cannot pass them on the trail. The Point is about 1500 feet above the Colorado River. Distances are so deceptive there. Something that looks a mile away can be 5 miles. The hike in (and especially OUT!) really makes you appreciate the vastness of the canyon even more. The last 2 miles up were pretty tough going. My hips were sore for a couple days after as well as a calf muscle I had tweaked at ultimate and again on the way down.

Day 3 at the Grand Canyon was spent driving around the rim to the East with plans of watching the sunset and getting some pictures. I made it to the Desert View rather early, so just spent the afternoon reading a book and waiting for sunset (which was like 6:25 pm ). As the sun began its descent I had myself set up at a nice spot and took a picture. At this point, I could no longer take any more pictures. My battery was dead. And that was the 2nd one. I forgot my charger! I couldn't believe it. Luckily, I had put my old DSLR in the truck before I went to the east rim so I was able to take some pictures with that, but I may have missed the best colors I think.

Friday was a driving day, but I had no reservations. I was headed to Moab, UT on Saturday night. Moab is famous for its mountain biking. So on the drive I decided to hit Three Bridges National Monument. It was only maybe 90 miles out of the way. When I got there I upgraded my national park pass to an annual, forgot to get my park passport stamped (DOH!) and headed in. At the first bridge (Sipapu I think), I hiked down beneath it. So cool! I decided to hike the river bed to the next bridge. I didn't figure that I'd have time to hike to all 3. Well, they mention that the trail is unmaintained. They weren't kidding. Fortunately, the only direction to go is down river, so you really can't get lost. After about 45 minutes the weather was starting to look like rain and I had no idea how close I was. So I turned back and drove to the other bridges. They're no Grand Canyon, but I still found it to be pretty amazing standing beneath these rock bridges.

I left there and continued on towards Moab. In the last town away, I stopped and called my hotel that magically had a room available for me although they hadn't when I was booking. So off I went the rest of the way. The town was FILLED with people. Now it had been 8 years since I'd been there, and times they are a changin'. But this was crazy. And then I noticed the logos on the sides of the cars with things like Trek Racing... Lo and behold I stumbled into the weekend of the 24 Hours of Moab race. Yes, people ride for 24 hours straight to see who can do the most laps on a 15 mile course in 24 hours. Crazy. I didn't go out to where the race was ever, but I'm sure it was a madhouse. I figured I get plenty of crowds at home.

Saturday morning I found a camera shop willing to charge my batteries up for $10. Then I pulled out the mountain bike and rode a 16 mile trail. That was a pretty fun trail. It was 8 miles basically all uphill with a hike at the end for a view over Arches National Park. And then an 8 mile downhill. Ahhhhh heaven. Like a moron I forgot my bike gps for this ride. I'd love to see how fast I got going on the way down. I'm sure it was in the 30-35 mph range. Thats plenty for me offroad....the pro racers on the 24 hour course clear 40 MPH on some downhills on their course. So I headed back to town, picked up my batteries and gps, and headed back out to another bike ride after lunch. This time I was just doing a 7.4 mile loop. Wrong! I got lost. There are dirt bike trails and jeep trails that run all over the place. I took the wrong one at some point. I wandered a bit, but eventually followed the breadcrumbs on the GPS back in the right direction. I love that thing. I only ended up adding 2 miles. Without it, I probably would have come out nowhere near where I was parked.

Sunday was a hiking day in Arches National Park. I did the Devil's Garden primitive loop which has I think 8 arches, then headed for Delicate Arch. I've been there before (with Sean C actually), and noticed an alternate viewing area. So I headed there instead. When I climbed to the top of that overlook, there was a rainbow shooting down to the right of the delicate arch! It was probably a good 1000 feet away, but still! I snapped a few pictures, which I still haven't looked at because I completely spaced it until now. I think I got some really good pictures of the arch at sunset. I spent 90 minutes at the overlook waiting for people to get out of my picture. The other trail leads right to the arch and you can stand beneath it. I managed to get a few shots without people or where they were walking behind a leg.

I took 2 days to do the 1300ish mile drive home. There wasn't much interesting on the way other than the snow in Colorado. And after the amount of driving I had already done, it was a very boring monotonous trip home. But it was worth it to get out to a few new places. I visited 3 places in the national park passport book. I think I only have around 364 to go!

Oh, and as a side: Phil, I just bought another road bike frame. ;) Basically the same as the one I have but A) better colors and B) the right size.

Next Sunday I'm doing a ride to the Sycamore Pumpkin Festival if you locals are interested. Its 20 miles there, hang out for awhile, then 20 miles back on rails to trails. And November 11 is the www.rollthetollway.org ride.

Apple Cide Century

2007-10-01T09:21:00.000-05:00

Saturday I headed out to Michigan and registered for the ride. I camped at Warren Dunes State Park Saturday night. I hiked around the dunes...man is sand awful to hike in! I got to Lake Michigan before sunset so I got to watch a gorgeous sunset before hiking back to my campsite in the dark. I tested out my mobile broadband from my tent. That was fantastic.

I tuned up the Trek road bike Saturday night at the campground and had everything shifting very nicely. When I started on it, the big front gear wasn't accessible. That would have been a nightmare. The bike worked flawlessly. I do need to get something the right size though...its just a bit too tall for me. Can't complain about free bikes though.

So Sunday morning rolled around and I got to the ride before light. I was waaay early for the group I was riding with. We got going and no one was planning on doing the full century. We had 4 people looking to do 75 miles and a few doing 62 or 50. It was a VERY windy afternoon. The 62+ courses are identical with cutoffs late in the ride, so we kept together at rest areas. I went ahead and waited at the first couple rest areas. Two of the 62 mile people dropped to 50. At the 62 mile turnoff, 2 of our 75ers dropped to the 62. So only 2 of us were left for the 75. The wind got really bad then and it was the hilliest section of the ride. My partner was having a hard time climbing the hills, so I waited at the tops so we could kinda stay together. I was still considering the full 100, but the last rest area was closing at 6 and I'd probably barely make it there since we'd started late and spent a lot of time at rest areas waiting for the group to catch up. So with 5 miles to go we hit a nice smooth flat section and I took off. I was able to go about 20 mph on that section still so I'm sure I could have finished the 100 still.

Labor day weekend I hit 39.8 mph on the mt bike, so I had the challenge of getting the road bike faster. I never managed to get as fast though. I hit 37.7 for a top speed. Disappointing! Kinda tells the story of how steep and long the road was in the Ozarks I suppose.

I feel pretty good today. A little soreness in the right knee and tightness in upper back is about all. I really enjoyed the road ride out there with minimal traffic. I could see doing more of those.

Oh what the heck...

2007-09-29T08:58:00.000-05:00

why not? I think I'm going to try something stupid tomorrow and try a century. 55 miles pffffft....100 sounds more impressive. After this post its shower, tuneup the road bike, and head to MI for a century tomorow. They have shorter versions as well. Really I just want to do the 50 or 75 but I may take a shot at the big miles if its an optional extension. I won't have the route until I get out there this afternoon so I can decide what to do in the morning.

So a couple weekends ago my ultimate frisbee team moved on in the national series from sectionals to regionals. And all the other guys decided not to go to the tourney in Tulsa. Almost all the women on the team were willing to go. Not pleasing to me. So I get an email this week that some people in Minneapolis I know are playing Masters (which series doesn't start until Regionals) and need more people. So I'm back in! Thats next weekend.

Then I thought to myself, gee....I'm pretty far south already in Tulsa. Check map... Hmmm....Grand Canyon is just a little west (ok, 10 hours or so). Never been there. Then Moab, UT would kinda be on the way home. Be a shame not to head that way to the greatest mountain biking. Moab has a lot of climbing, but based on how strong I felt on the climbs Labor Day weekend I should be ok.

Richmond, IL firefighter's have a fall bike ride / pig roast on October 14. If everyone is feeling better, that would be fun. I'm not positive I'll be back yet from vacation. I figure on getting back sometime between the 13th and 18th.

Check out rollthetollway.org. This is something unusual that I thought would be fun. I signed up for it. Hope you guys do too!

And btw, Todd and CK....I killed another crackberry. So I managed to lose phone numbers again. It wouldn't be right if one of us didn't lose everyone elses's numbers each month! lol

September recap

2007-09-24T22:04:00.000-05:00

I suppose September was the month for me to be the designated Delinquent Blogger. So I'll recap the month weekend-by-weekend with this post:

Labor Day Weekend - I spent 3 days on the South Fork American. Saturday we had a nice easy Class II run. Then on Sunday a group of 8 headed did a Gorge run. What was special about that is that for 4 of the people it was their first time running Class III, and they all did great! I didn't much care for the Gorge when I first started running it, mostly because of the 2-mile flatwater paddle into Folsom Lake at the end of the run. But this year the lake level has been so low that the river has been flowing all the way to the take-out, plus there are at least 3 new beefy rapids at the end (or old rapids if you consider the river in its natural state before dams were put in).

September 8-9 - This was the "Grand Opening" weekend for Golden Gate Kayaking, the new kayak school that I'm starting. I had been teaching through a local shop the last few years, but since they closed down at the end of last year, I had been planning to start teaching on my own. On this weekend, I held a couple free clinics for the local club as well as a paddle out to Angel Island.

Setpember 15-16 - The Moke Races! The races consist of a downriver and slalom race organized by the local whitewater club on a fairly gentle stretch of Class II river. Once again I used my sea kayak for the downriver race, although this year there were some genuine race boats that outran me. On Saturday I was using my old-school whitewater boat to practice on the slalom course when one of the club members offered up her slalom boat. Of course I couldn't refuse, even though thoughts of accidentally smashing a borrowed glass boat into the rocks ran through my head. I ended up racing in the slalom boat, but in the end it wasn't enough to break out of the novice category. For the second year in a row, I missed first place by less than 2 seconds. But on the plus side, I took second and had a lot of fun. And now I'm shopping for boat number 11.

September 22-23 - On Saturday, I held Golden Gate Kayaking's first "real" class. Though I had only one student, it went well. And on Sunday a group of us did a tour of the bay, starting at the north end of the Golden Gate, heading south toward San Francisco, then along the waterfront, then back north around Alcatraz, continuing up to Angel Island. After lunching on the island, we completed our circumnavigation and headed back.

Not Much But a Little's Better Than Nothing

2007-09-24T21:30:00.000-05:00

We haven't gotten much riding in. Just a couple of short rides 13-15 miles. Since it rained quite a bit over the last month the mosquitos have hatched and they are brutal. We have these stripe legged mosquitos that are about three times the size of a regular mosquito and they actual hurt when they drill. Not to mention the fact that the welts they leave are twice the size.

On the biking front we've decided not to share crop our 5 acres this year and we are going to be making a bike/walking loop around our property as soon as the mosquitos die down a bit. When the wind blows the mosquitos away Dirt Jr. and I have been throwing the football and I think we're better then Grossman. We can't be worse right?

I too have been sick going on day 6. It started as a little cold but then spread to my chest and now I'm hacking up chunks of green and brown junk. Probably more than you wanted know, but as I haven't blogged about anything lately I thought a little word was better than nothing.

8 Days and counting being sick...

2007-09-24T18:53:00.000-05:00

Well today is day 8 of the I can't eat anything diet. On Monday of last week I became rather ill and figured it was just the Flu. Tuesday, Wednesday feeling bad, but not too worried. On Thursday I woke up feeling pretty good and had a light breakfast and all was well. Lunch came around and I shared a little Pizza and Crust with 3yo and not too bad. 5:00 The puking began, 5:30 the Dry Heaves hit, 6:30 the pain and bloating hit, 8:00 the pain was at a 6 or so and finally at 10:00 the pain had reached about a 9 and I could hardly move without being in extreme pain... Call the Dr and he said go to the ER. 11:00 Dad shows up to take me to ER and we spend the night at the hospital. CT Scan, Test and Test but no answers...

Saturday see the Dr and still not too good. More tests and exams... Saturday Night up ALL night feeling awful!

So I have had almost NO solid food Since last Monday and have been living on Meal Replacement Shakes, Gatorade and Applesauce. Anything even remotely solid is PAINFUL!!!

So I have been unable to ride at all...

On the Plus Side the OMG that HURTS to eat diet has dropped me 4 pounds in 6 days...

55 Miles Per Day

2007-09-24T17:54:00.000-05:00

Saturday I met some random people at the Des Plaines River Trail up at Russell Road. Three of us headed down to Independence Grove and met up with another 6 people. Those first 14 miles were a good pace around 13 MPH. Once the others joined we slowed down a little bit. We biked down to Lincolnshire and had lunch at Flatlander's then rode back up to Russell Road....about 55 miles round trip. That might be the longest I've done yet. I pushed the pace (not sure on speed, but it felt harder!) for 4 of the last 5 miles. Still felt good at the end, but it was plenty for the day. I took the Schwinn on this trip and it did a fine job. I'm tempted to try a century! Anyone game next Sunday? :) There's one in Three Oaks, MI. I think its supposed to rain though. :( Either way I need to get the roadTrek tuned up and properly shifting before trying that. I took it out last Thursday and it clearly needs work.

I found the group I rode with on Meetup.com. They were a fun supportive group.

Fender Bender

2007-09-24T08:29:00.000-05:00

Not riding much and grad school and work and other work was getting to me and my mood. My wife has been tolerant but at shortly after 7PM Sunday I headed out and spent some time with the trike. The downhills were very washed out and I could feel the back end sliding around like an egg on Teflon. Upon shooting down the 2nd hill (Near the barn) I almost ran over some future road kill raccoons and decided that this was crazy so I turned around and headed home. I was cruising nicely between 8-12 or rarely 15 mph. On the last uphill I downshifted and totally lost the chain. I was attempting to back up and go down the hill to reengage the chain when I went backwards off the edge of the hill and into the thick steep weeds. Whenever I tried getting up the trike would unload and fall back even more. Upon finally wrestling out the left fender was bent and missing a nut. I limped home and removed the fender. It was a short, destructive and frustrating ride but, a day with a bad ride is better than most without any ride at all.

Dwarf ride

2007-09-13T19:29:00.000-05:00

2-3, times a week I ignore my super tiredness when I awake and get the blue bomber out to go to work. I make it in about an hour round trip including pushing through the halls at work so that's not too bad. On the way to work I shoot down 176 to Hawley, on the way back I opt for the trail once I get to Fairfield and 176. There's a lot more traffic at 6 AM than at 5 AM (my old wauktown commute start time) With grad school in the city I am tired after Monday but better to ride than to not. The ride home is even more unnerving because it's bumper to bumper stop and go. I play leapfrog with cars but often they pay so little attention as to be cutting me off and slaloming from yellow line to edge of shoulder as they yammer on cell phones. I need an air horn. 13 miles a day is weak but I guess I have to take what I can get until I am done with gradual school. It's called gradual school because you gradually figure out you don't want to go to school anymore.

