Bike Wisconsin

New Obsessions

2011-04-21T17:02:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of posting. I haven't been doing bike related stuff lately and have been unsure whether or not to post about. Ana and I have been climbing alot. You can read about our most recent trip to Necedah here. I'm really excited to get back there. Besides climbing, I've recently stepped into fly fishing...but this was years in the making. Last year I saw the trailer to Eastern Risers. I immediately decided I needed to fly fish...but things fell through.

I finally got off my ass and took fly casting lessons through Fontana and am stoked to learn how to double haul. Last night we went to the Banff Mountain Film Festival and saw 38 minutes of Eastern Rises. It was phenomenal.

Eastern Rises: Trailer from Mountainfilm in Telluride on Vimeo.

Here is another well made fly fishing video that I think is worth a watch.

There "out of our element" - Faceless - Fly Fishing - from faceless fly fishing on Vimeo.

And one more for ya.

The Love Letter from Fitz Cahall and Bryan Smith on Vimeo.

BALLS ride is in a week, so maybe I'll have something bike related for you then.

Heading West

2011-03-06T15:15:00.000-08:00

Spent a few hours today cleaning up the Niner for the trails of Arizona. Heading out next Saturday bound for the Flagstaff/Sedona area. Plan on mountain biking, rock climbing, and drinking. Laid out the climbing gear today to make sure every thing is there.

Stop Being a Sally

2011-02-28T17:57:00.000-08:00

Dan Canin of Lockheed commenting on the Columbia accident quoted from the book Deep Survival:

Every precaution and material science known to man has been applied to the problem of making the thermal protection system work. It's a known risk. The tiles are soft, and every astronaut known that if the wrong ones are damaged, the shuttle burns up. But the odds against it are pretty good, especially when compared to the rewards of being an astronaut, so they're willing to take the chance. In fact, they FIGHT for it...as would a lot of us. But getting the public to buy this is a lot tougher, especially a public that expects every risk in their lives to be mitigated to zero. It will be interesting to see if NASA tries to take on this challenge, explaining to the public that doing bold things isn't about engineering risk to zero. Shit happens, and if we just want to restrict ourselves to things where shit can't happen...we're not going to do anything very interesting.

Don't be the public, get out there and do something bold. Also, sorry for my lapse in posts...guess I haven't done anything that bold lately.

Tour de Taverns 2010

2010-11-23T18:24:00.001-08:00

Devil's Lake Rock Climbing

2010-10-11T17:10:00.000-07:00

The Warrior, Andrew, Mike, and myself took off early from work on Friday to battle the wind and sun in order to get some rock climbing in. The photos tell the story.

Stay tuned for the Tour de Taverns report from Saturday, and this coming weekend, Wisconsin River canoe trip!

Post Hiking Photos

2010-10-03T18:32:00.000-07:00

Backpack Minnesota?

2010-10-03T05:52:00.000-07:00

Ana and I headed up to the North Shore of Minnesota to hike a portion of the Superior Hiking Trail. We left Duluth later then planned and arrived at our trail head, Britton Peak, in the dark. So we headed out in the dark guided by our trusty headlamps.

Ana putting her hiking pants on.

Arrived at camp at about 10:00 pm and were in our sleeping bags by 10:30. Below is a picture of Camp #1.

Hiking on Monday. Ana and I ditched the packs to take a spur trail to a Lake Superior overlook.

Arrived at Camp #2 and decided to heat up some water and rinse off. We realized we were never going to make it to Grand Marais, we had to cut our trip in half and shoot for Cascade River State Park.

Hiking on day 3, Tuesday.

Camp #3 at Lake Agnes. Great camping spot but I think we were on a main trail for animals to cut to the lake for drinking at night. I heard creatures walking outside our tent at least three times during the night. Our bear bags were hung but I was still paranoid.

Hiking on day 4. It decided to rain alot this day.

Ana and I decided to use our tent footprint to build a rain shelter with our hammock straps and a trekking pole.

MSR Pocket Rocket worked extremely well. Even with a cross wind, it got the water boiling quickly.

Beat up and wet, we decided to punch out a few more miles and finish our trip. We were hoping to get a hotel room somewhere that would also pick us up.

Look Lake Superior and a road! Ana is so happy! Only 50 more feet to go.

Scored a room at Luteson Resort and they came and picked us up. The lady who picked us up knew that we had no idea where we were going. I thought we got a room at the ski resort. Instead it was an old resort right on the lake. Our room wasn't ready when we got there so it gave us a chance to dry out our gear and have a beer.

Pitch Black Single Track

2010-09-10T19:02:00.001-07:00

The Wabash Cannonball (Surly Big Dummy) headed out to CamRock last weekend to help setup for the Pitch Black Single Track 12 hour night race. Spent the night out at Checkpoint Victor Bravo Charlie. Setup the checkpoint with speakers in the woods and a disco ball above the singletrack. It was a rough morning.

New Glarus Trip...a bit late.

2010-09-10T18:30:00.000-07:00

We went to New Glarus a few weekends back and stayed at the Barnaby Guest house. Pretty sweet. New Glarus Brewery tour sucked, public pool was sweet, and the mini horses in the lawn were awesome.

Photos are pictured in reverse of when they happen.

CamRock Workday

2010-08-22T17:41:00.000-07:00

The Warrior and I biked out to Camrock to meet up with the VBC crew to do some trail work in preparation for the Pitch Black Singletrack. Mosquitoes were miserable.

