Thursday night wing ride!

Tacoride turned into a wing ride last night as we ventured into Silver City. Austin's on the trail. What can you say? Food is better, Fat Tire pitchers are better, but service is just as slow as Tacoride. Jena, Kellan, Jim and I made it out on a beautiful Thursday night. Lots of branches once past Mineola. Sure wish I had a fatbike so I wouldn't have to worry about getting a flat. Soon fellow bikers and readers...soon.

 The awesome landscapes! 

I ended up ordering cheesy ranch wings, the garlic parm, and Jena got the spicy honey wings. The garlic parm were not as good as Wing Stops or Pizza Gourmet, but the cheesy ones were good. Reminded me of opening a box of cheesy hamburger helper and pulling wings straight out of the box!

I almost ran over this dog. The dog jumped out of the kid carrier and faceplanted, then skidded for a few feet while trying to get back onto its feet. Hilarious!

The after effects of the hail

Mmm...all that processed cheese on those wings! Jena was in heaven! jk

Sometimes you just want to leave good enough alone! Kellan had a low tire, so he tried to pump it up. Tore the stem right out with the pump! Changed the flat lickity split, but his pump wouldn't fill the tube. Had to go inside and borrow someone's. Thanks alot buddy is what Jena said.

Train car that was derailed at some point? Tree growing through it 

 The Flat Tire:

Pulled out the stem! 

Now that's teamwork! Thanks buddy! 

Fat gets fatter and more ways to get fat!

Sometimes you gotta trim the fat. On the roast and sometimes even at work. But for once, I like the fat. A couple of us have gotten into this fatbiking craze, looking for any updates and new picture threads that we can find. Fatbike backpacking, trail rides on fat, snowbiking. It's all possible on a 3.8inch or more tire. Funny, because as much as we've been talking about it, none of us own one yet! Yet...

Well the world just got fatter. Moonlander has broken ground and vague release dates have landed. Surly is at it again with the Moonlander that rolls on 4.5 inch wide tires and Clownshoe rim. That's fat! Complete bikes roll out later this year while frames will be available before then.

Salsa is updating their fatbikes with a Mukluk 3, 2, and a Ti for this year. While the new Mukluk 3s have been out for a week or two, it will be a few weeks before the black anodized 2 comes out. It's a steep jump in price ($500), but will the upgrades be worth it?

Trek had a few fatbikes on display at one of the latest shows. Seriously, they made them look like bikes to joke around on (one had a hatchet resting on the front). This fatbiking craze is nothing to laugh at!

Moots is rumored to come out with something fat. But only 10-15 bikes being produced is the word on the street.

Surly is coming out with other tire options, including the Nate and the Black Floyd. Read up on some of it here!
http://www.frontageroads.com/2011/08/26/surly-fatbike-news-the-moonlander-and-new-tires/

Now I just need to find one to demo. Anyone want to do a trip to Milltown Cycles in MN? They have some built up and ready to demo on the trails!
http://milltowncycles.blogspot.com/2011/08/mukluks-and-gogo.html

You like chips?

Who doesn't like chips. It's the downfall to my attempts at healthy eating. Nachos after the bars, potato chips with a sandwich, they're good anytime of the day! Well now, they have some interesting new flavors coming out. Hot dog flavored chips, beef jerky (Cherkees have actual beef chunks on the chip), roast chicken flavor, and roast beef just to name a few. Are you grossed out yet?

http://www.delish.com/food/recalls-reviews/meat-flavored-chips-hit-shelves?gt1=47001

Really far behind in blog entries!

Wow, where has the time gone? I entered my bike rides tonight in the ride counter, last time I rode was August 8th! The weather has been great, just been too busy I guess! I'll get caught up on this blog thing this week. Lucky Bucket Brewery bbq, Iowa State Fair, and Chicago trip are tops on the list!

Eric and his new bike!

Long time friend Eric picked up a sweet bike from a certain person that we all know pretty well. Tonight was Eric's first time riding it. He rode his wife's bike a few weeks ago on the taco ride, said he was hooked! Considering how much we partied and drank in Chicago, we both needed some detox for the week. Tranquility should be dry, let's do it!

No trails were harmed in the making of tonight's ride. Promise!  

