Tired. . .

I am exhausted after this weekends activities. I helped "man the booth" at Scheels with John (representing TdK) and the Prez and myself representing FAB, Saturday morning for a couple of hours. That was fun, and it was good to see some familiar faces, and meet some new riders and help John answer questions. After that I helped move my daughter out of her apartment.

Sunday, we continued moving my daughter back into her house, next door. My back is still sore, but it was definitely worth it! It will be nice to have her back where she and our grandson Lucien belong. In between times I was trying to keep up with emails and blogs concerning club image problems.

Evidently, some folks have the wrong idea about the club. I would try and talk to them about it, but I have no idea whom "they" are. It's hard to have any positive impact when you're dealing with rumors and innuendo by the mysterious, "they". So, I will try and put it behind me and continue forward.

But the whole thing just makes me tired..........

I get to drive to Aberdeen on Monday morning. The forecast for Aberdeen is 4-8" of snow during the day, and another 1-3" of snow Monday night. Add in the wind and you have less than ideal conditions to drive in. Why am I going to Aberdeen you might ask??

To install the registers and Wireless Access Point for the Lawn and Garden tent.
Yup, getting lawn and garden ready, in a blizzard. But, what the hell, it was the same weather last year when I did it, and it doesn't do any good to complain about it.

"They" don't listen.

Canton And Back, The Shakedown Cruise

After the Starlight Ride last night, thE kErnEl proclaimed he was going to ride his new Surly LHT to Canton and back and we were all welcome to join him. I thought (out loud) that I would do so, riding my old Giant road bike.
But, sometime between that exact moment and the next morning, I decided to ride my newly refurbished recumbent, DooBee. I have already blogged about the upgrades so I won't do so again but, Hoo Ah! The new wheels and tires are smooth as silk on our chip sealed roads and I actually remembered how to ride the recumbent after months of DF riding.

It was chilly at the start of our ride, 29F to be exact, but when the ride was over it was 60F or just above, and got even warmer when I was outside later playing, err, I mean, doing yard work with my sweet baby puppies. It really was a good day Tater. I'm sure there will be many many more good days, but this one will stick in my mind, you know, the inaugural ride and all.

I had fun with my friends, again. And then had fun at home with the rest of my "family" and my family.
Life is good!

Oh ya, here is a thingy like I do.

Oh Oh, You Missed Another Starlight Ride!!

And you missed a chance to see the kErnEls' new ride. And you missed a chance to ride with Mr. and Mrs. Snakebite, and Ant, and GG, and Road Legs, and 1Speed, and Joyce and her son Paul, and me.

What you really missed was the opportunity to meet one really sweet young lady that just happens to work for the Argus, and, is actually working on this years TdK! I invited Maggie to the ride after she contacted me with a couple questions about this years ride, and she actually showed up to ride with us, and ride she did. I think if we get her on a road bike, she will give most of us a run for our money. Ah, heck. Who am I kidding? She will run us into the ground, being a pretty much life long runner and all?! Still, she is new to biking, and bike touring and asking questions, and, get this, listening to the answers. Bless you Maggie, I know I talked your ear off, but most of the stuff I told you was true!

I swear!

For me it was a lousy day, compounded by the cold winds and overcast skies, not to mention my pounding headache. So I went home early thinking that it would be me and maybe the usual suspects to show up for the ride. I'm not complaining, mind you, about the usual suspects that I ride with. I very much enjoy their company.

So, can you imagine my surprise when I took the second to last left turn in my automobile to get to the rally point and there was already 5 bicyclists waiting?? Then I realized the vehicle that I was following was 1Speed? I am NOT trying to make you feel bad, I am trying to make you feel left out. So? come join us for our next ride.

You know the website, right?

http://www.clubfab.org/

Another Revelation (or, hotdiggitydog, my camera ain't broke)

I accidentally left my 2 meg memory chip at home when I brought my camera to work the other day. It died with the lens out, so I put fresh batteries in it so I could get the lens back in the "park" position. I had a spare 1 meg chip with me so I thought I would put it in and see just how many pictures I could take before the batteries died. I was expecting 10-15 like it had been doing, but I got up to around 70 or so before I stopped. Lucky me, it was the 2 meg chip that was the battery drain, not the camera itself! Huzzah! The Little Red Camera lives to picherize another day!!! Happy news indeed!

Had a great ride Monday with the usual suspects (1Speed, DW, and GG) when we rode out to Brandon and back. I had to cut my ride short as my front tire kept going down. Yes, I had a spare tube with me, and a patch kit, but those Bontrager Hard Case tires are a bee-och to get properly seated. No kidding, I have to pump that damn things up to 130 or more pounds before the bead will seat in the rim. Can't do that with CO2 cartridges. So, either I ride with these tires and hope for no flats, or get flats and remount the tires as best I can. Can't afford new tires, and it just pains me to replace another set of tires without a really good reason.

Had a short ride today, was going to meet GG at his dentists' office, but the jaw cracker was running late, so I had to take off to go and see my oldest daughter and my youngest grandson!
It was a good day. Oh ya, made even better when I got this morning at 0530 and discovered that I did NOT have to drive all the way down to North Platte Nebraska to fix the alternate controller. Double Huzzah!

Going to the fitness center tomorrow in lieu of riding. Friday night is the Starlight ride.
1900 (7 PM) at Fawick Park. Are you gonna ride with us?

