9 below

This morning might have been the coldest weather I have rode in yet.
Leaving the house the temps were around 9 below and wind chills close to 30 below.
I tried some new layering options and believe it or not, it wasn't that bad.
For anyone who really cares to know what it takes to ride in 10 below weather here is a list of the clothing I wore.

Head- a Mountain Hardware windstopper balaclava, goggles, and regular bike helmet
Torso- mid weight long sleeve base layer, Ibex Shak heavy wool jersey, Pearl Izumi wind and water resistant Gavia jacket, and a Craft windbreaker.
Legs- Fleece bib knicker tights under some Pearl Izumi Am Fib wind and water resistant bib tights. Over the tights I wore a regular old pair of Patagonia pants.
Feet-thin poly sock liners under some fairly heavy wool Craft socks. instead of cycling shoes and booties I wore my Salomon Winter boots and rode with platform pedals instead of clips.
Hands- Wigwam wool glove liners inside Pearl Izumi Lobster gloves.

Luckily the temp rose to a balmy 1 degree above 0 for the ride home. Any warmer and I would have over heated. Also if you are interested, my commuting light is the Light in Motion Stella 180L. This light is awesome; light weight, bright, long run time, and short charge time.

So there you have it, riding in year round in MN really is tolerable if you have the right gear.
It also goes with out saying that I woudl like to thank my sponsor and employer QBP for all the great hook ups.

X-Mas with the Finks

Wishing all of our friends and family a very merry holiday season.

Last night Katie and I attended “Christmas with the Finks”. I cant really come up with any words that truly explain the theme of the party, but if I had come up with one word it would be “Trashy”. From the light up Snoopy on the door step to the Star Wars ornaments adorning the tree. The wood burning fire inviting everyone to gather around the television the fire was illuminating from. The meat log, cheese ball, doughnut tree, and Jello mold in the kitchen. But the real high point of the party is always the attire; the knit holiday cardigans, the Santa hats, the sequins, the themed turtlenecks and finally the tree skirt-skirts. Yes, it is quite an eclectic spectacle.

Thanks Zacca for being such great hosts!

Now playing: The Nightwatchman - Union Song
via FoxyTunes

Jury Duty

Starting Last Wednesday, I was sentenced to jury duty. Let me tell you, jury duty is not that bad.
Tuesday evening I called the special number to see if I had to report in the morning, but my number wasn't called. On Wednesday I worked from home until 12:15 until I had to call the jury number again, still no need for me to go to the court house. I continued working on Wednesday and was really productive.

Wednesday evening I called the jury line again for my Thursday assignment, nothing. When Thursday morning rolled around I decided to take Gretta on a nice walk and play with the neighbor dogs. We had a great morning together. When I got back to the house I checked my work email, but it seemed like there wasn't a lot happening at work, so I did some work around the house. At 12:15 I called the jury number again, still no need for me. I checked my email again, still nothing urgent to tend to. For the rest of the afternoon I worked around the house and periodically checked work email.

Thursday, 6:30 pm check in; No need to report Friday morning. Since I haven't rode my bike in 2 days, and there is no need to report to jury duty, I decided to meet the guys at Colossal for breakfast and ride into work with the group. Upon arriving at Q, I turned around and took the long route home. I could've stayed and worked for a bit, but since I had to check in at 12:15 I didn't see too much use. At 12:15 I called the jury line again, still no need to report. In fact they also said there was no need for me to report Monday morning. I have got to say, Jury Duty has been a pretty good gig.

Honestly though, I am trying to stay productive and work from home when possible; but it is really hard to not get distracted and do person stuff. Today I want to stain our new dining table and hang some curtains. Oh yeah, and I have to call the jury line at 12:15. Only 8 more days of jury duty to go.

Product Review

A couple of weeks ago I bought some new cold weather riding gear to make this winters commutes more tolerable. Unfortunately none of the tights I ordered fit, but I did get a jacket that I am really stoked about, the Pearl Izumi Gavia jacket. Last week I rode with this jacket when the temps were in the high 30's. All I had on underneath was a sleeveless base layer and I could barely feel the wind through the jacket.

This morning was my first ride in sub-freezing weather and the jacket was awesome. When I left the house it was around 29 degrees. I had a light short sleeve base layer, a thicker long sleeve layer, the Gavia jacket, and a summer riding vest on and I was comfortable the whole way. The jacket kept me warm and insulated and also allowed my chest and arms to breath really well.

I am looking forward to testing my new purchase in more fridged temps. I am sure the novelity of my new jacket will wear off when the temps are so cold I can't feel my toes, but until then I look forward to putting the jacket to the test.

Another Colossal day

If all mornings would start with Biscuits and gravy, I would be a very happy man. Probably a very overweight man too. Yesterday I got an inside tip that Colossal was serving B&G this weekend, so Joe and I planned to meet for an early breakfast. Little did I know that Frank and Joe were going to ambush me at breakfast and talk me into racing after breakfast.

Sure enough I was easily persuaded and 20 minutes after eating I was on the road heading to the cross race in Blaine. With temps in the 30's, and dropping, it was a perfect day for a cross race.

