PIckin’ Some Routes

I spend a fair amount of the weekend working on the South Dakota portion of the U.S. Bike Routes. I have a pretty good idea on where they will be. I made a copy of a map and went to town with highlighters of various colors. Light blue marked the municipalities with bus service. Light green marked the municipalities with air service. I used these as vague targets. I incorporated where Adventure Cycling has placed corridors. I connected the dots using a yellow highlighter. The yellow lines marked the proposed routes.

Of the neighboring states, Minnesota seems to be the only one really active in this. Since adjacent state’s routes need to meet up, I’m trying to contact who I think is ram-rodding this project in the bordering States.

Instead of reinventing the wheel, so to speak, I’ve used the Lewis and Clark Trail pretty much everywhere it runs in South Dakota. The maps already exist, the routes have been researched, and the routes seem to match the criteria for this project.

While I’m waiting to hear back from key people I’ll try to incorporate driving the proposed routes with other travels I need to do. After all, it’s a quick check and there’s still quite a bit of snow still on the ground.

I will not recommend any route until I’ve personally ridden it. Once it warms up a bit more and the snow is gone I’ll start to plan some rides. The Usual Suspects will be invited along. Feedback from others is good. I’m really looking forward to this part.

In other newz, I’m supposed to find out today if I’ve been selected to ride the Leadville Trail 100 mountain bike race. As of press time – no word.

Ride On.

A Few More Days

Supposedly, I’ll know if I’ve been selected for the Leadville Trail 100 mountain bike race by the end of the day February 28th. I’ve made (cancelable) hotel reservations to go out early to get altitude acclimated. I’ll also do what I can to go where I can for some altitude training during the summer. I do have a “plan B.”

My fall-back position, if not selected, will be returning to do the Highway 212 Gut Check. Or, I might opt for the Hell and Back version. I’ll have time to decide. This particular race kicked my ass in 2007. I returned in 2008 to kick its ass. I’ll have to go back sometime or another for the rubber match.

Regardless, I’m already in for the Royal 162. This race, and one (1) of the aforementioned, give me something to train for over this next season. Having something to train for and look forward to seem to be a requirement for me. A dude can’t be sitting around gathering moss.

Ride On.

This.....

.....came in yesterday's post.

Go ahead. Be offended. It's OK. I don't care, but it's OK.

This came from Stevil over at All Hail The Black Market, if it wasn't apparent.

Ride on.

Sexy Love

Ride on.

It Follows That….

…..Lance Armstrong HAD to have done drugs. Why do I say that? Well, let me explain.

I was over at Urban Crawl to see what Patch was up to. He linked to CONCLUSIVE PROOF of this fact HERE.

OK, for the roadies and the Lance lovers who are now miffed – lighten up. Some people get biking, some don’t – as you can see. Take your pent up frustrations out on removing your bike from the trainer and getting it out on the road where it belongs. Spring’s here, more or less, what’s the problem?

Ride On.

Bike Swap

It's on. Here's the poster. Click for bigger.

Ride on.

It’s No Wonder!

I’ve been coughing, hacking, wheezing, sniffling, etc off and on now since Thanksgiving. On the New Year’s Day ride I about blew a lung trying to keep up with the riders in front and subsequently skipped the Gold Sprints. This past weekend, when the Coffee and Donut ride stopped at a stop light, I promptly horked up a lung. Saturday I felt miserable.

Yesterday, I finally went to the doctor. After the doctor did some lung listening I needed to breathe in some medicine to see if that cleared things up. Nope. The doctor says, “You’ll need a chest X-Ray to see if you have pneumonia.” Great.

One (1) chest X-Ray later, no pneumonia. Whew to that!

Bronchitis – I’ve got it. Now I have two (2) prescriptions and an inhaler. The good news, the drugs should clear things up in two (2) to three (3) days. The inhaler is in case I get short of breath while exerting. I started the drugs yesterday and can already tell things are better.

Ride On.

Beginnings

After reviewing the literature given to me and a one (1) hour phone conversation with The Ginny of Adventure Cycling Association, I’ve begun my work on the South Dakota portion of the U.S. Bike Routes System.

Right out of the chute I’ve touched base with the SDDOT dude assigned to this. I let him know I’ll be doing most of the leg work and he’s provided me with a list of regional contacts.

I’m just into this but I’m guessing determining the actual routes will be the easy part. I’m also guessing getting counties and municipalities to sign on will be a bit more difficult. But, I’m up for a challenge.

