A little mtb sprint for tonight.

Thankfully I missed the rain.

Cedar Bend

Well. Let's just say it was good to get out and ride. I have been riding a bit, working a lot. Been doing a few senior photo jobs so that has been taking up my blogging time. I went to Cedar Bend Wed night and I must say what a mess. The storm that ripped through the area that morning hit the park pretty hard. Tons of large trees down. Many of them over the trail. I made a huge effort to make it out for an off-road ride for a couple of reasons. I am on a special assignment testing some high end bike schtuff and really needed this terrain to get a feel for the product. Stay tuned to twenty nine inches for a post soon on what I am testing. They post some pretty cool stuff there, especially if you like 29er stuff.

I also bought a new set of pedals from Bike Tech the other day so I really needed to put some miles on them to decide if they will stay in my hands or find their to ebay. They are the Xpedo SL CR. So far the pedals are working fine. I was hoping for a little more degees of float but I think I am out of luck. The box says 15 degrees but I think I get around 6 or something. Nothing compared to the egg beaters. Egg beaters broke though. Entry and exit is good though and the little mud that I walked through did not seem to bother them at all. The thing I really love about the egg beaters is the cleat. You just bolt it to the shoe and forget about it. There is only one way to mount it with no possibility to adjust it because you don't need it. And it worked! These Xpedo's are similar to Shimano's in the respect of overall pedal design and the cleat. They are completely compatible with Shimano pedals. I like that part since egg beaters are not compatible at all. I will continue to post my comments here about the pedals. I like the price too with retail around $99 (minus the Bike Tech Team discount they were an even better deal, thanks Brent). That puts them alot cheaper than the Shimano XTR pedals and only a little less quality but still good. We'll see how they hold up though.

Tomorrow is another Senior photo day and a good hard mtb ride. Maybe I can make my way over to New Hartford Ia for some nice gravel hills.

Take care folks & ride yer bikes!

Captain

Riding a dyke is more fun that you think.

A little Sweets Marsh tonight. Beat the rain too. :-)

EcoTri

What a grand time we had at the Eco Tri. First place with cuz and Casey Dean. What a hoot! Hats off to those guys for letting me play with them. I was honored. Also, a big hats off to Rob Houlihan for a first place in the solo event. That was amazing.

You can see links to the event and pics go here.

Captain.

Man, I love sweet corn.

We have been eating a lot of sweet corn lately. My oldest daughter lost another tooth though. That is two teeth in the last 7 days from eating corn. Thankfully I still have my meat cutting skills from when I was a butcher so I am able to cut her corn off the cob without cutting myself.

Also, you will see a nice shot of a b road about two mile from my mothers house near Reinbeck. It was dry and super fast.

That's all for today.

Captain

Final Vintage photo post.

Who can guess where this shot was taken?

The year was 2000. This was also the last year that I was "sort of" fast.

The bike was a Giant Cadex (carbon fiber) rigid single speed.

Beginner Class and the placing was 3rd.

The winner gets a free water bottle from your shop of choice. Just don't let them see you take it.

Happy guessing!

Captain

Vintage post #2.

This was in 1999 I think. It was one of those National Guard MTB races at George Wyth. It's me again minus the mullet. Photo taken by the one and only Brad Meyeraan.

Vintage time folks!

Can you guess who this fine looking man is? This is the guy you don't want to let your daughter date. No, his name is not Earl.

You guessed it. It's me. It was right after I competed in my first mtb race. It was 1996 (I think) and it was at, the hat gives it away. Volga. I was riding a fancy Pacific from Toys R Us. It even had a suspension fork. Yikes! So glad it didn't break on me. I finished dead last too. There were a few that didn't finish. My greatest memory was this old guy in a poncho cheering me on about a 1/4 mile from the finish. One of my old buddies & I called him the Mountain Man. The mountain man was from the Specialized bike helmet. I think this guy even raced that day but finished way ahead of me and had time to cheer us slow folk on. Can you guess who that was? You're right! The one and only John Adamson.

It is a fond memory indeed. Thanks again for the cheer John....

Manic Monday

Well! My Monday was very busy. Too busy to post until today. Woke up around 5:30. Got the girls ready for daycare. Are breakfast & headed to town to give something back to the community. I am a member of the Tripoli Park & Recreation Board. We installed a new playground yesterday. It went up easy & we all had a great time. Some great teamwork was had.

I even had time to make it to my favorite playground before the rain. Well, mostly before the rain. It's all good.

