Guilty of Bicycle Neglect

I have been guilty. Guilty of neglect. Anyone that rides bicycles a lot knows you have to take care of them. I have got several bikes out in the garage that need care. Chains, and rear derailleurs cleaning and lube, brake adjustments, lubrication, bearing adjustments etc. But tonight I chose to eat a bunch, drink a few beers, chill with my honey and watch TV. Tomorrow, well I'll have get down to bike business.

Gotta ride

Four days of long rides, my bike said she was tired and laid down. I said I am too, but we have to finish our destination. So we saddled up, rode on and finished.
Dirt Century #51 for 2009. Was cold and windy. Had to work hard when the wind was pushing against me. Fortunately the wind was angled against my back on the way home. I needed some push. Found a pop machine in the town of Dyersville and purchased 40 ounces of vitimin mineral water and 20 ounces of diet coke. Drank half of right there and headed back home.

GREEN SLIME THANKYOU

I see dead people.

Too funny, was riding down this hill and saw a older Catholic Nun walking up the hill. She held out her arm for me to stop. I figured she was going to kick me out, I was riding on private property owned by the nuns. She just wanted to tell me she was joy riding and her car was stuck in the mud. I asked her if I could help, she told me no, and was headed back to the nearby convent.

What a day on the bike. Last night I put a "green slime" tube on the rear tire. Have been having too much trouble with flats. I was about 20 miles from nowhere on a dirt road and heard a POP, and instantly my rear tire was flat. I hit something that punctured a sizable hole in my tire and tube. Green Slime was trying to seal up the hole but was losing the battle. Then to my surprise Green Slime gummed up and I was able to hold 5 psi in my tire. So I rode like that, then air would leak out and I would stop and refill every 30 minutes. Headed out of the valley and rode up three miles of a hill. I could see water towers from 3 different towns. Decided to head back home my tube was not doing a good job holding pressure, and my tire had a hole in it you could put a pencil through. I needed 13 miles to get a century in, so I grabbed a road bike and road some nearby slick dirt trails. Had fun.

Black Friday's choices

So I had the option of picture A (Shopping madness) or Picture B (Country riding) today. I chose picture B, yeap I did. Rode dirt century #49 for year 2009. Legs were tired so I had to keep on them to keep the heart rate up. Plan is to ride tomorrow and sunday.

The Day After ThanksGiving, Black Friday

A dirty road from yesterday's riding. 4 hours of bicycling and did not see one other rider. Hmm everybody else must be sane. Well, I am too, sane that is, well I think I am, but some of the voices in my head are starting to act a little crazy. :-)

Yesterday's house snacks.

Yesterday's trail Snacks.

Today's weather. I like it. I'll be cool, crisp and delightfully sunny for a bike ride today. You sorta learn, and relearn and adjust what to wear continuously for out door winter riding. Yesterday I hit it perfect, started out a little cold, after warming up, stayed just right. The "Bar Mitts" work great, allowing the use of lighter gloves for better riding dexterity while staying warm inside "the mitt".

Ok, well have a good remaining Thanksgiving weekend, those that are bikies, get out and wear off some of the stuffing from yesterday.

Dave

I think it's gonna be muddy.

Drinking beer my son left in the fridge, putting parts on a bike I got from Ebay, bottle racks, pedals, rack, bar mitts, mirror, no studs yet, and stuff, thinking it'll be a mud run. Been raining quite a bit the last couple of days. Plan is to get out on this bike and experiment before the in laws, outlaws, next of kin and barn yard animals arrive tomorrow.

Winter travel

Check these two Nokian bad boys out. I am putting them on my hardtail. They want to get out and grind some ice as they laugh at Iowa winters. All the Pugs and Fatbacks say don't cry to me when your buried in the blizzard. Well, we will just have to see

I got a smaller pair used last year, I could not believe how well they did on glare ice. No kidding. Ice that was very difficult to walk across these sharp biting studs could travel on ice quite easily. These new ones I just got, have 336 carbide studs per tire. They are gonna dig in.

Riding out yonder.

