Next Weekend

So it looks like when I go out of town the weekend plans die. I'll be back next weekend and would like to ride. Maybe we can get something set up? Forecast looks iffy but the 7 day's always subject to change. So let's post up any thoughts, dreams, aspirations to carry us through the weekend of 2/6-2/7?

Yesterday was a solid 4 hour slog thru the rain and today's road race was 45 degrees , overcast, with a 20 mph N/NE wind today with 60-70 other like minded cat 4's. Kind of reminded me of Norfolk '09 without the fog/rain but similar temp and wind. So don't think I got off with perfect weather with my temporary escape...

Now I could consider a Mac product.

The new Apple iPad sounds like it's made for me. If I had the expendable money for it. Anywho...

At $500 for the 16 gig model, it fills a gap that has never been successfully done. It's not overkill/way more portable than a laptop, it's not too dinky/annoying like an iPod or iTouch, and it's not an aweful compromise like a netbook. I can see this thing taking out the netbook sales real quick. It's a little more than netbooks for the performance, but that's the way Apple's always been. And it works if the price reflects the usefulness.

Personally, I could never see spending twice as much for an Apple laptop than a Windows based laptop. I did start to change my tune on that when I found out about the Trackpad of the Macbook Pros. Again, a feature that made it worth the extra money.

So anyway, I think this little gizmo is going to do big things. It's a product that makes sense for the common computer user. No wires and it's way more "hands-on" than a keyboard and mouse.

I think I need to get a 3rd job.

Moving and shaking.

I didn't touch the bike this weekend. I take that back - I touched one of my hanging bikes to move it out of the way. I had a 2 stage process of cleaning over the weekend that sort of got done.

Stage 1 - clean out my closets and either throw away/recycle old stuff and then reorganize the remaining stuff for better space savings. I've gone through and found a few things I'd like to sell. Here's the list so far:

-1 Camelback hydration pack similar to this. It's dusty, but fully functional and ready for use.
-1 Platypus Typhoon hydration pack with a 70 oz. Camelback reservoir.
-2 pairs of Shimano bike sandals size 44-ish(I tried real hard to find a matching recumbent)
-1 book - Simon Burney's Cyclocross
-1 bag o' bike clothes - old High Gear jerseys and thermal jersey(medium size), a couple base layers, a hi-viz yellow Pearl Izumi Jacket, etc.

If you or anyone you know is interested in anything listed, let me know. The prices are going to be ridiculously cheap since I mainly want to get rid of it.

The 2nd stage of my cleaning process was to dig out the stuff from the garage that's been stored since we moved into the place. I got through most of it and threw away/donated lots of stuff. I still have to figure out what else I can get rid of or use otherwise.

My main goal is to turn the back of my garage into my bike workshop. Currently, I have bikes hanging in the back next to my stored stuff, my workbench along one wall and my wheels, currently used bike along the other wall. How the wife and I get our CR-V in there without dinging anything, I'll never know. So with enough shuffling(and hopefully selling of stuff), I should be able to fit most everything bike related along the back and part of 1 wall. That would be ideal. I still need to get rid of a couple frames, and figure out if I can make due with just 1 road bike and 1 mountain bike. That would really give me a ton of space. Then I'll just need to figure out how I can sort out my workspace to let me work more efficiently. I need to find some cheap dressers or something like that on craigslist so I can organize all the crap I've gathered over the years.

I guess you could say I'm already yearning for Spring as I'm starting the cleaning thing early.

Fog? What fog?

Now that I'm back in the routine of commuting by bike every day, my mood is much better. When I was taking the bus or getting rides, I was mopey and just angry at the weather. Yet, after my ride in this morning, I was in a great mood and felt healthy. I was talking to my boss about the weather and realized that we've had fog and heavy cloud cover for about 5 days. I think if I wasn't riding nearly every day, I'd be one depressed soul. Yay bike commuting!