High Altitude Training - Biking & Drinking

2010-08-03T17:04:00.000-07:00

Ana and I headed out to Flagstaff for a wedding. We arrived a couple days prior to rent some mountain bikes and head out into the San Fransisco Peaks. Altitude kicked our butt, full suspension bikes are awesome, and the more you climb the more you get to go down. The pictures below chronicle our adventure. (Sorry about some of the videos, Ana shot them 90 degrees off)

Hayward Biking Trip

2010-07-25T14:47:00.000-07:00

4th of July Bike Camping Trip

2010-07-25T14:05:00.002-07:00

This post is a little late and I don't have any write up for it but hopefully the pictures will do.

Bike Camp Blue Mounds!

2010-06-07T17:09:00.000-07:00

Six of us took off Friday night towards Blue Mounds. To summarize the trip we: went to Hooterville four times, couldn't start a fire when we needed it, had the entire bike camp ground to ourselves, and drank alot of beer. Pictures explain the rest.

Wisconsin River Canoe Trip 2010

2010-06-03T18:40:00.001-07:00

Howdy, the Warrior and I took off to the Wisconsin River with 12 others. Canoes were the mode of transport...beer, the drink of choice.

That's the Biggest Urinal I've ever Seen!

2010-05-22T18:48:00.001-07:00

Did a bike camping trip with Josh, Jess, and Ana to New Glarus last Friday. Camped at the state park down there and went into town for Friday Night Fish where I saw the biggest urinal in the world! I'm pretty sure they poured the foundation, set in the urinal, and built the tavern around it.

This coming weekend, heading down to the Wisconsin River for a canoe expedition. Ok, you can't call it an expedition if you're bringing half your weight in beer.

Cam Rock

2010-05-20T18:21:00.000-07:00

The Warrior, Giffey, and I went to Cam Rock 3, Heather's followed.

Bike Camping Trip Cancelled

2010-04-30T11:52:00.000-07:00

Tornado Watch, Bummer.

Streetfilms Does an Interview with Vanderbilt

2010-04-29T15:48:00.000-07:00

If you haven't read Vanderbilt's book "Traffic: Why We Drive the way We Do" I highly recommend it. If I were in charge of licencing in this country, his book would be a mandatory read for anyone going through driver education.

Type 3 Fun

2010-04-29T15:16:00.001-07:00

Some ideas are better than others. Giffey and I are going bike camping tomorrow. Forcast is promising (see above). Standby for the report.

Enough with the Negative

2010-04-27T16:27:00.000-07:00

If you have the time, I would recommend you listen to the most recent episode of Bicycle Radio - Escape the Peloton. It features interviews with Andy Clarke from the League of American Cyclists, Ray LaHood, and Gary Fisher . Gary even gives a couple props to the Wisconsin mountain bike scene!

This Man is an Asshat

2010-04-23T16:32:00.000-07:00

With comments such as: "Treating bicycles and other non-motorized transportation as equal to motorized transportation would cause an economic catastrophe." Carter Woods, you sir are an asshat.

I'm a manufacturing engineer, work in a manufacturing plant, my father has been a truck driver all his life, and even I drove an agricultural truck for awhile. I am more than certified to call this man an asshat after reading his dribble.

photo from http://www.nam.org/

The Surly Big Dummy Rolls

2010-04-21T19:08:00.000-07:00

Finished it up Tuesday night. Still need to tweak it out a bit. Shorter stem, Brooks saddle, and fenders. This bike is going to be a party favorite. I know everyone on the bike path is jealous.

On another note, I biked out to Mt. Horeb last Friday for the first rural poker run. Had a pretty good turnout with a $140 pot. Forgot to take pictures during the event, so you'll have to suffer with pictures from the ride out.

Surly Big Dummy

2010-03-30T18:03:00.001-07:00

Now I start the collection of parts. Hopefully be built by June ... maybe July.

24/9 Cancelled!!!

2010-03-22T05:43:00.000-07:00

Rumor has it, 24/9 may still be happening. But this is too good not to post.

The report from the epic bike adventure that happened on March 12th , "Operation Shit Storm",is in the works. Stand by.

Operation Shit Storm

2010-03-21T18:39:00.000-07:00

The Warrior and I set out for a simple bike packing trip to the Mound of Blue. He wanted to test his gear out for an upcoming trip to Utah. Turned out to be anything but simple. I didn't even think that this trip would come to close to qualifying for my epic adventures list. Epic adventure list +1. Moral spirit and dignity 0.

Rolled out of Madison a bit before 5 pm on Friday, March 12th.

Thought we might have been in trouble when we hit snow across the paved trail just outside of Fitchburg.

Got into Verona and had to baton down the hatches for the slog fest.

Underpass by Epic was flooded again. Wasn't up past the hubs like previous years and I avoided getting the shoes wet with some fancy foot work.

Given I'm about 50 lbs heavier and was carrying more gear than Justin, I was not floating over the quick sand as well as him. Stuck to the granny gear almost the entire 20 miles. Averaging 4 mph.
The going was tough and the idea of jumping on the road was always on the mind. However, the further we made it, the foggier it got. I just preferred to slog it out on the pudding sand rather than risk being a hood ornament on a horseless carriage.

Water bottles got a little gritty but the flasks were well protected.

Got to the park before 10pm and had to walk back to the campsite. We attempted to start a fire with the assistance of an entire flask of Southern Comfort 100 proof. No luck, it just made the campsite smell like a moonshine still. (Don't worry, I had another flask)

After a council meeting in my tent while drinking some Coke and Southern, we agreed it would be smart to call Ana for the assist.

8:00 am at Hooterville? We'll buy.

Deal.