Rode from Dubuque to Dyersville and back. Rode on Heritage Trail some and gravel roads some. Gravel road on a old bridge.

Winding paved trail out in Dyersville Iowa.

FLAT!!!!! Again, today and yesterday. Put a patch on a big hole, didn't hold, replaced tube, and rode away. I am going to try some slime tubes. Anybody have any experience here?

Saw some trees chewed down. This tree just had the bark chewed off, didn't know beavers did it this way. Not sure what is up with this.

This cement marker used to tell the train engineer that Chicago was 198 miles away. It has a C 198 on it.

Another day in the saddle

A bikers 2nd worst enemy, a flat (1st is none cooperative body parts, like Achilles tendon flair ups, knee tendentious, Plantar fasciitis, etc. ) , really breaks up the flow of the ride. But that is part of it, fix it and git back on it.

I had to climb this plank, and others to get on top of unfinished bridges to get across the creeks. Was thinking you dumb ass, you slip, you crash, you fall, your gonna be hurt'n.

Here is one of the almost done bridges. I might have very well been the fist bicycle to ride across.

There was no one around, but there was this gigantic fire along side the trail. These flames were 30 feet high.

Well finished my ride, rode 100k, 62 miles. Tomorrow hope for some of the same. Today's ride started at 32 degrees Fahrenheit. Which meant a lot of clothes on, and had to take em off as things and me warmed up. Tried my Bar mitts. They are going to be great for winter riding. Keeping hands warm, when riding cold weather is the hardest body part to keep from freezing.

Saturday Morning.

It's 32 F degrees out, dense fog, and I am getting ready to go ride bike trails. I've gotten a good share of riding in lately. Sometimes people will say geeesh, you must have a lot of will power, you keep doing this, rain, heat, cold, or shine. But that is not true. It does not take will power at all to do this. Those that do this, know this. I so enjoy. Life is pleasant when I enjoy it as such.

In the dungeon.

Headed to the dungeon. Rode rollers for 40 minutes. If I don't use a heart monitor to push my pace, I tend to slip into dogging it. Spent the last 10 minutes burning with lactic acid, because it felt good. How is that for oxymoronic. Lifted weights a little bit. Now Internet shopping for snow bike building. Looking for a pair of Nokian Freddie's with 336 studs per tire. Ice riding will be no problem, with those tires you can bicycle across ice you can not walk across. Picture is of me last year riding. Snow, rain, cold doesn't bother my ride. You learn to dress just right, and have the right bike. I enjoy all 4 seasons of Iowa.

Some where out there.

Was thinking about trying to pedal across this creek. It looked about a foot deep and had gravel down for 4 wheelers. Was only in the 30s, so I opted not to cross. Getting wet feet or flopping over this far from home would be too cold.

I need to come back here with the big knobbies and my hardbutt bike. Would be fun riding that here. Rode 62 miles today. 100K. A "dirty century". That is three days in a row now. I knew the return round trip would be a killer, cause on the way out the leaves were flying right along with me due to the wind. The return trip had 25 mph winds pushing against me. At times I was standing on the pedals going 9 mph. My legs are a bit toasted tonight, but that feels good. It feels peaceful inside me when I work out like I did today, outside, countryside, listening to tunes.

My Head is Shrinking.

Poor Mr. Pumpkin sitting on my front porch. At first he thought his hat was being stretched out. But now he realizes his head is really shrinking, and there is no cure for that.

Simple Math

Day off work + Trek XO2 ready to roll + temp is between 0 and 100 F = what are you waiting for, let's go bike riding.

DON'T SHOOT

"ARF ARF" Shhhh, lil bike, let sleeping tanks lie.

Cut across an open field, rode the edge of this creek, and see the bridge way in the back ground, that is a rail to trail bridge that put me back on the trail. Rode another dirt century today. It was 34 degrees F when I started out. Was easy to dress for, not much wind. Saw a couple of Eagles, chased a few turkeys, they would rather try to out run me first on the trail then fly away. I am taking a vacation day tomorrow, and hope to make tomorrow #3 in a row for dirt centuries.
Have a nice day.

Dave

All the leaves are brown and the sky is gray.

