So I drank a PBR...

And grew out my facial hair. And built a fixie. Coincidences I assure you. The PBR was at a cyclocross race, the beard is seasonal, and the fixie is my new crap weather commuter/bar hopper.

I traded my volunteer hours at the FMCBW Co-op for this old Itoh frame. These frames range from gas pipe "crummy" bikes to Bridgestone predecessors. This particular one seems to be in between. Built in Taiwan, nice lugged construction, and a nice chrome fork.

The goal of this bike was to build something nice enough to enjoy and be proud of, but not have to worry about it as much. I'm still super paranoid about leaving my bikes locked up. It's already scratched up and has rust spots. Beauty + Usage = Beausage, per Rivendell. It's perfect. It's this ugly, yet classy baby blue.

When I found it downstairs at the co-op, it was complete and stock as pictured above. I stripped off the unwanted parts, swapped on different stem/bars/crank at the co-op and brought it home. I added the saddle, bar tape, and brake levers from my parts bin, and bought the wheelset/chain. I think it came out great!



It didn't take me long to get used to riding fixed gear. Less than a mile I'd say. Its still a bit odd to get used to not coasting or shifting though. I actually enjoy riding it much more than I thought I would! I pulled the fenders from the CrossCheck and put them on the Itoh for this week's wet weather and used it as intended. Perfect!

IMBA Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day

One of my LBS' had an event to celebrate the International Mountain Biking Associations "Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day" this past Sunday and I was lucky enough to take my 12yr old with me. He's never been offroad before but was excited to go.

Specialized sponsored the event and provided water bottles and t-shirts to the kids, which was very cool of them to do. There were probably 8 or 9 kids that showed up with their parents which is a pretty impressive turnout for as little publicity as this event got around town. Since I know the trail pretty well, I led the first group which was just myself, my son, another 8 or 9 year old girl, and her dad.

We started off nice and slow, talking a lot and trying to keep the kids excited, because I was certainly nervous that my actions could scar these kids for life and they'd hate it! We stopped and walked the tricky spots along the way, like the log crossings, switchback turns, and off-camber climbs. Soon the kids were complaining about the little hills and walking up every one. After a short break, we waited for the next group of riders to catch up then we started again. The second section is pretty easy and flows nicely so no walking was required. Speed was. My son was riding my wheel and warning me that I'd better speed up! Whoa! We're all having fun now! So I took off a little trying to encourage some speed up a hill, and whaddya know, both kids climbed the hill on their bikes and commented that "that was easy!". At this point I'm stoked that they are enjoying themselves and all nervousness on my part was gone. I took the time to stop at the hard parts and if I felt I could describe an easy way to ride it, I did. Soon the small log crossings (under 6" diameter) were minor obstacles for this young shredders. And when we reached the hardest part of the trail, the kids were ready.

I stopped at the top of the hill, looking down at what I feel is the trickiest spot of the trail. 100 feet of downhill to a 1.5' jump/drop followed by a sharp left turn. The drop has just enough lip on it to "kick" the bike so you can't go full speed and hit it and be ready for the turn. I warned the kids and went down it the way I normally would, thinking they'd walk it. Nope. My son followed my line and did just as I did. My jaw dropped. Proud daddy moment was in full effect. I think all the parents had that pride when we got back to the parking lot. It was a great time and I'm glad that Specialized and Great Northern Bicycle Company in Fargo made it into a event.

My son said he was exhausted when we were done. I was tired too, but still had enough energy left to take my Xtracycle up the local bike co-op and start a new project. More on that later!

Fall

Since it's just me and my youngest son today, we pried ourselves off the couch (not easy!) and went exploring. The Xtracycle with iBert combo was put into duty and we were off. With the high river levels all year, most of the bike trails that run alongside of it were muddy for the summer. Recently they cleaned up some of the trails, and we went to go ride them.