We arrived in time for Joe and Frank to race and also gave support to other QBP'ers who raced the C's. I raced in the B's and had an average finish for myself, coming in 9th. Starting in the back of the pack is less than ideal, but I made a lot of ground on the first lap. From lap 2 and on I pretty much rode by myself, doing all I could to bridge the gap up to the next rider ahead of me. I didn't have any luck.

The race was a lot of fun. The course was challenging, their were a good number of spectators, and racing in the cold weather really made me feel like I accomplished something today.

Oh, and the Biscuits and Gravy, they stuck with me all morning, even though I had to hold them down for awhile about half way through the race. If I had to do it all over again, I would still have ate the B&G.

Now playing: Strung Out - Jackie O
via FoxyTunes

Our first cross race

Last Sunday, the day after bring home Gretta, Katie and I decided to take her to the Hudson CX race. We figured Gretta was going to attend a lot of races in her new life, so what better time than now to get her aclimated.

I entered the B race while Katie graciously handed up water bottles (which I always appreciate), but today she had the additional responsibility of watching a new dog at the same time. The race was pretty tough. I don't have a lot of experience riding cross and I don't get any practice dismounting or mounting, so I have to learn as I go through the race. In the end I think I finished around 15-20 out of 60.

After my race I hung out to watch the A race and give Katie a break from Gretta. I thought I had it tough racing, but I think Katie had it a lot worse with the water bottles and handling Gretta. Gretta had been in the pound for about a month before we got her, she didn't get a lot of doggy interaction, and I don't think she has spent a lot of time on a leash before. Needless to say, she was a handful.

At the end of the day we were all really tired and had a great time out in the sun. I think Gretta enjoyed her first race. One thing I do know is she likes mountain berry Accelerade.

Gretta taking nips of the bottle

Now playing: Valet - Habana
via FoxyTunes

Please welcome to the Horkey-Crocker family...

Gretta Horkey-Crocker.

This beautiful girl was welcomed into our home this morning around 11:30am
Gretta, was born Oct 31st 2007.
The boxer/Shepard weighs 47 lbs and is a bundle of joy and energy.
Both parents and puppy are happy and doing doing well in their new home.

Pumpkin

The other week there was an email sent out at work updating everyone us of our companies commuting stats. Below is a basic summary of the miles QBP is putting in this year.

"4 riders have logged over 5,000 bike commuting miles year to date.

Five are over 4,000 miles for the year.

86 employees who have logged over 1,000 miles"

These number are pretty impressive and seem to be up from past years. Right now I am happily sitting in the 10 spot with 3,947 mile. Down a few spots from past years. But right on track millage-wise from where I have been in the past.

So with that update, I will use this opportunity to show you my new form of motivation to ride.



Meet "Pumpkin", my new Cross bike. The new bike is a Salsa La Cruz. The bike has a Sram Rival group, BB7 brakes and DT wheels. I have only rode the bike a couple times to work, but so far it has been a lot of fun. My goal was to race the bike this fall, but b/c of a busy schedule traveling for work and person trips, I don't think I will find time to do any cross races. I will however find time to get the bike on the local single track.

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Now playing: The Tossers - A Criminal of Me
via FoxyTunes

Chequamegon? Chawamigon? Shiwamagon?

My chequamegon "game face"

My goal for Chequamegon this year was to finish the 40-mile race in around 2 and a half hours. I never know who is going to sign up in the Single Speed class, so I didn’t really put a lot of pressure on my self for how I wanted to finish in the SS class. Overall, I was thinking if I could finish in the top 50 I would be stoked.

This year we stayed with some friends a few miles from the start of the race. Total there were 10 of us at the house and 6 of us were racing. The morning before the race we had breakfast at the house. It was really nice to take our time eating and to be able to chat about the day ahead. It was also nice to not deal with the crowds, the smoke, the weak coffee and not so pleasant servers and Cooper’s, our other breakfast alternative.

After breakfast we drove to town to get ready for the race. The temp was in the mid 50's and were perfect for racing. I threw on some knee warmers and a long sleeved jersey to warm up and took off for a quick 15 minute spin. Once I was done with my warm up, I backed my bike into the preferred start gate and went right to the back of the line. The Preferred Start was great; it allowed me to take my time getting ready, then when I had to line up, I just walked behind the other 200 or so preferred riders and was able cut in front of the other 1500 riders who did not have a preferred start and had to get up early to stage their bikes.

At 10:00 the cannon fired to start the race the mass start roll out began. This year was crazy like any other year. Like always there were a lot of idiots trying to win the race in the first 3 miles and a few good crashes on the pavement. Since I was on the single I got passed on the road section by a lot of people who I knew I would catch once we hit the Birkie Trail. Sure enough, as soon as I hit the grass I start passing the rider after rider as they dropped into the granny gear to spin up the first hill.

I felt good on the trail; my plan was to find a good rhythm and ride the first 30 miles at a good pace but try not to stress myself too much, knowing that the hills during the last 10 miles can make or break the race. With in the first 10 miles of the race I started riding with a couple other single speeders who would stay with me for race. On every hill we would jockey back and forth because of our different gears or riding styles.