Rode a century on the dirt trail and gravel today. Makes for dirty century #44 for the year. These bridges are being rebuilt from the floods of 08.

Check this fort out. The last couple of weeks I seen kids hauling lumber and building. No one was there today.

Gray day.

I figured if people are using this to work off of, it should be safe, right? Well it would be a 25 foot crash if not.

She's arrived.

She's arrived, she's put together, she's ready to rock and roll.

Cleaning up my ride.

Bike maintenance, Something you can't neglect if your gonna ride. Especially on dirt. So tonight I worked on my XO2, cleaning, lubricating, adjusting, hoping to do some serious riding this weekend. Feel like a slacker not getting outdoors and riding since last Sunday, well did do some indoor rollers and lifting weights this week, but need to ride the roads, SOON.

HO HUM DUMB DE DUMB

Gonna have to get some good lights for the bike, spinning indoors fries the mind eventually. I can take 30 to 60 minutes but after that my mind starts to go crazy. Put me on a dirt trail and and I can ride all day. Hope to crank some good mileage this weekend out yonder.

Another bike in the stable

I could not help myself, just bought this bike with all these extras. Thinking about 2.3 Nokian studs and making it an ice/snow ride.

Upgrades:
Tires- Bontrager Big Earl 2.5 front and Jones ACX-B 2.2 rear $50.00 each
Front Brake- Avid Code 4 piston hydraulic DH brakeset $239.99
Derailleurs- Sram X.9 front and rear $50 and $102.99
Crank Race Face Atlas AM red anodized 22-32-44 w/ Race Face X-type bottom bracket 369.99
Pedals- Truvative Hozfeller DH/ FR with replacable studs $84.99
Cassette- Sram X.0 Redwin 9 spd w/ new Sram 991 chain $103.99 and $50.00
Saddle- Bontrager RL with FSA seatpost $99.99 and $69.99
Stem- Truvative Hozfeller $45.99
Handle Bars- Truvative Hozfeller w/ Lizardskins lock-on grips $59.99 and $29.99
Headset- FSA 36 degree sealed angular roller bearings $70.00
Cables- Brand new Jaguire Teflon coated Ripcord Pro $30.00
Also includes water bottle cage, chinstay protector wrap, and cateye computer

Coiuntry Ride, and another dirt century

Carb'n up on a raw pop tart, what a man. :-)

Gravel travels

Saw a whole bunch of jeeps head down this road, followed them and saw what looked like a hill climbing contest. I wanted to get closer and take some pictures but they had the gate locked into the area they were at.

These birch trees got together and had a little meeting. They decided they wanted their leaves back, and screw winter. Rode dirt century # 43 for the year, thinking 52 sounds like a good number. Happy rides to all,

Dave

Coiuntry Ride, another dirt century

Rode out on Heritage Trail to Dyersville, 62 miles round trip. These bridges are being built to replace the bridges that were washed away from the flood of June 08. Had to climb and carry bike to get on top, was hoping I didn't slip and crash, down onto the rocks. Beautiful day, started out with hat, gloves and jacket, but removed at 10:00 after only an hour of riding. Hope to do it again tomorrow.

Bicycling and ADHD

Interesting article in Bicycling Nov 09 about Adam Leibovitz U.S. bicycling champion. He battled ADHD for years with medications, and then discovered bicycling. He says "When I was off the meds and rode a lot, I'd feel great" When I'd take rest weeks I'd be bouncing off the walls."

Also he says, "I never feel more serene-or more focused then after a good, hard ride."

Well I gotta go, like those close to me know, I need my "meds", my day on the bike.

Happy trails.

Dave

The Plan Stan

Here is the route, 62 miles leaving from my house Dubuque to Dyersville on Heritage Trail. There are a couple of bridges down so gravel roads are taken. I haven't been this way since last weekend and bridge repair is happening so maybe I can ride across a "half finished" bridge. If the plan goes as planned I will ride this Saturday and Sunday. Yahooo bring it on.

Oak Floor restoration.

Having the oak floors refinished in my home. I figure these trees were from the 1700s or prior. I like the wood work of the older homes