Nothing wrong with nothing special

2007-09-02T16:31:00.000-05:00

Darth and I got a late start (rolling at about 8:30) to the singing hills run. It was not to hot and not too wet and not too windy. Darth mostly did not power ahead. The washouts at the bottom of hills were a bit extreme and I was glad to be back on 3 wheels. I rode the 2 wheel 2 or 3 times to work last week. I don't think I averaged 10 mph, but I felt a bit faster than I had been. We had no flat tires. I am toying with the idea of slanting the seat back more. I would have to send the boom further out and not be able to push against the seat as much but it might give me better breath as I am in a constant crunch in the current position and I need to get more oxygen and better breath. We will see. It was good to ride and talk with my friend and I hope we can all ride soon.

12 Things You Should Know

2007-08-31T23:38:00.000-05:00

12 Things You Should Know
About Bicycles, Safety and Crashes
From League of Illinois Bicyclists...

1. Bicycles are legal. Illinois law states bicycles are legal vehicles on the road.
Despite the law, some motorists insist that bicycles belong only on sidewalks or
should be restricted to paths. The problem: sidewalks and paths don’t go
everywhere bicyclists need to go. Bicyclists are more visible and safer, particularly
at intersections, if they ride in the road.

2. Helmets. Helmets should be worn by children and adults to prevent or reduce
injuries and save lives. Wearing a helmet, though, will not prevent a crash. In the
Netherlands, few cyclists wear helmets, yet the fatality rate is 1/5 of the U.S.
because Dutch motorists respect the rights of bicyclists.

3. Accident vs. crash. The word “accident” means the mishap was unavoidable,
and no one was to blame. Traffic safety experts say most crashes involving
motorists and bicyclists are avoidable and can be prevented through better training
and being alert. “Crash, collision or mishap” are more accurate than “accident.”

4. Typical crashes involving child bicyclists: Most are caused by the bicyclists,
such as riding out of a residential driveway, alley or side street without first
looking, failing to stop at stop signs or traffic lights and making left turns without
first looking over the shoulder for approaching traffic and signaling. With training,
these crashes can be prevented.

5. Typical crashes involving adult bicyclists: Most are caused by motorists, such
as failing to yield when making turns in front of bicyclists and failing to yield at
stop signs and traffic lights. The exception: bicyclists riding against the flow of
traffic. By sharing the road, observing traffic laws and being patient and courteous,
these crashes can be prevented by motorists and bicyclists.

6. Speed matters. Excessive speed by motorists is a leading cause of crashes and
a major factor in the seriousness of a motorist-bicyclist crash. The higher the
speed of the motor vehicle the greater likelihood a bicyclist will be killed.

7. Distractions. Distractions and drowsiness make drivers as crash-prone as
driving drunk. While drunk driving gets reported, other risky actions -- using a cell
phone, eating, doing make-up, using a hand-held computer or a music player -- are
rarely reported. A distraction of only three seconds can cause a collision.

8. “I didn’t see him.” It’s a common response by motorists after a crash and often means a
driver was not paying attention to the road and not alert to the presence of bicyclists. Claiming
not to see a bicyclist, pedestrian or another motorist is not a valid excuse to avoid being charged
with a traffic offense.

9. Getting hit from behind. Many bicyclists do not ride on roads because of their fear of
getting hit from behind by a car. This is a relatively uncommon crash, but it can occur especially
on rural roads with poor visibility and at night. For a bicyclist to be safe, a motorist should allow
at least three feet of space when passing, more if the car is traveling faster.

10. The bicyclists’ safety mantra: Bicyclists fare best when they act and are treated like other vehicles on the road. Bicyclists, just like motorists, have fewer crashes when they obey traffic laws and follow driving conventions -- observing the right-of-way, being in the proper lane and intersection positions, signaling and being predictable.

11 Bicyclists’ typical traffic violations: Bicyclists riding against the flow of traffic, failing to
stop at stop signs and traffic lights and impeding normal traffic by riding side-by-side or more
than two abreast. Riding more than two abreast is prohibited by law, except on paths or
roadways designated for exclusive bike use.

12. No justification for intimidation. Although bicyclists’ traffic violations disturb and even anger some motorists, they are usually not the major causes of crashes with motor vehicles. Nonetheless, motorists have no right to intimidate bicyclists for riding in the road, where they have a legal right to be. Everyone gets where they’re going safely when everyone shares the road and shows patience and courtesy.

(For more information on bicycling safety and other bicycling issues, visit our website at
www.bikelib.org or contact Dean Schott, outreach director, League of Illinois Bicyclists, 847-
291-1213, dean@bikelib.org)

Jaws!

2007-08-28T19:02:00.000-05:00

Maybe it's a good thing I won't be surfing for a little while. An article about a shark attack that just happened landed in my inbox. Moss Landing is where I was surfing last weekend, just a few miles from Marina State Beach.

A Short Ride and Gardening

2007-08-28T15:09:00.000-05:00

So does gardening count as an outdoor sport? Probably only if your over the age of 65. Anyways FGB (who from now on would like to be called Dirt Magnet Jr. or just Dirt Jr.) and I went for a 19.5 mile ride and averaged 15 miles per hour. The wind was pitching a steady 10 miles per hour from the straight south so of course we headed south and a bit East. A good ride with only one minor mishap, Dirt Jr. ran over a dead possom thankfully he missed the skunk.

The recent rains have kept us indoors and now that the sun is shining again we are relegated to catching up on yard work and gardening. I mowed our 2/3 acre of assorted weeds and pathetic grass with a push mower while Dirt Jr. used the neighbors riding mower to cut the neighbors 1 1/2 acre lot. With all of the habanero peppers and tomatoes that our garden has been producing we have been making and canning salsa like a home factory. We've canned about 15 quarts and 10 pints of salsa and pickeled 8 pints of peppers, not to mention the salsa that I have already consumed and there are more Peppers and Tomatoes on the bush/vine that are just about ready. We should have enough salsa to keep both Dirt Jr. and I gas powered for the next year. By the way 5 of the pints we canned were dubbed Stupid Hot Salsa as each had 10 peppers in them (a regular batch has 2).

Cracked Up

2007-08-27T23:57:00.000-05:00

I took my waveski out again Saturday. After a little time settling into (or onto) it again, I started getting some good rides. I could feel my balance improving, sometimes to the point where I could actually concentrate on surfing! And my friend who's on the national surf kayak team said as much.

Unfortunately, my session came to an abrupt end. As I was riding along, I got pointed straight down the wave as it peaked up in shallow water. The result? The waveski plunged straight down and bounced nose-first into a sandbar before flipping end-over-end. When I rolled up, I noticed a crack straight across the front-top of the ski. Luckily it didn't snap in half, so it should be repairable, but in the meantime I'll have to be content in regular old kayaks.

A lot better than Nothing

2007-08-26T18:44:00.000-05:00

I got to ride with the best today. It was just a quick run to the Bonner spur and back but it included some interals of sprints and I think my companion was holding back. I may try moving the seat to be more reclined. I was really weazing. Could it have been that I wanted to fall behind so I could see my smoking hot wife? I'll never tell. It was great to be out there with her.

Pop, walk, and great service

2007-08-26T07:13:00.000-05:00

Mundelein'sFriday football against Buffalo Grove was rescheduled to Saturday afternoon so I agreed to help take tickets. Traffic would be heavy. I could not think of a reason not to ride. I left early and although my computer is not set right the timer works and I made it in less than 30 minutes. The game went fine (not that I could see it). Since I don't think I ever went to a game as a student you can guess that I coped with that OK.
I got very sunburned at a ticket table but all was well. I was pushing it to try for 30-40 minutes on the way home. Upon crossing Fairfield I missed the cutout for the ramp and hit the corner hard. A loud Bang and Hiss followed and my front tire was instantly flat. I called my awesome wife and started walking. I could have made it home walking but I wanted to get to the shop and get that rim looked at before they closed. At the forest preserve exit my rescue crew intersected my path and had already put the rack on...perfect. Upon arriving home I darted to the shop and as usual (especially when you show in full gear) Tim and Larry got me in right away, swapped my tube and most importantly, trued my rim.
I have never had such a quick flat. If you never have had that happen, and you probably have, you know it is very loud. Keep those wheels spinning and pointed toward the ground.

Maiden Voyage

2007-08-24T01:08:00.001-05:00

The video pretty much captures the maiden voyage of the waveski... except for my best ride of the day which of course happened while my friend was putting the camera away.

Slipping and Sliding

2007-08-17T07:21:00.000-05:00

It must be something about vacations and flat tires. I've been off all this week and we had scheduled another single track ride for Thursday. I went out to the garage and wouldn't you know it I had a flat tire. After searching high and low for my spare tube we finally gave up and decided to go and buy a new tube. Before we left for the bike shop I checked my tire fore thorns etc... I found a thorn and a tear in my tire, so a new tire was in order. Down to the bike shop we went I grabbed two tubes and a new Specialized Roller Pro. Back in the car FGB was examining the purchase when he exclaimed, "Dad you bought a tubless tire!" which of course requires a special rim. Back to the bike shop to make an exchange. When we arrived I found that there were no Roller Pros only the more expensive S-works tires. The manager was with me and said just take the S-works for the same price. Yea something went right!

Well the drive down to the J Edward Roush trail in Huntington was uneventful and as we passed the picturesque lake we were once again greeted with the excitement that accompanies a single track ride. Upon arrival the park was quiet with only one other vehicle in sight and it was a utility truck, probably on break. It had rained quite heavily the night before so we had called to make sure the trails were open. We headed out from the trail head and I could tell that this was going to be a slower ride. The trail was still a hard packed dirt trail but there was an eighth inch of slippery mud on top. It was like riding on oil. FGB and I struggled to make it up each climb and experienced a lot of fishtailing around many of the sharp turns. At one point my front tire dug in and and my back tire slid out... I started to jack knife thankfully the front tire realeased and I was slingshotted to the other side of the trail... still rolling.

The first ravine was a bit much for FGB with the fishtailing and sliding so he slowly worked his way down to it and then gently dropped in, but still he lost his traction and had to walk up the other side. One hair pin turn left my heart racing. There was an eight foot drop off to the right side and as I leaned into the turn I felt the back tire begin to slide. I thought I was going to pull a CK and go flying into a deep ditch but at the last moment my knobbies grabbed the trail and the bike righted itself. Both FGB and I had to walk it up the rootiest hill as there was virtually no traction on the wet roots and slippery mud face. This was the hardest work out we have had in a long time but it looks like Dirt Magnet has a Dirt Magnet jr following in his footsteps or should I say following in his single track. One negative note I could really sense the humidity as it weighed heavily on my body. I was dehydrating but I didn't feel like drinking. After a two hour ride I had barely dented my water pack and had only drank half a bottle of gatorade. The thick humidity was just brutal. All in all it was another great ride!

Trial Ride and 5 mile Walk in the Rain...

2007-08-10T23:06:00.000-05:00

Well we were on vacation in the North Woods just outside of Minoqua WI in the small town of St. Germaine. I had brought the bikes for a nice ride and when my folks came to join us my dad would be able to ride with us. On Monday we rode about 6 miles of REALLY NICE trail while I Pulled Darth Jr on the Trailer bike. Grandpa was really tired by the 3 mile mark so we turned around and that made the trip just right. My parents left on Wednesday and the plan was for me to take a good portion of the day to ride the trails.

Thursday just after lunch I took the van to the trail head and hit the road. I was cruising along enjoying a sunny day and protection from the wind from the really large trees. I get to a super steep hill at about the 2 mile mark and go down and push up the very steep opposite side and make it rather easily. I push past the 3 mile mark of Monday and see an amazing site. Rolling hills and trials as far as my eyes can see. Mile mark 4 I cross the road and make my way up a hill... Thump, Thump, Thump... I look down and my back tire is flat. No big deal I came prepared. After getting everything undone, full of dirt and grim and back together I was excited to get up the really big hill and see what is ahead. The tire was inflated probably about 80% of what I normally like, but appeared to be in good order. The flat tire seemed to have a messed up valve. So after packing everything up I made my way up the large hills to see the path go on in the distance through the pines in what looked almost like a roller coaster track of perfectly paved trails. Since I had just replace the tire I felt it was best to make it back toward the van and turned around at the 6 miles mark. 12 miles would be a good ride with all the hills. I go down he first hill and begin to go up the next when I feel the tire give and slide funny under me. I get off the bike and look at the tire. FLAT! I attempt to pump it, but it will not keep the air for more then a few minutes. I make it to about the 7 mile mark (5 from the van) and realize I am not going anywhere on this. I look at it and it appears that the valve is broken as well. My guess is when I was using the frame pump I pushed or pulled too hard breaking the little head of the valve. The sun is still shining and there is a slight breeze so it looks like I am walking. I give a quick call to the wife to let her know I will be really late, but her cell phone is off being charged! Not that it matters the van is a long way from the cabin. As I walk at a nice 3 MPH pace the wind picks up and the distant sound of thunder begins to roar. Within minutes the storm front is on top of me and the rain comes pouring down. Not only did I get two flats it is raining on me as well. What else could go wrong? As I get to the steep hills about 2 miles from the van the tire will not stay on the rim. I pick up the bike and carry it up the hill to a wayside park and inflate the tube enough to keep it on the rim. I finally make it back to the van and get the bike loaded when I look down at my hiking shorts and see a 8 inch hole in the side. I wear hiking shorts over my bike shorts for storage and to avoid the bike shorts look.

Stats...

7 miles ride
5 mile walk in the rain
2 flat tires
1 ripped pair of hiking shorts
1 soaked pair of shoes
dirt and grim everywhere
Trip up North with trails rides...opportunity lost...

On the somewhat bright side I the way up to the cabin we stopped at the Hostel Shoppe in Steven's Point. This place is amazing. It is the largest bike store I have ever been in and they were right on a trail. The selection of Bikes, Accessories and of coarse RECUMBENT bikes was amazing. There must have been 50 different Bents in the shop and a TON of bikes in my size... XL!!! I rode the RANS Stratus XP. What an amazing ride. It was super smooth and despite the extreme length of 95.5" I was able to take the 90 degree turns of a normal sidewalk. I rode it around and was extremely excited, however that excitement began to fade when I realize I was about $2,000.00 short of purchasing one. I did have some nice discussions with a couple bike shoppe people about size, style and value of some bikes. I really like the ride of the Long Wheel Base Recumbent, but the stability of the Trikes are rather inviting. My only concern about the trikes was the width. While riding CK's trike I realized my thighs are rather wide and his narrow trike is not really that comfortable for me. We discussed this at the shop and they came up with a few other options that are in the same range, but have a wider profile. At this point the kids were getting a little restless and it was time to go. I may have to make a day trip up to the shop and spend some serious time testing bikes for size and feel.

Mchenry Dam Hot Ride

2007-08-08T11:43:00.000-05:00

Handy and I rode from Darth's house to the red trail then to the Road leading toward the Prairie Path. We then turned around and skipped the yellow trail and could not go to the dam because the viaduct was flooded and did the red. We had a heat index of well over 100 degrees. My calfs are killing me and there is almost no way to stay hydrated enough so I begged off a second run of the Red trail. I wanted to but I was pushing and my legs just started shaking. I am done when that occurs I can push harder but it will not help. My muscles rebel. The 14-16 miles was probably enough in this heat. I Stopped to catch my breath twice but still averaged only 8.8. It was hard to breath in the thick humid air. Handy is a Clydesdale and could have kept going. I appreciate his patience in riding with me.