The rain held out for the first half of the ride at Tranquility. Not muddy at all. We skipped the tree section by Fort Street and went straight for the south hill. Figure he needed to learn the ropes before trying to maneuver through trees. Eric was keeping up and doing great! Only one problem. Once we got to the top of the South hill, it downpoured on us. I mean poured! We stuck our phones and cameras in a ziplock baggie and waited the rain out. Do we turn around or continue on? We pushed on. And it was rather refreshing actually! I checked and the mud was sticking to our tires, but no harm done to the trail. No ruts. Just lots of mud and grass was all it was. Unlike the deep ruts that I saw probably from a few riders riding Tranquility on Monday. I felt like I was riding a fat tired bike, just floating on the trail. Made for an interesting ride down to the ice rink. My tires are obviously not mud shedding in design. But we made our way back up, then down the hill and decided that we should just take the shortcut back to the kiosk. Head under Fort Street then back to the softball fields where my car was at.

This was before the rain came. I thought we were in the clear!

Right after we passed the turn off for the new section (by the edge of the parking lot south of Fort Street), I came face to face with a skunk that was trotting our way on the trail. We both stopped in horror. It hissed then proceeded to raise it's back end and tail at me! I shrieked, jumped off my bike and ran with my bike back to where Eric was about 10 feet back. We both stopped and watched Mr. Skunk turn around and cut into the bushes. Wow, that was a REALLY close call. It was funny because I was mid sentence telling Eric that he should check for ticks when he gets home. Yeah, I guess watch out for skunks too. I got home, washed my bike off immediately. All better! Eric, glad you got out on your new bike! Hopefully we'll see you out on a MNR real soon!

Happy Birthday to Jena!

Yesterday was Jena's bday and all she wanted to do was bike! Awesome right! Ahh...but the rain canceled the MNR so we were a little bummed about that. As an alternative, I had the idea of doing our own MNR from Midtown out to Aksarben Village for some dinner at Mojo's.

We looked at the metro trail map and there wasn't really any good way to get out there all by bike trail. So we took field club trail out to Center Street. Or at least we thought we did. Making our way out to about 50th on Bancroft, we decide to head south. Of course by this time we were starving, hot, and the hills weren't helping either. We headed south in search of Center Street. Spring Street. Grover Street. Pull out the smartphone and check on the GPS. Whoops, we were almost to the interstate. If we would have headed north from Bancroft, we would have been right there on Center! Oh well...the extra biking was needed to burn off the calories that we were about to consume.

Mojo's is a new place in Aksarben Village, next to the movie theater and Aspen gym. It is a bbq place with $3 Captain specials on Monday night from 8-10pm (or maybe it was midnight?). We decided on the cajun shrimp appetizer to get us going, and ordered the bbq sliders with jalapeno corn bread as our sides. The waiter was super cool, instead of allowing us to try just one bbq sauce, he let us get four. We got hot garlic, maple syrup bbq, cherry jubilee, and spicy bbq. The first two were by far my favorite. As for the sliders, you could mix and match between chix, brisket, shredded pork, shredded beef, crab cakes, and possibly some other one. You can also make it "Memphis style" and they'll add coleslaw to each burger for a price. But we passed on the slaw. Regardless, good stuff! And stuffed we were! I had slipped into the conversation with the waiter that it was Jena's bday. He allowed us to get any dessert we wanted (I mean she wanted) for free. She chose the pecan chip torte pie. It was so good. Just imagine pecan pie with chocolate chips built into it! Delicious! Rich, but delicious! Inside of Mojo's, they had a live band playing. We didn't go inside because the weather was so beautiful out.

We decided to make our way back to Jena's place in Midtown. Not the best riding conditions. Due to the storm, branches were everywhere. There was construction all over the place. But we made it back after some unneeded hill action. Happy birthday Jena! Hope you had a nice bike ride and dinner!

Where is the mt biker in this picture???

Pretty cool, US postal service is doing a biking type stamp for next year. You can preview it with the link below. Represented are a child on bike just learning the ropes, commuter to work, racer on road bike, and a bmx rider. Where is the singletrack rider?

http://www.beyondtheperf.com/2012-preview/#stamp-bicycling

Bike thief caught!