I crossed the “OO” checkpoint at around 58 minutes. 15 miles down, I was feeling strong but didn’t want to push too hard and continued to keep a good pace taking breaks and drafting off of the other riders and always keeping the two other single speeders in sight. For the next 10 miles, I tried to let the trains of geared riders do all the work on the flats as I sat in at got pulled along. With about 15 miles to go I was feeling really strong and started taking pulls at the lead of the group and began pulling away from the other riders, except the two single speeders. Somewhere around this point in the race we started gaining on a few other S.S. riders.

Fire Tower climb is about 30 miles into the course and this is where the race really starts shaping up. Because of the tall gear I was running and the group of people on the hill I was not able to ride much of the hill. I didn’t try to mash my gear, I popped of the bike and started jogging the hill. I was able to jog for a while, but the hill was relentless and my jog turned to a walk. Trying to keep long strides I kept moving up the hill pulling away from the other S.S.r’s.

After Fire Tower the course turns to a roller coaster of grass hills for the last 8 miles of the race. It was at this point when my quads started tightening up and I realized that I didn’t drop the other single speeders. Once again we jockeyed back and forth up the hills. Trying to avoid cramping, I jogged the crest of some hills while the other S.S.r’s rode the hill.

With about 2 miles left, I decided to make my move. Putting everything I had into the hills I pushed up every incline and didn’t look back. Eventually, I recognized the last long climb of the race and started to hear the music at the finish line. Once I crested the last hill, I knew the race was about over, there was a short down hill section with a 90 degree turn at the bottom and a 200 foot climb to the finish. As I descended, I didn’t look to see where the other single speeders were behind me, but saw two guys a head of me on the up hill climb. I gave it all I had up the hill trying to catch the riders, but I couldn’t close the gap and came up .3 sec short of passing on guy.

I crossed the line at 2:23:32.
I was the 3rd Single Speed to cross the line.
2.5 seconds in front of the 4th place Single Speed.
50 seconds separated the 3-6 place Single Speeds.
I finished 65 overall.

I am super happy with how the race went. I had a lot of fun and felt awesome.

As usual, Thanks to Katie for her help before and after the race.
To Tim and Odia for opening their home to us and for all the great food and beer.
And to Salsa for the great bike and a highly noticeable jersey.




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Now playing: The Vandals - Come Out Fighting
via FoxyTunes

Has it really been that long?

Yeah, I guess it has. Well a lot has happened since the end of July. August was a busy month for Katie and me.

The first weekend of August was 24 hours of Nine mile.
Last year I did a 12 hour solo race. This year I neglected to sign up in time for the cheaper race entry so I decided to bag the race and support Katie and her all lady team. I had a great time with the girls watching them choke around and enjoy themselves and their bikes. I also spent a lot of time rideing around the course visiting with all of my friends who were racing.

The following weekend was a weekend off. I am sure I did some mountain biking but there was not traveling or racing.

August 16.
Katie and I headed north to Bluefin Bay where we spent the weekend with the Doom's and celebrated the marriage of one of my best friends Mike Schroden and his new wifeAngela. It was a great weekend with great weather, great scenery and great company.

Mike and Angela at their bachelor/bachelorette party.

August 22. The Double Centry.
Friday August 22 mark a big mile stone for me. My first double centry. That weekend was the QBP retreat and historically there has been a group of people who have road their bikes from Mpls to the Cable, Wi. area for the retreat. This year was Joe and my year to do the ride. Friday morning I left the house at 5:40 am and rode to Joes for a cup of coffee and at 6am we hit the road. Riding through the morning wathcing the sun rise was awesome. In fact the first 120 miles were great. We really only got turned around twice the whole ride. We took a little unexpected detour in Wi. and wound up at a Sunset Saloon around for lunch where we had one of the best Bacon Cheese burgers ever.

Parking sign at the Sunrise Saloon, Awesome!

In all the ride took us around 14 hours to go 205 mile, 12 hours of actual ride time. The ride was amazing, it was full of highs and lows, a lot singing and a lot silence but definately a lot memories. I don't know if I said this after the ride, but if I didn't "Thanks for the ride Joe".

Labor Day weekend. The Dakota 50.
I came into the 50 feeling really good and I really wanted to win the SS class this year. For the past 3 years I had been on the podium but for one reason or another I could get the top step.
This year I was really prepared for the race and want to win in a bad way. Saturday I decided to go out with a group to spin the legs out after the long drive and preride the course. The first 3 miles of up hill road felt good my legs were fresh and I was looking forward to getting into the single track. About a mile into the single track I was pumping into a corner when my wheel washed out from under me I went down hard banging my knee and elbow and I taco'd my front wheel on a tree. The reason I crashed, I had been commuting on my SS and I didn't let pressure out of my tires before the off road ride, stupid me. Only 28 minutes into the ride and I thought my weekend was over. My knee was sore but not bleeding too badly, I had to slam my wheel on the ground so it woudl roll through my fork when I nursed it downt the hill into town.