Captain.

Come on ride the train....choo choo ride it!

8 miles of this was enough for me. Single speed with the wind we had today made for a low cadence strength training session. The middle bike wobbles left & right which makes out of the saddle climbing impossible. The buggy catches more wind than a minivan.

It's all good though as I am in need of strength. TT biking this spring helped high cadence but did nothing for my strength.

Have a nice weekend ya'll.

Captain

Lately.........

Wow! Amazing how fast time flies. Sorry for the lack of posting. I don't know what's wrong with me.

I competed in the Team Time Trial. What a blast. New found territory for me having never done a real road race. Also, never ridden 60 miles in one shot either. I know, never done 60 miles......now I have. It was great. Never had that much fun on a road bike.

Also enjoyed the Big Wheeled Ballyhoo. What a hoot. Spent some time riding some pretty nice bikes. You should all put this on your calendar next year. Great riding and fellowship with tons of folks that love to ride their bikes.

Did a couple camp rides since my last post. Even a George Wyth to Greenbelt ride with G-Ted and Striker. Good times.

Still loving the Salsa Mamasita. Finally put on a Salsa Shaft seatpost. That baby is rock solid and has some pretty cool features. Works well so gotta love that.

Also been spending a lot of time focusing on the ergonmics of the Ergon GE1 enduro grip. I just love the sweet spot. It fits the palm of my hand perfectly. They make out of the saddle climbing extra comfy. I need a single speed for these grips now.

Finished my Schwinn single speed cross bike. I know, it has riser bars. Its fun and makes for a great gravel beater. Right now it has two cogs in the rear but spacing wise I can make it a 3 geared. Obviously, you have to move the rear wheel to shift. I think a 14t, 16t, & 18t mated to the 36t front is perfect for my needs. It also might be for sale soon after I get some miles on it. Pretty light too as I'm guessing it to be around 20lbs (maybe 19lbs). Just need to swap out the wheels for the silver ones that will stay on her (pink nipples on those black rims don't cut it with the red stripes) and add the bar-end plugs & she will be finished. Oh yeah, I re-attach the head badge.

Now I will leave you with a photo dump of recent weeks.

Captain Bob.....

Fredericka ride tonight.

Still working on getting comfortable on the TT bike. Must be spending too many miles on the 29er these days. I just can' t stop riding that Salsa Mamasita. Had a little front end trouble lately. Had the front wheel trued to remove the hop that has appeared. I still have a bend fork dropout though that seems to be getting worse. It's starting to worry me. I noticed that under power I was getting the tire to rub on the inside of the carbon fork blade. Not Good! Oh yeah, and there is still the shimmy at around 20-25 mph. Then it goes away and comes back around 36-42 mph. It's worse at the higher speeds (which I can't do much of and won't again until it's fixed). I may need to look for a new fork before Sunday but my options are limited with it being a 1" threadless fork.

Oh well. ....

Captain Bob signing off.

You think your bike is big? Think again.

Got to take this sweet 36 inched wheeled monster home last week. Had to make a special delivery to the Big Wheel Ballyhoo that Twenty nine inches put on last weekend. What a blast to ride.
Been pretty busy lately so sorry about the lack of posting.
Captain.

Camp ride again.

Another day at Camp, Saturday that is. Lost a little traction on some rocks though so we wrestled a bit. I think I won though. No pic of the shoulder though but the rock missed the should bone by a mere inch. So, I have deep bruise. Could be worse.

I should have went to the Lisbon TT. Great times guys, especially Striker.

Also, here is a pic of some steel tubing? Maybe heading to Salsa so they can make some more El Mariachi's? Maybe.

Captain.

Next project......Schwinn Single Speed Mtb 26er!

Finally got around sandblasting this little angle last weekend. Now the paint has been laid. Hopefully, she will be built next weekend.

FOR SALE......sure is. How much? Not sure yet.

Captain

Cedar Bend mtb ride.

Quite possibly the only real trails that can be ridden in this area without getting muddy. There were only a couple tacky spots but the rest of these trails were dry. Amazing traction was had with these Geax tires I am trying out. I have only found one thing so far that my Salsa Mamasita 29er cannot do. It's the teeter totter picture. I didn't realize that when I bought it I would not be able to teeter totter with her. Got in about an hour of mtb'ing tonight. You would be amazed at how nice the trails are at Cedar Bend. There are stairs, steep stairs, and all of the stair climbs have a singletrack beside them for biking. There are more bridges than Madison County. All of the trails that grow grass are mowed consistantly. Just a perfect place to ride anytime. But, when everything else is wet, Cedar Bend is not. I remember Bidwell riding here last summer and in the morning there were downpours but in the afternoon the trails were rideable again. Pretty cool.