Number Ten

2007-08-07T00:00:00.000-05:00

Toys! More toys! This new (used) waveski is the latest addition to my stable. Part surfboard, part kayak, tippy, fast, and ultra-responsive! We'll see how much salt water I can ingest when I get this thing out in the surf next weekend!

Red sauce and trail

2007-08-05T09:38:00.000-05:00

I called up Handy who was at Darth's pooch sitting. We would head toward each other and then decide what to do. We met on Dayrl and decided to head back toward Morain Hills. We made it as far as Rosotti's and got some pizza and tomato bread while we waited out the rain that had been with us all day and was increasing. The tomato bread w/ cheese is preferred and will be the choice next time. I then made the executive decision that we would do the red trail. I had to be home by 5 and time was running but Darth said it took 45 minutes or less.

The run was kind of quick.

I averaged 10.5 for my whole trip. Handy much faster. I am very unfamiliar with each turn and twist. I had to use my breaks A LOT to avoid tipping and almost did anyway. With such a long chain I can't be under any load at all if the front derailer is to shift and it still prefers not to go to the granny from the middle. I only had to push my wheel with my hand because it wouldn't shift on one hill. It was dangerous, exciting, and fun.

Single Track Again

2007-08-04T11:30:00.001-05:00

It was a Monday, a day like any other day. I left the small town for the Apple in decay. Oh wait that’s not what we did, but it was Monday and we did leave the small town of Auburn to head to the slightly bigger town of Huntington Indiana.

FGB’s MTB bike had been recently tuned up and he and I were itching to ride some single track again. I looked online and although Fort Wayne, which is closer, does have a few trails they were described as intermediate to advanced trails. FGB doesn’t have much experience on Single-Track and I wasn’t sure what advanced riding entailed I decided to take the hour and five minute drive to Huntington as the trail there was described as beginner to intermediate. The trail was also described as being fast, twelve miles long, and circling Lake Huntington. The whole thing is located in the J Edward Roush State Park.

We loaded up Gatorade, bananas, our water packs, bikes, shoes and other gear and headed out. AS we approached the state park we crossed a dam, which afforded us a good look at the lake we would be circling. It was a largish oblong lake. The two longer sides were bordered with trees while the two shorter side were bordered by fields and roads. The excitement to ride a new trail began to mount and soon we were pulling into the park.

In no time we had donned our riding gear and were ready to start out. The trailhead was clearly marked and only a mere 50 feet from the parking lot. The beginning of the trail wove through the trees and then out along the edge of a cornfield. The ground was packed hard and worn smooth so the trail was fast. After riding along the cornfield for a bit the trail turned back into the woods and picked up speed. The fact that we were picking up speed should have been a warning. As I rounded a bend I saw in front of me a rock filled ravine and about a two-foot drop, our first intermediate encounter. I have had some experience dropping into ravines and handled it with ease unfortunately it all happened so fast I had no time to warn FGB. From behind me I heard the cry of surprise and terror as FGB dropped the two feet into the ravine. I shouted, “You okay?” what I heard was the adrenaline-charged “yea that was cool.” FGB is definitely hooked on single track and biking in general.

There was another ravine that caught us off guard and neither of us made it up the other side, as we were traveling quite fast and had no time to shift. We were not in the proper gears for the steep tree-rooted climb. The rest of the trail twisted and turned through the woods occasionally following old fire roads and finally popping out on the damn we had crossed on the way in.

I think before we attempt one of the intermediate to advanced trails we will ride this trail a few more times. Next time we’re down at the J Edward Roush Trail we will take some pictures of the ravines. It may be a while before go again since FGB fell off a four-foot high truck bed onto the cement and bruised his elbow quite severely. I don’t thinks it’s broken but if it gets worse not better then it’s off to the E-room. He insists that he is fine I think mostly because we having a fishing trip planned for later today.

10 days later

2007-07-28T13:26:00.001-05:00

Riding, hiking, and canoeing have all been on the agenda over the last ten days. We’ve done two 4 mile hikes at Pokagon State Park, canoed on 5 of the seven lakes at Chain of Lakes State Park, an 18 mile ride, a 30 mile ride, a 43.5 mile ride and today we just finished a 40 mile ride.

The rides were all to the North and East as the wind was coming from the NE. This is a great work out because the elevation gradually rises as we head north and with the wind in our faces it presents a real leg-burning challenge. We averaged 15-16 MPH for all of the rides, which includes the slower gravel roads that we occasionally traverse.

Riding past the Elk ranch today was cool. It was comical to see the Elk duck their heads below the tall grass in an attempt to hide from the threatening bicyclers. It was a great plan all except for the four feet of antlers that stood above even the tallest grass. We had a couple of playful horses run along the fence line with us as we passed. Amazingly we did not encounter even one dog today that wanted to give chase. The only animals that plagued me were the bees. One flew in my mouth, which I quickly spit out without getting stung and another bounced of my glasses and stung me in the shoulder. Oh well such is a ride in the country.

Denied!

2007-07-26T13:44:00.001-05:00

Well "Performance" has declined our request to become an affiliate...

Oh Well...

New Features

2007-07-26T12:38:00.000-05:00

Well along with the videos on the left I just added a slideshow on the right. The slideshow will eventually have pictures of all our toys. Kayaks, Bikes, Trailers, Equipment, Tools...

The Delinquent Blogger Rides Again

2007-07-18T08:14:00.000-05:00

I am the delinquent blogger! I hate dial up! With that being said I am vowing to at least blog once a week. Not that you all can’t survive without my blogs but rather that I miss the long-distance camaraderie of my friends and the accountability to stay active.

Rather then try to catch you up on what has been going on the last couple of months I will just start fresh with what FGB and I have done lately. The totals for the last week; three rides 15 miles, 26 miles, and 18 miles, a four mile hike in Pokagon state park, an evening of bass fishing on Long Beach Lake and an afternoon of shooting clays with my new 20 gauge O/U in the back yard (300 rounds in about two hours).

The 26-mile ride was just like old times only with new faces. FGB’s cousin, alllen, was in from Colorado so we took him for a ride to the covered bridge. FGB took my Tricoss, Allen took the Sirus and I was on the Stumpjumper. The wind was from the North gusting to 25 miles an hour, so the trip south to the bridge was a breeze. Allen, a soccer player, kept up with us pretty well. On the way home we headed a bit further South and west and rode through the heart of Amish farm land, since Allen had never seen it before. Needless to say it was picturesque!

Almost as soon as we turned into the wind Allen began to struggle. I looped back and holding his hand, embarrassing for a teenager, I began towing him forward. Unfortunately FGB who has become quite an avid rider was on my Tricross and disappearing into the distance. It took every bit of my energy to catch him and I had to sheepishly ask him to slow down a bit. This he did with out a complaint. On arriving back home Allen was thrilled to have ridden 26 miles. By the way I took him via a mostly dog-free route. We were only chased by the dog I call happy dog, a black lab mix that just loves to run with us as we pass and looks so dejected when we don’t stop to play.

FGB has enjoyed riding the Tricross so much that I have let him ride it the last couple of outings and I have taken my Stumpjumper. I have decided that trying to keep up an 18-mile an hour pace on a MTB is too much for this old man. I broke the news to FGB that he’d be back on his road bike and I on my Tricross for further rides or we’d both be on MTB’s. Yep! FGB has become my equal this summer and next year I imagine he will lead the way and I will be the one struggling to keep up.

2007 LATE Ride

2007-07-17T17:36:00.000-05:00

I had been thinking about a longer ride on Saturday but I had reports from people that it was raining. And the weather forecast was for rain all day. It never rained that I saw and I was up from 6 am until Sunday morning. Saturday afternoon, I got a message from LH that I should go do the LATE ride downtown. Hmmmmm...that seemed like a good idear. So I thought ok, lets see if LH wants to go as well. She was willing if the wind died down, which the weather service predicted it would.

I swung by Dick's to pick up some lights and a rear trunk. I bought the clamp on platform for the trunk. Bad idea. It didn't fit my bike. It didn't fit LH's bike. This wasn't too big a deal since I had my mt biking (aka giant trunk) camel back with. We had a few adjustments to make as we unloaded the gear, but nothing that was a big deal.

We checked in around 12am. They give you this bag full of things like magazines and coupons and tampons. Last I checked its kinda annoying biking with a bag of stuff. Kinda bad planning there. So many people were just throwing them away. I still have all my goodies! Reminds me that I should look through them. They had a pretty good band playing and various people were getting down doing their thing. There was a contest to judge the best decorated bike that included a whole 3 bikes. There were maybe 6 people in the helmet decoration contest.

We were finally able to start "riding" the 25 mile loop at about 2 am. The pace the first several miles was painfully slow with 10,000 people around us. The ride had started at 1:30. So we had a ton of people ahead of us. There were a lot of people that had bike repair issues those first few miles as well. We saw a lot of tires being changed.

Every now and then and especially as the ride went on, we were able to get around or through a pack of riders and get a decent pace going before we'd catch the next group to work around. There were a few trikes, some 2 wheel recumbents, and a couple of tandems. Some people appeared to have welded their own contraptions together as well.

We skipped the rest stop that is about halfway through the ride. Rest wasn't really necessary on a 25 mile ride going 8 mph. They may have been giving out food there...really not sure.

The drunk people on the sides of the road were entertaining. "You guys fixed global warming!!" "Thanks for curing cancer!!!" and so forth... There were a few places that people had set up chairs on the side of the road and clapped as people rode by.

The last stretch of the ride goes south along the lakefront from lincoln park back to buckingham fountain. We hit that about 5 am as the sky began to glow. We finished just before sunrise, locked the bikes up and found someplace to watch the sun pop up as we ate our free chow from McD's.

Sadly, they had no pancakes for us at the end. I had convinced myself that there would be pancakes and really had a taste for them. Its about all I could talk about for 25 miles. At 8 mph. Thats a long time. I'm lucky LH didn't kill me. I mean really...didn't expect Egg McMuffins. Pancakes seemed logical. They had a real good spread though. Bagel, cream cheese, OJ, water, cookies, more cookies, raisins, some bar things, and probably more I can't remember now. I know I didn't eat everything.

All in all, definitely something worth doing. It would be fun to get a group together to do this. The key is to get everyone in the group in the same wave. LH and I definitely would want to be in the first wave so it wouldn't be so painfully slow. We'll keep an eye out for registration.

One legged is still better than no legged

2007-07-17T17:24:00.000-05:00

So I decided I needed a faster bike than the big fat tire bikes for the packed limestone and paved trails. So I had been looking for awhile and finally saw what I really wanted...an aluminum frame, carbon forks and rear seat stay, flat handlebar with ergo grips, 700 x 25 wheels, good components, mt bike platform/clip in pedals. It had most everything I wanted. So I bought the Schwinn Ultra 2 on a Friday afternoon at Performance. That night I went out riding and the left crank fell off the bike 12 miles out! The pinch pin for the BB had separated itself from the rest of the bike. Fortunately, I was just doing 15 miles total on an out and back, so I only had 3 miles to get back to the truck.

I left the bike at Performance the next morning. They needed to order some parts for it. When parts hadn't come in by Tuesday afternoon, I talked them into borrowing the parts from another bike so I could ride. I put about 70 miles on it over the next few days and nothing else has fallen off, so I'm very happy with the bike.

I picked up a Garmin Edge 305 for it. I've only taken it on 1 ride so far, but that is definitely very cool. I did an out and back and it was within several feet accurate counting parking spots past my vehicle on the return. After the ride you can plug it into a computer and download the data. It plots your speed, altimeter, etc. it was cool to see I was hauling on the downhill on the way out, then slowed by about 4 mph on the way back. I have it set after that ride to autopause for time I sit at stop lights waiting. It doesn't record ALL fields is my only gripe. It just records the ones that its showing as far as I can tell. I'll need to play with it to see if I can get it to do more. Very cool thus far, though.

Red,Yellow and River with the Trailer Bike in Tow

2007-07-15T16:09:00.000-05:00

Today 6yo and I went for a ride to Moraine Hills. We hooked up the trailer bike and hit the road for an hour and a half ride. The weather was perfect and the boy really liked being out riding with dad. I was really worried about the hills and thought they would kill me. That first hill eased my fears since having the added assistance made up for the extra weight of the trailer and boy. We saw a few Cranes as well as an assortment of butterflies, Turtles, Frogs and Birds. We made it a point to stop at a few of the outlooks to see a few of the things around the trail such as the different lakes and of course McHenry Dam. I was hoping to see a boat go into the locks, but we were not so lucky.

What a great way to get some exercise, be with nature and of course spend some time with my son.

Ride On!

More Changes

2007-07-14T23:04:00.000-05:00

I have applied to become an affiliate of Performance. They would advertise and the site would get commission on products through the website referral system. I am not looking to make a killing, but maybe a few buck to offset the cost of the domain and some future changes.

Ride On...

Welcome to the NEW Wonkemtel

2007-07-13T17:45:00.000-05:00

I made some major changes and will be adding MANY new features including more videos, photo slide shows and interesting links.

Ride On!

Invited a Friend to Blog

2007-07-09T21:45:00.001-05:00

Well we ride with JM a lot so I officially invited him to blog as well. I know DM is having issues with his internet connection so I may have to do some creative blogging for him. Maybe get emails from him and then post them. Or set him up to blog by email...

I have been insanely busy with www.amanamongmommies.com and www.dadstock.com

I also have a few cool template ideas and will probably be doing a major overhaul in the next few weeks.

I have been riding 3 times a week and the hills are becomes easier. I would love to get another set of wheels soon, but too much is breaking around here to have that anytime soon... I will be stopping by the Hostel Shoppe in Stevens Point WI while on vacation. I plan to find the right frame and style of recumbent so when I can get another ride I know what to look for.

So until I have more time...

Ride On!

Two Broken Paddles

2007-06-18T23:16:00.000-05:00

This was one of those weekends that was destined for misadventure from the start. A group of us gathered Saturday morning at the takeout for The Gorge, the lower Class III run on the South Fork American. Upon meeting, one person in the group reported that he had become afflicted with some illness, probably food poisoning, and that he had already thrown up twice on the drive up. He said that if he had a good book, that he'd just hang out and not paddle, but since he didn't he was up for coming along.

Fortunately, after putting on the river, he was feeling better. Unfortunately, shortly after putting on, his paddle broke. I looked over to see him holding a blade in each hand, paddling around. I thought he was just hotdogging with two pieces of a take-apart paddle, but nope, the paddle had snapped right in his hands.

The rest of us headed down to Barking Dog, a nice little play spot, while he made his way over to the local kayak shop to rent a paddle. He met us about an hour later and we were on our way. The rest of the day was fun and uneventful, and we took off the water around 8 pm.

Sunday morning we met up again to run Chili Bar, the upper Class III run. As we approached Meatgrinder, the first major rapid of the run, we saw a bunch of rafts pulled to the side. One of the guides was waving us over, signaling that two rafts were wrapped on the rocks below. We hung out in the eddy until the wrapped rafts were taken care of. However, during a moment of inattention, I let the small current grab my boat and flip it over. With rocks on one side and a raft on the other, I figured there wasn't room to roll. I reached up with my hands and was able to grab the raft and pull myself up, but I ended up letting go of my paddle in the process. I looked around and the paddle was nowhere to be seen. After a few minutes of frantic looking around, someone in our group spotted it under the raft. Whew.

