Joy and excitment!

So there is one question I always get asked either by other cyclists or by those that do not understand the sport at all, "How many miles did you go?"  That is where the mistake begins, it is not at all about the number of miles, but the time!  Whenever it is thought about in miles it feels like it is a quantified amount of work that must be done.  Whenever I think about a ride as time, I think about the amount of time I get to spend doing one of the best activities out there!  I love to ride my bike.  It has even been better this year.  The past 3 years have been really busy for me, 3 years ago I built Adventure 212, 2 years ago our house, last year I did a huge Crestron System that took me 11 months to complete.  This year, nothing but bike riding!  I finally feel like I have a complete work team that allows me to just check in with them in the morning, answer any questions, then it is time to go ride!! It is awesome and relaxing! 

For more excitement, my basement looks like a bike shop.  Michelle and I went to DePere on Thursday night to have dinner with Pete and Sara at Calientes and to pick up the first round of team supplies.  There was so much, that I had to drive home with the truck bed cover open!!  It is great to have such a great relationship with an incredible sponsor like Specialized.  This year Team Adventure 212/Specialized will be rocking everything Specialized related this year.  Shoes, Gloves, Glasses, Helmets, Gloves, Tires, and bikes.  Speaking of bikes here is my new race rig!

Sorry for the poor picture, but best I can do with my cell phone and a couple lattes!!  It came straight out of the box at just a shy over 21 pounds!  Not bad, by the time I get the sweet Easton products on it, the No Tubes wheels, and mount some Renegades up tubeless it should be around 20 pounds.  Here is also a pic of a couple more team bikes, work still needed:

This year is going to be fun!!

Training Camp Take 2......Booked!

Michelle and I just booked everything to head to sunny California!  The first week we plan to head here for some fun with the bossman!  Should be a good time!!  Last year we did this in Solvang and it's the closest you can come to feeling like a pro.  You get up in the morn, breakfast is ready for you, you go ride all day with a support vehicle following, at the end of the day you hand over your bike to a mechanic, then you book your nightly massage and wait for dinner!!  If you are interested hit the link above.  This year I might be doing things a little different since my harness was on pretty tight and was not able to just let er rip!! Thinking most of my rides might be more on my own?  Guess we will see? 

For the 2nd week we will be in Solvang.  Not sure exactly all the details down here yet, but TSP and Di will be down there with some others from Duluth.  I will get to see how many trips I can get up Figueroa Mountain before complete leg shutdown!! Last year I made 3.   

On the MTB front, 3 of the 6 team bikes are in as well as a lot of the accessories!  Merry Christmas to Team Adventure 212!  Thansk Bill, Pete, and Specialized!!

In search of power!

So the last month I have been riding my Tricross with studded tires and no power meter.  Being an engineer I have always obsessed about the numbers, but this year is different.  I just have been riding bikes and loving it.  On the other hand, bossman (who still doesn't have his internet site up and running!) keeps wanting to see some numbers!  I keep telling him that he will get nothing till March and like it, but I gave in seeing that I am paying him to make me faster.  So with the warmer temps, and the melted roads I got out on the road bike yesterday and today.  I should of parked it today though!!  It snowed almost the entire ride today and was just annnoying.  Wet feet, wet butt, and just cold.  Either way this is what it looked like pulling back into the drive!

So whenever the weather sucks and Michelle asks me what my ride is, I always tell her the length plus one!  That extra one is for cleaning!  Suck!  If anyone out there is looking for some serious testing and wear and tear on your equipment, send it to a midwest rider, we can destroy anything in a single winter season!!

On a non biking front, I am off to a charity dinner for the humane society called Wags to Wishes. Thats not bad, should be good food after a long ride, the problem is that it is formal!  Suit formal!  Suck!

Laying low

So it never fails!  You ride through snow storms and whatever mother nature throws at you, then when you get a recovery week you get some of the best weather of the winter!  It is supposed to be almost 40 here today and I do not even have a ride scheduled.  Might have to pull the commuter out just to go get groceries or something!! 

