Last Call

I wanted to point out the deadline to get your registration in for the Almanzo 100 / Royal 162 is TODAY. I wanted to point out the deadline to get your postcards postmarked, and on their way, is TODAY.

For those not in the know – these are concurrent gravel road races. The Almanzo 100 is a one-hundred (100) mile race. The Royal 162 is a one-hundred-sixty-two (162) mile race. Pick your torture.

The entry fee for this race is FREE. All you need to do is mail in a postcard. The particulars for that are HERE.

Ride On.

Spinning Class Or Root Cannel

Which is the lesser of two evils? I can say I’ve had two (2) root cannels. No biggie, really. They coked me up so much on Novocain I was slurring speech and drooling for hours afterwards. Pain? What pain?

Spinning class, on the other hand, is a different story. It really depends on the instructor for organized classes. I can attend classes free at my gym as part of my membership. One (1) instructor is an avid cyclist, appreciates better music, and has a tolerable classes. Other instructors are glorified aerobics instructors who teach their class in that manner. In other words, they suck. I doubt they've ever spend enough time on a real bike to go more than single digit miles per ride.

I do plan on attending some classes regardless. In addition, I plan to put some hours on the “bike to no where” on my own. It’s time to get significant, consecutive hours, saddle time. Oh boy am I looking forward to that – not.

Spring is a long way off. I’m looking forward to even the windy spring days compared to spinning classes. I’d much rather grind away going into the wind than be stuck on the electro-magnetic-torqued out bikes in the spinning room. THIS might be more fun.

I do have some early season events coming up. The Royal 162 is one(1) in particular. Train or suffer on the gravel roads of southern Minnesota. I pick train. As boring as I know it is going to be.

Ride On.

Bike Summit

Last Saturday I ventured to the middle of the State for the South Dakota Bike Summit. Around fifty (50) people, from all corners of the State, converged as well.

Saturday had sessions on biking infrastructure, the Federal Transportation bill, the economic impact of cycling, and building partnerships to get singletrack built. My role was participant mostly, but one (1) of the speakers for the singletrack portion.

I left the Summit being charged with a task. I’m to work with Ginny Sullivan, of the Adventure Cycling Association, to prepare South Dakota’s portion of the U.S. Bicycle Route System.

I’m not clear on how this work. Right before we adjourned she handed me a packet of information. I’ll read through it and then email her. Once I have a clear direction I plan my strategy. It is highly likely I’ll have to get to ride some roads to check them for suitability. I hate it when that happens!

Ride On.

I'm In

I've sent my registration in and it's been received for the Royal 162. For those not in the know, the Royal 162 is the added, extended version of the Almanzo 100. For those still in the dark, the Almanzo 100 is a 100 mile bike race on gravel roads named after Almanzo Wilder - hubby of Laura Ingalls Wilder. Little House On The Prairie - am I ringing any bells here???

Anyway, I'm in for the longer, 162 mile version. If you look at the ROSTER, you'll find me in there somewhere. You might recognize some other names in there as well.

Your name could be in there. Sign up is free. All the particulars to get signed up are HERE. About any bike will do. You probably don't want to run 700c x 23 tires. But, as you may have guessed, tires can be changed.

I'm going to de-rack the Long Haul Trucker and run my Schwalbe Marathon Extreme tires. The route can be hilly so gears will be good. The Long Haul Trucker is my bike of choice for many hours in the saddle.

The training has started. This is a great race and I'm looking forward to the longer mileage challenge. You should sign up.

Ride on.

Friday Afternoon Grab Bag

Ride on.

Bridging The Gap

With not much else to do, I’ve been thinking about the bridges Falls Area SingleTrack (FAST) installed last fall in Leaders Park. Using donated steel trusses and some creative thinking, they are in place. The caveat is the deck is approximately 35 ½ inches higher than the adjacent ground. In order to use the donated trusses, they needed to be like this.

Now, how does a roller get on them and off them? Well, I’ve been thinking about this. The trails are one-way traffic for bikes. This means we could have a ramp to get up and on the bridge deck. However, we wouldn’t necessarily need a ramp to get down and off the other side.