Slept in my tent without the screen. Worked well. Used my cheap sleeping bag and my handmade down blanket. With the high humidity I was worried about the down blanket becoming saturated but it held up like a champ.

Justin's bivvy didn't work well. He tried to save weight by not bringing the pole that held the thing up. Poorly played Justin. He had to deal with condensation and rain coming into the bivvy during the night. Water poured out of it in the morning. Seriously. . . poured.

Luckily he made a wise purchase of a Marmot Helium down sleeping bag and that kept him warm throughout the night.

Here's a partial gear list:
2 Klean kanteens fastened to the fork
Tent - poles, stakes, rainfly, footprint
Down blanket
Sleeping bag
2 Cokes
2 Flasks - Southern Comfort 100 Proof
Lighter
Candle
Ibuprofen
Toothbrush
Extra base layer
Knife
Outdoor Research Drycomp Backpack
Food

Early spring camping sucks!!!

Maybe I'll try it again next year.

Rock n Roll!

2010-03-11T19:16:00.000-08:00

Finished the frame bags, loaded the waterproof Outdoor Research backpack for the first time, and rigged the Niner with some sweet orange housings. This is the most obnoxious bike this side of the Missippi.

The Warrior and I depart on a test run to The Mounds tomorrow. We're heading out in miserable weather conditions that most people wouldn't let their dog into, but as long as I keep a Bosstones song in my mind and the Surly flask near, something will be accomplished.

Poker Run!

2010-03-07T17:01:00.001-08:00

Drinkin' n Sewin' - My New Pastime

2010-03-02T19:58:00.001-08:00

I tried to take a bunch of photos so I wouldn't have to write up detailed instructions.

I had five parts to the bag

Left Side
Right Side
Top Tube
Down Tube
Seat Tube
(The extra piece drawn was a mistake)

Here the zipper is installed. I sewed it in from the back side all in one piece and cut through the front of the material to get to the zipper. I'm not sure if this is right but I stole this method from my neighbor the Warrior.

Sewing velcro onto the piece's excess.

Positioning the top tube piece onto the side. Seam will run across the upper line of the top tube piece directly over the velcro.

Postioning and sewing the other velcro strap to the excess of the top tube piece. Make sure they are positioned correctly.

Positioning the other side to be mended to the top tube piece.

Sewn.

Sew into position the down tubes velcro stap by using the right side's excess. From here you probably get the idea of how I put the whole thing together. Just remember that everything is sewn from the inside. When all done just flip the bag inside out through the zipper and everything will be great.

Turning Gold into a Poop Sandwich

2010-02-28T12:54:00.001-08:00

The warrior has got a bikepacking trip in two weeks to test his gear for his epic Utah trip. I drunkenly agreed to join him on this test adventure. I realized my currently sleeping bag wouldn't keep me warm enough. I have always wanted a down bag but my girlfriend scowled me out of that purchased. So I decided to make my own down quilt that I would use in conjunction with my sleeping bag.

Sewing in the mesh baffles. I thought about sewing sides together but I decided if I was spending money on some good Canadian Goose Down, I should do it the right way to eliminate cold spots.

Hang the quilt for stuffing. There are 20 one inch baffles and 21 spaces to fill with insulation. The shop vac is standing by.

Stuffing begins.

Stuffing completed and awaiting final stitching.

Fin.

Not a bad project. Spent about 13 hours on it and $150 of material. (DOWN IS EXPENSIVE!). Probably would think about just buying a down sleeping bag in the future but I'm glad I did this and am super psyched about this quilt.

Cyclo Frost 2010

2010-02-21T17:15:00.000-08:00

Wen to the square today to watch the Cyclo Frost. It was a good race to sit out unless you had a Pugsley, which nobody did.

The Angry German Kid

2010-02-10T16:17:00.000-08:00

This is probably old but I haven't posted anything in a while, and it made me laugh my ass off.

Also Justin started a blog and can be found here.

Tandem Domination

2010-01-10T15:26:00.001-08:00

Started the race with temps around 0 degrees. Spirits were pretty high given all field reports were pretty good. Much more doable than last year.

Last year I had pushed my bike to Epworth and Justin stuck it out until Dyersville. Justin sweared not to bike it again but I tricked him in to stoking it on the tandem. Bonus was we only had to pay one entry fee.

Coleman, who can be found here or here, was again pushing the red Mad Max tires with a red frame to match. He was also rocking multiple C.O.R.P. logos.

Throughout Dubuque the run out was excellent. Much better than last year. That was until we hit some fresh powder and were pushing the tandem. From what I understand the leading mountain bikes were running this section, the leading snow bikes were riding this section, and everyone one else was pushing.

We hit the Heritage Trail like we were on a war path. Averaging well above 12 mph, we came up on our first victim of cyclists.

"We're going to have to sit in," I told Justin as it appeared any pass attempt would have to be in unsettled snow.

"We can take 'em," was what I heard from the back. So we did.

About 9 miles in we got a report that the leaders were about 30 minutes up from us. At this point I think we both imagined that we would have been competitive with the leaders given it was such a long race.

Just after Sundown we hit the trail groomers, we hit demoralization. Pushing the tandem became routine. (We suspect Lance called the groomers in because the snowbikes weren't doing so hot. Maybe not but we needed to theorize something to keep our spirits high.)

Many people say "A bad day on the trail is better than a good day at work."

There were many times while pushing the tandem where I really wondered if that was better than good day at work. To make matters worse I began to get what I thought were stomach cramps, but later changed the diagnoses to an upset stomach. With what appeared to be an upset stomach I was reluctant to eat too much which would only make it worse. Later in the day I was feeling the lack of nutrition.

