update, bike build

the meister has bell lap cx bars and white tape, i'm riding as often as possible, maybe tonight.

cyclocross summer

yea i'm thinking i should re-build the sin-glee speed psycho-cross. last month after hearing about it for years i had occasion to ride on the single track in theodore wirth park. it was nice, but i just have a feeling i would be more comfortable at high speed and with the style and grace of a cyclocross bike.


we'll see where this takes me

what's up with that....

so i have a quirky taste in bicycles. actually i'm a broke mother fucker, and i ahven't the time to make everything work correctly, the bridgestone needs a renovation. i went out on an off road ride recently, it was fun and challenging. the single track wasn't the problem it was the ride there and back. gotta get that bike build thing figured out, i'm not happy with the stem height or the bars. of course that little fix would require that i invest some money, slow down old man.

Cyclocross season is 5 months away, i don't normally race in september, too fucking hot. Nice rain tonight/today. maybe i go rebuild the meister as a CX rig again and that means i have to build up the schwinn and that means money...it can wait.

riding many more miles that i used to, biking to work a full week of commuting would be sure to give me....let me see, about a 150 junk miles. they would be junk if i commuted like most, i don't. so i'm getting about a hundred miles a week in then, a few days i get a ride there and bike back or i drive both ways, better than nothing.

last week and yesterday

so i've been riding my bike to work recently, from SW mpls/Richfield to NE mpls. 12-15 miles each way depending on how much traffic i want to avoid. takes me between an hour and an hour a quarter or maybe an hour and a half.... i could probably do it faster. first day i went there and back, hurt my taint that ride. i've been getting a ride on some mornings and biking back home. today again we'll hit there and back again, let's hope it doesn't rain.

no photo

i'm not a commuter, i ride my bike to work

to work 12 or 14 miles

here we go, bitches...

so it has come down to this. i did a recon ride in my home town last weekend. i realized that i am a cheap date. after 3 pints in an hour and a half, i was loopy.

so, i am riding. took my bike to wisconsin, didn't ride as much as i wanted to, but then i never do. 30 days without a break should be easy.

witches hat

photo courtesy of jim thill

can't say i made it to the highest point in mpls today, but i did go on a bicycle journey. mechanical issues prevented me from fully enjoying the ride. the meister has been in more mechanics stands today than is has seen in the last year. i'm not going to bore you with the details, suffice to say it sucks to be my mechanical support team.

• fitness; nominal.
• saddle time; maybe 2 hours,
• ride time from door to door; 9:45 to 14:00, 4.25 hrs
• weather: glorious, 55-60 F, pt sunny to clear
  
• road conditions: lame, moist in places, loose sand/gravel everywhere else

hasn't hit me yet

fixed gear or single speed? 42 x 16 should be nice. either way there will be losers. single speed or fully loaded touring , there will be hills. i guess i could just get on with it

considering the future

like the immediate future

this summer....

gravel road racing
almonzo
dirty benjamin

mountain bike racing
wors

ice and snow

rode to and from the 46th street station and took a bus to/from rosedale. where is the angry catfish and why ain't they open at 9:30 pm? had to stop by a liquor store in nokomis cause i couldn't get a decent cup of coffee. Oh yea, i missed the bash at CRC and i could have had both i guess. but 34th ave is not 34th str. and driving a bus all day takes a little motivation out of you.

weather: 20 F and little snow on the way home
roads: excellent winter riding conditions

monday night cyclocross

someday, there will be a monday night cx race, and you'll be sad you didn't show up. i'm just warning you....

where do we go from here

on the new moon i like to crystallize my meditations.
here's the plan, endurance bicycle racing.

not anything epic or out-of-reach, just riding my bike for hours at a time, like 8 or ten...or 24.
first i need to get out for the slick 50(in march) and almonzo 100 in may. let's keep the enthusiasm in check. I may be riding a panasonic dx-5000, i'll keep you posted.

now to make that happen i will need to be a good commuter. yes,that means that i must get up early and ride when i'm exhausted. is there any goal worth reaching that is easy?

big yellow moon...

cold, i guess...at least that's what my toes told me 10 minutes after i got home and the numbness was replaced by a tingling.funny , but my right pinky finger is usually the one that acts up, it was frostbit once or twice before and let's me know how cold it is on a regular basis. bridgestone ride tonight, slow and steady wins the race, what race? i was more aware of the slippery conditions on the downhills when i surrendered control for speed, always a tough compromise.

no-one else showed and owing to my own lack of regularity i'm not surprised.

weather: 1 F, clear
road conditions: icey, but not impassable. main roads excellent

36 hours out

at 9 pm tomorrow the forecast calls for a temperature of -3 F. i am not afraid of the cold, after being cooped for two days inside with the family the fresh air will be welcome. i still think the bridgestone is the best for the job, could use some new tires....oh yea, school day on monday.