I should be posting here more often

Looking for a place to put this picture for another posting.  Here is most recent bike.  Yes, I'm still biking.  I've put just over 1000 miles on this baby this season.  The road bike still kicks my ass, but this baby?  This baby is smooth, smooth smooth.  Just put the fenders back on for the fall.  Most folks think they are dorky.  I'm not crazy about them myself, until I ride on a wet day.  Maybe more details later...

Photos of items for sale.

2006 Fuji Newest 1.0 $450 OBO

Details at:  http://web.archive.org/web/20080218025527/fujibikes.com/2006/#

Basically stock save for the seat, aerobars, and tires.  OEM seat included, as are the 2 sets of clippless pedals, and the platforms pictured on the bike.  And whatever spares I find laying around.

Thanks for looking.

Support Your Local Bike Shop! If You Have Stacks... of Money.

I want to shop locally, really I do. We try to do this in our family as often as is reasonable. When we refinished our bathroom, we went to a local vendor for tile and fixturex, rather than heading over to our local big box hardware store. When I get to hankerin' for a sandwhich or a burger, I'll generally head to one of the local joints when I can, rather than hitting one of the chains.

But my local bike shops are just killing me. A perfect example occurred just yesterday. I was out running errands and decided to stop in at a local shop. I have been shopping for tires for the Moab on line recently, but I've stopped short of actually pulling the trigger on a purchase because I have fully intended to give my money to one of the local shops. So, after a quick cruise of the shop to check out the bikes, I find the tires. As expected, selection is fairly limited, but I find a couple brands that I recognize and even a couple of styles that I like - I'm ready to buy! I begin this routine where I try to make it appear as if I'm checking out the item I'm considering purchasing more closely, but in reality I'm trying to locate the price tag. I'm tipping the box this way, and then that way - over and over trying to find the price. Now, it might just be my imagination, but I'm fairly convinced that the shop guys deliberately try to hide the price tags in order to encourage impulse buying. I mean, the tires are all in boxes which have big tabs on top of them that allow them to be hung from pegs. Wouldn't that tab be a perfectly logical place to put the price sticker? But instead, they are generally on the bottom of the box, or on the back of the box up-side-down, forcing me to completely remove the box from the hook in order to find and decipher it. Once I finally located the hidden price tag, I was completely deflated. The prices were all about 3 times greater then the prices I was able to find the same tires for on line. What gives? I know, I know, I know! I know a store front costs more to maintain than a website. I know there are electric bills to pay and insurance premiums and employees and business licenses, and whatever else. I know. I fully expect to pay more for things at my local shop than I would on the internet. But triple the price? Literally, had I purchased those two tires from my local bike shop it would have cost me $120, before the extra 10.25% I get to tack on for living in Chicago. I can get the exact same two tires from nashbar.com for just about $40, shipped.

I'm sorry. I love my local bike shops. There are few things more enjoyable than walking into the shop smelling all that new bikeness. The smell of tires and chain lube and fresh paint, drooling over all the shiney new bikes lined up so nicely on the shop floor. Or actually getting to hold and inspect the items I am intending to buy before I buy them. But triple the price? I'm sorry. Once the price difference becomes that significant, the foolishness I'd feel for paying it outweighs the guilt I feel when I make that purchase on-line.

COME ON, local bike shop owner. Help me, help you.

A Toast to Ed, Farrah and Michlael

Yes. I'm still riding. I bumped that 26 mile mountain bike ride up to 30 miles a week later. More water and snacks made it a little easier, but I was still in pretty bad shape near the end. I'm just riding beyond my capabilities. I guess that's not quite the correct way to say it, because I did survive, and I did make it back to the car. I figure if it doesn't hurt, I'm not making any progress, or breaking any new ground, right? I'm out to do some cycling, not to just take a bike ride. The pain and the exhauston and the feeling that I'm doing something just a bit stupid is supposed to be the point. To top the 30 mile mountain bike ride, I did another 40 mile ride on the road bike this week when the temps were well above the 90 degree mark. I drank a LOT of water but still found myself getting some chills as I had run out of sweat near the end of the ride. It was just crazy, and I couldn't wait to get off that darn bike. But now I find myself looking forward to the day I have time to go again. Maybe a quick ride tomorrow morning...

But, to my point of checking in today.

Ed, Farrah, and then Michael.

All three were a little crazy, and had struggled with substance abuse. Two of them ended up pretty much broke. But all three were push pins marking significant memories on the timeline of my life. Never really occurred to me until I sat here reading about them.