Jeff Slade.....you need to have an event here!!!!

Captain.

A little gravel tonight.

Pulled the girls around for around 12 miles of gravel tonight. Slapped on some new tires and man, they roll nice. Feel just like my old Geax Sedona's. Some of my pals called the Sedona's the smiley face tires.

This Salsa Mamasita continues to amaze me. It feels like a high end steel frame in the rear and a nice alum frame in the front. 29ers are just amazing. Those who do not ride one are really missing out.

Here is a pic of Madee & Ella. Madee it the one on the right.

Captain.

Sweets Marsh was sweet tonight.

Took the Cannondale for a ride tonight. Needed to get more saddle time on that Tioga Spyder saddle. So far it's working pretty good.

Got in around 20-22 miles of gravel, paved and dirt. Gotta love that. The trails on the dike around Sweets Marsh were just a little wet. Not much mud but the grass & weeds were wet. Good riding regardless. I went out tonight at 7:50pm and just barely made it in the driveway by the time the sun had disappeared. You get a bit more sunlight out here in the sticks than you do in town.

Have a nice weekend and don't forget to ride your bikes people.

Captain Bob.....

Camp ride.

Saturday I rode at the scout camp for a while. Met up with a few nice folks for a little riding and a little trail mapping. Slade & crew were preparing for the du and I was getting in a nice ride. I was hoping to soften the rutted trail a bit but I doubt riding on them even helped. They are just too hard right now. Sounds like they race day was a success. Wish I could have been there. Instead I was out of town visiting family, which was fun too.

Got in about 7 miles of gravel tonight, part of which involved riding to the grogery store for last minute dinner ingredients. Better than nothing.

I am still loving the new Ergon grips that mr 24hr set me up with. The rounded center seems til fill the void inside of my palm. Can't wait to put in a longer ride with them.

Later folks....

Captain

Preferred Start Baby!!!

Just recently received my confirmation card from the Chequamegon Fat Tire Festivel folks confirming that I have been awarded a preferred start. That means I get to ride with John Adamson......at least for a few hundred feet until he pours it on and leaves me to eat his dust.

So, I better work on getting fast before August this year. I skipped the TT last night. Tough choice because I really love TT'ing. Rolled out on the Salsa Mamasita with the great Casey Dean. We rode through Black Hawk Park. Started out fairly fast paced and sort of stayed that way. We made the occasional stop to clear the trail of downed trees. Casey is a fast guy which pushed me more than I would have done by myself. Thanks Casey for taking time out of your bathroom restoration.

I am really loving this new bike. Fits me like it was custom made just for me. The feel of the rear on this bike is difficult to describe. It just feels alive. That's a good thing. The 29 inch wheels rolled over the big rocky sections on this trail with greater ease than any bike I have ever ridden (it's a 29er thing).

When I got home I noticed this gorgios sunset out my kitchen window. Gotta love that.

I will be riding at the Camp this Sat am. Maybe around 6:00 am. Maybe I'll see you there.

Captain.

No. I have not forgotten how to post.

I don't know why I haven't posted lately. I am going to blame it on the way blogger was making me login. I always had to do it twice. That, and I have been really busy.

A few things.......

I got a pr last Wed night at the time trials. 26.16 (or 26.19) can't remember for sure. That was exciting.

Helped out G-Ted with Trans IA finish line work. What an experience! Good times.

Have around 100 miles on the Salsa Mamasita.......finally!!! Loving it! Those miles should rack up pretty quick now that summer is here........along with the crappy wind. Rode tonight about 12 miles. Really tough pulling the Burley trailer with 70lbs of 3-6 years old little girls. It felt like I was pulling a mini-van into the wind.

Built up a single speed cross bike & have been testing some gear that G-Ted has thrown my way. I'll be writing something up on those soon so keep an eye on his sites.

My baby turned 3 two weeks ago. Seems like just yesterday......

Took a quick trip to La Crosse Wi area last weekend for my brothers graduation reception. Good to see all those folks.

I will post again this week! I mean it! Thanks for being patient. Hopefully you haven't all removed me from your bloggers list.

Captain