Oxidation

I took Sephie for a ride...

The 'man'

Today was work followed by 3 1/2 hrs of fire alarm class. Yesterday was the better day. A quick installation of a tube on the Seven and I was off to ride with the Arb Group. Mr Supple announced the Fitchburg Polizei were staking out the new stop sign at Seminole and Lacy roads (part of the H8er route) and were ticketing cyclists who do the Cali roll. It was agreed we would ride neutrally until that stop and then be at each other's throats. I love roadies when they try to be civil. We rolled up on the intersection and there was nary a Crown Vic but all ~30 of us put a foot down and waited our turn. We'd maybe made 100m when a PA blared "NO MORE THAN 2 ABREAST ON THE ROAD!"

They're not breasts... they're 'man-boobs' officer.

The cruiser followed us for the next 5 miles before I followed an attack with two others. A few minor hills and a couple of bends in the road and I look back to see what the gap was but was puzzled to see an empty road. I hadn't heard anything like a crash, a flat or the cruiser's siren. So we kept our heads down and kept going. All the way to Paoli, then to Verona and then back easterly home. With a couple of miles to go to the Arb my calves stared to cramp so I tried to simply survive as the two kept it pinned at 27mph. I kept thinking 'it isn't July dammit, I shouldn't be going this hard.' I faded before PD and noodled home. 55 miles at a harder pace than I wanted but I feel fine today. I still don't know where everyone went...

pink...

...is the color of the top of my head. Sunday I picked up the Ferrous and a few odds & ends before pedalling all afternoon with my daughter. Cafe Zoma has little shade and after a breve and a sandwich we were off to the parks. The 36x17 on the Flyte was tall enough to keep up with Sephie on her SS. She's got a great spin.

Last night I installed the new Stroker Carbons on the Ferrous and removed the deraileur/shifter. The Timesert in the EBB wedge gave out after 2 years of service so I had to visit Guru Lalonde at TBSW. After a new wedge was installed the aura returned to the Ferrous. Now I just need to find the Farm.

so here's the deal

Last week things got really bad between me and my wife. Since there's no time machine in the driveway I have to deal with reality. In the interest of harmony I'm following advice, taking therapy, readin and being very introspective.

I'm not riding much. Russell hooked me up but I'm being responsible with my daughter so I haven't logged many miles. Racing is on the back burner for a few weeks. I may not race until WORS #3 at 9 Mile. I'll have to see.

Rain is drumming and unless Rockford is dodging the clouds I suspect Sunday will be cancelled... unless the quake this morning helped Illinois suck less.

inner turmoil

I don't want to say anything I'll regret. So I won't. There are many things I miss at the moment. Change is inevitable, and hopefully for the good. One never knows.

The H8er

I know I dropped the T but if'n weren't for Russell I'd have been more of a spectator than I was. Meetin' Russell's wife was Special. It was great to be part of the posse powering her H8 to the win. Walls was in rare form. Astride his new El Mariachi with gears he was struggling to keep pace on the tailwind section. At the turn around a Hamms and Doritos gave him the fuel to sit on my wheel as long as I kept the pace around 13mph. It's the only time I've been stronger than him and I wasn't going to gloat while he was suffering. Now is slightly different, but I'm sure it had something to do with planetary alignment and not the 42x18 on the TriCross Russell loaned me. He'll be back to making me suffer in no time. The awards afterward was quite the to-do with everyone getting something. In my case it was another Sun-Ringle flask. Very cool 'cuz now on road trips I can have a flask for me and a flask for everyone else to share.

After all the schwag was unloaded we headed over to Glass Nickle Pizza for a pair of pies and fluids. I can't have alcohol for a while so Russell matched me water for Cherry Cokes while Rick and Angela had some barley pops. Rick's eye lids were getting the upper hand and he couldn't muster the strength to keep them up so they put the sunset at their backs and headed east to Milwaukee. I went to bed.

Wha-huh?

In the past when I've been out for a ride I've seen stuff that makes me say "what was that?" Now that I ride with the camera I can take pictures of those moments. Like this one...

Scale

Sunday was a colder version of today. I headed south on the Flyte but not before exchanging words with a groundhog trapped on an ice floe. Okay, it's actually a muskrat, but he's related to Jimmy or Phil or what ever rodent du jour is responsible for the weather we're having. No I won't sing any "Captain & Tenielle."

So today I went out on the Flyte again, Not so much because I wanted more SS time, I grabbed the Seven at first, but a flat front tire and no spare tubes in the house changed the plan.

First I had to go vote.
There was plenty of parking at Takumi.
Do 29er tires make my Weiner look smaller?
The Flyte rides like it's on rails...
I went out north past the American Family Insurance facility and came back on the rail line. The aluminum fork isn't bad, it helped that I was running 35psi in my ghetto Stans wheels. I like riding on the rail line mainly because it makes "rough trails" seem smoother. The 36x17 wasn't low enough to get into a good rhythm but it did make me strain a bit.