more trip to MN fotos

I am here. Not lost in Minnesota.

Sorry for the lack of posting. This house project is killing me people. I am less than two weeks from being done. Done!!!!

Ok. So now I need to reflect a bit on the tip. Thanks to G-Ted for the invite up to Minneapolis. Greatly appreciated. We rode with the Twin Six crew on Tuesday at Murphy. That was a nice time riding on some great swoopy singletrack. A must see for all mountain bikers. They even treated us to dinner which was a great time. Brent is a cool kat. He even threw me a new jersey, bottle and a pair of matching sox. Sweet!

We met up with Jason Boucher (the GM at Salsa Cycles) on Tuesday evening. You may have read over at the G-Ted site that there was plenty of camera talk and drool going on. Then, we worked on the new Salsa Fargo's which is what we were going to ride on Wednesday morning. That was a lot of fun. I don't get to hang out with cool bike dudes very often when time is in limited supply. So, hanging out was way awesome. We woke up early and headed out. Rode the Minnesota River trail. Saw some pretty cool landscape and rode some great trails. We met up with a bunch of the Salsa Crew. Rode for a bit longer and then stopped by the river to make a campsite. Started a fire while others were cooking up some breakfast. Wow! That is way cool. I need to do this more often. I have never stopped during a ride for this sort of downtime. Man, what a treat! After that we hopped back on the sweet riding Fargo's and headed for Quality Bicycle Components which houses Salsa Cycles (and Surly). We had a quick meet and greet. I met some new folks and said hi to some old friends. We were even able to grab a keepsake from the legendary Salsa Free Table. Thanks for the hat guys. You have a super cool work environment. I wish I was able to have such a comfortable workspace at my job. Well, it was getting late and we had about another 25 miles to ride so we headed back. The ride home was fun but I was beat. Beat bad. Lots of riding and not enough foord I guess. After the ride was over Jason treated us to some huge burritos. Pablos sytle folks. The ride home was nice. Hanging with the G Man was fun. We both had a nice time remembering reflecting on the two days.

Thanks to the Twin Six crew for showing us Murphy. Thanks again for dinner and the swag. Salsa Cycles. Thanks to all that came out to ride with us. This is something I will always remember and greatly appreciate. Very cool two days for sure.

Captain Bob

Going...going.....Gone!

That's right folks. Out of town for two days. Going up to MN to ride with my buddy G-Ted. We will be hooking up with these guys and these guys. Should prove to be a great time. Lots of riding and great times hanging out with some great people. Should be just what I need. I have been a little on edge these days and I hope I come back refreshed and easier to get along with.

I will be bringing back some great photos so stay tuned. For now though I leave you with a parting shot of the gear pile that is on my deck.

Ride your bikes today folks......it could just be the last great day of weather for 2008.

Captain.

House progress.......if you can call it that!

master toilet
master vanity
more master bathroom
master bedroom
master bedroom
master closet
storage closets
office
hallway leading to office, storage colsets and garage.
foyer leading to hallway



House is getting close. We have been having trouble reminding our contractors that they have a job to do. It is pretty sad when you can't even get them to work at your house even after weeks of begging. Thank goodness for friends. I have one that helped me with the electrical and another that will be doing the flooring with me. Thank you!!!

Captain.

you still there?

I stink at blogging.......

sorry folks. just can't seem to stay on task with this blogging thing. too many things to do I guess so something has to give.

so, enough writing and I will post a picture story about what's been going on lately.

Captain.

Saturday morning Camp out

Saturday morning was a ride out at the South side of the Camp again. Signed in was Casey Dean, G-Ted, Bidwell, Deerslayer and myself. Bidwell was a little late but signed in anyway. We chose to pedal on gravel over to the South side to get some needed miles in on my lazy legs. We took a couple hot laps and waited for Cuz when the call came. "I'm here, driving a minivan but I am here." By the time we found him he was a little in the dumps due to loosing his Blackberry. Long story short, we found it by making 10 calls from my cell to his. Lucky for us Deerslayer found it. I knew the guy had the lungs for cycling but who knew the guy could sing. This was the highlight of my ride Saturday...watching and listening to Rob belt out a stage worthy performance.

If the link works you will get to see a little of what we saw out there on that cobweb infested super fast single track.

Hope you all had a weekend as good as mine.

Captain

Hot Lunch

Spent the lunch hour riding Tuesday. It was nice being able to clear the mind and get some fresh air. I didn't realize how hot I would get with such a little effort. My shirt was soaked by the time I landed back at my desk. I think I'll do it again next week. Maybe an hour and a half instead of the hour. They'll never notice.......right!