The best part is I get to ride the proposed routes to check them for suitability. Since tear-assing across the state on my bike is one (1) of my things, this should be great fun. I’ll couple these “check ‘em out” rides with training for this event or that event. Multi tasking in the saddle!

Ride On.

The Big LEGOwski And A World Record

Ride on.

Why So Wishy-Washy?

As of press time, there’s an anti-texting-while-driving bill working it’s way through out state legislature. I sent to emails to every representative and senator who’s name is on the bill indicating support. I also asked if it could be amended from a proposed Class 2 Misdemeanor (fairly light consequences) to a Class 1 Misdemeanor (same consequences as a DUI).

Two (2) of the people responded to my email. Both stated they thought it would be lucky if the bill passed with the lighter sentence and has no chance with the stiffer sentence. I replied back to both asking why this was. As of press time, I’ve not heard anything back but do expect to at some point.

So, my question is, why is our state legislature so wishy-washy? Or, more pointedly, when are they going to grow some testicles?

When I attended the state Bike Summit a few weeks ago, the DOT dude there indicated normally there are seven (7) to (9) instances when state snow plows get hit per year. At the time of conference, for this snow season, there’s been forty-two (42) instances. This is not something a biker who sometimes rides on the road wants to hear.

Once again I’ll assert – it’s much too easy to obtain a driver’s license and it is too difficult to lose it. I’m hoping for tougher laws, enforcement of these laws, and no suspension of jail time or fines.

Ride On.

Gratuitous Pictures Of My Monkey

The Karate Monkey is complete. Here’s the run down on the shit for the bike geek in you:

Frame: Surly Karate Monkey
Fork: White Bros Magic-29 80mm travel
Bottom Bracket: Truvativ Howitzer XR

Crankset: Truvativ Holzfeller 32t chainring, 175mm arms
Freewheel: White Industries ENO, 20t
Chain: SRAM PC 991

Headset: Cane Creek S-3
Stem: Ritchey Pro
Handlebar: On One Mary

Grips: Salsa Lock On Juegos de Fuegos Black
Brake Levers: Avid FR-5
Brakes: Avid BB7

Seatpost: Ritchey Pro 27.2 x 350mm Black
Seatpost Clamp: Salsa Flip-Lock Seat Clamp 30.0mm Black
Saddle: WTB SST

Hubs: Surly
Rims: Velocity P-35
Spokes: DT Swiss 15g

Note: I made the wheels using a cross-3 pattern
Tires: WTB Dissent 29 x 2.5
Pedals: Crank Brothers Acid

If you look closely, you'll notice the big-ass tires just barely fit in the fork. Not only that, when I ride it and lean it over in a corner, they rub. They will need to be changed out. On a positive note, if you look at the spacer stack on the steerer tube, you'll notice one of the spacers is a combo spacer / bottle opener.

I'm looking forward to getting this on some dirt. So far I've only ridden it up and down the hallways of the apartment building.

Ride On.

Robo Paint

robo-rainbow from mudlevel on Vimeo.

Ride on.

Almost Done

I was called into The Owner’s yesterday. I needed to sit on the new bike to get the handlebars positioned correctly so the fork could be cut.

The bike is looking very nice. The build will likely be done sometime today. If so, I’ll pick it up this evening right after work. And, if that is the case, I’ll post some pictures and the run-down for the bike geek in you.

The short version – Surly Karate Monkey single speed mountain bike. I put some big-ass 2.5 inch wide tires on it. They just fit in the fork. You’ll see in the pictures soon –ish.

Ride On.

Farting Pig

Ride on.

Couldn’t Pull The Trigger

This past weekend I had aspirations of attending a spinning class. Saturday morning, when it was time to go, I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I know I should be doing this, but I just couldn’t bring myself to task.

I’ll make another attempt, later in the week, to try to get on the bike to no where. Ugh. I’m not looking forward to this. I did find THIS nice time waster. Click on a head. Now, click on another head. Experiment.

In other noise, the single speed mountain bike is in the shop to be built. I received a call from The Owner stating it had “loose balls.” However, he’s fixing that issue. But I digress….. I sprayed the inside of the frame with Frame Saver and mounted the tires on the wheels. Said items were then delivered to be mated up with the rest of the components. This will likely be ready to go by the end of the week – provided The Owner has solved the “loose balls” issue.

Ride On.