The rest of the Chili Bar run went well, and the day was just beautiful. The air was not too hot, and the water was not too cold. After that, we continued down the Class II stretch to hit a couple more play spots on our way to the takeout. The water level was dropping, and we had to get the rental paddle back before the shop closed, so we started paddling with purpose. But when we got to Barking Dog again, we found it was still going, so we thought we'd hang out there for a bit.

I surfed the wave a few times. On about my third attempt, I came off the back of the wave and went to plant a stroke when my paddle knicked a rock. Suddenly I notice my right blade is missing! Thankfully, all that practice of paddling on one side paid off, and I made it back to the eddy.

Since we were kind of in a hurry, paddling the final 3 miles with one blade wasn't an option, nor was using the hand paddles someone brought. So out of the 4 of us, 2 people paddled down to the end to get the cars, while the 2 of us with broken paddles took out at Camp Lotus, just above Barking Dog. The other "broken paddler" ran his paddle back to the kayak shop, and afterward we were able to talk the people at the camp store into taking an IOU for a couple beers until the rest of the group arrived with money. At least we were able to drown our sorrows!

Burning

2007-06-16T12:21:00.001-05:00

Yesterday I did a run to work. Almost there and a big bump releases my back tire. Some cramped bending fixes that and it goes well, not too bad. On the way home I took breaks of clipping out because the balls of my feet were burning. I mean I had major pain. I put in the knee savers and no more knee pain,. I am unclear on whether the knee savers affect the cleat burning. My cleats are all the way back toward the heels. I have read of bent riders driling the shoe slots for another 1/4" back becasue of how your foot hangs of the pedals on a bent.

Also, sun screen from last season should not be trusted. Ask my fire engine red shins and stips above the knee.

Thrike you very much or Tranks a lot

2007-06-13T09:49:00.000-05:00

Monday I planned to ride to the bike shop to get the often misworking front derailer adjusted. I decided to go to libertyville as I could travel much of the way by trail. About 2 miles from the shop it started working again but I went in anyway for a look at what was rubing the wheel. As I tried to enter I tripped backwards over a parking block much to the horror of the staff. I was fine, a little blood on the elbow. Upon leaving I headed across the street to realize I left my helmet, then the rear wheel detached as the manager must have moved the quick release to adjust a bracket. After much frustration I got the rear wheel back on (thanks for the attempted assist dear wife) and headed to the P's.

The next day I got a ride to the Parent's and turned my Jandd trunk bag backwards an put the water bladdder in there (easier access). I then rode past my house to barrington to get a warrantied part ordered for one of the lights. Rt 59 has big hills and on the way home I got up to 31.8 mph. above 20 the steering is twitchy and the trike tends to wobble in feel but not to bad. I still love it. some knee savers are on the way to space my feet further out and hopefully illiminate the leg/chain rub on the drive side. Over 21 miles at 10.5 avg. Not great, but getting there

Here He Comes Here Comes Speed Racer...

2007-06-11T21:04:00.001-05:00

Well Sunday was the normal meet up ride with the gang... Handy Rider, JM CK and I went for about 15 miles. Our group is starting to have and interesting bike dynamic. I have the Hybrid, HR and JM have mountain bikes and CK has his Bent Trike... Well we got off to a typical start with some minor adjustments being needed all around. JM had to clean out dirt from his pedals from a hard dirt ride the day before and CK is still adjusting to the trike. We went across the roads to the path and in no time CK...AKA Speed Racer set the pace. For a second I say a Blue Mountain Bike shadow with DM on it... That was just an illusion, it was CK riding HARD!!! The first hill he went flying down and if it were not for the following up hill we would not have been anywhere near him. Every hill down was like a speed race track with CK hitting the 20's which was a first for me to see... His typical flat pace was between 15-17 MPH which made even JM have to take a breath... If it were not for the up hills his average speed would have been considerably higher then it actually was. I think we all only averaged around 10.5 MPH, which included a few stops for adjustments on the trike. It will take a while for CK to get used to the settings and find his perfect comfort point.

Though out the ride there was this clicking sound we could not figure out at first. By the time we got back I followed CK closely and watched and listened... Click, Click, Click... Got IT!!! It was the magnet from his computer. Apparently when he had the new rack added the sensor must have been bumped. After a few minutes of adjusting the sound was gone and all was good as new. I think by the time summer is out I will know more about the trike then my own bike...

I will have to really start to push it to keep up with CK... or should I say... SPEED RACER!!!!

NEW TOYS...

TRAILER BIKE
I picked up a trailer bike yesterday for 6yo to go on rides with me. After messing with it I finally got it where I wanted it. I got a great deal on it so I was very happy... $99.00 Normal... $89.00 Clearance plus 10% for floor model... Not to bad. On negative is my Trunk Rack can not be on when the trailer bike is attached. DOH...

BIKE TRANSPORT RACK
My new 3 bike rack arrived today. I set it up on the van and it fits just perfect!!! I wish I could have a hitch rack, but that involves getting a hitch as well...

14 Miles on the Road and a Walk in the Park...

2007-06-09T19:53:00.000-05:00

Well the weather today was fantastic and I figured it would be a good time to try a trip I have been wanting to do. With gas prices the way they are and my frequent trips to the library I thought it would be nice to try a ride to the library. For me this is an extra difficult thing since I dislike road riding...Really Really dislike it... So around noon I hop on my bike and head to the library. the ride there was a little better then I thought it would be. Traffic was light and everyone was passing with care. The road riding along with my increased adrenaline made my speed pretty high. When it was all said and done I made it to the Library in 31 minutes of riding... Not too bad. I then spent some time looking at movies and finding a book I wanted to read. The way back was far more interesting since the traffic going north was a bit heavier... I pulled into my drive in a little over an hour of riding with an average speed of just over 13MPH... I think I will do this ride a little more often and may even consider riding to CK's for a ride or too...

Well after I got back I relaxed a little then the family went for a walk at the local state park. A little over 3 miles of trees, light breezes and of course bugs to hunted. The boys had a blast looking at all the bugs. 6yo was riding his bike and 2 yo was in the stroller. We had a good time and I was able to get in a bunch of exercise!

I think I might have to get the trailer bike for the 6yo really soon. He can then go on some more interesting long rides. I do plan on taking him for some trail rides soon to see how he handles that.

Be Well and Ride On!!!!

Delay of joy

2007-05-28T08:23:00.000-05:00

A week ago yesterday Beautiful wife ad I went to Niles. Essentially I was looking to test ride the tour again and confirm that I liked it and let BW test ride it so she could get a bit of the trike bug and like the idea of dropping huge cash.
Well they had a zommer built up. It's narrower but the big difference is it has direct vs linkage steering so on test riding it I discovered it was zippy, it had a much tighter turning radius like a sports car instead of Yak's Grandpa's old Lincoln town car. Also I am not comfortable with the bar end shifters but that will take time. I kind of hated the grip shifters mounted vertically.

I went ahead and got the elite (better brakes, bottom bracket, cranks, bar end vs twist shifters.

It was expected that my bike would be in Niles from MI by Friday but it was not. Joe will call Tuesday to find out what's up.

This Saturday I went over to Handy Rider's and we went to Niles so I could drop off some clippless pedals and confirm some accessory choices

Fenders
Mirrors (the screw/clamp mount vs velcro--more $$ but I'm going for durability
6'combo lock and 12' extender cable (for trailer etc)
bottle cage to be screwed in ( for battery of light)
velcro bottle cage for electrolyte drink
seat bag for water bladder
planet bike superflash blinky for back of rack
(my trek interchange rack from the backup bike will be made to work)
flag
computer
terracycle mounts (2) 1 w/ extenders for lights and computer--expensive but won't wiggle

http://www.wizwheelz.com/images/TTZoomerElite/zetube1-800.jpg

also a friend or two will help me rig up a system for a mini strobe I got. I want to make it removable for dark riding only since the sealed lead acid battery is almost 6 pounds

In other news I can report that Darth and I and another friend did 30 miles yesterday (and I am sore) and that handy has taken is bike to Tim fir upgrade and replacement of the destroyed fork. I look forward to him being back on the trail.

Redwood Jungle

2007-05-05T00:27:00.000-05:00

Last Saturday I went for a 10.5 mile hike at Big Basin Redwoods State Park (trivia: the oldest state park in California, established in 1902). The park is probably less than 20 miles from home as the crow flies, but because of the winding mountain roads, it's still about an hour drive.

I thought Saturday would be a particularly good day for a hike in the redwoods. It was forecast to hit 90 degrees in San Jose, but redwood forests are generally in the cooler, moister coastal areas, so I was expecting to get away from the heat.

And I did, sort of. When I arrived at the park, the thermometor read around 75 degrees. Not bad, but I forgot that "moister" part of "cooler, moister coastal areas." So it was 75 and humid, which as my midwestern friends know, is about as comfortable as 90 and dry.

I hadn't been to this park in over 5 years, so it was nice to be back there. I was little bummed that it was so crowded. I almost didn't find a parking space. And there were lots of people on the trails at first. It felt as if they had transported a city block into the forest. But as expected, the people thinned out after the first half-mile or so. Still, it was more than I expected, but at least people started saying "Hi."

I did the Berry Creek falls loop, which is listed as a strenuous 6-hour hike, but can be done in four if you huff it. The elevation change is ~400 feet, which sounds like a lot to a flatlander, but isn't too bad. The highlight of the hike is the series of waterfalls along Berry Creek near the halfway point of the loop. The lighting wasn't the best, but I did manage to snap a few pictures. Overall, a good workout with some nice scenery.

A Return to the Red Trail!

2007-04-29T21:34:00.000-05:00

Last night I took the bike for a spin around the block a few times to try out my new gloves and helmet. Nice!!! It was cool, but at 9:30 not really the best time to go for a long ride. This morning I woke at 4:15 with a 2 yo not feeling too well. Well after a while we aere all able to sleep again just as the birds started to sing. Once the morning started I decided to go for a ride back at Moraine Hills. I have not been back since my FALL in August... The weather was perfect! Warm sunny and just a light breeze. I did a check on the bike and filled my new trunk with all the important items including the wrench for my cranks. Well it was smart to bring that. About 1/2 way to the park my crank was loose!!! So I stopped and made sure I got it tight!!! Back at it. Well coming up to the park there is a NEW entrance fromt Lilly Lake Road that is directly across from Wegner. The old entrice a few roads up was terrible and difficult to get through with the placement of the posts. The new entrance is wider and much more open. As I started to get to the first road crossing I noticed the post there was also change and the entire area was paved. This made the crossing so much nicer and much more visible. The First HILL!!! I went up and decided it would be best if I actually stood up and helped myself along. WOW riding hills again is both great and tough!!! The trail was in great shape and there is fresh pavement everywhere. Every hill going up is now paved including the Hill of Doom. All the intercetions, hills and washed out areas were now paved... Even the odd 90 degree turn was paved. This made the trail a bit different and much easier to travel on. The park was pretty busy so I had to slow down a bit too often for my tastes. Overall it was AMAZING to get out on my bike again. I can not wait to do it again.

47:50 Minutes (Not Too Bad First Time out... Best time like 39:50)
11.?? Average Speed
9.09 Miles...

Mid May should be really interesting... The 17 Year Cicadas... I could not find anything on the previous numbers at Moraine Hills... I know that wooded areas typically have them in the MILLIONS per acre!!! So it may be a bumpy ride this Summer...

A leg too short

2007-04-29T07:10:00.000-05:00

I had Saturday school yesterday. At 5:30 I decided to ride in for some reason. I didn't walk out my door until after 6:15 I think. Class is on at 8, I haven't ridden to work since about November. I felt (and was) slow, my spedo was flakey. Before my back problems I had put a backup wiring harness on but allignment is always an issue as the computers are designed for road bikes and the hybrid has a lot more space between the stay and the wheel. Every incline announced itself with increased friction. There was a nice 10-20 mph headwind I could complain about , but it kept me cool which is less sweaty and therefore less smelly on arrival as I ran out of time to change on arrival. There was only one student there at 7 after 8 so no big deal, I didn't loose anybody. I do hate being late though. Given that this is about the 2nd time in 8 years I was late and that I typically arive a minumum of 30 minutes early. I think I won't dwell on this. I felt my back bother by the end but I was pushing to not be too late and not drinking enough. I talked with HandyRider a couple of times and it was decided he would pick me up so we could go to Niles and try trikes. The drive to Niles was horrible. I road a trike for a bit and liked it but it did not seem quite right. Still I liked it. Probably it was not the right distance inbetween seat and cranks.

I got on and off OK. It's ugly but doable. I do wonder if I can do it once mirrors are on (I plop on perpendicular to the seat and swing legs over one at a time as apposed to straddling the bike ands easing back. The owner was nice. Unfortunately, the seat could not be moved forward enough for Handy to try. The Zoomer, a different terra trike model that has an adjustable boom (where the cranks are) should be in next week so Handy Rider should be able to try that. We came home and went to Duke's so Handy could try some BBQ brisket. Analysis have shown Handy's blood to be up to 18 % BBQ sauce. It was good to see my friend and it was not a bad day at all. We looked at the Mundelein web site and started an app for Handy to possibly gain employment at the HS. Single insurance coverage is free. I hope it works out.

Chamberlain Falls Part II

2007-04-28T00:27:00.000-05:00

Last summer I paddled the Class IV Chamberlain Falls run on the North Fork American River at a paltry flow of 300 cfs. The water was warm, the air was warm, and the low flow gave me a chance to basically preview the run without worrying too much about actually running it.

My goal this season was to run it at a higher flow, working my way up to a flow where I didn't have to walk around any rapids because there wasn't any water flowing through them. I'm glad to say that I hit that goal last Sunday!

Because of the lack of snow in the mountains this winter, many of the rivers-- including the NFA-- are drying up especially early this spring. The Friday before the run, the NFA was running around 575 cfs and dropping. We figured we'd still have at least 500 cfs by Sunday.

We arrived at the put-in around noon Sunday. The air was cool, the water was cool, and the rain that started Saturday afternoon tapered off to a drizzle. Rain? That should help the flow.

Shortly after we put on the river, the rain stopped. More threatening storm clouds moved through the bright blue sky, but none decided to open up and dump more water on us. We made our way down the run, which is a nice consistent pool-drop-pool-drop, and then we stopped at the namesake of the run, Chamberlain Falls, to scout it. Sorry to say it's not some insane 30-foot sheer drop, but rather it's a simple 6-foot ramp. The only decision is whether to run left or right of the giant rock in the middle of the rapid.

The next major rapid was Bogus Thunder (named during the Gold Rush). I decided to portage around it, along with one other person. The line was to start in the middle, head left through some rocks, and over the drop on the left on the bottom. It didn't look too difficult, but the consequences were severe if for some reason you weren't able to get over to the left.

The last rapid we scouted was Staircase. I had heard bad things about it, but the line was a simple S-turn with eddies everywhere, making it easy to jump out of the current to see what's next. The only thing is that it was a fairly long rapid with about 4 drops, hence the name.