Ride when you can folks cause the summer is about over. But hey, that's when the good riding starts.

Captain.

Tomassini

Look at what I am riding now. Yup. Skinny tires again/ Still a 29er though. This will be a nice ride that I hope to put a lot of miles on. Nice comfy steel. Gotta love that. Might even make it to some of those goofy road rides that leave Bike Tech during the week.....just maybe.

Sounds like the Bike Tech racers had an awesome time at Leadville. Good job folks. Our buddy Kerkove kicked some butt too. Nice effort Jeff. Great finish.

See you all soon I hope.

Captain

Not much riding in the past few days for me. Pam has been on call so I get to be in charge of the twerps. I did have a chance to enjoy this fine sunset with my two little sweethearts Friday night. Just love the colors of a sunset. Madee and Ella have come to really enjoy just sitting back and admiring them too.

Captain

working for the weekend paid off

Busy week at work and home sure made for a nice weekend. I still ripped down all of the old dryall in the garage so we can get ready for new insulation, electrical, walls and drywall. Ok! Ripping down drywall stinks big time. Totally stinks!

Ok. Now for the fun. We started of Friday night with
the kitty parade. Good times. Madee rode her bike and pulled Ella in the Burley. They had a blast. Then, we headed over to where the parade ended at Chapin's Park. There was lots of games and events for the girls to enjoy. Face painting, bean bag toss, mini golf and a few others. Hot dogs were being eaten by all. Good stuff. Lots of fun. We headed for home after that for some rest time. After we all rested for a couple of hours and cleaned up we headed over to the South end of town to check out the fireworks. It's a nice area where most everyone sits too. It is in the ball diamond. There are only three exits to the diamond and that leaves the entire outfield for the kids to play safely in. Don't really have to watch them too close either. Good times. Fireworks were good too.

I even got two mini rides in. Was able to blow off just enough steam to relax but not too much. that left me fresh for that drywall project.

It was a nice spending some quality time just hanging with my three favorite women. Not a rushed weekend at all and I loved it.

Hope yours was swell too.

Oh yeah. Does riding your bike ever make you pucker? Me neither but apparently in the last photo I must have that problem. My mouth has a puckered look to it. So does the bill of my Walz cap. Hmm. What's up with that?

Captain.

vision

Sometimes I feel like the house project we are in the middle of will never end. Just like this road I traveled today on my way home. Felt like it would never end.

I hope the weekend feels the same. I could use a nice one that feels like it will last forever.

Captain.

my little sweeties.......

Sunday after church we stopped at the Cuna Mutual property since we saw a great photo op. Here is one of my favorites of them together.

Captain.

Weekend happpenings....

When riding out at the camp PLEASE be aware of that some ridings have been know to dig for grubs inside of downed trees. G-Ted found his lunch while the rest of us lost our lunch.



Had a nice time this weekend. took a break from working on the house. Went to the Janesville fireworks display Friday night. Wow! They were awesome. We were a bit close though and that had me concerned but everything went off without any problems. Here is a pic of the awesome fireball. those always make me think of the song "The Heat is On." Good times. The girls really enjoyed them too.

Made it out to the South Side of Camp Ingawanis Saturday morning with G-Ted and Bidwell. Super Saul met us at the final curve leading up to the south entrance. He missed the Dirty Hundy folks so headed to Janesville to check on his wife who was running in the 5k. Not sure how she did but I will have to find out. Good seeing you Ron and thanks for coming out.

We rolled though the south side for one lap with Saul. The second lap was just G-Ted, Bidwell and myself. Good times as always. Rode three different bikes in all. Most of you probably think we would have looked nuts out there swapping bottles and adjusting saddles. We are nuts, but, we had a heck of a good time. I am testing a bike for 29inches and really love it for the technical stuff. It makes the singletrack feel like a BMX course. Good times......

Sunday I was able to sneak out for my 20 mile loop of gravel around my house and was please with my effort. I haven't been riding a lot of gravel lately so I feel I have lost a bit of that endurance. Tight singletrack doesn't require as much endurance for me.

I am writing this Monday morning while thinking about how much I do not want to go to work while my girls are watching Arthur on PBS. Great cartoon. Wish I could watch them all day......

The leadville crew will be heading out this week so I want to wish them all a safe and happy trip. Have a great time and remember to ride safely in the mountains.

Captain