Weekend Ride...finally!!

Well, we finally got out for our first weekend ride in a couple of weeks. Sunday afternoon was sunny and around 34 degrees. (we couldn't pass that up) The roads are in freaking horrible condition, but hey, it beats the trainer.

We met at Chris and Gails place about 2:30. We managed to find a fairly unobstructed route out of town towards Oregon. The downhill sections were a little spooky....trying to stay in the narrow tire tracks was a challenge. I've got to say, the GF Rig is an awesome bike for these conditions. No gears to freeze up, big tires to soak up the bumps, disc brakes to slow things down, and a really confidence inspiring ride.....it's sweet. C&G rode their old Trek hardtails, and Karl rode his Trek XO cross bike. (I'm guessing that was a little sketchy, but he seemed to keep everything under control....of course we never ventured off road, where no doubt he would have immediately fallen over for no particular reason.)

We stopped twice along the route, (taking in some of the SVC's Badfish TT course)to snap a few pics's. Thankfully Chris remembered to actually bring a camera. (like I said before, I'm going to have to remember stuff....or have someone remember it for me) We used the snow as a make shift bike stand for this one.



The next one was just outside of town. We decided to stop and pet a horse....which turned out to be a really big dog. Now when I say "big" I mean BIG. I'm guessing this horse-dog was about three feet taller than Gail....but then again, who isn't three feet taller than Gail... (sorry Gail, I couldn't resist) anyway, here's photographic proof.



We also have a little bit of snow around here.



Coming back into town Chris and Karl "put the hammer down" on our usual summer sprint hill. Needless to say, the SS and I were having a tough time. Chris summed it up pretty well when he said, "I think your cadence was higher than your heart rate."
I was going to break out my one-legged 190rpm sprint drills, but I didn't want to show off....or fall down.

The overall ride was a blast...as usual. Thanks to Karl's calculations, 21.6 miles in 1 hour and 55 minutes...for a blazing average of 11.3 mph. Hey cut us some slack, the roads are in rough shape....and at least we were outside.

Stopped by Phil's new place last night for the first official meeting of the Stoton Velo/Brazen Dropout Club. That will need a post all it's own....

The Weekend (and since I'm lazy, a few extra days)

Yippee, my first weekend blog report. You'd think since it was the weekend and all, I'd have some fantastic stories and pictures about biking......unfortunately not the case. The weather on Sunday put the brakes on any sort of ride...or any sort of outdoor activities for that matter.

Saturday we spent the day window shopping. (not actually looking for windows mind you) Jennifer is in need of some glasses, so we went to this place. I have to say, they have some crazy looking stuff there. Jennifer managed to find some frames she liked that didn't cost 500.00. (yes, there were some) Awhile back she found some at Lenscrafters, so we might check those out again. I think the last time Jennifer bought glasses was 7 years ago.....so I guess she's about due.

Besides glasses, we looked at planters for outside the garage. (too expensive) We also looked at a ton of furniture. We need a new bed....and some new living room furniture....and a new tv.....and some bike stuff....well, we "need" new everything.
The only things we actually bought were biking mags, gardening books, and some winter gloves for me, (on sale) and some summer riding gloves for Jennifer. (REI giftcard)oh, and some hand/toe warmers. Very exciting stuff.

Our friends Chris and Gail invited us to Club 121 in downtown Stoughton Saturday night. Jennifer and I have talked about going there for awhile, so it was perfect timing. The place is really nice, a renovated downtown building from the late 1800's. Nice to see people taking an interest in restoring the old downtown buildings. The band was good.....but really loud. I'm pretty sure they are used to playing for a bunch of really loud Harley guys.....We eventually walked across the street to Vincenzo's Wine Bar. Nice place, very laid back atmosphere....and comparatively quiet. There was one weird thing, (well actually a number of weird things) but an 8-sided face vase was the winner. Yeah, a white vase with 8 faces circling around it....needless to say, it was freaking me out. Other than that we saw a guy break a leg off a bench he was sitting on.(funny) We also saw people laying in a window with a blanket on, and last but not least, a psychic. He was sitting in the window when you came in....that freaked me out too. (but not as bad as the 8-sided face vase thing) We had a really fun time. Definitely need to do that more often.