The whole ride down I thought to my self about the racing the next day. my body hurt and I didn't know if I was going to have it in me on Sunday. I pedaled into camp and decided if the local shop could fix my wheel. If they could I would race. If they couldn't, Oh well, I tried and it wasn't meant to be. They fixed my wheel, with only a little hop in it.

To keep a long story from being any longer, I finished the race. My knee hurt when I had to stand on the bike but if I stayed seated I could still give'er. My time was a couple minutes slower than last year, but I still managed to get 3rd in the SS. class. I am really happy with the outcome and will not complain. I am lucky I didn't seriously hurt myself on the preride b/c I fell hard.

Aug 12. Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival.
Well, I got into the race again because of a free entry given to me from Timmy at New Moon andI also got a preferred start; this means I will be "racing". After last years fall, I didn't think I wanted to go all out for this race again. but a year has passed and I feel different about the race.

Post ride accident picture

This year I am riding my single speed and I hope I can ride a strong race and stay out of the trouble. The weather may be rainy and I am looking forward to the ride, although my knee is still a bit stiff from last week. I'll see how it goes. Hopefully I can give a full report next week.
Enjoy your weekend everyone.



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Now playing: Bouncing Souls - Kids And Heroes
via FoxyTunes

Powder Monkey

I raced at Spirit Mountain in Duluth last Sunday.
The course was phenomenal; 12 miles of rough, rooted, and rocky single track the whole time.
It was a very challenging course that kept me on my on the edge to whole time.
The 24 mile course took me 2 hours and 49 minutes to complete on the Mariachi SS.
I finished 21st overall in the expert class, 9th in the Men's 19-29 and 18minutes and 39 seconds behind the leader. I am very pleased with my results.

I decided to start riding my SS more to get ready for the Dakota Five-o at the end of Aug. This race was a good test of my fitness and overall strength on the Single Speed.
Right now, I am feeling pretty good about the Five-0.

I also found out today I got a preferred start at Chequamegon again this year. I didn't plan on "racing" the event but I'll see how I feel closer to the race. I signed up for the SS class so that will take the stress off of the start.

Memorial Classic

The Red Wing Memorial Classic mountain bike race was yesterday. Katie stayed back to spend some time with her sister so I headed to the race solo. After pulling into Memorial Park, I went to register and ran into Jesse Rients and his girlfriend Annie who has recently learned the art of the bottle hand up and she was quick to offer her assistance handing me water bottles between laps.

My race started at 1pm and the air was very humid with temps in the mid 80's at start time. The race actually seemed to start much slower than past races which was nice. There was a short sprint in the beginning to the single track and all the riders seemed to file into the single track pretty smoothly. Halfway through the first lap I settled into my pace and really started to enjoy the course. The course had a good mixture of single track a technical rocky down hill and uphill sections, some really fast double track, and some good climbs. Most of the course was in the trees which was nice to be out of the sun, but there was no air and it was really muggy. When we did get into the open fields the sun was beating down but there was also a nice breeze at times.

Because of the way the course laid out I had plenty of time to drink and I was finishing a full bottle every lap, so it was really nice to have Annie handing me cold water bottles every lap. The race consisted of 4, 6 miles laps. I finished in just over 2 hours and 5 minutes. Almost 1o minutes behind the leaders, but good enough for 12 place. Pretty typical for me.

The race was a lot of fun, the terrain was pretty challenging, working in the heat was a real mental challenge, and the Dos Niner was the perfect bike for the course.

Tomorrow I am heading to Lincoln, NE for a Salsa work trip. We plan to get some riding in so hopefully I will have some pictures to share when I get back.


Now playing: Rancid - As Wicked
via FoxyTunes

Weekly Summary

What a great week; this week I started interview for an Event Assistant at work. I would have never thought when I got the Event Coordinator job that in a couple years I would be hiring a lackey, I mean assistant. I am really excited about the position, there was good group of candidates, and I learned a lot about the interviewing process at Q.

Wednesday, I officially logged my 3000 mile of commuting by bike to work. I am a little behind schedule to reach my goal of 6000 miles by the end of the year. i have been trying to hit 6000 miles for 3 years now, but haven't been able to reach it. Basically, I need to ride 4 day a week all year round to hit 6000. This is difficult with travel, much needed rest days after racing, and the unexpected need to drive in. I am hoping July and Oct are big months for me.

Saturday, Katie and I had a great time with Schroden and his wife to be Angela at their Bachelor/Bechelorette party. In the morning a group of us went for a short road ride, followed by a boat cruise on lake Minnetonka, and ended the evening with dinner at a Cristo's, a Greek restaurant in St. Paul. It was a beautiful day filled with great friends, good food, lots of drinking and lots of laughs.

This week will be my final round of interview's to determine who will be the best minion for the job and I am also going to try and focus some of my riding a little to prepare to the Red Wing race this weekend.

Now playing: Mike Ness - Send Her Back
via FoxyTunes

Playing catch up

Here is the answer to the question I know you all are asking; Fryn Porky, why don't you update your blog. Well my beloved fans, don't take it personal, but it is because I am lazy. I have been pretty busy at work try to hire for an assistant event coordinator, AKA Fryn's lackey. Actually I am really excited about getting an assistant, I have learned a lot about our interviewing and hiring process and I will get some supervisor experience. Not to mention, I can finally get some help doing my job.

