T.R.

Payday is on tuesday...I think I deserve a treat...


- JB

wool

Just about the coolest jersey ever....congrats to Ari on buying this, to bad I don't wear a 2 or 3X.

Commutant

Monday I braved temperatures in the teens to commute to work. Not knowing how the trail conditions were after the blizzard I ventured out anyway. The trail was good for the first 6 miles, a layer of ice was covered by a thin layer of snow so the trail was still very slick and I couldn't ride too fast. I got about 6 miles from work and the plowed trail just stopped. There were sled-neck trails on the 12" of snow so I was able to ride for about 2-3 more miles on those. Soon the snowmobile trails faded and I was reduced to walking....3-4 total miles of walking. I was a little frustrated when I showed up to work just as I was to open the shop up, showered, looked in my bag and forgot my pants at home so I had to wear some baggy cycling shorts from the shop. Called the village of chatham and asked if they were going to plow the trail....no response. My boss Matt called them again later in the day and they said they had a broken plow but were planning on plowing the trail with a tractor. I took the long way home down curran road through the country with 15-20 mph head/cross-winds. This was a good 2 hour ride that gave me a feeling of isolation I am no doubt to be expecting come trans iowa...so it was a blessing to have done this ride. Many cars slowed and I'm sure were wondering what the hell a cyclist was doing out at night in such bad weather...the answer was simple...getting home...ended the day with 3.5 hours of commuting time and 35 miles. Woke up today to -15 degree wind chills, braved the weather and got on the bike. Glasses iced over immediately and eventually I just took them off. I was going to take the trail most of the way and then ride the road to work....to my surprise I found that they plowed the trail this morning, how nice! Well this was a blessing and a curse because it was plowed but it was sheer ice. I wiped out on the ice pretty hard and hit my wrist pretty bad, traction was horrible and tried to ride in the snow as much as possible. I left early to allow for bad trail conditions and I am glad I did, I imagine I was crawling at 5-7 mph on the ice. I saw the plow and tractor that had previously plowed the trail, I waved at them and thanked them and hoped that they felt a sense of pride that someone was actually using the trail that they had worked so hard to plow. About 3 miles from work, I losts feeling in my fingers. My toes and the rest of my body were warm, I had chemical warmers on the toes but not on my hands (dumb decision...or lack there of), tried moving the fingers as much as possible and as soon as the ice cleared i sprinted as hard as i could to the shop. Could barely open the door and my hands hurt so bad....immediately ran them under hot water and my hands were in pain! I imagine this is the closest I have come to frostbite before. Glad I got to ride in this morning but if it doesn't warm up I might need to look for a ride home considering I will be riding with a cross-wind or head-wind the whole way home. Hopefully the thaw comes soon and this nasty weather breaks. Happy Tuesday....don't let your meat loaf!

- JB

Random

The original ...some other great pics on here

Coppi once said of Bobet. “He knows like nobody else how to suffer and his powers of recovery are unmatched. The bike means everything to him. It is truly his life blood and his application to his chosen way of life is an example to every aspiring champion.”



The ever amazing artwork by Jeff Williams....(now a Team Wheel Fast rider)



I really think this is not this persons last name....however, beerme 6: screams a DUI, very innappropriate for a blue chrysler minivan, sums up the local yokel

Kits

Vive Pantani

Interesting Rapha Blog post on cycling clothing, and some of the horror shows from the past. Thanks to senior Dale (keepin it simple with the blog) for bringing this to my attention.

- JB

Rollers

You could say I took advantage of the Rapha sale...I bought a lot



Snowy/icy roads have reduced me to the rollers...I need a pugsley

This is the amount of rubber that came off my rear wheel in a 45 minute roller session

Been riding the rollers every night since the storm of the century hit the midwest. I will be purchasing a pugsley next year so I can ride year round. My 29'er works well in the snow...but not 1.5 ft of snow. Hopefully the city will plow the bike trail so I can resume my commutes, if not I will be doing lots of roller sessions and finding loops through the city where I can just mindlessly tack on some february miles. Stay warm out there.

- JB

January

Results for January: 560 total miles (original goal: 500 miles)

Goal for February: 800 miles, we shall see how much of this happens considering snowmaggedon is on the way, it is a short month, and frostbike will be eating up a weekend. Stay safe ya'll.

- JB