My thought is a ramp on the left-hand (approach) side. My other thought is stairs on the right-hand (departure) side. A dude could roll up, roll across the bridge and then either, a) get off and walk the bike down (no fun), b) ride the stairs down (more fun), or c) launch off the bridge (there we go!).

I’m kind of liking the idea of ramp up and stairs down. It would cost a bit more for materials, but the end result might be better. At least the potential fun factor is there.

There are two (2) bridges. They are essentially identical. We could ramp up and down on one (1) but ramp up and stairs down on the other. Variety – the spice of life!

If you have any ideas, by all means, toss them this way. Nothing is set yet.

Ride On.

The Evil

I have placed my order for this jersey:

The deadline to get your order in was January 15th. You snoozed, you losed.

Yes, the collar does say "Fuck Off." Deal with it.

Yes, the side panel does say "Satan." If you believe in those sorts of things, then I'm sure you'll be offended.

Ride on.

Framed

FRAMED-Andi Wittmann Rider profile from Felix Urbauer on Vimeo.

Ride on.

File This Under.....

.....Oh, yeah!!!

Ride on.

Keep Refrigerated

There’s a bike club meeting coming up on Saturday. I shan’t be able to attend. I’ve been trading emails with Atom Thee Dingle Berry who’s going in my stead. He’ll be giving a rundown on the singletrack project. I’ve instructed him to give factual fictions and fictional facts. I’m sure he’ll do swimmingly.

I’m now on the road to getting my mojo back. In an effort to expedite this process, I shall resume bike commuting after a longer-than-anticipated hiatus. The Nokians are on the commuter so all is ready.

All of a sudden, 2011 is starting to look pretty damn good. It’s funny how fixing shit will improve a dude’s perspective.

Ride On.

Waiting…..

Winter has stepped it up a notch dumping more snow. Perhaps now there is enough for some cross country skiing and / or snow shoeing.

I feel like I’m just sitting around waiting for something. I’m not sure what the something is. No snow and warmer temperatures, maybe.

I’ve been able to pass the time by going to the gym. This part of the year has all the New Year’s Resolutioners clogging the gym. I know I shouldn’t think disparagingly about those trying to do something. Sometimes it is hard not to.

I remain hopeful something will happen or I can do something to shake this general mood of cynicism and little patience for anything or anyone. It’s sort of like a combination of disappointment and anger.

I’ll try to focus on upcoming bike events I’ve signed up for. This will prompt a sense of urgency and a need to train – hard. Training hard does seem to distract me for a time. However, the insomnia is getting worse. I can put my finger EXACTLY on the root cause of all this. What I cannot do is determine what to do about it to make it all go away.

Ride On.

2010 In Review

For the Dave Berry version of 2010 in review, click HERE.

Ride on.

Bike Of Words

Bicycle Typogram by Aaron Kuehn for the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition

Ride on.

Purging Toxins

It is about this time of the year I purge toxins from various systems. The latest systems have been my email and phone contacts. I don’t think I’ve purged anyone who’s actually dead (that I know of). But, I’ve purged the ones that are dead to me, don’t respond, or I know have moved away or something. It’s sort of like scraping the barnacles off the hull.

New Year’s Resolutions have never been my thing. This year is no exception. Why wait until January 1st to correct something or live differently in a conceptually better way? Instead I use this time of the year for sort of cleaning of the various.

A dude sure can tell the New Year’s Resolutioners at the gym. It happens every year. My March 1st the number will dwindle down to about 5 % of those who started with high hopes, etc. Either their three month gift membership has expired or they realize being a lazy ass is much easier than being fit. It’s their life. They have to live it.

Ride On.

Looking Forward

Going forward in 2011 there are already things on the table. Tonight the Falls Area SingleTrack (FAST) brain-trust (and I use that term loosely) will meet at Monk’s around 9 PM to discuss, well, shit. FAST has been asked to give a narrative at the Falls Area Bicyclists (FAB) winter meeting. We’ll draw straws for that gig.