After being chased up the trail by the groomer making its return trip to Dyersville we decided to drop out dehydrated, waterless, tired, and mentally destroyed. It was in Farley when I changed into a dry base layer and realized what I had been experiencing was frostbite on my stomach. Justin, my stoker, was fine because he's an animal.

The picture above is from the day after. It burned like hell after the ride but is doing fine at the time of writing this. It just doesn't look pretty.

We were surprised when they came up with a sweet tandem class trophy. As you can imagine, being the only tandem we won by default. After consulting with the man, we think we are the first people to every do a tandem attempt in a race like this. We made history.

Poker Run - 12/12/09

2009-12-14T18:27:00.001-08:00

Don't Run Red Lights!

2009-11-02T15:21:00.001-08:00

Get the Drunks Off the Road!

2009-10-04T17:54:00.001-07:00

Tour de Taverns

2009-09-27T16:36:00.000-07:00

Ana and I headed out Saturday morning to the Tour de Taverns on the newly equipped, quad panniered Night Train. Schenanigans then followed.

Sunday we decided to head out into the rain storm only to end the walk at Pasqual's for a couple of Margaritas sitting on the patio listening to Mexican music in the rain.

Andy and my Tandem and Me and Andy

2009-09-19T21:20:00.000-07:00

Headed up to Hayward Friday afternoon to partake in Saturday's race. My friend Andy and I were to compete in the tandem class in the Short and Fat Race. I got up to the North Woods before my stoker did, so naturally I checked into the hotel and began tailgating Saturday's race Friday evening...by myself. (This would be the perfect spot to say "You can take the boy out of Wisconsin, but you can't take the Wisconsin out of the boy." However, I was still in Wisconsin.)

Andy, his parents, and sister eventually showed up and we drank a few beers (carbo-loading) standing around the grill like it was a campfire. Up in the hotel room I strapped my camelback onto Andy to see if he could drink out of it in preparation for the race. Nothing beats the memory of Andy walking around the hotel room in a t-shirt and tighty wighties with a camelback strapped on, drinking out of the hose like it was his job. This would be a good place to mention that Andy is 19 and has a learning disability. Saturday's race was going to be interesting.

Saturday morning, Andy and I lined up near the back of the pack. I told everyone around us to give us space because we were pretty squirley on take off. They didn't seem to heed the warning. So I just decided to push our way around and they seemed to get out of the way.

I knew our class, men's tandem, was going to be pretty small, and before the race I was really hoping I could get Andy on the podium. Not far into the race, I realized that probably wasn't going to happen. Long climbs meant we were off the tandem and I was pulling both Andy and the tandem up the hill. However, on the short steep climbs we dominated. Andy was very capable of throwing down some man torque, and we found ourselves passing people on the short climbs that the other racers were walking up.

Downhills were pretty sketchy. Andy is a pretty big guy and I had a very hard time holding a straight line with the tandem like I can my mountain bike. We were 450 pounds barreling down a hill. It didn't matter what we were going to hit; we weren't going to stop. As long as I could keep the rubber side down, everything was going to be OK.

Throughout the race Andy and I were constantly talking. I tried to keep his mind off of the race and talk about other things, his birthday, his girlfriend, or Joe Clark. He would always refer to the finish line as "Doughnuts and trophy" and wouldn't let me forget who was going to be there, "my mom and dad and my sister and my mom". But the greatest dialog of the day was probably:

Me: Doing ok Andy?

Andy: Yeah

Me: You still back there?

Andy: Yeah

Me: Are you sure?

Andy: No

We were both happy to see the finish line after 2 hours and 12 minutes on the trail covering 16 miles through the North Woods. Placed in the top 10! 6th place out of 6 tandem teams. Finishing was definitely an accomplishment all it's own.

I don't think I'll be doing this event again with Andy. It was probably a bit too much for the both of us. However, I think the Tour de Taverns would be more our style.

The Daily 20 (2)

2009-09-08T18:46:00.000-07:00

River. Race. River.

2009-09-08T17:43:00.000-07:00

Was down on the Mississippi River two weekends ago and also this past holiday weekend, but first I needed to make a failed attempt at the 12 Hours of Pitch Black Singletrack held at Heather's Bar and Grill in Rockdale.

Race started at 8 pm. I went out slow with a lap time of about 45 minutes, hardly any transition time (maybe I should have rested more). On my 3rd lap a low branch caught my A light and ripped the cord from the light. Lightless in the woods, I had to walk out and double back to Heather's. Back at the bar I had my B light but it wouldn't get me through the night. Dropping out, start drinking, and cheer on my friends sounded like a good option. However, Ana told me "come home with podium or don't come out at all." (She had been drinking) So I got back out there.

A few laps later, my rear deraileur stopped working, partially. Sitting in the middle cog, the deraileur would only shift into the larger cogs. This was better than the opposite. Still haven't sat down to fix it, I think it's in the shifter.

I never stay up after 10pm now a days. Riding all night got to me at 2am, and I decided to stop for "awhile". I knew full well that if I stopped, I was done. I was cool with that. All the guys out in front of me were way in front of me. But I came in not last place. Point for the good guys. Ana and I went home and took off for the river after a few hours of sleep. Will I do the race again? Maybe.