Besides work I have been getting some good rides in on the weekends. Two Sundays ago, I raced in mankato and finished 15 out of 36 in the expert class which I was very pleased with and this past weekend I did a really nice mtb ride on Saturday and a nice road ride on Sunday with Katie.

Hope all of you are doing well and had a good forth of july.

Until next time, I leave you with a line from one of my favorite movies and the recently deceased George Carlin's, "be excellent to each other".

Boulder Day III

vacation is nice, I need to take them more often. Friday after my morning cup of coffee, I packed up my bag and headed back to Luby's shop to get ready to meet Bil for a road ride. Bil is another ex ONAG'r who moved out to Boulder. Bil showed up around 9:30 and we rolled out for a good 2.5 hour ride. I don't know exactly where our ride went, but I do know we rode "the wall". The Wall was section of an old Coor's Classic course that may or may not have been made famous when Kevin Costnor road it in American Flyers.

Bil pushing the big Dog all day

More from my vaction and the wedding to come.

time off

This weekend my cousin is getting married in Estes, CO, so I decided to take some extra time off work and use the trip to CO as an oppertunity to meet up with some old friends and get some riding in. I arrived at the Denver airport around 10:30am on Wed. and hopped the shuttle bus to Boulder to meet up with Luby. Luby is still working out of the Maverick building and that is where I met him. After I arrived, we hung at the shop for awhile while he finished his up his work, then we headed to the Boulder Brewery to grab a bite to eat. After lunch Luby sized me up on his Maverick ML7 single speed and we took off for a ride at Heil Valley Ranch.

I don't have a lot of experience riding full suspension bikes and the terrain around here is different than anything I have ridden before. The trail was a lot of fun, a good 8-10 mile lollie-pop loop with some rocky climbs and fast rocky decesnts. The bike handled great and I was loving the 5 inches of travel on the rocky downhills. The ride took about an hour and a half but was a perfect way to loosen up after the trip.


Later that night Luby and I met up with our Friend Taylor for a quick pub ride to get a beer and then spend the rest of the night at Luby's hanging and catching up. Taylor is and ex ONAG'r who is living in Golden and working at Golden Bike Shop.

I just didn't have it today...

Today was the Afton Alps race. Sometime last week I decided I was going to race my single speed. Last night I re-geared my bike to 32:19 and and left it hang in the stand until morning. This morning after making breakfast I went down stairs to dial my bike in, pack my gear and get ready for the race. After cruising the bike up and down the alley for a bit I loaded it onto the Jeep and went inside to make my water bottles and make sure Katie was ready to go. Around 11:30 we were on the road. I felt a little behind schedule but was not too worried.

When we parked at the race it was around 12:15 and I had about a half hour to register and sign warm up. I immediately grabbed my bike and rode to registration. When I was leaving Katie was at the door waiting for me. When I saw her she asked, "Where is your gear bag?".
"Shit"
"Did you forget it"
"Yep"
"What do you want to do now"
"Race"

This started my quest for Shoes(preferably with Time cleats), Helmet, and some shorts and jersey. I was less worried about the shorts and jersey but luckily I ran into my friend Jesse's girl friend who found a old Penn Cycle kit in J's car. Jesse was out warming up so he had no idea I was wearing is old gear. Alright, jersey and shorts down, helmet and shoes to go.

Next I ran into a new co-worker of mine who pointed out an acquaintance of mine, Porter, who had just finished racing the Sport race. Conveniently, Porter wears the same size shoes as me. The down side was that Porter doesn't ride Time's. So, we swapped out pedals, Porter gave me his helmet and I was set to race. Not quite, Porter may have average size feet, but his head is way above average. Porters helmet felt like I had a gallon bucket on my head. I said I would take the helmet and use it if I couldn't find another one.

Enter E-Fred, another QBP employee who also just finished up the Sport race.
"Erik what size helmet do you wear"
"Small/Med, but it is narrow, so I have a lady's helmet"
"Im not scared, if it fits, can I wear it"
"Sure"
The helmet fit like a glove, better than my old helmet even. I think I will give Lazer helmets another try.

Alright, I found all the gear I need and I had 10 minutes to spare, so I cruised up and down the walk way for a bit and noticed that Porters pedals are way different than mine and was really hard for me to clip in. Well beggers can't be choosers, so I rode to the starting line and put my game face on. Game face? Yeah right, I could careless how I did in the race, I was happy to have the gear to ride.

New Penn Cycle/Lazer Team Rider Fryn Porky

And how did the race go? It actually went pretty well, I felt like I road as good as I could have on any given day, I road good in the single track and had some good power in my pedals on the uphills. The only real problem was when I would have to clip in and out of my pedal to walk or run some of tougher sections. This wasn't a big deal until the last lap when my legs were really fatigued and I was fighting back the cramps.

