Smokin' HOT!!!

I can't speak for the rest of the country, but SE MN has been smokin' hot the last couple of days. We might hit the 50's if we're not carefull!

Time to tune up the baby and the ol' girl and get em ready!

Love is...Taking the Garbage Out?

Luv...

True luv...

Yes, it's true. Taking out the garbage is how I show my true love.

You see, since we've moved I've done this once. Two months, one time. And the one time, I didn't empty the inside garbage, I just took the can from the garage to the curb. Millions of people do this every day, but somehow I didn't. It wasn't because I won't, I'm just set in my ways. And for the last however many years we've had a community dumpster that I could take the trash to anytime I wanted to. So this once a week chance S$**s. And on top of that, I'm a wake up and go person, not a make my coffee, watch the weather, loligag around then go to work person.

And so today, the day before Valentine's Day, I showed my wife, that I do listen, and I do love her.

By taking out the trash (I am not the trash, by the way!)...

Top Ten All-TIme Albums

Ok-so today's post isn't about biking, directly...

I've been thinking about music for a biking soundtrack for quite awhile now, and have wanted to put together a playlist on the ipod. Another debate that has been raging along in my mind for years has been "what are the top ten albums of all time?". Maybe VH-1 has butchered this topic the way they have other top 100 lists. And I know nothing stirs debate like politics or favorite music, so let's stir the pot. Here's my list, and I'm sure it dates me a bit, but oh well. Enjoy, laugh, say oh yeah I forgot about that one, or just comment on what your's are.

I couldn't pick just ten so I also have some honorable mentions

1. Nine Inch Nails- Pretty Hate Machine

2. The Cure- Disintegration

3. Beastie Boys- License to Ill

4. The Doors- The Doors

5. Pearl Jam- Ten

6. KMFDM- Nihil

7. U2 Achtung- Baby

8. Alanis- Jagged Little Pill

9. Depeche Mode- Music for the Masses

10. Aerosmith- Pump

Honorable Mention

Van Halen- 1984

Live- Throwing Copper

Led Zepplin- 4

INXS- Kick

Sarah McLachlan- Surfacing

They Might Be Giants- Flood

Tori Amos- Little Earthquakes

Let the debate begin!

Time to put the ol' girl down

Not down for good, just time to bring her back to where she was meant to be.

A mountain bike.

Commuting isn't her style.

Now, granted she doesn't look like this right now, this picture is over a year old. She's been upgraded with slicks, another light, rear light, bar ends, saddle bags, and a new seat. But at the end of the day, underneath all the glam and style, she's solid steel. I don't mean it in a heartless, no feelings kind of way. I mean it's a steel bike. Heavy. Very heavy.

Like Ron White said, "you can't fix stupid"

I can't make her aluminum, or carbon.

But I can give her her soul back.

She's tough, reliable, and when she doesn't have that granny seat, quite attractive for an older girl. So I'll put the knobbys back on, the rack and extra light off. And I won't worry about curbs, potholes, train tracks, and mud.

The ol' girl means a lot to me, she was my dad's bike before I got her a few years ago. I put a lot of work into her, and it showed. My dad rode her last summer and told me that she shifted better and rode smoother than she ever did for him.

So when this weather breaks, I'll take her out and strip her down.

And then I'll have my girl back :-)

About me

Hey everybody,

Just want to give a little background about myself before I start rambling on some tangent. I'm in my early 30's, and have rediscovered the joys and pains of bike riding. The last two years I've been bike commuting as well as the family rides with the wife & kids. We just moved to MN from WI, and are currently suffering in the cold. My new job is 11 miles from work and to celebrate I got a brand new Trek 7.3 to commute with. Ain't she pretty? Enuf about me, on to the rambling!

My wife has had a blog for a year or so, and I never really had enough to say to start one. Then I started reading a bike magazine the other day and thought, winter sucks. I'll bet there's a ton of people like me who can't afford to go on bike trips in the south this time of year. And c'mon, who wants to read about all these cool rides when my car will barely start? So here I am, here we are, I should say. Send a comment, let me know how much you hate winter and want to be on your bike. Or if you are on your bike when the weathers like this, aren't you afraid of salt and rust?

An Epic Journey

The Adventures in Commuting with Wisconsin Johnson


















Wisconsin Johnson outside the Tunnel of Terror.

Cue the Indiana Jones theme...

A rural road in Wisconsin, just outside the coast of Lake Michigan. 07:53 am

Our intrepid commuter looks down at his watch as he enters the secret pathway to the temple of money. Realizing he is almost two miles away with the unstoppable clock ticking, tick, tick, tick, he quickens his pace only to be greeted with a small cramp. Grimacing as he pushes through the pain he notices that the path has become overrun with the dirt of contractors.

The evil contractors have only begun placing the dirt along the secret path, when it should have been done sooner. Not only that, but the dirt is starting to cake the slick tires of the unprepared commuter. Our hero is now faced with the pain and dirt but continues to quicken his pace. If he does not reach the temple by 8:00 am horrible consequences will be bestowed upon him by the evil temple keepers. A short lunch, maybe even staying until 5:05 pm is on the horizon. Our commuter steels himself to the thought of staying late and then having the arduous trek back through the uphill 8.5 mile gauntlet.

Without warning he enters the overhead tunnel of trees. What was once hard dirt has turned into soft mud. Mud begins to splatter off his tires, onto his bag, arms, everything. Even worse, his speed is dropping; all the while the clock is still ticking. After a short time in the mud our hero realized his traction is gone. The smallest error and he will fall, maybe badly. Increasing his hold on the handlebars, he searches for a way out. No luck, the closest exit is still 50 yards off. He pushes harder to maintain speed and control slowing a little as he nears the exit onto the road. No good, there is a truck coming and to merge at this speed with the mud could leave our hero in the road on his butt with a truck bearing down. He looks ahead to the next exit. It's another 20 yards down.

Before he can reach the exit, his head is rattled by a sudden blow. A rock and mud missile has flown off the tire to strike his helmet. The bike swerves from side to side as the fearless commuter tries to work the mud off his tires. It's no good, though. The mud is caked on and will fly off at will. Can he reach the safety of the road with its mud free surface?

This time fate is on the side of the commuter. He reaches the exit to find the road clear on both sides. Once safely in the road he accelerates with everything he has left. Flying through the last mile becomes safer as the secret path is longer than the lazy contractor's mud. Stealing onto the path he can safely pump his way to the temple.














Our beleaguered hero inside the Tunnel Of Terror.

Time and falling become his only obstacles as he nears the temple. Ahead his co-worker has entered the parking lot. He looks down, less than a minute to go with a short amount still to push. Pedaling hard while maintaining control of the mud-caked bike isn't easy, but our hero is up to the task. He enters the temple with 20 seconds to spare. He can now have his lunch, and leave at the proper time...