Weekend report: Saturday I met up with Sean and Vaughn to head up North for some gravel. After struggling through a couple miles with gunk caught in my fenders, making it feel like I had my brakes partially applied the whole time, I convinced the guys to head back onto asphalt. After this it was smooth sailing. We got far enough NorthWest that we saw the sun. It's out there, just past Elkhorn. So that was about 60 miles of hills and fun. I hadn't been on a long ride for almost a month, so I was kinda sore.

So of course on Sunday I helped shovel a ton of snow, cause that's what you do when you're already sore all over. I loaded up on the caffeine and Aleve and pushed on through (pun intended). It was fun and I got a great upper body workout. It was worth it once a few trail users thanked us. I'm hoping to get up early before I go into work at 11am and hit the Keystone soon. Maybe Thursday - clear some of the area around Nebraska Furniture Mart? Anyone want to join?

Upcoming weekend - I have no plans as of yet, but supposedly it's going to be 48 and rainy on Saturday. That sounds kinda miserable with the rain and all. Plus, since it's a large change in temp, it'll probably be windy, so that's a triple threat. Anyone got any plans for the weekend? Post em if ya got em!

Gravel Conditions

Rode the gravel today (one way), it started out fine, but there were definitely some sloppy spots and they got worse as the day went on. We ended up bailing and riding hwy 370 back from Gretna. On the other hand the roads outside of town were pretty dry. I'll probably try a road ride (cross bike) tomorrow no details at this time. I'll try to post something later if anyone is interested.

Hey guys.

They got this new thing called twitter? I joined up. Whatever you do, don't tweet me.

NO, no. DO NOT tweet me.

And by no means should you "follow" me either.

Seriously.

.....


@MunsonedinOmaha





DON'T DO IT!!!!

Shabbos plans

Sean has a swell idea for a ride that I will be joining. Bring out the cross bikes and meet at Wohlners by 11am to start the ride. Sean, want to add anything else?

Shabbos +1 is still undecided so if you have plans, let them be heard.

SUNDAY, SUNDAY, SUNDAY (use your big monster truck voice when reading this)

Or Shabbos plus one or what ever you MITMON guys call it. The gravel road is calling and the weather looks good enough to break that cabin fever that is bringing you down. This ride promises to be 10 x more exciting then the dribble you'll find on Sweet Home Alhomoha, i.e."I'm in base three, I rode two hours on my trainer in zone 2, blah, blah, blah, zzzzzzzz. Yes, Brian I am calling you out.

Specifics: we'll leave from my house at 1:00 and take the long route, 50ish miles, approximately 4,000' of elevation gain and depending on the group three hours of ride time.

So whose in?

If I can't take the cold...

Do I get out of the freezer?

I haven't ridden my bike to work in over a week. That's kinda baffling to me. I was Mr. dependable commuter to the point where my co-workers are giving me crap for not riding recently.

I know that if I get bundled up and get out there, it won't feel that bad. I just have a little mental block I can't shake. But next week is supposed to be warmer and I'm going to get my bike in order to commute with. No more excuses about lack of shifting and such. I must get back out there!!

Mark didn't see me while he was riding on Monday.

At least I thought it was Mr. Savery riding to the Trek Store. I was getting a ride to the bus stop as the wife was going into work. I was commenting to the wife about not riding into work since I thought that -15 degrees would be uncomfortable. Then we both see a guy riding down 63rd st on his bike.

So I was wrong. If that was you, Mark; good on ya. The main excuse I have for not riding is that my bike still won't shift and it's too cold to work on/clean it. So if I figure that out, I'll be back out there too. Maybe tomorrow...

Dang it's cold!

OK, so I'm planning a gravel ride on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. leaving from my house. I'll have coffee and expresso if you need it prior to the ride.

I know it seems kind of selfish to start here, but I live a block from the starting point. The light winds should make the weather bearable.

Please respond here so we know to wait, plan on two hours or until the first person starts to cry about frost bitten toes. Kev, Webb and I did this ride last Wed and it was very scenic (with all of the new snow). This ride has been given two thumbs up by Luke, so you know it's gonna be epic.