Wow, this post is getting freakishly long, so I'm going to cut to the chase:

Monday - Work, shovel, bike trainer, shower, eat, bed.
Tuesday - Work, eat, bed.
Wednesday - Work, order Jennifer's glasses, bike trainer, shower, eat, bed.
Thursday - Work........that's it so far. I'm still here.
Friday - Vacation Day (run some errands)
Saturday - Bike Ride?
Sunday - Bike Ride?

There, that was much easier.
Hopefully I'll actually have something interesting to blog about after the weekend.
In the meantime check out this, and this.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again......monkeys are natures comedians.

I got nothin'

Alright, day 3 of blogsville.....and I got nothing. Allow me to elaborate on yesterday and today:

Yesterday:

1) Got up, went to work
2) Drove home from work
3) Chased cat around the house, fed cats
4) No workout (remember, treadmill is broken)
5) Eat dinner
6) Sit on couch, watch Lost (don't get me started....that's a whole new blog)
7) Go to bed

Today:

See yesterday.....but subtract Lost and add shoveling snow

Thankfully it's the weekend, so I have that to look forward to.
Bike ride on Sunday!!....Unfortunately it will be accompanied by 14 inches of snow and 35 mph winds. Either way it still beats work.

"Treadspill"

I'm lucky to be writing this after a brush with.......not death mind you, but a treadmill.

Jennifer had just finished running 4.5 miles, and now it was my turn. I was in the middle of my 3x800 intervals, (at a 6:22 pace) when I heard a loud thud behind me. (You have to understand, I have a hard time running that fast, much less actually looking behind me while running that fast.)

I thought maybe one of the many boxes we have stacked up in the basement had fallen over. Apparently that was incorrect, because a few seconds later the treadmill belt is on the floor. Just in case you were wondering..... going from almost 10mph to 0mph in a half second does cause you to fly face first towards the control panel. Anyway, I managed to stay upright and not crash into all our boxes full of Christmas ornaments. Not quite as smooth as this guy, but darn close.

Upon closer inspection it appears that one of the plastic (yes, plastic) brackets that hold the rear roller had broken off. I'm no treadmill engineer, but that seems like something that shouldn't be made out of plastic. I wasn't really in the mood to tear the whole thing apart, but I'm pretty sure I can fabricate a new metal bracket. Jennifer has already declared she will not run on the treadmill ever again. I don't believe she has much faith in my ability to repair said treadmill to her satisfaction.......which basically means she doesn't want to be maimed by a treadmill that I cobbled back together with superglue, zipties, and an old spoon. (I guess I can't blame her.)

I guess if worse comes to worse, I can always run outside. I'm not really fired up about running on ice, at night, in single digit temperatures......fortunately I'm even less thrilled about buying a new treadmill. I'll tear it apart this weekend to see the extent of the damage. Who knows, maybe I'll take a few pic's.....or better yet video! (too bad I have no idea how to post video here.....or anywhere for that matter.)

Now What?

Alrighty then......I've got myself a blog. Now all I have to do is think of stuff to post here. The more I think about it, the more this seems like a lot of work. I'm going to have to carry a camera on rides. (or talk someone else into carrying it.) I'm going to have to actually remember things that happen during a ride........and then remember them long enough to post them here. I may have to quit my job just so I have enough time to keep up with my blogI told my wife, "I created a blog." She responded by saying, "I don't know what a blog is." So, I showed her. (sorry, a little Rowan Atkinson humor.) I just realized something else, I have no idea what most of the icons are for on the post page........sweet. I apologize in advance if I accidentally post this in mandarin chinese.
Hopefully someone will actually find my incoherent jibberish somewhat entertaining. Unfortunately as of right now, I believe a grand total of 3 people are aware of this blog. (and as far as I know none of them will actually read it......for which I cannot blame them I plan to post pic's and info about my cycling related activities, (which this time of year involves sitting on a trainer watching tv......you're glad you decided to read this now aren't you? Should be very entertaining stuff.) I also plan to post things I think are funny, like this:



or this:



Other than that, I really haven't given it much thought. I do understand it's good blogger etiquette to post on a regular basis........so with that in mind, I'll see you in 2 weeks.