12 Hours of Blue Mounds

2009-08-23T18:43:00.000-07:00

Saturday we found ourselves on the top of Blue Mounds for the WEMS race. Justin and I were doing 12 hour solos, my first, his second. I started off slow and stayed behind Justin by a minute or two for the first few laps but then he started to pull away from me. My lap times were about 75 minutes and Justin's were the same. I kept thinking my front tire was burping frequently but in fact there was a cut in the sidewall. I think Stan's sealed the cut but certain conditions on the trail could have popped open the cut and burped air through the slash because the tire never went completely flat. Threw a new tire on the bike at the beginning of the 6th lap. Beaten and battered by the roots and rocks, I decided six laps was enough. Called it a day after 9.5 hours of racing which was good enough for 4th. Justin kept pushing out until the end to end with 8 laps that was worthy of second place. Good job Justin!

Good job to the Andrew, Coleman, John, and Jeff of the Viking Biking Club to pull off a 2nd place in the 4 man open.

Sunday we were back on the mountain bikes at CamRock. It was a prime opprotunity to get the girls out on the bikes. 5 girls and 5 guys showed up. Pace was pretty slow but speed was not the goal and of course we ended at Heather's.

The Daily 20 (1)

2009-08-20T17:08:00.000-07:00

I'll try to remember to take my camera with me on my commute to work, 20 miles round trip, and post cool pictures I take on my way to and from work under the heading "The Daily 20"

Mmmmmmmm Goaty

2009-08-17T17:52:00.001-07:00

Weekend Wash

2009-08-09T18:37:00.000-07:00

Justin, Ana, and I went up to La Crosse on Friday evening. Saturday was to be my first 12 hour solo race, Justin's second 12 hour solo, and Ana's first race ever. We slept on the floor at a friend's house. Woke up early, checked the Crackberry and got the news that the race was cancelled.

We drove up to the trailhead to check it out since none of us have ever been there. Ran into some guys from Duluth, the race director, and the Furhmanator.

Downtown La Crosse in the morning. Decided to spend our race entry on a sweet breakfast...drinks and all.

Having saved my legs all week for the race that never happened, I needed to blow off some energy. Sunday started at 6:20 am and I headed west. 45 miles out to Governor Dodge State Park. 90 mile day. 8 hour ride.

Weekend Rundown

2009-08-03T19:03:00.001-07:00

Friday: Went out to Camrock with Justin, Giffey, and Braun to spin some laps in the dark and drink some beer.
Saturday: Biked out to Blue Mounds and Ana met me there. We did a partial lap, and then I biked back to Madison to call it an early night.
Sunday: Had a friends wedding at Ollin Turville Park. Free beer = rough morning at work on Monday morning.

Cable - Hayward - Drummond

2009-07-26T19:13:00.000-07:00

The boys and I and two ladies decided to bypass 24-9 this year for something a little different. Headed north to a rented cabin in the middle of nowhere for some drinking . . . and maybe some biking if there was time.

Ended up at the Telemark Resort and took this picture of a picture that was in a case dedicated to the Chequamegon Fat Tire Race. Look at that handsome fellow on the right.

Ana and I road part of the Short and Fat in preperation for the attempt Andy and I are going to make at it in September. Not a very interesting course and hopefully the grass sections will be cut short for the race otherwise it's going to be hard pushing.

New Niner wheels, Hope hubs wraped in an Arch rim. Worked well and appeared to stay true which I'm pretty proud of given this was the first wheelset I've ever laced up. Did have a flat when I got all the way too Madison. Small puncture in the sidewall, which is weird because they were fine when we left the cabin. Couldn't resist taking this picture next to a Blair Witch tombstone.

A map.

All the ladies lined up in a row.

4th of July

2009-07-05T19:52:00.000-07:00

Busy weekend to say the least. 50 miles on the San Jose to work then out to the Stars n Stripes Poker Run, 40 miles from Mt. Horeb to New Glarus and back on Friday, out to the rents for Grandma's 80th then back to Madison on Saturady for another 40, only to wrap up with Cam Rock and Blue Mounds today.

Got pretty annoyed at my Grandma's birthday party because it seemed like everyone was asking "You know we could give you a ride back to Madison if you want?" I appreciate their offer but after awhile that sounds like, "You know, we don't think you can make it." There is alot they don't understand about what I do and what they are capable of.

The Flight of the Bumble Bee

2009-06-15T18:25:00.000-07:00

Decided to spin off the cap city loop tonight with the San Jose. Caught a bumble bee in the mouth. Spit it out before he could unload on my tongue. Close call.

Blue Mounds tomorrow if the rain holds out.

Up to Speed

2009-06-09T18:55:00.000-07:00

Sorry I jumped the tracks for a while. I'll try to be on top of things from here on out. To bring you up to speed:

Signed up for Pitch Black Singletrack 12 hour solo. Pretending to train for that
Horribly Hilly Hundreds is coming up, so I have to to some route commanding.
Did some time on the Wisconsin River and mooned the aircraft seen below.
We're 8 B&Bs into the summer. Tomorrow will be #9.
Been digging Whiskey & Co., chick digs booze, sex, drugs, and country
Got a few Poker Runs in, won no money.

Sunday Stroll

2009-03-22T17:26:00.000-07:00

Took off for the rents in Barneveld this morning. Pace was slow going. The trail was not helping. Ran into Coleman on the way back. He helped me pick up the pace for a few miles, but when he dropped off, it was back to a snail's pace. Rolled back into downtown 60 miles later and 6.5 hours later. Good first long ride for the season.

March Madness!