St. Patricks' Day Parade

It was a pretty nice day for a parade in downtown Sioux Falls yesterday. Pretty windy, but nice sunshine and temps nearing 60 degrees, so who can complain? The only bummer was my camera died. And they put us cyclists BEHIND some horses...

So, I will have to search for another camera to take along with me on my cycling adventures. In the meantime, here is a short thingy like I do....

Fremont was Great!

And I am talking about a dear departed family member of a friend of mine, not the town she was named after.

Since I have been in Nebraska, not one damned thing has gone right.
Nope, not a one. Bad weather, bad food, bad vibes, bad luck. No support, lack of resources, lack of help, and lack of anyone that would or could grab themselves by the collar and say, "you bet, I'll get right on it".

And that includes me. The assholes are dragging me down to their level, pitiful soul that I am.

No, , , , wait. I am NOT a pitiful soul!

Sometimes I feel like one, and I wonder, if that's how some politicians get voted into office, because they appeal to the pitiful souls' hearts, and not their minds.
People around my neck of the woods would always say "you bet" or, "you betcha" or in extreme cases, "you betcher life". It always meant that they agreed with you and would do just what you asked of them, or, that they agreed with you for the most part but would still do their best to do their part, or, you were just too damn drunk to be believed and chances are you wouldn't remember it anyway, so you betcher' life!

If I seem maudlin with this post I apologize. My best friends brother died from cancer recently. The same disease that killed my Dad. The same disease that our NEW government has decided to research the cure by killing life to use their stem cells.

I need some cleansing rain, to wash the winter, and all its' man made particulates from the road.
I need some cleansing rain, to wash the memory of this winter and cleanse the road for my rides.
I need some cleansing rain, to wash the winter memories away.
I need some cleansing rain, to wash my favorite road.
I need some cleansing rain, to wash my jaded heart.

I need rain.
NOT
snow.

Officially Bike Riding Season???

It must be.
At the end of our ride today after dropping off Mr. Lalley we rode back to Shopko to drop me off. And guess what? B&G Milky Way is OPEN!!! Oh ya, Mr. GG treated me to an ice cream cone, and it was almost like a trip back in time to last summer when our little jaunts on the bike trail would end up there at the Milky Way. I know it's supposed to snow again this weekend, but hey, it was a great day to ride today and that damn snow can't last long now!!!

Gregg was waiting outside my door when I exited at just shortly after noon today and we pedaled down to the "Naked One" to meet Bald_n_Surly.



I had mentioned to Gregg that I had forgotten to eat lunch (sparse though that is now a days) and he commented that he was hungry too. When Mr. BnS arrived he had a brilliant suggestion. (he frequently does, he's a newspaper man and published author ya know) "Lets eat at the Diner" So we did. I had the grilled walleye, and it was delicious as usual.

After lunch, we pedaled on the bike path counter clockwise.






I won't bore you with the details, it was one of those "you had to be there" kind of things. It was nothing special, just some people out enjoying the weather on their bikes. We weren't alone either as there were many people out riding today. I would guesstimate that including us, only about 15 percent were wearing helmets.









There is still some ice on the bike path in the usual places under bridges and such, but we navigated over them without incident. You will note, all of us (well, you'll have to take my word for it since I can't picherize myself) were riding bikes with fenders, back racks and bags, blinkies, and I think even headlights. I.E. commuter type bikes. No studded snow tires though.





Yup, the river is still pretty much frozen over, there is still ice under the bridges and along the river path in the shaded areas, but since Gregg and I had ice cream at B&G Milky Way, the Hooterville Mayor declares the 2009 cycling season here has officially begun.
Quit yer whinin' and get some saddle time you slackers!!!!

Needing Just A Wee Bit of Comfort

I over did it just a bit at the fitness center today on the "back extension" machine thingy. I have been doing 3 sets of 15 reps at 150 pounds, and that's how I started today, but for some idiotic reason I decided on the last set to try 190 pounds. I did it for 8 reps and then realized the error of my ways, and dropped it back down to 150 for the rest of the set. I didn't actually "hurt" my back, it's just a little sore. OK, more sore than usual when I do my little work out, but nothing that a little time off the exercises won't fix.

So tomorrow I ride baby!!!!

I was at work at 0545 this morning, and have banked up enough time to leave work tomorrow at noon and work my regular 8 hours on Friday and still come in over 40 hours, for which I will claim and get paid for, 40 hours. I had thought of maybe riding my old Giant road bike, but I believe I will stick with Shrek the Trek with fenders and my new Airzound horn! After all, 1Speed won't be there to rip my legs off on a sprint, and Gregg is too much of a gentleman to do so. (well, if he felt like it he would, and he never does it on purpose,,,,, I think.....)

Rumour has it that Bald_n_Surly will be joining us on our little jaunt tomorrow, and his company will be most welcome! I wonder if he'll be riding Big Fella?
Any hoo, the weather is starting to turn, not as nice here as it is down South, but getting there, and I am desperately trying to get the engine tuned up enough to enjoy it when it does.
It seems as an exercise in futility, but I shall persevere! If nothing else, I will be in the same shape at the beginning of this riding season that I was at the end of last season, THAT IS MY GOAL!!!

Oh. I forgot to include the part where you read about the "Wee Bit of Comfort".
I am enjoying a Schells Dark, and a tiny amount of Southern Comfort. (for medicinal purposes only, mind you) My back feels better already.
My front is OK too.