Let it thaw, let it thaw, let it thaw.

So this week begins the "warm up" that should kick off the spring thaw (flood?). I will miss the snow, although I'm sure it'll make a couple brief appearances throughout the spring. With the latest thaw there are tons of slushy puddles, so I'm back on my Xtracycle since it has fenders to keep me somewhat clean. Yesterday I went on a 9 mile ride through the streets on the Pugsley and got covered in brown slush. My white bike is now half brown, and I had to wash my coat and pants when I got home! So unless it's dry snow or bare roads, the Pugsley is staying parked. The Xtracycle is much faster anyway, even though it's a bigger target for wind, with it's sail-like rear end. I'll take that penalty though because it's just so fun to ride. It's due for some new tires and a new snapdeck, but I should be able to get by for a couple more months at least. I've settled on getting Schwalbe Big Apple tires in the 26x2.35 size for the extra ride comfort and reflective sidewall. Hopefully I can catch them on sale before I truly need them.

I'm jinxing myself to say that I survived my first winter in Fargo, but that's what I did. Bear Grylls style survival, by getting into the mess and fighting through it. Although I didn't need to eat an eyeball or drink my own pee, I'm quite proud of myself for braving the frozen outdoors as much as I have.

$0.00 per gallon

When I started this blog is was mainly about my bike rides and starting to commute by bike. Since I've moved to Minnesota, and landed a job so close to home, being a bike commuter has become much easier. Nearly every day I take the long way for the added mileage, a whopping 5 mile round trip! If I took the easy route it would only be 3 miles round trip. When the weather gets nicer I may look for ways to extend it even further.

The biggest adjustment from Phoenix to here is this white stuff that falls from the sky. The locals call it snow, and well I love it. So much in fact that it doesn't stop me from riding to work. I was lucky enough to find a custom built Surly Pugsley at a local shop (I had full intentions of buying a frame and building it up "my way", but this was one was cheaper and nicer!). This thing is built for snow, sand, and anywhere it damn well pleases. There's only been a couple places this winter where I had to walk beside it, but I think those times could have been avoided now that I have more snow experience under my belt. Today was the first time I walked it because I wanted to. Yesterday's wind left some deep drifts that were pock-marked with footsteps. Add on last night's 2-3" of fluffy snow and those deep holes are invisible. It's only a 150 foot stretch or so, and instead of getting frustrated with the annoying thump thump thump of hitting those holes, I just walked it. But before that stretch of path, I had to guess where I was, as I couldn't really tell where the path was, or where the icy patches beneath the snow were. The rest of the ride was nice and enjoyable, since the temps were in the high 20s and the snow coming down felt good on my face. My coworkers were surprised that I had ridden to work, you'd think that they'd know me better by now. I've only missed a handful of days this year, and it takes much more than a couple inches to stop me.

As of tomorrow's ride, I'll be at 250 miles for the year. Not bad considering that 95% of those miles are on snow. I'm well on my way to my goal of 1500 miles for the year.

Hey Blog, how've ya been?

A lot has happened since the last time I threw some words at ya. Here's the cliff notes:

Had a baby boy, changed jobs, moved to Minnesota.

How's that for life changing events? Well in the new world I now find myself in, there is plenty of exploring to be done, so I'll start blogging more often....hopefully.

Special Beer for a Special Boy

So tomorrow is the "early" judgement day. I plan on bottling the beer I made special for the birth of my baby boy. I have special labels designed, so I'll hand out handcrafted ale instead of cigars when he's born. There's no way I could brew another batch and have it be ready by his birth, so I sure hope this one turns out good! The recipe is for an IPA (India Pale Ale, and coincidentally the initials of our baby) that I modified for batch size and alcohol content. Used 2 types of hops that I've never used before and had 5 hop additions (again, Miller Lite's triple hopped brewed marketing campaign is bullshit!) Should yield 36 bottles of delicious 6.3% ABV yumminess. But final alcohol level and bottle yield will have to be determined tomorrow. I really hate bottling, so if it comes up with less than 36 bottles, I won't mind :) Hopefully it's worthy of sharing, otherwise I'm gonna have a lot of beer to myself!

This will all have to happen after I get back from Cub Scout Leader training. I've been warned that I'll need lots of caffeine to make it through 5 hours of "common knowledge" training.

Car Surgery

I love my car but damn this is ridiculous. I'm so used to simple 4 cylinder cars, ones that I've worked on so many times that I know them like the back of my hand. Simple tasks like changing spark plugs took 5 minutes! Not on this car.



5 hours. Remove intake manifold to replace spark plugs, remove rear valve cover to replace with newer version that doesn't leak oil. Replace power steering hose with one that doesn't leak fluid. Spent $300 in parts, and saved about $600 by doing it myself. Pretty big job but I'm glad it's done, even though I am completely sore today! The human body isn't meant to stretch like that for extended periods of time. I'm just thankful that the car started right up when it was all put back together. Runs like a champ again!

It's on like donkey kong

Finally! After a couple months of being without a bike, as my trusty red Soma went to SF via ebay, here's what many beers, err hours in the garage have done.

Start: 84 Nishiki Prestige frame and a pile of misc parts.


Finish: Complete and road tested!



This ended up being a mix of 3 different bikes I bought off of craigslist/ebay, which were parted out for profit :) Some of the parts were purchased new, and the saddle is leftover from the Soma bike. Hopefully this hot weather and increase in light rail fees won't discourage me from commuting again, but either way, it's time to get back on the road and lose my "sympathy pregnancy" weight :)

All Alone

My wife and son are on their way to Oklahoma, and I've got the rest of the week off of work. Hmmm...what's a boy to do?

I've got a Lowe's card, lots of beer, and a hankering to do some home improvement :)

Not-so-extreme makeover time!