2009-03-03T19:38:00.001-08:00

Mud & Ice

2009-03-01T15:14:00.001-08:00

Justin and I decided it might be possible to ride Quarry Ridge today. Theoretically, we imagined the snow had melted out there and the mud would have been frozen solid. Left downtown around 1, and we made sure that we railed the single track on the way out. That was hit and miss, more misses than hits. Alot of ice and I didn't have the studs on. I made an attempt to cross a frozen puddle and my foot broke through the ice and sank about a foot into mud. We hadn't even made it to QR at that point.

Quarry Ridge was a bit of a wash. Started on the lower North side and worked our way backwards along the base. It was like riding a never ending rock garden, but it was ridable. We had enough of those shenanigans and peddled towards home against the wind. Maybe next weekend will be more successful with the warm temps on the way.

I'm a bad owner

The two pictures below I got on the way back from work Friday afternoon by MATC. Heavy rains must have pushed the ice up and then when the water levels went back down, the ice around the reeds stayed elivated.

Lady Liberty

2009-02-21T06:53:00.000-08:00

Looking tough

Just Like My Grandpaarents Did...

2009-02-19T19:24:00.001-08:00

Just like my parents did.

Just like my children will.

Just like my grandchildren.

Just....

The American Legacy

More Cyclo Frost Photos

2009-02-15T15:34:00.000-08:00

Cyclo Frost Report

2009-02-15T12:54:00.000-08:00

I wasn't sure what bike to ride, so I brought both the 29er and the SS cyclo cross bike (commuter bike). I wasn't the only person with this idea, I saw a few other guys walk in with multiple bikes. Race went alright. On the first barrier I jumped the bails and not the boards which put me in around 10th but more importantly, it but me way ahead of Justin and Joe.

About a lap and a half in I realized I went out too strong because I could taste blood in my throat and I wanted to throw up. So I decided to throttle back and continue on with a more sustainable pace. Matt Braun, the chicken, passed me and then Joe, but I stayed close to Joe and managed to get back in front of him. Soon after I passed Joe I wracked my boys on my seat after a barrier and seriously almost decided to call it a race at that point. I didn't care. Close to the end Justin caught up me and was leading on the back stretch, but I decided to take if from him on the snow.

Now I'm eating ice cream and sucking down halls to try to ease my raw throat. Would I do it again next year? Maybe. But probably not. But maybe.

Picture of the leaders I think. Didn't see those guys much ... until they lapped me.

Not bad for my first cross race.

Justin throwing down about 2000 watts. He rode the full suspension mountain bike just to make it fair.

Nice shot of a BKB member in transition. He's lucky Justin allowed him to pass.

Another picture of Justin? Whose girlfriend was taking these pictures?

Joe and I throwing down a single speed sandwich.

Justin was going head-to-head with the chicken!

Special thanks to everyone who came out to watch us race! Coleman, Shelby, Porter, Thayne, Beckam, Josh Giffey, Josh Henry, Danielle, Ana, Justin's parents, and anyone else I may have missed.

On a separate note, I have noticed that under the East Wash bridge that goes over the Yahara River, there has been more and more graffiti. Some of it gang related some of it just tagging. So I called Madison's graffiti hotline to get it cleaned up. That was last Wednesday and still nothing.

Don't get me wrong, I actually like artistic graffiti, but this isn't nice to look for or good for the community. See below.

TLC

2009-02-07T19:47:00.000-08:00

Sorry this is going to be a random post, but I have a lot to share since I haven't posted in a while. Which Giffey reminded me of today.

So anyway, Giffey, Justin, and myself went for a ride this morning because mother nature was calling us outside. We met at 9 am under the arch. The plan for the ride was pretty random. The only sure things was that the ride would end at a bar, the Stadium on this occasion.

As we sloshed through the melt, I realized that my bike needed some love. With all the training for the Triple D and then racing the Triple D, gears were getting grimmy and salt corrosion was evident. So I dressed down the Niner and went a little crazy with the WD-40.

I felt bad for the ole' girl since maintenance had been excessively postponed, I really went to town.

Got the salt and sand off of everything
Took off the chain, flushed it out, lubed it up
Stripped the cranks down and cleaned them up
Tore apart the cassette and ridded it of the gunk
Put a layer of protective wax on the frame and other parts
Oiled up the Brooks
I was going to repack the hubs but I seem to be missing a cone wrench
And most importantly, polished my handlebar bell

Since I had the tools out and the floor was already soaked with lube and WD-40, I decided to also clean up the commuter which had seized up brakes. No brakes hasn't really been a problem lately since I've been riding it around as a fixed gear for 2 weeks now.

Here's a picture of the two beauties after their makeover. It took me 6 hours to get them where I wanted them, or for all you backyard mechanics out there, 3 beers long.

Below are pictures from last Sunday's ride. They are all of Giffey's new ride and him showing it off, poser.

Wanted to comment about this photo below. I snapped this picture leaving work on Friday. I have seen this old lady out on her bike a lot this winter always up around the East Side. She is easy to spot with the blaze orange. I've seen her out in some of the worst conditions. Conditions where, in my opinion, a lady of her age should be taking the bus! But no, she just keeps plucking away. Peddle stroke after peddle stroke on her rusty cruiser with ballooner tyres.

P.S. - The date is set for this year's Tour de Taverns, get some.

Cyclo Frost

2009-01-31T10:14:00.000-08:00

I got an email from Justin the other day telling me to check out the Madison Cyclo Frost race on February 15 around the capital. I had come across the information before Justin pointed it out but I didn't have much interest. However, knowing that he was interested got me amped up for the race. So I psyched myself up and without hesitation registered.

I emailed Justin back telling him that I registered so he should registered as well. He replied say "I just thought we should watch it, not race it!"