Unfortunately the Sertoma Freedom bridge, a walk/bike/ski bridge that crosses the Red River is still out of commission, but we found two other bridges to cross over from Minnesota to North Dakota in our ride today. Most of the trails weave through parks, are asphalt paved, and lined with trees. Some of the best scenery in the area, especially now that Fall is officially here. Squirrels gathering acorns, bright yellows and green trees, and the crunch of leaves under my tires. Amazingly it was 70 degrees today and with the amount of people out today, I think we're all thinking the same thing...that weekends like this aren't going to happen very often in the next 6 months, so get out and enjoy. I'm glad we made it out for a 12 mile ride today, the couch feels even better right about now.

Right before I posted this blog, I entered that 12 mile trip into greenlightride.com, where I've been tracking all my trips. Today's ride makes an even 1700 miles for the year. Nice!

I dig this quote

"When I go biking, I repeat a mantra of the day's sensations: bright sun, blue sky, warm breeze, blue jay's call, ice melting and so on. This helps me transcend the traffic, ignore the clamorings of work, leave all the mind theaters behind and focus on nature instead. I still must abide by the rules of the road, of biking, of gravity. But I am mentally far away from civilization. The world is breaking someone else's heart."
– Diane Ackerman

That was posted on facebook by the good folks at 30 Days of Biking. Currently in Round 4, and the last round of the year, 30 Days challenges people to ride every day for 30 days. Simple enough right? Around the block, to work, running errands. Even though 30days of biking is a Minneapolis thing, someday I hope it'll spread all over. I'm doing my part around here!

Flat

Of the 5 bikes currently in use in this household, the hardest one to change went flat. The rear tire on my Xtracycle "Truk" was dead flat, after a short run up to Walgreens on Sunday. Glad it happened at home and not out on the road, because it is a genuine pain the the ass to get that rear tire off, especially with the super fat Schwalbe Big Apple tires, fenders, and v-brakes. No speed records were set in the garage today!

We did it!

Finally sold my wife's car! My commitment to car-lite living and year round commuting just got a big slap in the face from reality. It's time to put up or shut up and do this. Saving a ton of money per month, have a lot more room in the garage, and a big headache cured. Since that car was hardly driven at all last winter, paying ~$450/mo on a garage ornament for 5 months hurt a lot. Now we won't have to worry, and the car found a new owner who loves it dearly.

It's time to get serious about getting some custom winter gear from foxwear.net and making sure Pugsley is ready for the snow battle, because we're going all in this year!

My 9/11 Post, I'm celebrating

Since Facebook/CNN/the corner store is all abuzz with people's remembrances of 9/11/01, I'm celebrating 9/11/11. It's my son's second birthday, and I refuse to let the sighs and bad thoughts of one evil day in history put a bad mark on the date of my child's birth. We're going to make the best of it!

But since I'm on the subject, on 9/11/01 I was living with a roommate and sound asleep when my roommate woke me up "We're being attacked!!". Not knowing WTF she was talking about I reluctantly got out of bed and went to watch TV with her. By the time I was up, both towers were ablaze, albeit still standing. I didn't know what to think or feel. Nervous? Scared? Anger? I remember most news websites being down, and trying to get my little 3.5" travel TV to tune into something. Since I was in a capital city, especially one with a nuclear power plant nearby, I was a bit worried. Soon my fears would ease and live would carry on as normal. Well, not normal, but you know what I mean.

Remember how everyone had American flags and support ribbons and how Americans in general stuck together for a few months after the attack? What happened to that? People became their ugly selves again and started hating each other, and especially those with darker skin, or those whose faith didn't align with their own. Cowardly attacks upon innocent, kind hearted people who look middle-eastern or talk with a thick accent happened shortly thereafter. When I reflect on 9/11, I feel sad for the ugliness us Americans showed in the days, months and years following the horrible attacks. The fickleness of being a caring human being, the senseless attacks and hatred to those who were not understood. It was ugly and I prefer not to reflect on 9/11 for being reminded of those things. OK, rant over.

So I'm celebrating this 9/11, because as of two years ago, I actually have a reason to be happy again on 9/11. My baby boy is growing up so fast! And there might even be another part to be happy about, but I'm not gonna jinx it!