Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving from Chrome Fork Crown! Enjoy your day!

My meal included a very hungover stop to Burger King followed by a pint of Ben and Jerrys.

White Trash

- JB

Forget it

Forget the latest and greatest. Forget the hype. Forget what is cool.Forget what everyone else is doing. Forget the need to fit in. Forget what is light. Forget what is heavy. Do what works for you. Do what makes you happy. Set your own trend. Be yourself. Just fucking forget it.

- Cookie

Sunday Road Ride

Got out with the Bonk King and David for a quick 40 miles on the road and cross bikes. The Bonk King rode great for having taken some time off of the bike lately and we rolled on some nice roads. Good to get out and spin the legs. Again, I tried to spin in one gear and play around with gearing and am still liking the 39-18/17 gearing. David sent his registration in for TI as a rookie and is excited about riding some gravel. More commuting next week. 

- JB

After Work Cross Saturday

While the Gunnar has been out of commission I put cross tires on my All-City Mr. Pink and have been riding solely in the 39 tooth chainring and experimenting with some gear combinations by leaving my bike in a certain gear and testing it on the terrain. I have been liking the 39-17/18/19 gears for TI. I will have to experiment some more with this. After work my buddy Todd wanted to get out and do a cross ride. My legs were a little fried from the week at work and hitting 25-30 miles on the bike every day this week. We rode through Veterans Acres and Sterns Woods and cruised some of the gravel and trails they have back there very close to where I work. I need to explore and ride more back there because its freaking awesome. We did a lap and then headed out on the road. Todd said that "every road ride should start with something like that"....how right he is. We then took the cross bikes through Bull Valley in the dark with the headlights on and on Valley Hill road we turned off the lights and just cruised in the dark. It was so peaceful and reminded us why we got into cycling in the first place....simple joys like that. We parted ways and I cruised home with a big grin on my face after that ride. 

Tomorrow 9 am Woodstock Square if you want to ride.

- JB

Harden Up

In Iowa...only the strong survive. Get your shit in order. There is no room for error. The only way to make it is preparation. Mental and physical endurance will be your only savior. When you can't fathom going any further....you will have an eternity to pedal. When you're so tired all you want to do is sleep.... an old cd player will be blaring in the background with a scratched CD skipping. When you want to throw in the towel....its going to take hours for your ride to even pick your sorry ass up. So what do you do?? Keep your pathetic measly soul moving....just keep MOVING. Keep your eye on the prize, keep your eye on the clock, and get it done. 

The Slender Fungus will be prepared for Iowa.

Get Hard.

- Cookie

We Made It

Classic Slender Fungus photo stolen from the Dork Blog

Well....another year....and another Trans Iowa registration. For two years I got very nervous and very anxious of waiting for the day I would have to send a detailed post card to a small town in Iowa. This year was quite a relief as I finished the bitch last year and if I wanted to race....then I could race. So, I emailed Guitar Ted and told him I wanted to suffer EVEN more and attempt TIV9 on a single speed with  my TIV8 partner and all around great dude Jeremy Kershaw. We were in and then awaited the others. Monday, Ari got in, and today my beloved Giggles got in! We are back in action and the training has already begun and been brutal. I am treating this race even more serious than I have in the past. I will be working my core muscles harder this winter, running more, and trying to push hard single speed miles while balancing two jobs this spring. Its going to be a rough ride and I will not have any free time until May....hopefully it will pay off.

Got in a good 55 miler on Sunday with Bob, TJ, Ari, and Gumby....along with several other people from St. Charles and some giggling women. Will be commuting the rest of the week and riding this weekend. Pushing for 7500-8000 total miles this year. 

- JB

Something's coming

I have a new trans iowa machine in the works.....

On The Horizon

Something is on its way......

- JB

Iowa Training: Round 4

ha

Great advice

 My favorite road ever

Ari going up "El Capitan"

View from half way up "el capitan"

 

 View looking the rest of "el capitan" from more than half way up

One of my favorite bikes

Ari hit a nut buster

The terrible rollers loom

 Its all natural....

Ari hitting "la hefa"

Got a quick call from Ari with a last minute trip to Iowa and training ride #4. On this trip I lowered my gearing a touch from 34-17 to 34-18 and raised my seat just a touch. Ari and I were on a budget again and thankfully he helped me get out to the mother country for another ball buster of  a ride. Thank you my friend. We talked less....rode more...took fewer breaks, and went farther, harder, and in less time than our previous rides. I was feeling like there was still some gas left in the tank by the end of the ride and need to keep feeling that way as I just registered for Trans Iowa V9 on the single speed. Its going to be an adventure folks....can't wait. We saw some great new roads on the ride and some awesome old stone houses as well that Jamie dreams so much of. We laughed of blue balls and even some some cows trying to bang it out. We were free as birds and had another great ride. God be with you.

- Cookie

Last minute escape

You can't tell but he's eating a human heart

Tomorrow this man wants blood.

And he shall get it.....

Iowa Ride #4

3rd time on Single Speed 29'ers

85 miles

Redemption or regret?

- Cookie, SFCA

Lacking in _________________

I have been struggling to get motivated as the colder weather has arrived. I wake up and hit snooze time after time until finally I drag myself out of bed to look at the clock outside with the temperature displayed on it. Usually its below 40 degrees and I think of how long it takes to put on my cycling clothing and layer up for the chilly commute. Then I usually get on the bike and feel great....warm up quickly....and have a great ride to work. I ride home with the lights on and enjoy my surroundings only to fall asleep and repeat the process. Where is the motivation? Why can I not get the juices flowing lately?? Maybe as soon as the TI registration process commences I will have more of a motivating factor to get up and get out there.....even though I already know I have a solid entry into the race and that I am going to be out there in April no matter what. But...maybe I just need to see it on paper and hopefully will get some motivation for some good rides. 

- Poor excuse for a cyclist