Wow!

It's been awhile since I've been on MTBR fatbike forum. Motobecane fatties? A fat bike (non Wallymart) for $695? I'm thinking about my tire purchase for my Mukluk and that alone is about $320 for the pair. That's half the price of a cheap fatbike that I could throw around. Not gonna lie, the specs aren't the greatest. But what do you expect for that low of a price! Hmm... The hamsters are turning.

http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/fat-bikes.htm

A Tandem...Recumbent?

I follow the music band Chevelle on Facebook. They recently posted a video of them on a  tandem recumbent. First time I've ever seen one!


https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151666737507546&set=vb.14740026130&type=2&theater

My new money pit

Aka my Jeep Wrangler. Stuff has been ordered. Parts are slowly being swapped out. I started with the basics. A locking gas cap. Slush floor mats. I've since ordered and have in my possession locking hood latches. Also a fuel door to cover up the goofy looking hole that you stick your hand into to unlock the above stated locking gas cap. Shouldn't Jeep have provided us owners with these in the first place? But then again, people in Jeep forums complain because they still expect their Wranglers to have roll down windows. no A/C, etc etc. You get the picture. Jeeps are still barbarian like, simple vehicles without out a whole lot of pizazz.

Fuel door and that big box of something!

Like Christmas day in my garage. Santa Claus brought me a Magnaflow!

Umm boring!

Which would you rather have on your vehicle?

Not easy to get off! Some people suggesting cutting the pipe off. But with the goal of being able to put it back on for whatever reason, I had to be gingerly in getting it off. For some reason the pipe before it had a smashed appearance after the bend.  

And these hangers were near impossible to get off of the rubber insulators. Grease and lots of force were required to get them off. Yes, them as in two. 

Finally detached.

And then came my first mod. The nice thing about Jeeps is that almost everything that the entry level modder can do is bolt on. No drilling required. Bumpers can be swapped out, knowing that the replacement is pretty much going to fit where the previous was at. Lights can be added with mounts that simply attach to the windshield mounts. The list goes on and on. Jeep catalogs can be had for free, with lifted Jeeps galore filling the pages, These pictures of Jeep excite some similar to a teenager getting their hands on the latest issue of a smut mag. Yeah, its a Jeep thing. Almost like the bike thing. Almost...

Tada!

First night ride of the season

Last Wednesday, Paul and I ventured out at 7:27pm for a night ride. The weather was nice and the trail was dry for the most part (rained the day before). Why a night ride? Why not a night ride?

After work, our conversation proceeded in this similar manner.

Mike: Paul, we should drink a beer before riding.
Paul: Mike, come on over. Just tooling around in my garage.

In other words, that meant that we would be drinking a beer before the night ride. Gotta make it even more interesting than what it already is! Right?!

Photo by Paul

We crossed paths with a few runners from GOATz, who warned us about a tree down at the beginning of the trail. Thank you! We completed a full lap. No wipe outs, but we had a couple of close calls. Due to Tuesday's rain, there were still a few slick spots on the trail. Not usually a problem. But when you happen to be riding at night, they sneak up on you. Sneak up on you so much in fact that you don't realize you're over a slick spot until you feel that rear tire start to swing out. Woohoo! It was great fun!

After completing a full lap, we rode backwards on the trail until we got to the pine trees to make our exit through the neighborhood. Paul and I discussed the unfamiliarity of the trail while biking backwards at night. I think I say this every year that we do this. Instead of concentrating on the trail, I was trying to picture the the trail frontwards and decide where exactly we were at during that point in time. Truly unfamiliar time. Sort of like a blind date. You have a lot to figure out and you don't have a lot of time to do it!

Tonight's MNR!

It was good to get out to ride...the chirping cicadas, the darkening skies, the wind blowing the longer grass. Summer is slowly coming to an end and the skies are getting dark in a hurry. Sunset is now 7:21pm. We were sprinkled with raindrops as we finished the ride. The baby bunnies are everywhere so watch out! Not much more to report other than get out to ride before we're wearing long sleeves and base layers to keep warm!

Hammerhead Navigation

Pretty sweet looking device...it tells you distance and where to turn, distance to top of a climb (just one more hill!). Also acts as a turn signal to motorists or other bicyclists, even a headlight. Looks like it links to your smartphone and uses that as a turn by turn navigation, but without the distracting GPS maps. Uses LiPo battery, probably the same as what is powering RC cars to amazing speeds and battery life. Check it out.

Its still in production and they're looking for donations for research and hopefully one day actual production. Check out their website here.

https://www.dragoninnovation.com/projects/23-hammerhead




Now you just need to add your favorite pubs and local breweries to your phone and have this little device guide you there on bike!

Okay, watched the video, I understand that the guy biking is probably in a big city, but at least put a helmet on the guy! Where is the promotion of safe travels by bike?

Labor Day Weekend and a MNR of firsts...

For Elise that is. With it being Labor Day weekend, it gave us time to enjoy the outdoors. We tailgated in Lincoln for the close game against Wyoming, hit the pool party at a friends mom's house on Sunday, and managed to squeeze in a ride at Tranquility on Monday evening.

At EndZone

Barrys, you need to turn on the A/C!!!

Yeah that's right, VIP tailgaters baby!

Bumped into my old coworker Jen at Barry's

Yes, this was Elise's first Monday night ride, and even more important it was her first singletrack ride. She did great! She had a minor mishap with a tree on the north side, it was at the bypass for a log crossing. Probably would have been better off just going over the tree!

Swimming pool shenanigans!

Supposedly having a tea party underwater?

My soon to be neighbor...wearing a dress?

And then I fell going uphill. Yes, Mike F had me repeat what I said. I fell down going uphill on the South hill climb. I was going to slow, turned to snap a picture, next thing I knew I was riding up on the lip and my pedal hit the ground. Then I was sideways, still clipped in and laughing.

I attempted some of this at Prairie View Lake, caught zilch, nada, nil. 

I think Elise enjoyed the ride. She realized how much harder it is riding dirt compared to pavement or the Wabash Trace. I heard giggles and laughs each time she descended a hill, had a near fall, or just plain enjoyed riding the trail. She only really walked the one or two sections, and that was mainly because I recommended it. Ride on!

No pain, no fun?

Vroom Vroom said the granny!

Paul and I were heading to Lincoln last weekend and came across this lady on 84th street. She was driving a green colored Mustang. Her grandsons I wondered? But she had a air freshener in the shape of a mini mason jar hanging from the rear view. Nope, must be hers!

Whoa, .341 BAC

This is pretty funny. Girl tries to enter a field during the game. Blows a .341, gets thrown in jail. Her twitter account updates are listed.


http://deadspin.com/alleged-female-idiot-on-the-field-blows-341-bac-has-a-1236362111