After that, there was a mile or two of nice scenic Class III whitewater with a couple good play spots. At the takeout, we ate our lunches which we hadn't gotten to earlier, accompanied by the beer that was waiting for us in the car. Mmm mmm.

On the way home, we debated what the flow really was. Certainly the rain had contributed significantly. During the run, we heard two local boaters chatting with each other, one thinking it was 1000 cfs, the other thinking 1200. They split the difference and called it 1100. After getting home, I jumped on the net and well enough, the graph showed the flow peaking out at just over 1100 cfs. Very respectable!

More pics here.

Back to back

2007-04-19T20:25:00.000-05:00

A couple of weeks ago I fell in the bathroom and injured my back at the base of the spine. I was not walking for about 4 days. My back initially locked up on the Monday following the Sunday fall so it is most probably muscular. I am more ambulatory (with a cane) but hunched over still. Tomorrow I have a first therapy scheduled to hopefully expedite recovery. However, all who know such problems have advised me that it is a long recovery. I wish to thank all my friends and family for the warm thoughts and prayers and especially my wife who has taken it all in stride despite rising at 4:15 AM for her new job. She is simply the best and first class all the way.

My 4-6:15 job will got to 5 days a week for 5 weeks starting Monday. Four more weeks of 6:30-9:30 Tue and Thr. and five more weeks of Saturday 8-1. I am glad for the money to blast medical bills and consider a house and my new obsession with a commuter trike.

I need opinions. Spend an extra $400 on Aluminium trike because it will not rust and I live in IL and there's road salt etc. Or get the cheaper steel one and replace and upgrade parts as they break. Parts are metal anyway but frame is AL vs Steal. Please give opinions. Also Aluminium one is powder coated yellow, better visibility.

This Week

2007-04-13T19:09:00.000-05:00

Monday started with a thirty-five-minute sprint on the basement bicycle! I didn’t have much time so I just pushed it as hard as I could for the whole time. I was sweating buckets in no time.

Tuesday FGB and I got outside and did a twenty-one-mile bike ride in an hour and forty minutes. FGB did really well. A persistent canine from the week before chased us, but he kept his distance. He probably was remembering the sting of pepper spray he received when CK and I last rode. At about 18 miles into the ride we saw a big husky sitting ominously in the rode. FGB had to get to a drawing class that was starting in 15 minutes so we didn’t have time to back track. We were at the top of the hill, he was at the bottom so we decided to try and blow past him. I got the idea that If I just rode straight for him he might get out of the road as if I were a car. I got up to 25 MPH and headed straight for him. FGB was to my right and back about 10 yards. My plan worked he was startled by my aggression and darted off into the field. Unfortunately he sighted FGB coming up behind me and decided to take after him. I pulled out my can of Halt and prepared to loop back towards FGB all the while shouting for FGB to kick it up a notch. The dog growled and snarled at FGB’s heels which caused FGB to spring forward with a great burst of speed leaving the beast panting in the road. Another successful session of Indiana interval training.

Thursday was a Doc’s appointment and I will say this all is better then could be hoped for. I have been using a new nutritional supplement and feeling great. On top of feeling great my creatinine (not sure if I spelled that right) level has dropped from 2.7 to 2.4 not great but the first improvement I’ve seen. My blood pressure was down to 130/85 and the protein in my urine was down from 4 grams to 1.3 grams. I told my doc what I was using and he said, “I can’t argue with the results.” The protein levels dropping are probably from the medicine he has me on but he says it wouldn’t explain the drop in the creatinine level. I celebrated with a some Chinese food and about 30 minutes of hacky sacking with FGB.

Today Friday was sunny and beautiful. The wife desired some out door activity so we decided to head up to Pokagon and hike. The woods in the North had barely any greenery except for some grass and other plants on the forest floor and a few bushes that were beginning to green up, but the temp was 50 degrees the sun was shinning and we felt great. I strapped the now 25lb baby to my back and we headed out. We took a wrong turn early on and ended up doing a 1 mile loop back to the trailhead. We decided that this wasn’t enough so we set out again towards our original goal to walk a three-mile trail of an adjacent Forrest Preserve. The final total was about 6 miles in about three hours. I was raring for more. Since the weather is supposed to be nice again Saturday FGB and I are going to go for an AM ride and then after lunch will take the wife back up to Pokagon for a 3 or 4 mile hike. I love Spring and miss all of my IL friends and my CA friend.

10 pounds in 100 days

2007-04-13T01:52:00.000-05:00

I started the year around 220 pounds, started February at 218, March at 216, and April at 211. And yesterday I hit 210. So "(about) 10 pounds in (about) 100 days" isn't drastic enough to become a testimonial for the next fad diet, but then again, I didn't have to do anything drastic. A little less on the donuts-n-coffee and burgers-n-beer, and a little more on the exercise-- longer walks, a couple substantial hikes, and a couple days a week of indoor climbing.

Now that I've worked off last year's holiday pounds, I can start on the ones from the year before that are still around. Hopefully in July I'll be posting "20 pounds in 200 days!"

Shakamak and Indianapolis

2007-04-10T16:58:00.000-05:00

Well we’re back from a week’s vacation in the beautiful southern region of Indiana. We stayed in a cabin heated by a wood-burning stove in the Shakamak state park. There are three lakes at Shakamak; Kickapoo, Lenape, and of course Shakamak. FGB and I fished the Shakamak and Lenape. The fishing on Lenape was fantastic. Unfortunately we went in the evening and forgot to bring a camera so I will do my best to describe it to you. The air temperature was 70 and the wind was only gently blowing. It was about 7:00 pm when we pushed off from the pier in our rented John boat. While waiting for FGB to bait up I took a cast by the pier and wham I had hooked something immediately. It turned out to be a 12 inch Large Mouth Bass. Not huge but a lot of fun on the ultra-light tackle we were using. Soon after that I bagged two nice crappies and then FGB got into the act the next 8 fish would be caught by FGB each of them crappie and one of them pushing 3lbs, what a beauty. The fish seemed to hit better while the boat was moving so I continually rowed us around the lake while we let our lines troll out behind the boat. We caught several more fish Crappies and Blue Gills all of which were good size fish.

Lenape is a long thin lake with many fingers and coves branching off along the shoreline. The lake itself lays East and West. After an hour or so of fishing the sun began to set in the West. It was a beautiful red ball of fire that reflected eerily off the placid water. The lake came alive with frogs of all kinds and other animals making their evening calls. The whole chorus rang out with an ominous beauty. FGB said that it sounded like an evil scientist laughing. Soon the moon was rising in the East, it too shone brilliantly reddish orange and added to the evenings “charm.” Truthfully the sights and sounds grew on us and we fell in love with this Southern Indiana Park.

The fishing hadn’t quite come to an end, we had yet to get back to the pier and there was one more promising cove to explore. Of course FGB quickly landed a few more crappie as we entered the cove. FGB couldn’t resist pointing out that his crappie total was much higher than mine, I quickly responded that I had caught a bass and that he hadn’t. Shortly after this exchange my pole bent under the weight of another nice fish. After fighting the fish for a couple of minutes I landed our expeditions only catfish. It was a beautiful channel cat. The sun was almost completely down and the fishing had begun to slow so we headed back to the pier. About 20 feet from the pier, my pole jumped up and flew towards the end of the boat. I dropped my oar and reached out just catching the end of the handle. I threw back my arm back to set the hook and felt the tug of a nice fish. He headed straight to the weeds and with the light tackle I couldn’t stop him. Soon I was just pulling up dead weight. I was sure that the fish had got off and all that was left was weeds. FGB reached over the side of the boat and picked up my catch of weeds. He began peeling away the muck when I heard, “Dad! You’ve got to see this blue gill!” I had caught the biggest blue gill I had ever seen, bigger then even the monsters I’d seen at the Milwaukee zoo river exhibit. It was truly a beautiful specimen and like all the fish we caught he is back in the lake making babies for the next trip.

The hiking was also great. If I had more time I’d describe it to you in detail. Suffice it to say we saw and heard more birds then we could name; water fowl, seed eaters, birds of prey and bug eaters all calling back and forth to each other! By the way on our way back from an excursion to Brown County State Park The beautiful wife snapped the picture of the shark in the sky. We also saw some clouds that looked like arrowheads and missles.

The trip ended up at the Crown Plaza hotel in Indianapolis. We went to the zoo, the museum, the State House, The historical society, the Indianapolis State Library, and the RCA dome. The wife who usually feels very strange in cities said that she truly felt great walking around Indy! It is a clean city and the hoosier hospitality was everywhere. By the way the zoo was fantastic and my 1 ½ year old daughter was a blast to watch! Her favorite part was petting the Yak! Go figure!

Wilderness First Aid

2007-04-05T01:44:00.000-05:00

After hearing many rave reviews about Bobbie Foster's Wilderness First Aid classes, I finally got myself into one by signing up 6 months in advance. Wow, they were right, what a great class!

The class was 16 hours, a full weekend, and lots of stuff learned. If you've had a basic first aid and CPR class, you probably (hopefully!) remember the steps A, B, C. Well, this adds about a dozen more letters to the procedure.

Of course in 16 hours, it won't turn you into a superman. But what I came away with was a process that not only lets you treat some of the most common injuries, but also lets you decide what to do next: (1) Serious danger, call in the helicopter, never mind that you'll have to take out a second mortgage to pay for it, (2) Get back to civilization as soon as you can under your own power, (3) Continue on with your trip but go see the doctor Monday morning.

And interesting too that "wilderness" is considered more than an hour away from advanced medical care. So it's not just if you're planning a trip to the jungles of Borneo, it could just as well be the country roads of Indiana.

Indiana Interval training

2007-04-03T21:05:00.000-05:00

I may come back and post more later but here is some news from Handy and I going to visit Dirt Mag and fam. 1st off What great hospitality. This guy is 1st class all the way and it was great to see the whole family. The new house is awsome with huge windows and tons of natural light. The air is fresh and clean and the whole atmosphere of the area is vital yet relaxed. I miss riding with DM so much. Friday we did go for maybe 20 RT to a covered bridge. I was on the backup- religh. It was fun, but I was slow. DM never complained.
We rode mostly gravel roads, a bit roug at times but "rush hour" was maybe 10 cars (trucks) A few times we were on roads (paved) and sometimes they were narrow but super light traffic and smooth smooth smooth! DM rode his old MTB and was still struggling to go slow enough, if he had been on his CX he would have lapped me. The halt was used once to cinvince a dog to give up the chase and once a fat dog went sooo sloooow even I outran him. That's how they sprint or interval train in Indiana. You ride along in light traffic but at any time one or more dogs can come launching at you. Aparently DM county rules state that all dogs must be unrestrained and ill tempered. Every road he knew DM would state..."Dog to the right, two to the left, be ready. Non the less I can not wait to go back. It is great. Thanks to the whole family.

We even went to a LBS (local bike shop) and I test rode a tadpole trike made by whizwheels. Getting on and off was not prety but was possible. I would have to rig a PVC rollbar for increased visibility in traffic to mount lights etc for commuting but I did manage to get on and take it for two quick circles around the lot. By my second loop I had a big goofy grin on. It was not too slow and very stable. It was like a go cart. It was very very fun/ I have found my next bike It may be slower as it has 20 inch wheels all around, but I am more confident and can put more max effort for more of the time so it should balance out. It will be a good dream/goal for after grad school and a house

Clean 5.9

2007-03-30T01:53:00.000-05:00

After a few weeks of going to the climbing gym, I finally completed a 5.9 route cleanly (i.e. without falling off). At this difficulty, I'm noticing the holds are smaller, more slippery, and at weirder angles. I think the 5.9's will keep me busy for a while, partly because of the difficulty, and partly because there are a lot of them. The 5.9 routes get hard enough that they approach the middle of the (roughly) bell curve that the gym uses to distribute difficulties (for example, there's only about one 5.5 since those would get boring quickly and one 5.13a since those are likely impossible for mere mortals).

It's also nice that the throbbing in my forearms that I felt when I first started going is now replaced by a dull ache. I suppose that soon enough I'll have to worry about crushing bones when I shake hands.

The Curse continues, but a good ride

2007-03-27T07:47:00.000-05:00

I am still waiting for parts for my bike to be repaired so by Monday morning I was sick of waiting. I packed up and headed out on the SC-30 back up beater. It was record heat, but it would have been horribly wrong to complain. I had sort of wanted to get a computer for the backup bike but had put it back yesterday when I bought a lock and pedals for the wife.

I had decided that if I rode to performance I would reward myself with the computer. Mostly the trail was better than before, although rutted. There were several spots that were still under water. I don't mean that there were just puddles. There were half block sections of muck.
There were a lot of people out in some sections. The Des Plaines River is still running way over the underpasses as I went past it. That would not be an option. I turned right (South) at Lake bluff and things eventually thinned out traffic wise. When I jumped off the trail at lake cook aka county line road after going through Revinia the cranks seemed loose so I coasted as much as I could the rest of the way to the shop.
I told the mech my woes and I think because I was plastered in mud and looked hard core if rotund he fit me in (even though he told the next guy 3 weeks) He repacked the barrings and tightened the cranks. He told me to tell the register guy just 10$ for labor, not to tell them of the service. That's class in my book.

On the way home I took a detour down through what used to be part of Fort Sheridan housing I think to get a couple picks of the lake. You coast all the way down and pay for it to get back to Sheridan road. I made it to the Shell station by Dairy dream before the cranks were loose again. I called in an air strike (Wife with car) and took the wheels off and waited a few minutes. We took it straight to Tim's and got there just as they were closing. He thinks he can rethread it and insert a sealed cartridge for the cranks so the problem does not reoccur so easily. [insert Queen's 'Another one bites the dust' here] On the way home my wife was very nice and patient. She even suggested that I buy a new bike, but since there was a inference of colorful metaphor es attached I think I will wait until we have a house.

Bowling!

2007-03-22T15:39:00.000-05:00

Last month I met up with my old bowling team. They said the bowling alley has been calling them to let them know that leagues are forming again! Well, we decided because of our schedules that we probably couldn't do a league, but we have started bowling again just for fun. We only had a chance to bowl one game last week, and mine was a 118. Could have been worse for not having bowled in 2 years. This Tuesday we went again, and I was closer to my old form with a 166 and 142-- starting to pick up some more spares, including that dreaded 10 pin!

The Prodigal Returns

2007-03-20T07:03:00.000-05:00

Hello friends. Sorry for the extremely long time between posts. The last couple of Months have been very tough with my father diagnosed with cancer and my dear friend from childhood being found dead in a hotel room and on top of that I had lost the desire to ride. That was due in part to the continued rise of my blood pressure in spite of medications and that the medications along with the kidney disease were draining me. I was feeling old and older every morning. All of this was complicated by the fact that I have been struggling at work. Of course I was probably struggling because I didn’t feel well, was mildly depressed, and my blood pressure continued to rise. As you can see from the picture there is a new addition to my face... yes, that’s right I’m wearing glasses.

