Please Read This

http://albertmcwilliams.com/post/54015994028/youre-going-to-kill-someone

If you drive, please read this.

Thank you.

Fat Canopy w/ David

David and I hit up the Canopy in Lake Geneva this weekend. It was awesome riding the fat bike up there, and David was rockin it on his macho man disc. We had a blast and rode hard. Had to get some miles in for this weekends event. My last race, the Heck of the North. 

Can't wait to see some old friends and go camping this weekend! Should be a great time, I will have the bonk king, TJ, Gumby, and my girlfriend Beth along for the ride. Should be fun and we are camping up in the apostle islands again on Sunday!

- JB

Assault on the Mississippi

 

 Cold rides require lots of booze

 

The bonk king, Kurt, and I....Ari took this photo

It rained a little....

Nothing going on here....nothing at all, thanks to my dad for some great trail mix. Ari and I enjoyed it and it held us to the great river. 

Arrival at greasy pizza USA aka Manny's! Where everyone is drunk and swears at the top of their lungs during football games even when kids are around, yay!

The bridge to our motherland

Home

This dog was awesome

 Some amazing discoveries out there....

 

Ari's family is great! We had a good time

 

My training partner and the head of the Slender Fungus Cooperative planned a ride out to the west end of Illinois: the Mississippi River. 

I had a great ride Saturday morning with some customers of the shop where I got really tired and my legs were feeling really sore and tired. I was telling these guys my friend Ari planned this ride out to the Mississippi on Sunday and there was a 70% chance for rain and a high of 57 degrees. I told them that I was hoping he would cancel and I could sleep in my warm bed and get some stuff done around the house.....no chance of that. Later that night I talked to Ari and he said he was going rain or shine and I could meet him in Sycamore if I wanted. Well, this meant that I had to go.....

I got up early to the sound of rain, loaded up my gear in the rain, and drove to Sycamore...in the rain.... to meet the bonk king and Kurt. Ari had arrived at 7 and we were ready to roll out in the rain. I had my Gore jacket on with a wool jersey and craft baselayer with Gore shorts and Assos knee warmers with some thick Gore socks on. I was carrying my backpack full of clothes for the end of the ride with me that must have weighed 30 pounds.

We hit some untraveled roads out to Oregon where we were soaked to the bone. We stopped for some hot coffee and pastries to refuel for the onward push to the river. The bonk king and Kurt left us for some hoagies at subway, gave us their flask, and wished us well. When we left the gas station in Oregon it was miserable....raining hard and we were sore and cold from stopping to long.

We plowed west with traffic wondering what the hell we were doing out on a crummy day. Little did they know how much we like to suffer. It makes us tough. We hit a beautiful stretch of road on townline just north of route 64. The gravel was peanut buttery and even with a tailwind our average speed suffered. Our buddy Jake had recommended a great road for us. We stopped in Lanark to observe absolutely nothing going on except fake flowers growing in pots. We had a snack and pushed on for the last 18 miles to Savannah.

Ari and I had great conversations as usual including men who use the term "yes sir" and men who drive white lincolns and listen to Barry White. We laughed and had smiles on our faces despite the bad weather. We were out in the rain and we were already wet so...who cares! Enjoy it! We even had a small stretch of no rain for about 20 minutes before the soaking downpour just before we hit Savannah. The photo of me drinking from the flask was during this stretch and even my Gore-Tex soaked through and left me wet.

We arrived at Manny's just as Jamie pulled up.....what timing!!! We were so happy to be done and get some hot pizza in our stomachs. Ari arrived with 135 miles and I had a measly 87. We chatted, ate, and then headed to the mother country for a beer before our journey back home. On the way back we stopped at a pumpkin patch in someone's front yard that we spotted earlier in the day. Ari's daughter Julietta cracked us up and we had a great time together, what a great family! I love those guys!

All in all the day was a success and I thank my fearless leader for dragging me out in horrible conditions for another great training ride!

- JB

Commutes

I recently started teaching again and it has been hard to balance riding/teaching/and a social life. But, have no fear....my commuting is still in progress. Have been getting 30-40 mile commutes in and longer rides in on the weekends. Trying to keep the legs strong for my last race of the year coming up in Duluth. Any takers on an Iowa trip this weekend?

Fat Mountain

Got the fat bike up and running after it sat during the winter. I love riding the really fat tires of my surly pugsley. Everyone thinks these bikes are cool and great for the snow....but really they are great everywhere and every day. I took mine mountain biking up at the old playboy club called the Grand Geneva in Lake Geneva. There is a race there this coming weekend and the crew was out getting the trails ready. I was able to complete 3 - 7 mile laps that day and ride stuff that I was not able to on my rigid single speed. The rock garden is downhill and has some massive stones in it. There are some sections that have steps in it and is better to ride at speed. I made the mistake of rolling somewhat slower on the last lap and my wheel got caught inbetween a rock/my weight was forward and I got catapulted out of the saddle and onto the ground. My head hurt the rest of the day and my body is bruised. I was able to complete the rest of the lap and continue riding. I guess I'll chalk it up to experience for next time and learn from that one. A great day on the bike with Bob, Mike, Ray, Ryan, Jared and the Treadhead crew. If you are free this Sunday head up to Lake Geneva to watch this awesome race!

- JB