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
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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
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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
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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
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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

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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
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