NAHBS

I was able to attend the North America Handmade Bicycle Show this past weekend in Indianapolis. Ken, his brother Paul, and I drove down Friday. We were barely into WI when Paul asked me, "What kind of bikes do you own?". It was almost Madison before we exhausted the rideable inventories for all of us. Unfortunately, I was working through a cold over the weekend, so I battled fatigue almost the whole time. I know I couldn't concentrate completely but still had an amazing time looking through all the great bikes and amazing craftsmanship.

Turns out, I took just shy of 200 photos. Most of which only interest me and goofy bike people. My favorite, was taken in the hall right next to the exhibit hall. It was completely empty with the exception of the photo area at the far end. Not wanting to intrude, I stood at the entry, about 75 feet away and took this. You can't keep cyclists off their bikes! One of my favorite things about this photo is it turned out almost exactly the way I wanted. Shooting a fairly inexpensive digital camera, my shutter lag time has been hard to get used to. I don't think the silhouette could be any more perfect from my vantage point.



We had a great time hanging out with folk from Hiawatha Cycles and closely tied with Curt Goodrich Bicycles. (CONGRATULATIONS!!) If only we would have stayed a little longer to have a top shelf drink. It was nice that the bar in our hotel seemed a hot spot for bike folk. We enjoyed a lot of people watching there and then just a short elevator ride before crashing hard.

Seeing all the amazing work done, it sure stokes the fire to get some custom stuff going. I sure hope I make the time to do some projects this summer. Nothing like immersing yourself in something you're passionate about for 36 hours to prod you into action. I'm already looking forward to going again next year.

Cars suck

My wife was in another accident last week. We hadn't yet fixed the car from the fender bender she was in last fall, and now our car is totaled. The most fortunate thing is that no one was hurt. The unfortunate thing is that we have to buy a new car. This was a less than pleasant experience for us 2 years ago. We bought a car that we thought we would have for many, many years. We didn't even make it to many. That was barely even years.

I am looking forward to my Blacksmith Guild meeting this evening. We are holding it at a machine shop that restores antique bicycles. They are supposed to have several high wheelers restored and it should be most interesting. I hope to attain some good pics.

I just wish I could make it work to replace the car with another bicycle. It just would make those trips to Des Moines a lot longer than they already are.

LDT III

We had a very successful third Lour de Toren yesterday. After a slightly rocky start of pushing the start time back and a slight issue of the starting point address, 4 of us met up at Brewberry Coffee for the pre-ride meeting.

Stage 1: I'm not sure how we ended up with the plan, but the first stage was a gruelling slog up to the Groveland Tap. There was some debate if it was over 5 blocks or not, but clearly it was enough for our already weary bodies. We recharged with some oatmeal stout and cheese curds. While there, Dan, Gabe and Michael met up with us. Now seven strong and able to create a more effective pace line, we pounded out into the quickly evaporating afternoon.

Stage 2: It was nice to ease into what would be longer stages toward the end of the tour. This stage found us bounding our way across St Clair all the way to Snelling. A harrowing right, and the technical section of the "race" was upon us. Having to deal with Snelling Ave traffic is never fun. Fortunately, there was only a breakaway of two, and the peloton rolled comfortably to Gobe's. A much needed rest with Summit EPA was much appreciated after that stage.

Stage 3: Now it started to get hard. The calculations were made, and we figured we could squeeze in Costellos into the route. Down Randolph we flew. There was pandemonium amongst the riders as Joe took an alternate route that the rest of the peloton didn't realize was an option. As we wound our way around Edgecumbe and then Lexington toward Selby, we had our first mechanical of any LDT. It was extremely lucky that the weather cooperated with us, with 30 degrees and barely any wind, it didn't make us suffer waiting for the downed rider. The hard fast rule of the No Drop ride didn't bring us down too much. And with a second flat, we limped down Selby to the third stop. Amazing how people will perk up with Bells Two Hearted. Autumn and Alex met up with us here. Unfortunately, the two flats took their toll on Michael and he had to drop out. He also thought he knew what the next stage was about.

Stage 4: Save the best for last. All good downhills must come to an end. And the end it was. We left Dan and Gabe to ride in their own pool playing group. Essentially, stage 4 was an uphill time trial. Everyone set off at a pace that I didn't think we could keep. If it hadn't been for that light at Lexington, I'm sure I would have been dropped well off the back. Things strung out pretty far for a while, but as riders approached the top, we grouped together again. Being a school night, we lost a couple near their house on our way to the Longfellow Grille. 10.1 miles at the end of our ride. I don't know if that mileage can be exactly accurate as we only had one computer, but I would say that's close enough. Unfortunately, some businesses close a little early on Sunday night. We happened to end at one of them.