Ed - When I was even younger than my beautiful daughter, I would often spend the night with my Grandma on my Dad's side. My "Mamaw". She would kick "Papaw" out of the room for the night, or he would be working at the steel mill and I would get to sleep in her room. That was pretty much the only time I was allowed to stay up late enough to watch Carson. We'd be playing cards in bed, she'd be smoking her Pall Malls and Johnny would come on. I can remember hoping and praying that Burt Reynolds would be on, or a comedian, or one of the guys, like Jack Hanna that brought the wild animals on. The first time I ever saw Steve Martin was on his show, and I was never the same.

Farrah - Well, of course, the famous poster of her in the red once piece bathing suit. 1976. I was 9 years old. It was the first time that I remember experiencing those curious sensations that would one day grow to be desire while looking at a girl. And then of course Lee Majors, the bionic man, went and married her. This act winning him the crown as the coolest guy in the world to me, dethroning The Fonz. Later, after I had become a greasy, gangly teenager, he would surrender his crown to Eddie Van Halen when he not only married Vallery Bertinelly, but also got himself a Lamborghini Countach.

And then Micheal. High school. MTV. Friday Night Music Videos. Getting to drive the car over to a friends house, hang out late watching music videos, ordering pizzas, and drinking far too much caffeinated soda. (it would be a couple more years before the beers began making the scene) And encountering the redoubling of those sensations that Farrah had started years ago. Unfailingly the girls would insist on popping in a video taped recording of the Thriller video and watching it ad nauseum, making every boy quietly ponder the idea of taking dance lessons.

It all just has me wondering who or what will leave push pins on my kids timeline.

Ohhhh... So THAT is what "bonking" is

So, I decided to hit the Des Plaines river trail on the mountain bike again.  'Cept I decided that I wanted to complete the whole southern section of the trail.  So rather than jump on the bike here at the house and head over to the path at Irving Park, I loaded the bike onto the Subaru and drove over to the forest preserve parking lot at Algonquin.  My plan was to ride south to North Av, and then turn around and head back.  Well, first of all it was a great day.  At one point, not long after I had set out, I happened onto a group of kids who were out on a nature walk with their teacher.  The cool thing was that this paticular group of kids happened to include my own beautiful daughter.  She was very excited to see me, and I think that for just a moment there, she may have actually thought that her old man was kind of cool, although she didn't come right out and say so...

After a quick chat with her and her classmates I continued on and made it to North Av. it pretty decent time.  I was feeling good and the weather was perfect, so I decided to continue south from North Av. on a surface street that paralelles the river just to see if I could pick up the trail again, which I did pretty quickly.  It was a pretty tight single track, but it was a trail.  I came to a rail road bridge that was still too muddy to pass underneath so I carried the bike up and over and then continued riding.  Then I crossed Chicago Av and continued south but not very far past that point I just completely lost the trail.  The river has been well over its banks during the winter and either I was following the wrong path to begin with, or the trail has just been washed clear.  I didn't feel right blazing a new trail, the ground was still fairly soft, and it occurred to me that had a pretty good distance to go to get back to the car.  So I felt it was a good time to turn back.  I hadn't brought any snacks (mistake #1) and I had finished off about 1/2 my water bottle by this time.  I only carry one bottle on the mountain bike, but it is a big honkin' thing so I thought I still had enough to get by (mistake #2).  Back at North Av, it occurred to me that I could stop at the drug store that is right nearby, and grab a snack and refill the water bottle, but as I was still feeling pretty good, I just continued on (mistake #3).  By the time I was about half way back to the car I was getting really tired.  And at about 3/4ths of the way I was really, really tired and out of water.  A whole new kind of ache had started in my legs.  Rather than just one or two paticular muscle groups being sore, my whole legs were aching.  I have never wanted to just lay down on the ground and take a little siesta so badly in my life.  I had tossed an apple in the car when I left the house that morning, so I just kept thinking about how delicious it was going to taste, and I just kept pedalling.  Many explitives were uttered along the way, but I made it back to the car.  And that apple was amazing.  I sat in the car and devoured it like a ravenous ferrel dog and while I did so, my legs cramped up like nobody's business.  I managed to waddle around well enough to get the bike loaded back onto the Subaru and headed for home.  Back at the house I constructed, and feasted on, a most prodigious sandwich and then went ahead and grabbed that siesta I had been fantasizing about earlier.  The whole ride only ended up being 26 miles, but I was far more tired than I had been after my longest road bike ride last season.  Poor preparation.

Here are a couple pictures I've taken with my cell phone while riding this trail:

Nifty old mountain bike near a nifty old railroad bridge

Spring on the Des Plaines River