In the end, I don't know my exact place, but I finished strong. I was on the course for about 2hours and 45minutes. Judging by the people crossed the line with, I was in the same field I normally finish.

So Yeah, I had quite the interesting day today. Unfortunately I couldn't fly the Salsa colors today, but I got to represent Penn Cycle instead. Special thanks to all my "other" sponsors, Jesse Rientz, Erik Fredrickson, and Porter.


Now playing: Desaparecidos - The Happiest Place On Earth
via FoxyTunes

Our first remodel

Immediately after buying our house, we decided to install carpet in the upstairs and use the space for our bedroom. Well the carpet was installed on Saturday morning and Katie and I planned on spending the afternoon moving our furniture upstairs.

With a little help from our friends we started hauling the head and foot board up, no problem.

Next up, the queen size pillow top mattress; with a little leverage and some choice words the mattress squeezed between the door frame and up the stairs. Can you all guess where this story is going?

Finally, the low profile box spring.
Eye it up, tilt it to the right and give er.
Nope.

How about flipping it over and tilting it to the left?
Nope.
How about going to Hom furniture and about buying a new split box spring?
Nope.
How about ripping apart the box spring, using some powers and cutting the box spring in half. Once it is upstairs, reassemble it?
Yep, sound good.

Two plus hours and a few beers later the box spring was reassembled in its permanent home and the mess downstairs was cleaned up.

If this is what I have to look forward to as a home owner, I am going to need more power tools.

Thanks to Zach for ditching the in-laws to come help a brother move instead. And a special thanks to Joe and Anni for stopping by the house for a drink of water and staying for the afternoon to shenanigans.


Now playing: The Chemical Brothers - If You Kling to Me I'll Klong to You
via FoxyTunes

Im back...

Well, kinda.
I do have internet hooked up at the house now, but the set up is not too conducive for typing or much computer use at all for the matter.

Wow where do I start? There is a lot to talk about since the last time I posted. I bought a house, I flew out to California for the Sea Otter Classic and raced.

Self portrait. PCH101, Monterey CA.

I drove from CA to Fruita, Colorado for the Fruita Fat Tire Festival and got some riding in there.

Katie and me on the Kokipelle Trail in Fruita, CO.

Last weekend I did my first local mountain bike race. This summer has been going by really fast and I have been trying to make the most of it.Memorial weekend coming up. No plans but to hang out with Kaite and some friends, ride my bike, BBQ and drink some beers. Can't wait.

News

Hey everyone,

Sorry I haven't posted much of the past month or so. I have been really busy with work and also buying a new home. In fact, Katie and I bought a house on the 11 of april and since then I haven't had internet access. Once I have internet at home I will get the blog rollin again.

So until then, enjoy this nice picture of our new home and check back in a week or two.

I Loathe The Snow

Our ride through the park outside of work

Words can not express how much I hate the snow this time of the year. This morning I knew it was going to snow through out the day and that I was going to have a snowy ride home. But I never expected it to be as wet and windy as it was. You know, I really don't have to much to say about this evenings ride. It was wet, it was windy, I was under dressed, and I was tired from the weekends ride. I sure am glad I had Schley Guy and Matt Moore to keep me company.

The snow started to freeze on my bike making

Now playing: Hank Williams III - Louisiana Stripes
via FoxyTunes

Is is spring yet?

I hope so, because it sure felt like spring this weekend.
Saturday morning Frank, Ez and I went for an early morning spin to Minnetonka.

Not having a route planned, we just headed west, got turned around and then found our way back home. After making it back to mpls, Ez took us to his secret training hill, which was too icy to climb. After hiking our bikes up the hill we rode through the Kenwood neighborhood and headed home. It was a great ride, were out for 2 hours and were home by 10am.
That afternoon I spent some time building Katie's new bike.

Katie's stealth Salsa Ala Cart, 9spd

Sunday was another beautiful day. In the morning I met up with the Cat 6 squad at Freewheel for their group ride. The group was 7 large when we headed east, the plan was to ride for an hour and a half, check our coordinates, then make our way back home. Around 11:30 we decided to ignore the planned turn around time and keep riding. We were close to Afton and the thought of extending the ride and grabbing a coffee sounded better than turning around. When I returned home I had been on the road for just over 4 hours and probably logged 80 miles.

Riding back from Afton through St. Paul

I felt really good about the weekends riding. I put 6 hours in on the saddle and rode approximately 130 miles. I am trying to get prepared for my race at sea otter and these miles definitely helped me gain some confidence.



Now playing: Reverend Horton Heat - We Belong Forever
via FoxyTunes

Goodbye Dear Friend

Today I decided it was time for me to put to rest my trusty Surly 1x1. This was my first mountain bike I build from the frame up and it has been with me for a lot of really great times in my life. I built the 1x1 while I was in college working at ONAG, where I met a lot of great people and made some really amazing friends.

My 1x1 was the bike I rode when Luby and I did our first Citizen class mountain bike race (Thats right, Luby actually did enter a few races back in the day). It was also at this race where I met Chewy. I rode the 1x1 in my first Chequamagon FTF (Thanks for the bib Schroden, sorry about the broken ankle!). The 1x1 was with Doom, Luby, Taylor Nye and me when we drove to Downieille, CA for my first SSWC. It was the bike I rode to my one and only Wednesday night ride (Thanks for the escort home Ziegle). I also flew with the 1x1 to Germany when Chewy and I went to Berlin for my second SSWC.