So, it wasn't a great stage 4 ending. Marty decided, he had had enough, and with the real need for some food, we ended up at Pizza Luce. The last bit of drama coming from a lost key and the need to cut a lock in order to get home. And even though we are not supposed to have support, we technically were finished with the ride. So the cable cutters my wife brought us were allowed. Though we could have used the key we later found wrapped around the chainstay of Joe's bike.

Best Lour de Toren ever!

Clear headed

I was riding to work Friday morning and had a moment of clarity. It wasn't any grand awakening or anything like that, but It was sit up and take notice for me. The sun was shining, it was cold, but very nice. There are a lot of things that go through my head while riding. Lots of times, I get a certain song stuck in there and I play the game of singing it until I can't remember any more of the lyrics. Sometimes I am stuck on one song for days.

Anyway, a number of random things were dancing through my head and suddenly it was an e-mail message. It had confused me a little bit but, riding through the park, I realized exactly what it meant. There was absolutely no correlation with anything that I was currently experiencing, but obviously my mind was working on making sense of that message. It just took a little sorting out. Just another great reason to ride your bike.

I felt like crap this morning. I drove to work. I felt even worse for doing so. I can't remember the last time I voluntarily drove to work when there was no other factor involved. I'm pretty sure that riding would have been better for me. I still felt like crap all day. At least I would have cleared a few things up in my head.

Done and Done

Well, the shelving went great. As always when dealing with an old house, we ran into a number of small details that made the "simple" project a little less simple. We wired a light into our attic stairwell that serves as our linen closet and trying to cut holes in rock lathe and plaster ceilings is not my idea of fun. But, being finished with it, I don't know why we didn't do this years ago. The shelving is exactly what we needed to kick off our year of projects around the house. I think we need to add a few smaller things to the list as rewiring the entire basement is a lofty goal.

Looking at the calendar, the month of Feb. is filling up fast. Between bike rides, Super Bowl, birthday celebrations, broomball, and more bike stuff, I don't have a single weekend free. No complaints here. I'm hoping it makes the end of winter fly by. I'm really starting to look forward to losing the studded tyres. And more importantly, being able to ride without the half-hour of clothing prep.

Project Day

We have decided to try our hand at getting some long overdue projects done around the house. Last year, we made good progress on our guest bedroom by getting some trim refinished. Lessons are always learned in doing these projects that you have never done before. Mostly, we bit off more than we could finish in a timely fashion. So we have made a list (my wife loves lists) of projects that hopefully we can do in a weekend or what have you.

So this weekend is the linen closet shelving, maybe a little electrical in some outlets and lighting. Just enough to keep us busy, and be able to finish by tomorrow afternoon so we have that feeling of accomplishment. As Carrie says, "it feels so good to see that checked off the list".

The biggest issue we have is being distracted from our tasks. Carrie had breakfast this morning with a friend to arrange Super Bowl partying and some other stuff that needed to be done. I get distracted trying to learn something new about this stupid machine. The Pond Hockey Championships are this weekend. I'd like to see some of that. We recently started cross country skiing, wouldn't mind doing a little of that. And my broomball point shot needs some serious work. Hopefully we can figure out how to do a few of those other things along with crossing some off the list.

We'll see if that happens Sunday evening.

Brand New Year

Something about the new year that always gives me a sense of renewal. It's as if I can almost start over with so many things. I have never been good with the whole resolution thing, but I still find that urge to better myself, or change something about my life that has not been quite to my liking.

So, I have a small list of things to accomplish this year. Not a large list, too many times you hear the whole I'm going to lose 75 pounds or I'm going to get a new job, or some huge almost impossible goals. Set the bar low, therefore disappointment is minimized. No, it's about setting attainable goals. Just like with any project, if it is too large, you become lost and have a difficult time tackling it. Break it down into small, easier tasks, and suddenly, you're finished. Nothing could be simpler.

I started a winter project of fixing up my folding bike. I don't plan on using it much, but there have been a few times I think it would have come in handy. If I rip it completely apart and start from scratch, I know I will be bogged down about what exactly to do with it, and it will stay disassembled for way too long. So I am going to do it in small stages to see if that will make things go easier.

Not brand new, but brand new for the year.