Now to the reason for this blog, I am riding again. Five times in the last eight days and I feel stronger then ever. I have been renewed! FGB and I had to out run one pesky dog but he didn’t seem to be intent on catching us just enjoying a run in the afternoon sun. I hope to ride more now that the sun dips beneath the horizon later in the evening. Last night I rode in the basement as everything is wet from the recent rain. I rode 16 miles in 45 minutes and had a top speed of 50 mph. When I hit 50 my cadence was at 170. Needless to say I was unable to maintain that speed for more than 30 seconds and my trainer was on its easiest setting but it was still fun! And isn’t that the main point to have fun? Thank you all for your continued blogs it is great to read them and to see the pictures.

Duddley and deer

2007-03-19T20:52:00.000-05:00

After dinner on this rare day that I only worked one job my great spouse hooked up the nashbar trailer and we tried the dog in it around the island in the street. When I got up to 12 mph he was whinning. It tracked well. It would kill me on hills on a non paved trail that was wet but it seemed more stable than my usual riding. I was on the old pass through framed MTB on 26" wheels while my trek awaits a new cassette.

After that I was detached and went across to the familiar trail. I was caitious on the downhill by the red barn house as the trail was still wet and rather rutted from snow machines and dirt bikes. The MTB is no coaster and I,m sure I was very slow but I have to start somewhere. I have to banish this hibernation gut reserve. After seeing 10 deer (maybe Wednesday or I'll bring a camera) I went to Gossel road and ditched the trail to fairfield back to 176 to beat the sun home and do a couple miles on pavement to let the bike clean itself a bit. I might have done 8 miles. Pitiful in some respect but not pitiful in comparison to driving a couch.

Yesterday I did a Very slow ride of maybe 20+ miles down to the Desplaines River trail with some thoughts of heading North but the underpass was flooded out so I turned around and after 15 feet saw the other direction was washed out too. A fully geared cycle jock shot past me without a word and geared down and pedaled through several turns of the swamp. I could not see where the water pulled back and revealed the path again. The water seemed more than halfway up his cranks so I just returned to the upper path for a bit further and plodded home. Not quite enough to get a bike buzz but I was in a better mood for the rest of the day.

I have tried to call Handy several times about a possible IN trip and maybe it's the wrong number? Please call me soon.

I suspect you could kayak a significant portion of the Des Plaines River right now

Yellow Bluff

2007-03-18T23:42:00.000-05:00

The name instills awe and respect in beginning paddlers. In more experienced paddlers it, well, still instills awe and respect. But it's also a great play spot and training ground. And this is where we played and trained on Saturday.

As the tide on the ocean rises and falls, a huge volume of water passes in and out of the mile-wide Golden Gate. This causes a current as high as 7 miles per hour under the bridge (a good sea kayaker can sprint at 5 mph for short distances).

About 1/4 mile inside the northern end of the Golden Gate, water from the North Bay must go around a corner and through a change in depth to escape to the ocean. This causes the water to get stirred up in a very localized area when the current is ebbing, much like a rapid on the river. If there is a significant wind opposing the current or if there's a large swell coming in the gate, the usual 2-3 foot chop can get magnified into big 6 foot rollers. If there's not a lot of wind or swell, there are always tanker wakes to help make things interesting.

The idea is to get into the current and paddle against it. The chop that opposes the current gives enough of a boost to hold position. And every once in a while, a nice clean wave moves through. As one of these waves lifts the boat's stern, one can paddle hard to catch it, rocketing forward against the current. Then the challenge becomes maintaining balance, speed, and direction for as long as possible, hopefully for 100 yards or more. For resting, there's a big calm eddy next to the rip, which is formed by the current hitting a point of land and reversing.

So on Saturday, 8 of us took to Yellow Bluff. We got on the water around 1, shortly after the ebb out the Golden Gate was starting. We played and played. We tempted fate by taking pictures of each other while bouncing around in the rough water, one hand on the paddle and one on the camera. I practiced a planned self-rescue, the reentry-and-roll, with two other people spotting me (and interestingly, the Coast Guard just happened to motor by as I was bobbing around in the water). By 4:30, we had worn ourselves out, so we headed back to our launch spot, which just happened to be in front of the Presidio Yacht Club Bar, one of the best kept secrets on the bay.

For more photos, see mine and Ed's

What I need for the next season

2007-03-12T18:24:00.000-05:00

I have looked over my bike for two or three seconds today and went to air up the tires and get in some base miles to get back to the commute. Well I made it to the front and found loose spokes so I took the bike in and won't get it back until Monday. Mostly, I need to get off my butt and pedal off my gut. I will be so happy to be rolling with my friends again.
When I get it back it will be withouth the partially broken derailer gard as I was advised that it is dangeous and sharp as is.
I may ride Friday even if it is cold.

40 and 40

2007-03-09T22:20:00.000-06:00

Well the late morning was like any other day. Darth II went to bed and I went for a nice indoor ride. Last week MWF was a hour ride with T TH a 40 minute ride. This week I rode 40 Minutes on M & F and 1 hour on T & TH... I have a habit of throwing in a DVD and watching while I ride. Makes the ride go by really quickly as well as give me a little entertainment. After Darth II napped the weather was really warm and the sun was shinning through some dark clouds. We went for a 40 minute walk around the neighborhood enjoying the wonderful, wonderful 55 degrees!!! We had to stay to the streets since during the winter most of my neighbors do not shovel the sidewalks in front of their houses. (Required to, but not enforced) Both Darth II and I had a wonderful time just walking outside!!!

Granted I ruined all my exercise with Pizza and a Big Gulp, but wow was that good!!!

Starting to look over my gear and making sure I get the new items I want in the next few weeks. I put the backrack and trunk on my bike so that is ready to go.

Items on my list

New Helmet that is a little bigger and has a visor.
New Gloves -Something I want to add, have a second pair
Elbow Pads - Looked at a few places and will have to run out and look. I found some highly rated ones for BMX racing.
Velcro or Strap shoes - I agreed not to ride outside clipped in for at least this season. I have the dual peddals so I can ride either way. I want to get a new pair of laceless shoes.
Tools - Going to add to my Bike Workshop this spring and summer. Maybe if I sell some books and games on ebay I can generate enough to get all the tools I want...For Now..

Helmet and Elbows pads are a MUST... The rest can wait.

Ride On!!!

Snow! Glorious Snow!

2007-03-09T01:02:00.000-06:00

Before last weekend, it rained for what felt like 10 days straight. That's a Good Thing. For one, it meant the first decent snowfall of the season in the Sierras. And so, last weekend, I was finally able to make it up to the mountains to play in the snow.

The whole weekend it was sunny with highs in the 40's, just beautiful. Saturday a group of 4 of us snowshoed to the top of a hill not too far from Lake Tahoe. At the top, we had a great few of the lake and the opposite shore. And it was made better when someone pulled out some chocolate and a flask of scotch. It's always good to be prepared.

Sunday I snowboarded while another in the group tele skied. I was glad to find that I hadn't forgotten everything in the year that has passed since I last went. Still going slow and making really wide turns, but at least my friend says I have good form. At one point I decided to try linking a bunch of turns really quickly, which of course resulted in catching an edge and landing on my back. I just went with it, kicking my feet over my head, rolling into a backward somersault, sticking the toe side of my board in the snow, standing up, and continuing on my way. It must have looked pretty cool. At least in my own mind.

the feet, not defeat

2007-03-07T20:09:00.000-06:00

I have not even been spinning lately. I have been working a lot and disgusted and disheartened with the weather. Today I did over an hour with the Aero base builder DVD and that blathering clown coach troy (but I like the DVD enough) my legs were quick to go to lactic acid land but I have to get back to it. Even when the weather is good I won't be able to ride Tuesdays or Thursdays as I will now be working another job from 4-6:15, to go with my 6:30-9:30 on those days. This week I worked T,W,R night and had 2nd job meetings Tuesday to set up the program. Why? I would think about saying no, but this may lead to a full time position so we will try it. I have not heard about grad school yet, although they did cash my check. I started a 90 day med to try to fix some smashed toenails. I hope it works. Side effects include GI issues and a temporary change in taste and smell. I have lost almost all desire to eat. It better be temporary. Sorry if that's TMI (too much info) but I don't think anybody but the authors and their significant others read this. I did find out that KS reads this but she likes Andy's posts better. He has good pictures. She says I have good crash stories.

I am grateful that my wife is so supportive and understanding, both of my crashes and my winter weight gain. Someone really should get me a helmet cam.

The bike show is next month and I want to go on the 15th (Sunday?) so I can try some recumbents...(anyone else?) I have to work or I'd go on Saturday.
chicagobikeshow.com

Clowner face

2007-03-01T01:19:00.000-06:00

When I was a kid, I coined the term "clowner face" to describe a trait that runs in the family. It is a facial expression that, when used properly, can summon superhuman strength. It comes in handy in many situations, for instance, when changing a tire or opening a jar of pickles.

There's a family photo from 1980-- when my dad was my age-- that shows my dad climbing to the top of a swing set to demonstrate a feat of strength. Clowner face is evident: one eye closed, teeth showing, jaw twisted out and to the side, and neck tensed with veins nearly popping out.

So tonight as I began my fourth week of going to the climbing gym, I'm sure I was using the family trait to muster all my strength. In the end, though, my forearms feel like throbbing lead weights, and my hand can barely turn the key to start the car. Of course the experts will tell you that it's not about strength, it's about technique, balance, finesse, good planning, and mental preparation. But I'm convinced that a little extra strength doesn't hurt.

(S)eagull watch

2007-02-20T11:25:00.000-06:00

Last Saturday about 20 of us gathered at Lake San Antonio, about 3 hours south of the bay area, to go for a bit of a paddle and look for eagles. We saw lots of nests, but personally I only saw maybe one eagle that was flying away. But we did see plenty of seagulls!

Still, it was a nice day, temperature of 70 degrees and no wind.

No Riding, Walking or Sleeping, but did this!

2007-02-12T08:59:00.000-06:00

Well this weekend was rather interesting. Both boys were spiking major fevers on Friday and Darth II would not sleep. Being only 2 1/2 he really has a difficult time with being sick. By Saturday Mrs Darth was also a bit under the weather. We have been buying lights and furniture the past month and I just started putting up the lights.

So here is some of what I did...

Rainy day activity

2007-02-12T01:06:00.000-06:00

Saturday the forecast was for rain, a 6-8 ft swell, and 20-25 kt winds. Didn't sound like a good day to be outside... unless you were sea kayaking.

Four of us rode the ebb out the bay past the north tower of the Golden Gate Bridge. The wind was there, but more in the manageable 10-15 kt range. With the current, though, we took a pretty quick direct route a couple mile out to Point Bonita, the last point of land before getting to the wide open ocean.

We figured that making it a couple more miles around to the next beach wasn't going to happen, but we decided to poke our boats around the corner. There, we encountered the 8 ft (at least) swells that the weather forecast had called for. With the wind opposing the current out there, the swells were pretty steep, too. I was able to launch my boat over the top of one of the swells, catching air and landing with a resounding thud. Even though I was probably only about 6 inches out of the water, an 18 foot fiberglass boat makes an impressive noise when it lands.

After poking outside, we decided to turn and head back. The push that the wind and swell gave us made going against the last of the ebb easy, and the swells were steep enough to have some nice fun surfing back. After a snack on one of the beaches near the gate, we headed back into the bay and grabbed a beer at the nearby yacht club.

unmotivated

2007-02-11T00:10:00.001-06:00

I would have liked to have done 60 minutes on the treadmill, but after 40 my oxygen was feeling pretty depleted. If I can do it regularly I hope to see a reversal of the weight velocity.

Clean Run - Almost

2007-02-10T00:01:00.000-06:00

Well Todd might not want to ride in weather below 40 degrees, but that doesn't stop me from kayaking. Last Sunday I met up with my friend Steve to do a run on the Class III Chili Bar section of the South Fork American. As I drove down into the river valley, I noticed the little thermometer on my car descending as well. When I arrived at the meeting spot, it read 30 degrees, there was a bit of frost on the ground, and the flow report noted the water temperature was a cool 46. No, Steve wasn't going to get to try out his new short-sleeve drytop today.

The water was still really low, so we grabbed a leisurely coffee before heading up to the put-in. As we were getting ready, the water started coming up right on cue. Shortly after putting on, Steve rolled while playing around and suffered an ice-cream headache. It was a good day to try to do a clean run-- the whole run without a single roll.

We started down, soon coming along Meatgrinder, a quarter-mile field of boulders that's the first major rapid of the run. I was a bit jittery going down it, partly because the flow was still pretty low, exposing more rocks, and partly because I had never paddled in such a small group. But we made it through the rapid easily, and I quickly settled down.

After cruising down a ways, we came upon Maya, one of the best play spots on the run. We stopped for a while, each surfing the wave there a half-dozen times. Both of us had little playboats designed to do all sorts of cool tricks, but neither of us was up to doing anything that could result in a dunking. We kept our heads dry and remained satisfied with some plain-vanilla front-surfing, cutting back and forth across the wave.

On our way down the river, we saw something orange floating in the water. Hmm, someone lose a helmet? It was going pretty fast, so it took a while for us to catch up. The object turned out to be a basketball. Ah the jokes we could have entertained ourselves with had it been a Wilson.

I thought ahead to Troublemaker. It usually hadn't been a problem for me, but I still hadn't managed to run it upright in the new playboat. But I was feeling pretty good about the run so far. I commented to Steve that all I have to do is make it through Troublemaker and I'd have a clean run. Bad idea. As soon as I said something, I started approaching a little nondescript hole. Too lazy to sprint around it, I dropped right into the middle, figuring I'd just punch through it. Nope. So much for the clean run.

We then approached Troublemaker and got out to scout it. The first hole in the rapid looked trashy. Definitely not the place to be. The first choice was to go through the narrow passage to the right of the hole and over a little drop, hoping that there weren't shallow rocks at the bottom to get tangled on. The other choice was to go left into an easy-to-catch eddy. The hard part was getting out of the eddy and back over to the right, because on the left, there was another nasty-looking hole further down the rapid. Neither of us figured we'd have enough speed to do the ferry, so we decided to go right.

Steve headed down first while I sat in my boat on the shore. I saw him go down the first drop, then lost sight of him behind a nearby rock. It looked like he had gone a little far left. I thought maybe he decided at the last minute to catch the eddy on the left instead. He emerged after a while, and I saw his head bobbing down the lower part of the rapid. Something looked a little off, but I didn't realize he was out of his boat until he clambered up onto the rocks. Steve must have gotten caught in the nasty hole at the top.

I jumped out of my boat to get a view of the hole to see if his boat was still there. From the opposite bank, Steve signaled that he was ok and for me to get back in my boat and paddle. So now I was supposed to run the rapid that Steve just got trashed in?? I thought for a moment about walking around it, which I had done before after a trashing, but something made me decide to go for it.

As I walked back to my boat, I took a last good look at the rocks at the top of the rapid. I knew I'd have to go far right to avoid the same fate as Steve's. As soon as I launched, I kept my eyes on the rocks and paddled right toward them. In fact, I got a little too close. I brushed a rock above the drop and got spun sideways a little. I then went down the drop completely sideways. Not the best thing to do, but I was relieved to hit a soft pillow of water and not a jagged rock or a nasty seam of water ready to flip me. The hardest part over, I continued down the rapid to where Steve was.