Bike Way catches thief in action. Read the article here. Pretty sad that a customer / fellow biker would be the one to steal.

http://www.wowt.com/home/headlines/128160733.html

One sweet ride

I wish I was talking about a certain bike that I can't get out of my head. But I'm not. I pulled up next to this guy on Maple Street tonight. Light was about to turn green so he starts paddle shifting behind the steering wheel. It makes a distinct click click sound, almost intoxicating. He takes off same as me at first, then flies! A chopper and a sportbike behind me get into the next lane and whiz by me and catch up to the Ferrari. They are talking to him through the window. What a beauty! The exhaust note is like a cat purring in your ears. Someone is happy and content.

Some food tips

Load up on carbs the night before, drink plenty of water, blah blah blah. You've heard it all on what to do to prep for a race or for a long day of riding. Outside mag tells you the right from wrong in this article. I had no clue about a few of these!

http://www.outsideonline.com/fitness/nutrition/Avoid-Race-Day-Pitfalls.html

Whoa! How fast do you ride?

According to my ride tracker, I average about 8-9 mi/h. Yeah, I'm a slow and casual rider (this includes stopping and talking with the guys). How fast do you go in your large chainring? 102 mph? I bet not! Check out this video.

Here is the link to the full size video
http://youtu.be/UH9NX9R8c8k

Ummm...yeah. It floats!

Hey Cody and Paul, since you guys are always on the rivers and lakes with your kayaks or canoes, maybe you need to get one of these? You guys could kill two birds with one stone!!!

It's funny because when I was a wee little one, I use to dream of inventing a bike that could float. Well...I guess someone beat me to it!

Anybody want a ride?

A bikestache ride? Saw these at Urban Outfitters. Was pretty amused, but didn't buy one. But I'm slowly convincing myself that I should buy one. Just because. Check them out at
http://www.carstache.com/pages/bikestache

fixing bike parts

Check out this website I came across. Bike parts and names with explanations listed. Even better are the links on how to do maintenance and or change out the part! Scroll down below the picture of the guy on the bike.

http://www.utahmountainbiking.com/fix/bikepart.htm

I'm not Spiderman

I'm not Spiderman, but I sure felt like I was Spidey after riding through Calvin Crest on Sunday at noon. Spiderwebs on your bike, in your face, arms, mouth, ears. Everywhere! And some were stronger than others, almost felt like fishing line strength before breaking. Or maybe it was just because I was biking so fast! Haha, doubtful. Funny thing is that I read on the THOR facebook page that somebody had ridden CC that morning. Wow, those spiders work fast! And to tell you the truth, on my second lap I was still getting spiderwebs in my face. I'd stop and see webs, spiders and dead bugs all over the front of my bike and on me. Spiders crawling on my frame holding on for dear life. What an experience!

 

 Spider in the middle of this one! Click to see bigified version

It was hot Sunday and by the second lap it was even hotter. Because of this, I took my time and tried different positions with the GoPro. Purposely hopped off the bike trying to find the correct reroutes, etc. Anything to cool me down since NO breeze gets through the woods. Out in the main parking lot, there was a very nice breeze in the shade.

The gullies and the bridges

Do not pass GO 

As for the reroutes, the one after you finish the tower climb is simple and well marked. But the other reroute over the gullies and around the two bridges was not. First lap, I ended up walking my bike up the hill and rode down the fire road after getting stopped by the tape across the trail. Somehow on the second lap, I got turned around in that area, but found myself on the reroute east of the gullies and bridges heading the right direction.

And that root that sticks up like crazy after the tower climb, yes, the one that worries people. It seems to be sticking up more than when Cody and I rode CC earlier in the season. And now there seem to be one or two others before and after it starting to stick out of the ground. Just go fast over them, no big deal!

Paul reminded me that Calvin Crest is closed to riders on August 7, 2011. Save yourself the trip and feed your biking addiction elsewhere.
http://www.calvincrest.org/Mt_Biking_Trails.php

This time, the GoPro was mounted at the front of the downtube. Perfectly out of my knees' way and easily adjustable after going down the trail. The videos were pretty choppy. I used too many extensions to hold the GoPro out to the side, so every little bump was magnified.

Those sneaky Chinese

Pickpockets, with chopsticks!!!

http://behindthewall.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/08/01/7213629-pickpockets-handiwork-in-china?GT1=43001