There are planning items for the 2011 bike and trail digging seasons. There are mountain bike festivals to attend and rides to go on. There is much trail yet to dig. I need to come up with and produce ramps to get up on the bridges we’ve installed and a method, or two, to get off the bridges. I’d like this done prior to the dig resume.

I’m sure we’ll milk this session out for at least two, or maybe even three, beers. This brain-trust business is serious and you can’t have serious without really good beer.

Ride On.

An Even Number

I have signed up for all I’m going to for now. Three events is the number, and the number is three. With either deadlines looming or dance cards that could fill to capacity, I acted.

My name is in the hat for the Leadville 100. If again this year I’m not picked, my fallback position is the Highway 212 Gut Check. Either way, there is much training to do between now and mid August.

In the middle of May will be the Almanzo 100 / Royal 162. I’ve signed up for the Royal 162. Again, there is much training to be done. But, I like it that way.

Lastly, the fine folk running the Dakota Five-Oh say the limit is 600 riders this year in a first come, first served basis. I’m in. I signed up using the online thing. I don’t know what the count is up to. I do know I wouldn’t hesitate if I were you.

In other noise, I’m still dealing with the after-effects of a cold. I feel fine but don’t sound it. I should say I feel mostly fine. My sinuses fricking hurt. I’ll be glad when that part is over. This sucks.

Ride On.

Signed Up

I’m the type of roller who needs something to look forward to and to train for. Training just for the sake of training becomes mediocre and dull. So, I’m planning at least a few things for 2011.

I’ve sent my registration in for the Almanzo 100. Except, they’ve raised the bar and I along with them. In addition to the 100 mile gravel race – the Almanzo 100 – they’ve added the Royal 162. That’s right up my alley. I signed up for that one.

I’m trying to get the Leadville Trail 100 mountain bike race website registration to cooperate with me. It wasn’t letting me do anything. I’ve an email to them asking them, essentially, What The Fuck.

I’m putting my name into the Leadville 100 lottery. If I’m not selected, then I’m going to do the Highway 212 Gut Check. Either way, I’ll have something long and grueling “to look forward to” in 2011.

The rest of 2011 will be left pretty much open. My big priority is getting the singletrack trail dug. I can’t JUST do that, though. I’ll need some “me” time. There are many bike events to choose from. One of which is an unsupported tour through Banff National Park. If things fall into place, this will be my unsupported ride of 2011. If they do not, I’ll pick something else. It’s all good, or so I’ve heard.

For now I’m working on getting Leadville registered for and shaking this cold. Oh, I’ve ordered a new jersey. I’ll post a picture of it when it gets here. It is going to be very representative of my 2011 bike attitude, I think.

Ride On.

Happy Frickin’ New Year, Bitch

The new year welcomed me by slapping a cold on me. Mostly it is in my sinuses. I think lack of sleep has finally caught up with me.

I’ve had a four (4) day weekend beginning Thursday. Mostly it has been spent holed up doing not much. I ventured out now and then but nothing too serious. There was an exception.

On Friday I put the Nokian studded tires on the Cross Check. I was prepping for the Spoke-n-Sport annual New Year’s day ride. Saturday I hauled my bike down the steps and ventured out. Who should pull up but that crazy MinusCar fellow and his spouse.

I rolled to the ride struggling with this cold. I couldn’t breathe. Thankfully the drugs I’d been taking kept my nose from running excessively. The cold, windy weather kept participation much down this year. That was a bummer. But, at 1 PM we rolled out.

I struggled to keep up with the lead group. I couldn’t breathe, there was some snow on part of the course, and singlespeeding didn’t help. We got back to the food and I was sweating. I was nice to peel the layers off and chat with some of the rollers.

This year’s rendition featured GoldSprints. Again, the cold kept me out of the action. I made my escape early.

This cold really sucks. It is so hard to focus. I don’t feel sick enough to miss work, but sick enough that it is a burden. The silver lining is the cold drugs make me sleep well combating the insomnia that put me here in the first place.

Ride On.