Getting excited.

Just got back from a trip to Baltimore. Spending 6 days with Alex and Tank, drinking our brains silly every night, and being free from everything else was … needed. As Alex put it, our time together could no longer be called a bender, it had turned into a spirit quest.

Call it a reboot of sorts. That’s what I am right now. Rebooted.

It’s February. There’s enough daylight now that you can see outdoors at 5:30pm. Change is in the air. I’m pumped to ride the fat tires again.

Of course, videos like this help. A lot.

Enjoy it – I can’t wait till I can get my new wheels.

August Mileage Report!!!

This just in!  August turns out to be the biggest riding month so far.

Commuting: 402 miles

Singletrack: 39 miles

Road: 52 miles

August Total: 493 miles

Out of 24 days working this month, rode in 24 days. Great weather helped a lot for that, as did the new commuter bike. Call it extra motivation to ride. My pedals are pretty much shot in my LeTrek so I didn’t get out for a single mile on it. The Mendota pulled double-duty both getting me to/from work, the grocery store, downtown, here, there everywhere. September shouldn’t be any different, but I gotta get a new set of pedals for my road bike. Fall is my favorite time to ride both on and off road.

It’s been unseasonable cool this summer too … I’ve been loving every sub-70 degree day we’ve had.

Bicycle overload.

View of the City.
Originally uploaded by G e o cycle

I’m sure a ton of you have been checking the twittersphere and various cycling blogs over the past week for news about Trek’s dealer expo called “Trek World.”

It’s all done for the year, it’s a complete week of seeing the latest and greatest that’s being made, reconnecting with old friends, and meeting a ton of new ones.

I didn’t take nearly enough pictures this year but I’m sure there will be much more to be posted up real soon by everyone else.

So if you were like me and had a rather hectic week, take some time and go relax. Hop on the bike and see something new.

I’m getting out for some recreational riding to try and keep my mind off how COOL the new Fisher Rumblefish is. I think I found my new MTB Trail Bike.

Check out the Bishop too.  Holy crap.

Ok, now get out and ride your bike. Or at least give it a hug.

Mileage Report: July!

Drumroll please … I haven’t done the math yet and I’m doing it right now as I type this out.

Commuting: 336 miles

Singletrack: 20 miles

Road: 24 miles

July Total: 380 miles

… let me do some math now. I know I fell short of my 400 miles for the Month goal, but it was SALE month which meant I was either sleeping or working. I did manage to commute in 21 out of 22 days I worked this month too. EPIC WIN!

Total for the year … 1984 miles.

Interestingly enough, I’ve already ridden to work every day so far in August, so I can at least say that I’m over 2000 miles for the year. 4 months to get in 2000 miles, favorite riding weather of the year, I need to try and average 500 miles a month now.

Sounds like a fun challenge. Game on!!!

Back to it.

I really enjoy riding my mountain bike.

I also really enjoy racing it.

First race went extremely well – I’m happy with the result.

Finished 5th out of 22 in my age group, 22nd overall out of 230+. The 4 guys who beat me were all in the top 8, so even though I missed a podium spot this time around, I’m quite pleased with the turnout.

Everything was ON for the day – training has been good, bike was flawless, and I pushed myself harder than I ever have before. Guess there was something left to prove as I won’t be back till August from the sounds of it.

In the meantime … I got a store to take care of. And yep, that does in fact take priority.

Spending a day in dirt.

Originally uploaded by velocorapture

This past Saturday marked a return to the trails since my littleincident a couple weeks back. A heavy work schedule and illness prevented me from riding since then, it felt great to be back in the trees.

There was a special event held in a super secret place by a killer bike making company to celebrate the opening of their trails for the season to employees. Like last fall, it was a time trial event and helped me gauge myself for the upcoming season.

Was a good turnout, and I apparently finished a minute faster than I did last year. It’s all on the technical stuff – no way I am ANY faster up the hills than I was before. Time to lay off the beer … seriously. Others who have been putting in more training finished minutes faster than they did last year, so major kudos there.

After the TT at Jim’s, Claire, Smashly, and I hit up Cam-Rock for some technical singletrack in Cambridge. They’ve been doing a ton of trail-work there, major props to the guys who build with CORP. I’ve been building there before, and it’s a blast. As soon as I can make the time I’ll be there myself.

The day didn’t end after all that mountain biking either. To round off the night, there was dinner at an Indian restaurant. A symphony with a Scot. And a pub-crawl with a newly published author.

What’s next? Ridding my darn yard of Garlic Mustard. That’s what.

First week back on the trails!

Some of them, at least!

This week marked my first week MTB riding in Wisconsin since late last fall. The long winter of commuting, riding on the snow and ice on a bike even heavier than my Ferrous 29er was fantastic for my skills and fitness. I only got a slight taste of it the other week during my vacation at Tsali – but after riding some familiar trails, things are definitely looking up!

The week brought sunny weather, temperatures in the 40s and 50s, and dry – albeit sometimes tacky trails. Spending Thursday and today on some sekret trails, and Saturday at the John Muir trails in the Southern Kettles I was able to get in 52 miles of riding. Not bad, eh?

Technical skills are better than ever – I feel fluid in the corners, and am keeping tons of speed around the twisty bits. I still need to work getting over logs while keeping proper momentum (something that’s plagued me for years) but I’m able to ride things that I wouldn’t have dared try in the past.

As it turns out, riding one of these built structures today led to a slight incident. To help celebrate Zombie Jesus Day – Rosch and I headed out and did some early morning MTB riding. Near the end of the ride there was very sweet wooden berm that has a bumpy exit, followed by a steep rolling drop right after the sharp left turn. I rode the berm a little high, and came down a little too sharp in my angle. My left handlebar ran into a tree and I then went flying down the drop, tangled with my bike, and somersaulted in some amazing acrobatic maneuver that I didn’t think I was capable of. Massively bruised shin started shooting a bit of pain into my leg, but other than that … I was ok. When I looked up, there was my bike.

Upside down.

Rear wheel straight up in the air.

Hanging against another tree right above me.

You have no idea how much I wish I had my camera with me. Everything seemed alright when I righted myself and my bike, but I realized that my rear wheel had a slight issue.

This would make my 3rd wheel I’ve bent enough to warrant replacement in my MTBing career. I should have an new one by Tuesday though! Next day off is Wed … Blue Mounds or Cam Rock: Here I come?!

Oh, I found a frame to build up a road bike too. More on that later.