So now I'm committed and he is as well. I've never raced a cyclo cross race but I feel that this is going to be different. Hopefully, I'll take what I learned at the Triple D race and do well on February 15th.

In all reality, we're going to get killed in the presence of an audience.

Sorry I haven't posted anything lately,
Devon

More Photos of the Triple D

2009-01-13T18:49:00.000-08:00

Fresh powder, perfect had I been snowboarding

More powder

Coleman's whip

Fat tires didn't do that well Saturday.

Had the bar been open, you know we would have been in there for pre-ride shot.

Hunchback Justin

Ana and Thayne

Sure look happy before the ride.

Triple D Report

2009-01-11T16:40:00.001-08:00

Day started with Justin picking Ana and I up at 5:45 am from downtown Madison. Picked Coleman and family on the way through Mt. Horeb which put us at the Grand Harbor in Dubuque at 8:30 for registration. 9:30 brought the pre-race meeting, Lance tried to explain the route; I didn't pay attention, my plan was to follow those who knew where they were going. 10:10 brought the race start with a news crew present.

The 3 mile ride out of Dubuque made us look like professionals, looked like biking in January is easy. Cruising along at 10 miles an hour in single file brought some dropped jaws from the locals out shoveling their driveways. Our professionalism declined rapidly as we jumped on the atv trail which took us over some rolling hills, riding down and walking up became the pattern. Then some roads, then the great Midwest Bike Push of 2009. The area had experienced a serious ice storm a week before and snow from Thursday and Friday meant the offroad portions consisted of a rough sheet of ice with 6-8 inches of powder on top for a touch of class. A Zamboni with a plow on the front would have been ideal for grooming.

An intense bike push up through some corn fields put us on a stretch of road that was fast but we were exposed to the Midwest wind. Turning on to a gravel road led to the vicious Rottweiler attacks. Luckily they went for the rider in front of me but I almost ran over the fat one because he decided to stop in the middle of the road. Running over him would have turned his ass into swiss cheese with my homemade studded 29er tires. Further down the line the course threw us down "The Icy Hill of Death". An old iced logging road with fresh powder bucked me off the bike 4 times. Then I wised up and decided to walk the rest of the way.

Justin caught up to me and we headed down the Heritage Trail westward, pushing our bikes. A few other crazies were with us at this point. Nobody was able to maintain a ride. Not sure how far or long we walked our bikes down the trail, but Nick ( I think that is his name), said that his speedometer on his bike clocked in at 1.5 mph. Sucky. My booties were getting tore up and snow was getting in them. Sucky. Snow was balling up under my cleats, so when I was walking it felt like someone cut a softball in half and glued it to the bottom of my shoes. Really sucky. And just when things seemed like they couldn't get any worse I looked up the trail and saw this beast standing on the trail.

The guy walking with us from Milwaukee pushing a Pugsley appeared not to be happy about this situation. I decided just to wait for him to move since there was no way in hell I was pushing my bike back the other way. Justin was also unsure what to do. He suggested, "Maybe we can throw something in the woods and he'll go after it." "It's not a dog, it's not gonna play fetch." I responded. The bull lost interest in us and continued up the trail, so we followed.

The next road we hit was Gun Club Road and that is where I and the Milwaukee Pugsley rider decided to call it quits. Justin decided to push on. 20 minutes later I called in my DNF from a pizza shop in Epworth. That's where my buddy Coleman found me, he dropped not long after I did. I hadn't seen him since the morning.

Justin called about 4 Hours later asking for a SAG from the BP sation in Dyersville. The first thing he said when we got there was "Go look at the sign-in sheet". Only about 8 people had made it to the halfway point, and only 3 of them decided to continue on. A couple race volunteers were there and they informed us that no was going to finish the race.

At this point, no one in the party I went down with is interested in racing this next year. But give me a couple months, maybe I can win them over.

All-in-all, I think it's pretty bad ass to say "I've done a mountain bike race that was so crazy, nobody finished."

Hiking, Hiking and More Hiking

2009-01-03T07:36:00.001-08:00

Been doing alot of hiking down here in Arizona. Have yet to get on a mountain bike yet and it looks like it isn't going to happen. Bummer. I've seen alot of people on mountain bikes and I'm jealous. Everyone seems to ride full suspension with the fatest tires on the market. Weirdos.

Flying out tomorrow afternoon. Bus back from Minneapolis to Madison on Monday and back to some winter commuting on Tuesday.

Out of Town

2008-12-30T09:03:00.000-08:00

Sorry I haven't been posting lately. My girlfriend, her sister, and I jumped on the Amtrak in Chicago and rode it out to Flagstaff to visit their other sister. So we ran up to the Grand Canyon yesterday and then down to Phoenix.

Didn't bring out the mountain bikes, but I plan on renting some here in Phoenix or run up to Sedona for some mtb action. Haven't been doing much to stay in shape for the Triple D. Yesterday and today I ran with Katy's overweight dog Clifford. Works out well since I'm not in shape for running and he's overweight.

Also, I forgot my digital camera at my parents but I have my film camera with me so posting of pictures may be delayed.

Thanks for Reading!

Slush Puppy

2008-12-14T11:50:00.000-08:00

Coleman, Justin, and I rode today. We were unsure what it was going to be like. We were hoping since the sleds had packed the Military Ridge Trail, it would've been easy riding. However, warming temps and rain soften the snow. So parts of the trail were easily ridable, some not so much. The stats are below:

Ride Time: 1:58.30
Total Miles: 11.29
Avg Speed: 5.7 mph
Max Speed: 29.0 mph

Justin's dirty steed

Lost my light on the trail on the way out, but found it on the way back still blinking!