Steve said his boat was probably at the Coloma bridge by now, a couple hundred yards down. I started sprinting the flatwater to chase it down. Arriving at the bridge, I saw no sign of the boat. Just past the bridge, there were a few people on shore who didn't look panicked but looked like they may have just seen something interesting. I started paddling over there, thinking I'd casually ask if they had seen an empty red kayak floating down the river, as if I were asking them if they had any Grey Poupon.

But just then I saw the boat another 100 yards or so downstream. It had made its way into the shallows and got hung up on some rocks. I paddled toward it, bulldozed it with my boat, and freed it, only to have it get caught up again. This time I was downstream of the boat, unable to get back up to do anything meaningful with it. Time to head to shore and walk back upstream.

I found a landing spot and ran upstream along the trail and then started out through some brambles toward the boat. About that time, I saw the boat had been freed by some other boaters coming down, so I ran back downstream to retrieve it. One of the boaters got is towline on it. Another handed me a throw rope, which I discovered had come out of Steve's boat. I walked out into the river to retrieve the boat. By this time, Steve had made it down. We got everything in order and started down the last little Class II section before the takeout.

Steve filled me in on what happened. He was worried about hitting the rocks on the right, so he went a little bit left-- just enough to hit the corner of the nasty hole and get sucked in. He got flipped 5 times in the hole, but it wouldn't let go. After running out of breath, he popped out of the boat but managed to hold onto it. The empty boat started flushing out of the hole, and he hung on, figuring it was his ticket out, but the hole pulled him back with so much force he wasn't able to hold on. After getting recirculated a couple times, he finally flushed out and made it to shore.

He also reminded me that it was his very first swim in the river and that he always said that the longer he went without swimming, the worse it would be!

3 mph

2007-02-08T19:40:00.000-06:00

I am cranky. Winter seems to have set up permanent residence,obviously working as part of the Illuminati with the gas companies to keep my finances tight as my belly gets giggly from the carb cravings induced by the cold and dark. Alas I have not felt like spinning and time has crunched but today I overcame inertia and plodded on the moving black strip for 40 minutes and 2 miles.

I am still a biker and I am counting on that as I am an inefficient walker/jogger so I should be able to burn some calories on the dark ribbon that causes my shoes to leave small markings on the impractically colored light beige carpet.

It does feel good to have done 'something today' and my near perfect wife crock potted dinner so I will have it and it will be warm and tasty upon return from 2ND job tonight.

Indoor Riding Increase

2007-02-08T12:37:00.000-06:00

Well since it has been in the negative temps now for a while there is NO WAY I would ride outside. Actually if it is below 40 I am not too excited about outside riding.

I have been riding my bike inside 5-6 times per week and mainly riding 40 Minutes AND 10 Miles which ever comes last. Now I have upped the time to 50 Minutes and 11 Miles giving me a longer cool down period. My hope is in the next few weeks to be able to ride a full hour 5-6 times a week and one day a week over that hour. Currently by the time I reach the 50 minute mark I am a little saddle sore. The new channel seat prevents any numbing, but since I have no butt the seat is taking more time to get used to. Once I reach that 60 minute mark I plan on increasing the mileage and sticking with the time. For me to get more then an hour more then one day a week would be very difficult. I think the hour is about all I could get 5-6 times a week. I do also plan on certain days when I am less busy with work to possible hit the bike two times to give my self some more change.

Here is to 50 minute rides working on 60...

Ride On!!!!

Changes to the Blog Format

2007-02-08T12:33:00.000-06:00

Well I have changed the over all format of the blog and may be making some other changes soon. My goal is to make it easier to read and use all the new functions of the upgraded blogger. I feel the white text background helps with reading the blog and improves the over all look.

I know with the weather being so cold there has been very little to say so this time is as good as any for upgrades and updates...

Ride On!!!

A Good Week and a Bad Week

2007-01-31T15:06:00.000-06:00

Last week was a good riding week. Monday I did the Pushing Big Gears workout with coach Troy. Tuesday I could barely walk so I did some upper body stuff on the Bowflex. Wednesday I was back on the bike for another coach Troy work out. This time it was the recharge work out, my legs and butt were still sore from the Pushing Big Gears work out. Thursday I was back on the Bowflex for some more upper body work.. I also did a two-mile hike with the family at Pokagon State Park. The scenery was beautiful as usual. The snow was crisp under our feet and the wind was nipping at any exposed flesh. The baby and the dog were safely bundled into the trailer/off road stroller and the rest of were hoofing it. The cacophony of birds flitting about above our heads was a real treat. Friday brought another Coach Troy workout, the Aero Base Builder. I did this on a harder setting on my trainer and in typically higher gears then Coach Troy asks for, but I wanted to push myself. Much to my shame I have yet to do anything physical this week other then shovel snow and climb around in the attic. Tonight when I finish work I have to go to my in-laws and pick up the family as they were there caring for Great Grandma. Hopefully tomorrow will afford an opportunity to ride. Until then keeping pedaling, paddling or rolling and be well.

Darth thanks for the work on the Blog!

Article for an Online Magazine

2007-01-26T18:48:00.000-06:00

Well an article I wrote was just published on an Online Magazine...

ARTICLE @ DADCENTER

It is a quick article on buying a bike as a novice.

Ride On!!!

I have been sick all week so I have not been in the saddle... SLOTH!!!!

better than nothing I guess

2007-01-24T20:15:00.000-06:00

Today I did the first 40 minutes of the base builder IV DVD.
I like the Carmicheal stuff a lot better. I feel sick of darkness, fat and tired but eager to ride when the snow and ice diminish. It will be very nice to not ride alone.

Hello to an old friend

2007-01-23T19:08:00.000-06:00

After a week in NY and the cold and work being busy I was sick of it and wanted to take a nap between jobs. However, after doing a load of laundry I decided to go see my old friend chris from CTS. Rode for 1 hour mountain bike style max effort intervals. you should try this DVD Darth. I did a short ride over the weekend but the back tire felt wobbled after less than 4 miles. I hope it was just snow. We shall see...when it melts some. The world is a sheet of ice right now.

SLOTH, GLUTTONY and a SUPER BOWL BID!!!

2007-01-22T07:16:00.000-06:00

Well yesterday was not my best day of exercise or eating. The closest thing to exercise was cheering the Bears on as they beat up on the Saints. I had TOO much PIZZA and SODA while sitting on my backside in front of the game. So today I will be BACK IN THE SADDLE AGAIN!!! Maybe trying for an HOUR or more!!!

So yesterday was my day off the bike... Now back on until next Sunday... Then on FEB 4th I will be riding all morning to make it easy for me to not feel guilty about what I eat when the BEARS WIN THE SUPER BOWL!!!!

Ride On...

20 Days, 17 Riding and 18 Rides

2007-01-20T10:05:00.000-06:00

Well so far this year I have been on my trainer 17 days for 18 times. I decided one day to actually ride twice since I had such a bad day of food. Nothing like feeling less guilty about pigging out by riding an extra 10 miles. So the count on the year for me is around 200 miles in those 17 days. For the time I have this is great. I am still adjusting to my new saddle which prevents numbness, but does give me a bit of a sore rear. Even with the bike shorts the seat is different enough to make me have to readjust all over again.

My typical ride is around 40 minutes and 10 + miles. On a few days I have gone 15-20 miles, but the time for that is not always there. I am hoping to drop some serious weight by Spring and Summer so I can do some really long trail rides without killing myself. With my new eating habits and riding habits I have already dropped around 5 pounds! On Monday I will know the exact amount. My goal by June 1 is to drop 30 pounds so when I ride this summer I can focus on getting the shape and weight I want without all the extra pounds. After breaking my Elbow I put on 20 pounds! So now that the broken elbow and tendon issue are behind me there are no more excuses... RIDE RIDE RIDE... EAT HEALTHY!!! BE HEALTHY!!!

RIDE ON!!!

My New Riding Partner

2007-01-09T21:09:00.000-06:00

Well as you can see the extreme amounts of rain have limited my riding to indoor basement rides, but on a high note my new riding partner is awfully cute. I was just tooling along doing some big gear single leg revolutions to train my legs to pull up as well as push down when I heard the joyous screeches of my one year old and saw her frantically pointing at me. I asked her if she wanted “up” she immediately responded with “up” “up’ “up” (this is her only word and she uses it when she wants up, down, fed, or just about anything). I couldn’t resist the little charmer and had my wife hoist her into my lap. She loved going up and down as my legs turned the pedals. It was all fine until I looked down and saw that she had the tube from my camel back firmly planted between her teeth and was drooling to beat the band (she’s teething big time five or six teeth coming in together). You’ll notice from the picture that the tube is hooked up out of her reach and I gave her one of the straps to chew on. I’m not one of those dads who just wipes it of on his pants and goes on with life I had to have my wife get some basic-h and clean off my mouth piece before I could use it again. I know I know I’m a wimp. All in all it was a good ride. 45 minutes of hard work and 15 minutes of playing with the baby! It’s just good to be riding.

2 A Days

2007-01-09T19:13:00.000-06:00

Well since Jan 2 I have ridden inside all but 1 day. I am really enjoying the trainer and how easy it is for me to just go for a 30-40 minute ride while Darth II is napping or playing. Well I have refocued me energy into losing all the weight I gained between the two damaged elbows and my total lack of control.

Week 1 I lost 2 Pounds!!!

Today I was able to ride in the morning for about 30 minutes, but Darth II made me stop two times. Well at lunch I had Subway which fit perfectly into my consumption guidelines, but I really wanted some soda. I purchased a case of 12 oz cans for this express purpose. If I really wanted one I could have a little without hitting the local Soda Crack Dealer for 44 ounces of Black Bubbly Goodness. Well the one turned into two... So I decided to hit the bike again after Darth II napped. I hit the bike for 45 minutes and really pushed it... So having the Soda was easily countered by my extra workout.

RIDE TO EAT!!!

I really can not wait until March when I get cleared to ride outside again. I am really looking forward to getting in shape and doing some really long rides... 50, 75 and of course the BIG 100!!!

RIDE ON!!!

Be Vare-we Vare-we Qwiet.

2007-01-05T14:24:00.000-06:00

Tuesday December 26th was a great day for being outside. I didn’t have to work and my brother in law and father were going hunting. I had bought FGB a 20-gauge youth shotgun for Christmas which he was kind enough to let me use. The day started out with some target shooting for practice. We rolled clay targets along the ground to shoot at as if they were rabbits. I took four shots at the rollers and missed them all. I had one practice shot left as FGB was going to shoot the other 20 shells himself. I decided to have them fling the last one in the air. I raised my gun pulled the trigger and shattered it with ease. There you have it, as long as the rabbits didn’t start flying it appeared that they would be safe from my gun. FGB embarrassed all of the men by hitting 60 percent of his clay targets. Unfortunately he didn’t have his hunter safety class yet so no hunting for him until next year.

The hunt began behind the barn in the tall grass just before we enter the woods. We were out for no more then 5 minutes when a rabbit jumped up and sprinted out in front of me. I raised my gun and let fire… amazingly the rabbit rolled. I hit it! I was walking over to pick it up when all of a sudden it righted itself and took two large bounds away. I could see he was injured and I didn’t want him to suffer so I reloaded the gun and finished the job. I was pleased that I had actually bagged a rabbit but there was also that solemn sense that I had ended the life of one of God’s creatures.

The hunt continued into the forest. The forest is overrun with wild roses and the thorns were brutal. A vast amount of energy was expended as we pushed our way through the heavy brush. About 100 yards in I flushed another rabbit but due to the constricting roses I was unable to fire a shot. All five of us were spread out in a line and I was on the far right end. I tracked the rabbit and flushed him again he was moving further to the right, towards the swamp. If he made it to the swamp he’d have earned his freedom. I fired once turning him back to the left and called to the rest of the party that he was heading their way. Soon I heard the blam, blam, blam, blam, of My brother-in-laws 12-gauge repeater he had bagged the second rabbit. Almost immediately after that I heard my father’s old 12-gauge fire blam, Ker-chuck, blam two shots fired but no sign of his quarry. We regrouped and and headed off to see if my father had hit his rabbit. There was no blood trail and no fur so he probably hadn’t hit it.

On the Far south side of the woods I bagged my second rabbit he was hopping through the tall grass and just as he crested the tops of the weeds I fired. The weeds stopped moving. My father went over to pick him up when all of a sudden it starts jumping erratically, obviously in its death throws. I begin to reload to put him out of his misery when my father scoops down picks him up and gives him a rabbit chop to the back of the neck. He coolly looks over at me and says, “less BBs to pick out of the meat. A valuable lesson learned. My brother-in-law would bag one more before the day was over and too many to count would escape to hunt another day.

We went back to the house and began the process of cleaning the rabbits. Thankfully we had shot all males so no reduction in the rabbit population as one male can impregnate all the females. My sister made rabbit stew with potatoes, carrots, and all the goodies. She even added some morel mushrooms that were found locally and dried. All in all it was a good experience and one that I can’t wait to share with FGB.

Home again

2007-01-04T14:47:00.000-06:00

I reconsidered a long ride today and just came home from the P's. I had a 20-25 mph headwind and it was very slow. The trail after fairfield was horrible. The trail in libertyville is different more gravel and clay. This was more sand. My tires were lke coated taffy apples with nut coating. Between the wind and the friction I lost speed coasting down hills. It is raing too. Still not bad and I have 79 miles for the year thus far.

Three DAYS OF THE NEW YEAR.

2007-01-03T13:48:00.000-06:00

On the first I went out at about 4:30 and reset my overall odometer so I could see if I can get 3K miles this year. I went down Hawley to the path and turned around at Bradley (the stoplight after Lamb's Farm). It was only about 24 miles RT but not bad. I used my lights the whole time and my trek backup for a few miles on the way home when others cut out.

On the 2nd I made a run to VCA Noyes animal hospital at 14 and Kelsey in barrington. I tool 176 to barrington road I think it is, to kelsey and the left to stay on kelsey. This was only about 16 miles RT but has some good rollers (hills). I averaged 12 but these are shorter runs and I am feeling spent by the end. I am fighting something green in my lungs but mostly feel ok.

Today I rode to Crystal lake YMCA to get fingerprinted for background checks for grad school. It is not a choice route 176 then left at 31 for a couple miles. 31 has a wide paved shoulder but some on ramp crossings and 176 that way has some nasty hills. I think it was about 25 to 26 miles RT and on the way home I hit the upper 20's downhill (and I break and slow on downhills. The truckers were a bit rude and 4 times expected me to divert to the ussually unpaved sholder. They were a little nice or I got lucky becase each time I got into that far sholder it was at or near a small paved section. I did not bring in the computer yet as I may ride over to the P's with some spuds for a turkey dinner. My dad's oldest brother and wife are coming to town. Stay safe.

