Still Riding Once In A While

I haven't given up on cycling, contrary to the appearance of my blog. I just haven't been updating much because I usually ride the same 25 mile route. I have had a few cool things happen lately though. I went out last week thinking I would have a nice hot ride. I've been waiting for the heat, because I'm more comfortable riding in heat than anything. Well, I took off in about 92 degree heat and nice sticky humidity, with a tailwind. Got to my turn back point, and stopped for a beer. So far so good. As I sat I could see the darkness of a storm coming from the Northwest, and thought I had better "beat feet" for home. As soon as I was about a mile into my 12 miles back I caught the mother of all tailwinds! It pushed me back to Boone at about 40 mph! That's my speed, not the wind! On gravel, on a road bike with gum wall Kendas! In 52/14 nearly spun out! The darkness soon swept in front of me, casting an eerie light on the sky. Gravel dust whipped down the road like smoke, and every power line was groaning a sinister, rumbling, death growl! It was surreal to say the least. I was counting the lightning strike/thunder clap ratio and had the strike pegged at about 5 miles back. Safe enough at the speeds I was moving. There is a mile stretch I have to ride pavement East to hook up to the last bit of gravel into Boone and I was damn near blown off of the road! I wish more rides were that eventful:) Tonight I was out after dinner and ran into another dog. By ran into I mean I ran my front wheel into his mid section! He charged out of the driveway of the farm my Aunt & Uncle Wirtz used to live on and just never even slowed down! I managed to keep cool enough to pull a lunge wheelie and clock him good, without going down on the road. He got up and ran back home, and I rode on for a half mile before I stopped to straighten my stem/bars back to center. This dog has never even looked up at me before, must hate Nishiki bikes? Damn Japs! as my Grandpa Cy would have said. So that was fun I guess. I'll leave you with the beer cap totem pole I have been creating. This is where I stop on my rides to have a beer or two and reflect on the events of life. You have to unravel somehow right? I have imagined some old farmer seeing this and wondering what the hell is going on in today's society when some nut puts beer bottle caps on a fence post! "Probably that nut who rides his bike past our place all the time. My dog hates him!" Later!

BTWW The Bitter End

Well I got my garage opened up ;) and dragged a bike out and rode back to work Thursday after lunch. I knew that from there I would have to drive back to work after supper so that I could drive to Ames to pick up my car once work was over. I now have brakes on my car, and am $220.00 lighter. Friday was a mess of weather so I just caved in and drove both times. I will make up for my missed time on the bikes by commuting as many times as possible for the rest of the month, and beyond. One nice thing that I discovered again this year during BTWW is that my fuel gauge stays pegged at the top of the tank for a very long time if I just do a little schedule tweaking and make time to ride in to work. That's always nice. Plus, I have pretty much quit drinking pop since Lent, and have saved myself some bucks from that. I could so easily turn into a miser right now...kill the TV, put up a clothes line, start a garden and I'm there! Later! Travel Gravel!

BTWW Days 3 & 4

Didn't have to work Tuesday, so no work ride. I did ride to my Mom and Dad's to borrow a C clamp, and rode back to Boone after taking my car to get the brakes fixed! I hate cars, especially mine! Today was super rainy in the morning. As in, "Damn, I don't even want to leave the house." rainy. So I rested my hopes on riding back to work after lunch. It was looking good too. The sun and wind combined nicely to dry the cement, and the clouds filtered out the direct sunlight perfectly. So I puttered around the house and went to pull out a bike for the ride back. I ended up with my '83 Free Spirit "D nasty" with tons of chrome and fenderage. Tires still aired up, check. Chain oiled, check. Looking alpha nerdy, check. What could possibly get in the way? Drizzle, that's what. A fine mist which gave way to a moderate spritz. I sat for a moment trying to talk myself into it when a gal in a Hover-Round came zipping by. A Hover-Round with an American flag proudly taped to it no less. Now you just don't see that every day do you? Well, instead of taking the obvious sign that Somebody wanted me to take, I said, "I can't go back to work looking like some drowned rat! Damn it!" and I hopped in my borrowed minivan and slunk back to work. Thanks to my disgust with my situation and general moronitousness ,I managed to lock my "bike vault" with the spare key inside and my main key in my car in Ames! Crap! So now I have no way to get a bike out for tomorrow unless I take the reciprocating saw to the lock in the morning, and buy a replacement lock before Kelli finds out what I have done. Oh I do love me a little intrigue! Lucky for me I had the supreme intuition to keep my saw in the basement. Me Smart! Later!

BTWW Day 2

Today was a scrambled mess of running out of time and too many things to do. I worked on getting the brake pads out of my car for a good part of the morning, then realized I had to get some new pads to put back in (duh) so I rode to O'Reilly's and ordered them. Rode back and started dinking with a pocket bike I'm putting together, and next thing you know I should have been at work 10 minutes ago! Anyways, today was a shared set of fixed wheels on a Bridgestone RB3, and a Nishiki that I totally love. I know you see quotes on FGG like, "This bike is soooo smooth" and so on, but I think I finally understand what these people are trying to convey. This bike just doesn't need much from me except a few revs from the legs. One other rider at work today, on his own bike too! Yeah! He is trying to quit smoking and has been successful so far. Riding to work or for fun is a good substitute I would say. Good going Krengel! Tuesday is my day off and is already full of unwelcomed duties, hopefully I'll blow something off and go for a ride! Later! P.S. 100th Post!

Bike To Work Week - Day One

Drop bar single speeds were the first and second bikes for this year. Saturday saw a black Fuji in the morning, red Schwinn after lunch. Looks like Monday will be a great day to commute, so I will have to choose a pair of fixed gear bikes for duty. In fact, I will be doing one pair of wheels on 4 or 5 bikes for Monday and Wednesday. Lucky for me it is BTWW because the brakes are out on my Volvo! Ride 'em if you got 'em! Later!

2 Things

1. I am setting up a signup sheet at work for anybody who wants to borrow one of my bikes for Ride to Work Week. I will make any and all of them available (except brakeless fixed gears) for any of my co-workers who do not have a bike. I just want to try to encourage as many people as I can to at least try a day or two. I'm even going to offer to deliver a bike to their home for the times they want to try. Should be fun. Last year we had 5 bikes in the back room on Thursday of BTWW, this year we need to blow that up and hit a dozen or so!
2. I am in good with our Amish table maker and am going to ask him to turn me out some solid Hickory flat bars. Possibly steam bent too. He'll do it I'm sure, but at what price? Leave me a comment if you are interested. Sizes can be worked out in metric or fractional. This guy is genuine Amish, not some corporate "Amish image" hack! I want some single speed spacers too. Oh yah! Geek factor 10+++! Later! Travel Gravel!

I Bet Stephen Hawking Never Had This Problem...

But when it comes to my biking hobbies I'm running out of space and time to continue 'em! Doh! Besides, he was always on two wheels! Later!