The 1x1 had always been the bike of choice at a number of races, numerous pub rides, Snowballs Chance In Hell, Hommie Fall Fest and countless other memorable rides. It hurts to put this bike down but, with a move coming up, a growing fleet of bikes, and a shortage of bike storage I decided the 1x1 was the bike that had to be put to rest. I haven't been riding the bike as much, I used some of its parts to build a new bike and for the past couple weeks it had been hanging in the basement 1/2 built. So I decided the time has finely come to put my trusty bike to rest. So, until I take you down from the rafters, or pull you out from behind the washer; Farewell good buddy.

RIP Surly 1x1. 2000-2008

Now playing: Willie Nelson - Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain
via FoxyTunes

Fresh and Clean

As you can see, I am playing around with the look of my blog, trying to freshin' it up for the summer.

In other news Katie and I have started our search to buy our first home. Yesterday we came across a house we both really liked. We are not going to rush into buying it yet, because we have only seen a handful of homes on the market, but seeing a home we liked was very encouraging and has created a sense of urgency to get out and see as many homes as we can. This way we will can be confident when we see the right home.

And for you viewing enjoyment, here are a few more pics from my trip to Seattle. All of the pictures are from an overnight trip we took to visit some family in Portland. We spent the day driving to Mount Hood and checking out the scenery along the Columbus river on our way.
Mount Hood had a record amount of snow fall this year. You can see in some of the pictures the amount of snow that fell on the roads and piled up around the homes in the area.

Multnohma Falls (600+ drop)/ Mt. Hood

Snow cut away from the road on top of Mt. Hood/ 3 story home surrounded by snow

Now playing: Johnny Cash - Ballad Of Barbara
via FoxyTunes

Flannel Anyone?

Like i said in my last post, I was on vacation in the home of Puget Sound, Pike Place Market, and Pearl Jam

It is also the new home of my brother, which was the main reason I went to Seattle.

He is new to living in areas that are bike friendly, so I needed to teach him the ways of the bike commuter.

Seattle is not the home of Guinness, but we did learn a little something about drinking on my trip.

We did more than ride bikes and drink beer on my trip. I will share more in the next post.

Now playing: Queens Of The Stone Age - Song For The Dead

via FoxyTunes

Away from home

I'm on vacation visiting my brother in Seattle.
I will post some pictures of my trip when I get back.

It's Alive

After two sessions in the basement, my new bike is alive. Mixing a new frame, fork, wheel set and brakes with old parts off of two other existing bikes my new single speed is now ready to ride. As the pictures show, the bike is a 2008 Salsa El Mariachi with 29" DT Swiss rims and 240 hubs, old Race Face Turbine cranks, Thomson stem and post, King headset, 160mm Avid BB7 mechanical brakes, Jagwire Ripcord cables, and XT levers on a Salsa pro moto 11 degree bar. For those or you who name your bikes and want know the name of my new steel steed; Sorry I don't name me bikes.

Now playing: NoFX - Gonoherpasyphililaids
via FoxyTunes

Hold your Horses...

it ain't spring yet. But this weekend it sure felt like it. Both Saturday and Sunday were in the mid 30's and the sun was shining. It is on days like these when I start dreaming of warm weather, then someone like my next door neighbor has to remind me March is typically the snowiest month of the year. What a buzz kill. Anyway, I took full advantage of the sunny weather on Sunday and took the cross bike out for a ride.

Picture from our ride of Lake Minnetonka.

Joe and I took the bikes west towards Wayzata where we ended up getting turned around near Orano and Medina. After finding our way out of cougar country, we head back towards our safe haven in Murderapolis, finishing our ride at CRC coffee. All in all we rode for about 3 and a half hours. The ride felt great and now I can't wait for spring to ride dirt again. To make things worse, I started putting together a new bike tonight but I more than likely wont be able to ride it for while. For those of you who care, there will be pictures coming soon.


Now playing: Buju Banton - Untold Stories
via FoxyTunes

Uncle Sam let me down...

But Mother Nature sure did not. Last night the US Navy launched a big-ass SM-3 missile (reaching speeds of 17,000 mph) from the USS Lake Erie in an attempt to blow up some sort satellite roughly 133 miles over the Pacific Ocean. Coincidentally at 8:45pm last night, astronomers were forecasting a lunar eclipse.


In an attempt to see some sort of explosion and watch the moon go dark all at the same time, Katie, Frank, Merckx the super pooch, and I went out on Lake Hiawatha to view all of the action and drink a few beers. Unfortunately we didn't see any sort of explosion. I guess the missile wasn't big enough to create any visible carnage thousands of miles away . We did however get to watch the eclipse and were able to see the moon change colors as Earth's shadow passed in front of it. Pretty Cool.