Coleman and Justin Struggling

Not Going Anywhere for Awhile?

We don't need no water let the mother f'er burn!

5.7 mph average

I'll Stuff My Own Stocking, Thank You

2008-12-11T14:29:00.000-08:00

This was an impulse buy at Budget. Thought it would be useful for the ride on Sunday. Coleman will definitely put it through it's trials.

Proud to be from Wisconsin

2008-12-06T20:22:00.000-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WlwumGkSec

Slowest Ride Ever!

2008-12-06T14:39:00.001-08:00

Was a pretty slow ride today. The plan was to ride the Military Ridge Trail from Mt. Horeb east down to Riley's Tavern for some well deserved beer, shots, and food. However, when we jumped onto the gravel trail our plans quickly changed. About 6 inches of powder really didn't shut us down but it didn't make it easy. So the route to the Tavern was a combination of roads and trails and the ride back was on roads only. Stats are below:

Total Time: 1:54.12
Distance: 15.44 miles
Avg Speed: ~8 mph
Top Speed: 29.4 mph
Temperature: ~25
Wind Chill: ~11
Wind Speed: Bitchin'

I'm posting alot of pictures because I feel there are alot of blog worthy photos that were taken today.

Lance Armstrong on a Fixie

2008-12-01T19:03:00.000-08:00

Screw the Tour, be a messenger

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNCPEzdZs5s

We Were A Blaze Of Orange!

2008-12-01T18:33:00.000-08:00

Not really, Friday's ride was slow. Warm weather melted the snow on the Military Ridge and made most of it soggy. The trail and the wind absolutely robbed any speed we had in our legs. Here are the stats for Coleman, Justin, and myself:

Total Miles: ~20 miles

Avg Speed: 10.5 mph

Max Speed: 29.6 mph

Riding Time: 2 hours

Calories Burned: 1000 (was way more than this)

Number of Close Calls with Hunters: 0

Coleman and Justin

Scenic Winter Gravel Grinder

Ana dragged me out to the Essen Haus later Friday night with her family. Below is a photo of her mom pounding a boot a beer. True inspiration.

This is Just Friggin' Impressive!

2008-11-23T13:03:00.000-08:00

I've seen messengers do some crazy stuff, but I don't think any of them can hold a candle to this chick.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQYB_rsEp_E

And here's one for fun. Actually, it probably resembles the past year of my life better than any other video on youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLl5y9RZI7c

Did ya see da turty pointer?

2008-11-23T07:00:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, Justin and I decided to ride regardless that it was the opening day of gun hunting season. However, we did limit our riding to the Capital City Loop, and there are only two sections where you need to worry about getting shot, in the public hunting grounds and throughout the Allied Drive neighborhood. The entire day was lead free!

We decided to do the loop twice which worked out pretty well. Temperatures hoovered around 30 degrees and there was a significant windchill factor. Garmin numbers are below:

Riding Time: 2:58.24

Miles: 32.05

Avg: 10.8 mph

Max: 24.8 mph

Calories: 1904

These stats are off because I forgot to turn the GPS back on after having to fix my chain. (See below) Total milage should be around 40.4 miles.

Justin was really loving the muffs. But when you think about it, who doesn't love a good muff?

Justin's new steed. To bad we really haven't been able to really test it out.

First Flying of Flurries!

2008-11-17T12:00:00.000-08:00

Justin and I rode yesterday in preparation for the big Triple D Race on January 10th. Here are the stats from yesterday:

Length of ride: 2:36.25
Distance: 27.16
Calories: 1356
Avg Speed: 10.4 mph
Top Speed: 18.5 mph

The Kenyans run entire marathons faster than we were riding. Discouraging. But we were out there to figure out our clothing, or at least begin to figure it out.

Pictures below were taken today on my way to class. We received our first dusting of snow. I don't think it will last.

Don't even think about it Sparky!

2008-11-07T15:34:00.001-08:00

Caught these gems on my new commute to work. Decided to ditch most of E. Johnson and E. Washington. Takes a little longer but there are no cars, no stop lights, no munchkins, and alot more scenery.

Don't even think about it Sparky

Below are some picture from an impromptu pixie race at the Halloween Fiesta.

Mr. Schlitz! Best solo costume I saw all weekend.

First Post - Last B and B w/ A and D

2008-10-22T19:45:00.000-07:00

I thought it would be appropriate to have the first post of this blog about the last B&B with A&D. It went 26 weeks before Ana and I decided to call it a year, and a good year it was. Many different people made it out, many different bikes, and many different beers. The rides varied from short to long, hot to dry, and many to few, but they all ended with beer miles and smiles! Not sure what we'll do with the cycling caps you'll singed but it's definitely a memento for all of us that I'll hang on to. Props to everyone that showed up this summer:

Ana

Joe

Rankin

Giffey

Radavich

Abby

B-lair

Mrs. B-Lair

Angie

Amir

Kris

Andy

L Newman

J Waters

Justin Myers

Justin (Ana's neighbor)

Jordan

Amir's Brother (I think?)

Greg

Sheryl

Steve

Rosie

Phil

Soren

And special thanks to our unofficial sponsors:

PBR

Wisconsin Memorial Union

Weber Grills

Any store we bought beer from

1620 Madison St

B-Lair's 4 Keg Keg-o-rator

Thanks again everyone! Maybe I'll pull one out during a snow storm this winter. If you show up you can sign the stocking cap.

DevO