Nightcap recap: The ride to my parents was one way as my beautiful wife wanted me to drive home as she is super tired. With a 2nd job she's working about 6 days a week, but it's stuff she likes to do. I don't have my computer as the bike is at the P's. I only averaged 11.1 mph for the 32.8 miles of today. The inbound to the YMCA was hilly and slow. I actually hit above 31 mph on the way home downhill without peddling so it was indeed some big hills. The panniers were loaded for the dinner trip with clothes for me and the Mrs and 2 containers of smashed spuds. The wind was gusting to 20 mph. I think I have almost 70 miles for the year.

Darth sitting

2007-01-03T13:43:00.000-06:00

I made a couple of runs those days following Darth's surgery to help a bit. I hope the houshold is now over the flu and I trust Yak had a good visit. My average over to Lakemoor was about 12.9 or 13 mph. All road but not bad. Is there a way to do sections on this blog? could there be an equipment review part? It was suggested by our paddling pal and I agree that it is a good idea. I have a couple new items of clothing and a new tail light.

A dark run to the Darth side

2006-12-22T17:55:00.000-06:00

Tuesday I was sick of not riding after a great weekend run with the crew so I ran down 176 to main to bonner over to darrell and to Darths to remind him to wake up after his surgery. It was quite black out by 430 my return leg but it was good to get out. I had minimal interference from traffic. I consider 1 honk minimal. I didnt check the numbers but at apperox 18-22 miles and all road it was a nice little stretchIt is pretty flat, although everything is more extreme seeming in the dark of afternoon. I am glad the days will be on the upside of daylight now.

A Brisk Ride

2006-12-11T08:05:00.000-06:00

Wednesday of last week was a fairly cold day at 33 degrees. The winds were out of the West and were gusting to 20 miles per hour. I had to coax FGB into riding with me. It wasn’t like calling CK and receiving a hearty, “yeah what time do you want to go?” After getting FGB worked up and excited about riding we donned the necessary layers and mounted our aluminum steeds. After a short 1.9 miles FGB was saying how glad he was to be out riding. All it took was getting him past his fears that it would be cold.

If you notice in the picture I have a can of Halt hanging from my water pack courtesy of CK. Thanks CK it actually came into use on this ride, not just once but twice the can was actually fired at a persistent canine pursuer! The route we chose, of course, took us West into the wind. At about 6 miles into the ride we were attacked by a pit bull running loose. He charged at FGB so I slowed down and stuck my arm out so he’d have something to aim at. Little did he know that that arm also had a hand attached to it and the hand was holding a can of Halt. He charged at my out stretched arm and I fired. The wind caught the spray and I missed the target, but the smell of the pepper spray was enough for him, he kept barking and snarling but he stayed well out of range of the fiery spray. Good to know it doesn’t even have to hit them to be effective. Not even a mile from that dog an australian sheep dog comes tearing out of his yard, passing us with ease, and cutting in front of me and stopping in the middle of the road, tail between his legs and growling. I once again unclip my Halt and raise my arm to fire. As I get closer I can see he’s not going to give way and is timing my feet for a strike. I let loose with my red spray of fire and it hits it’s mark right on the snout of my worthy foe. With a yelp he runs back to his yard and as we pass, victorious, he just stands there with a perplexed and fearful look on his face. I dare say if ever we pass by that way again he won’t even bother to come off of his yard. Since the law states that dogs must be leashed or fenced in at all times I think, in the future I will spray any dog that comes out of his yard in any posture other then happy to see you! About a mile from home we were “chased” by another dog. Chased is in quotation marks because this dog was so fat that I was afraid it was going to have a heart attack just trying to do the 11 mph we were going. Needless to say compassion got the better of me and I didn’t spray this mutt, he’s got enough problems.

FGB and I did a 13 Mile ride into a brisk wind with dogs at our heels and survived. I was afraid that the dog experience would sour FGB on the idea of riding, but thankfully he loved it. There is a certain thrill in meeting the challenge and overcoming it that is good for a thirteen-year-old boy. It is safe to say though that FGB will never forget his can of Halt again, you’ll notice that he doesn’t have one strapped to his pack. The next entry will be all about hunting squirrels and rabbits in the family woods, my first hunting trip

Timber King or Food?

2006-12-06T07:08:00.000-06:00

First of all a big thanks goes out to Darth for being the editor and impetus for this blog. I haven’t done much riding since we have received much rain in Indiana unlike my friends in Illinois who got clobbered with snow. The rain has all frozen and the ice patches are quite treacherous. But all is not lost I have been hiking with the family in the frozen woods.

Saturday we all donned our winter gear and headed up to Pokagon State Park in North East Indiana. The Baby was a sight to see, she had no winter boots so we layered her up in a couple pairs of daddy’s wool socks. The bike trailer came in handy as a baby transport and carry all for our gear and as you can see when the dog got too cold we tucked him into the back with FGB’s down blanket. He rode like a mini emperor in his human drawn carriage. Now something’s definitely wrong with this picture.

The changes in a deciduous forest in the fall and winter of the Midwest are drastic and beautiful. The leaves all fallen and brown, the greenery that usually fills the ground with life, and color, and insects all but gone, and the sun setting between the trees all lent itself to a somewhat melancholy feeling. I was reminded of the fragility of life and yet even in the midst of apparent desolation we saw the beauty of life. A falcon landed in a tree just above our heads and hopped from branch to branch showing its agility and grace.

As we hiked around the back end of the park we began to hear the exuberant howls of elated children as they raced down the toboggan run. It is a tall run that takes a good 10 or 15 minutes to walk up and mere seconds to fly down. FGB begged to go down the run but I hadn’t brought any money to rent a toboggan with so I promised him a trip as soon as we had some proper snow. I don’t know what they were sliding on. I guessed that the park either made snow or iced it down with water.

On the home front we have a pair of rough legged hawks down from somewhere in the great white north of Canada to over winter in our bean field. They are awesome birds with a wingspan of about 4 feet and all the majesty of a great bird of prey as it soars on the updrafts and swoops low across the fields in search of unsuspecting rodents. We first noticed them when Marie let Timber out the back door to go potty. He ran over to the tall weeds growing above our septic field and began to root around in his normal way. Marie was watching him from the sliding glass doors when she noticed a large bird from across the field heading in the direction of our house. It took a moment but she soon realized it was a bird of prey and it was heading straight for Timber. Thinking quickly she called Timber to come and eat and always eager for food Timber charged into the house. As soon as Timber got to the doorway the hawk wheeled and went back to the bean field to continue his hunt. We’re not sure if he would have really tried to take down the dog but as Timber is the size of a rabbit were not taking any chances from now on he’s on a short leash or we go outside with him.

Just to Update

2006-12-05T23:26:00.000-06:00

Hey guys long time no blog. I am still know to this technology so I am afraid tp reveal myself. Well here I go I am still bowling on Fridays anf Every other Sundays. I am the most inconsistant bowler I know. I can bowl 180's 190's and low 200's. The in the same week bowl like 110-130's. My league average is 156 in both leagues. I am looking forward to getting into my old form of bowling an average of 170's-180's. One of these days i will have my consistancy back and can get my average up. Bowling kind of plays head games with me. I think I thow the perfect ball and get a split. Though a bad shot and get a strike. I guess this is the same with life you think you did something right and get a bad report. I think I do something wrong and get praised for it. Then you have the average throw and you get the spare, and this is the average day in a persons life. I wish luck come to me more often and get that average life going again. My other problem is letting oppentents getting into my head and just playing head games and me not ignoring it and do the best I can do.

35 More Minutes Inside

2006-12-05T22:21:00.000-06:00

Well today I was able to hit the bike inside for another 35 minutes. I hook up the iPod and ride while Darth Kid 2 is napping. It gives me the much needed alone time as well as some good exercise. I do hope to be ablt to continue this routine the entire winter.

Come spring after my elbow heals from getting a tendon repaired I plan on riding as well as Join a Shotokan Karate Club. I was in Tae Kwon Do for years as a kid and teen and did make it to a 1st degree black belt prior to having life happen. Now that I am set in life and need some kind of additional outlet I am thinking getting back to Martial Arts is a good thing.

So come spring after I am100% healed I will be an exercise freak...

Ride On!!!

Just keep walking

2006-12-05T16:12:00.000-06:00

I'm sure we'll get there by next week". I think that is a quote from a very old INXS song. Darth. I would love if I could get some of that music long promised.

I think Thanksgiving was the last time I rode as it was very nice and I went jersey and shorts about 16 miles RT to dinner ( yeah I changed for dinner), I ws going to try to ride last friday and had switched over my lights and installed the interchange rack (probably wrongly) on wife's old SC30, but a mounting bracket fell apart so I await parts. Thursday I hope to send the bag to trek to get the zipper fixed. Cold is OK, snow is OK, but both together is a problem as everything is ice and too much to ride through but not enough to not crunch through.

Sunday and Monday I did 1.5 miles on the treadmill in 30 minutes each day. Today I did 2 miles in 40 minutes and my back is now telling me it is unhappy. Better than nothing.

A Few Changes Made

2006-12-05T09:46:00.000-06:00

I made a few changes to the blog and added a few things.

Feedburner Email Subscription. People can now sign up to receive new posts via their email.
Technorati Search function. This is a search of the blog as well as a promotional feature having the blog on the Technorati site. Additional search areas. More people to find us.
A Link to my NEW Work At Home Dad Blog. " A Man Among Mommies"

As the month goes on I have a few ideas for some simple changes. There is a new version of Blooger available, but it is still a beta version. I have "A Man Among Mommies" in the new format, but it has a few bugs and does not work right with FireFox. IE7 is currently the least buggy. (That is odd)

Once the new blogger is up and running correctly I will make some major changes in format, color and features. You can see some of the features on the A.M.A.M blog.

On the Exercise front I rode last night for 35 minutes and had blocks of time where I was riding over 20 mph. Good workout.

Ride On...

Snow Removal At it's Finest...

2006-12-02T07:31:00.000-06:00

Well I have not posted in a little while due to my complete lack of activity. I did ride inside a few times and last Monday rode for more then an hour. Yesterday however I spent some quality time with the snow, a shovel and a borrowed snow blower. The estimated final count was between 12 and 15 inched. Because of the elbow issue it is really not a good idea for me to shovel. Mrs. Darth went out and started shoveling since she did not drive into work. School was also cancelled so it felt a bit like a Saturday. After 2 hours of shoveling Mrs. Darth had maybe 1/3 of the driveway done. After looking at it I decided that was crazy and went down to a neighbor and asked to borrow their snow blower. It was a pretty beat up machine, but beggars can not be choosers. It took me over 2 more hours to finish the drive. I then needed to use the shovel to dig out the mailbox as well as the front stoop. This morning I need to go to the dentist and repair the chipped tooth I got when I fell of my bike as well as fix an old filling... Oh Joy...

This afternoon Mrs Darth and I are going to go check out some snow blowers. We are leaning towards getting one since after the 20th of December I will be unable to do any difficult work. We probably will not need it more then 5 times a year so I am sure it will last a very long time.

Be Well and Ride On...

1 potato 2

2006-11-21T18:38:00.000-06:00

I rode in today it was well below freezing...Maybe I will get a breathable jacket for Christmas but I was warm enough. 2 base layers and a jersey and the sweat soup raincoat.

It is getting hard to get motivated. I really like sleep. I have ridden at least once a week I think so fat this school year but that's kind of weak. I need help with my computer again. It's skipping readings from time to time although there could be interference from the panniers as they were loaded and bloated today with clothes and 10 pounds of mash potatoes and 2 jars of gravy for a school thing. (yeah jars of gravy because I didn't do the meat so I didn't make the gravy. My appetite has stayed even when I don't ride so I back slid some on that. I swear it's the darkness. I want to eat carbs and hibernate. I was really sore today and couldn't sleep too well from my knee hurting because I fell coming in the door. However I am sore but fine and riding didn't make it worse. I just miss riding with my friends. Riding in the dark, worried of getting flats, potholes on the trail from construction and who knows what. It might be good if I was alone but there always seems to be deathwish ninja joggers when I let my guard down.

Hey I'm still riding and that's good but I am not faster or in better shape. On the other hand imagine what a stump I'd be if I were not biking at all.

my new rim was making noise today but may have been the pannier. Did I tell you of the whole flat/new rim thing?

Last Wednesday unexpectedly worked double shift. My lights pretty much ran out which may or may not helped me get a flat, I made it to Culvers in Liberalville-. I haven't changed a tire but I was going to try. I only have 2 tire levers (3 recommended) 1 snapped. Those continentals are a tight fit anyway so I can't get the tire off. Wife not home, borrow culvers phone leave message, go back and wrestle with wheel, many a yuppie gawks at my 1 wheeled upsidedown bike 15 feet in front of the main door, no one offers help. Go back in to try to look up elbow boys ph #, wife calls culvers so I wait. make it home. Next day in between jobs take wheel to cyclry in Libertyville. I say maybe you can find out why it flatted blah blah. Hole is on the inside...hmm not good rim poke side....Says these tires are a tight fit, I buy metal tire levers and then he says oh time for a new rim. WHAT!!??! UM no....This was supposed to be a 'bulletproof rim it's not even a year old. Where did I get it? From Tim in LZ. oh it will be under warranty ok but what's going on? He thinks bad batch of heat treated rims...the store has seen it recently in same rim they sold to so and so-Cracks at the spole eyelets will take about a week to get new rim shipped. Tim happens to call the store...yeah he knows me and will order new rim, I drive around and decide to go to LZ to make sure they have my ph# and to show Tim my rim. He says leave it here, new rim will be here tommow. Friday I pick up rim and spend a long time saturday trying to get it back on. I pick up a water rack and 2nd pannier rack for the old SC-30 but doubt it will work withot heal strike of panniers...we will see. Hopefully Darth can help me put it on sometime and maybe we can try the speedo sensor.

Dirt, do you like the integrated brifters of the CX bike?

more later, ride safe.

A Perfect Fit

2006-11-21T15:35:00.000-06:00

Well I hadn't ridden the Cyclocross bike since the 80-mile ride several months ago. This was due to the fact that I just haven't been as comfortable on it as I was on my MTB. While at Summit City Cycles in Fort Wayne to buy a bike computer for my nephew I described the problems I was having and asked a sales person if there was anything that he could suggest. He suggested a professional bike fitting for $100 by the shop manager David. Turns out he is a licensed Serrata fit expert. I knew that thanks to Darth’s Ebay work on my behalf I had some money coming so I bit the bullet and scheduled the appointment.

The appointment was at 6pm Last evening, Monday the twentieth of November. I showed up with my bike and two pairs of riding shoes. I will not go into all the details of the fit but here’s a quick overview. The bike is now perfectly aligned with my body, from where my cleats are positioned to the angle of my handle bars. I had to buy a zero degree seat post to give me a bit more adjustment forward, another $30, but well worth it. The whole fitting took two hours and there was more then just fitting it was a lesson in riding technique.

I learned much and was eager to try it out so after work today I went for a 25-mile ride with FGB. I don't know the average speed or any of the details other then we rode 25.6 miles. I could look at the other stats but truthfully I was just thrilled in the difference a properly fitted bike makes. David informed that there are many certified fitters in the Chicago Land area and I would highly recommend it. CK it may reduce some of the pain and fatigue you feel when you ride. Of course I can't blog without at least posting one picture so here's a cool one that the wife took on one of our recent hikes.