Now playing: The White Stripes - This Protector
via FoxyTunes

Super Bummer

No posts lately, I am really busy getting ready for Frostbike. For those of you who are unaware, Frostbike is an annual bike trade show QBP hosts every February. It is my job to coordinate this massive undertaking. I like the work, but lately it has been sucking the life out of me.

So here is a quick update with me. My frostbite is better. It kinda acted like a sun burn; stung for awhile, looked kinda bad, dried up, and peeled away. I have been Commuting a lot and enjoying the mild weather, but haven't skied in awhile. Thinking about Sea Otter but for now I am looking forward to Snow Balls Chance in Hell. Someone reminded me yesterday it was Super Tuesday, I went to Best Buy to get a smoking deal on flat screen but no one in the store knew of any deals going on. Isn't that what Super Tuesday is all about, getting up really early and getting sick deals on electronics and shit?

Thats all for now, good night everyone.


Now playing: Bright Eyes - Method Acting
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My pride got in the way

This Wednesday I thought it would be OK to ride home in the frigid sub zero cold. Scott Thayer and I were going to tough out the ride home together, using one another as a human shield from the freezing wind.
The temp leaving work that night were roughly 6 below with winds around 20mph .
The ride didn't seem too bad. In fact, both Scott and I commented on how toasty our feet were with new toe warmers in our boots. Honestly I wasn't that cold except for one little bit of exposed skin. Then we turned north and the crisp wind slapped us right in the face.
I bet you can all guess where this story is going.Yeah, frostbite.

See the nice patch of white skin under my goggles? That is what a minor case of frostbite looks like. I should have known better than leave skin exposed to the elements for over an hour when it is as cold as it was, but my pride got in the way. I just wanted to make it home. Bummer for me, because now I am going to have to deal with this for the rest of the winter.


Now playing: Patsy Cline - Today, Tomorrow And Forever
via FoxyTunes

Date Night

Last night Katie and I finally went to see Into the Wild at the cheap theater. I had been wanting to see the move for some time now and at $3 a ticket, I couldn't pass it up.
Sean Penn directed this flick and did a great job of following the book. If you haven't seen the movie or read the book, I would recommend doing either or both.

Now playing: The Ditty Bops - Wishful Thinking
via FoxyTunes

Too Cold for this Candy-Ass

This morning I woke up, grabbed a cup of coffee and turned on the local news just like I always do. The first thing I saw when the TV flashed on was the local temp, -4 degrees. Yeah I woke up like normal planning on riding, but screw that, 4 below was just too cold.

As I drove to work I thought that maybe I was getting soft with my new GQ lifestyle. At the end of the day I was asked by 3 other people (regular riders whose names I will not mention so they can still keep their "badassness") for a ride home. I know no one likes a candy-ass, but at least there were 3 other candy-asses in the car with me when I left work, and that made me feel better.

Now playing: Social Distortion - Live Before You Die
via FoxyTunes

Manzy Panzy

Tonight I went to get my haircut at a real salon for the first time in well, I don't remember when the last time was that I paid for a haircut. I don't know if that is sad or not. Anyways, not only did I go to a real salon, I went to an Aveda salon. I was told Aveda is nice. When I got there I was served a cup of hot tea and there was actually a good selection of recent magazine in the waiting area.

After I was seated, my stylist Gina gave me a nice scalp massage before we moved to the shampoo bed. Thats right, not a shampoo chair, but a shampoo bed. I guess the bed is fancier than the chair. I don't know if the bed gets your hair cleaner than the chair, I don't really care, it felt nice and made me feel all posh and shit.

On to the hair cut! Yeah, I really don't think I had that much hair to cut, so I knew I could forget about getting it styled. The main purpose of this trip was to eliminate the mushroom shape that was taking over my head. My stylist Gina did tell me I have a healthy scalp, so I have that going for me. After about a half hour of trimming, clipping, blending and texturing Gina spun me around and showed me my new look. All I can say is "Damn, Fryn Porky is Hot!"

Some of you readers may be fortunate to see the new, highly fashionable, and GQ Fryn Porky live and in person. All you less fortunate readers will have to wait for pictures to see Fryn's new do. Rest assured, "it's Hot". At least that is what my stylist Gina said, and I don't care if it is her job to tell all her clients that. Did I mention I have a Stylist?


Now playing: George Clinton - The Flag Was Still There
via FoxyTunes

Men are not to cry, so how am I to stop it...

On New Years Day, two armed men entered a Robinsdale, MN residence looking to rob the home. There was a struggle, a gun shot and a life was taken, all because of a senseless act of violence. In the end, a friend of mine was shot trying to defend his wife, his friends and his home from the intruders.

This tragedy has greatly touched a lot of people. My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone whose lives have been touched by Jamis Marks. Jamis was a great person and I will always remember him and the good times we had together.

The title of this post is from a Blues Traveler song, "The Mountain Wins Aging" . This was the first song Jamis and I heard as we drove home from Bozeman MT. at the end of a snowboarding trip during our time together at college. At the time the song seemed so fitting, now this line seems even more appropriate than ever.

To all of Jamis' family and friends, Peace be with you. My thoughts and prayers are with you all.