Other than that, been catching up on lots of things I have been putting off.  Built a new wheel yesterday for Michelle's powertap.  The old one was flexing so bad that it was wearing the spoke nipples to the point of the caps breaking off.

Been also dreaming of a new road bike.  I have enjoyed my Tricross so much that I keep looking at one of the new Tarmacs.  As I stated earlier I am starting year number 6 on my Seven.  That has got to be a bike record for me!  Longest I have ever kept a bike, but not like you ever unload on a custom built bike!! 

On other news, Michelle was on a TV interview this morning for Project Linus cause we are donating the space here at Adventure 212 this weekend for the event.  She did a good job!

Nascar Sunday...

Never thought about it, but I love NASCAR Sunday! And to think we always make fun of TSP for driving the big conversion van with the sunoco racing stickers!!  The reason I love it is everyone must of been busy watching the race here in Wisco. cause I only got passed by somehting like 5 cars today during my ride!!  Sweet!  Now I am not making fun of it, I myself have been to Daytona and Richmond to watch races.  One of the most interesting events that I think I have ever seen in person. 

On the riding side, or recovery side??  When we built our house about a year ago, the appliance retailer sold me on our fridge cause they told me it would keep veggies and fruits fresh for 6 weeks?  Not sure how that became the selling point for me cause I am going to have the entire thing empty in about 6 hours!!!

We ride to eat!  At least that is why I do it!  OK, it is also a lot of fun too!

Rough start...

This is what I woke up to today! Empty espresso grinder!!

To those non addicts, it is like getting off the airplane, waiting at the oversized luggage for an hour, and your race bike doesn't show up!  Suck!

Tour de Snow Globe

That is what the last 2 days felt like.  The two days were a bit different though!

Day 1:

It felt like someone left the globe on the heater.  The snow from the day before turned into slush and it made me work on my handling skills. Either way there was a ride to do so I put the studded tires on the Specialized Tricross, strapped on the fenders, and let 'er rip.  I could of used an autometic de-icer while out on the bike.  It wasn't too bad though cause the bit warmer temps at least made it fun for the day.  It left me a ton of bike cleaning to do. 

Day 2:
Nice and cold!! I left the door to -2F temps and ended up on the frozen back roads so that I was going slower and had to deal with less wind chill:

With the roads frozen it was nice to get rid of the fenders, but I had the barmitts in full use!  Do you think this is what the engineers at Specialized had in mind for their top of the line cross racer? 

Off course it is!!!

Speaking of Specialized, a big thanks needs to go out to them led by Pete and Bill.  They will once again be the sponsor of the Adventure 212/Specialized MTB Team and are coming to the plate in a big way!  Thanks so much and the entire team is super motivated and excited for the 2010 season. 

2 more stages to go!

Soggy Chamois!

It rained all day today!! On the plus side it was 45 degrees!  Since it was not the optimal weather we started running for the border!  We made it but it was no better weather wise!

Since that didn't work we started looking for other alternatives to make the day seem better, there has to be some beverage production happening in here:

None to be found so we just put out the required work and called it a day.  After all this we thought we should warm up with a nice latte since Paducah finally has a coffee shop!  Wow moving forward down here, they are no longer 20 years behind on times, just 10 or so!!!  I now have Darrin addicted to Lattes!! One in the morning and one after a hard ride.  Can't wait to hear about his withdraw when he gets back home!!  Speaking of home, headed out tomorrow!! Sounds like snow on Monday!  Where should I head next??

Kilomonster!

The thing will not leave us alone!  We keep riding and losing weight and this thing has to be to blame!!!

If it is not this guy, it is the multiple dogs that work on a network that would make any cell phone carrier jealous!!!  There are no dead spots, even on the gravel back roads of Kentucky!! Once one dog is done chasing you, the next starts right in!

Today we did lots of gravel road riding!  It seemed like every turn we would start out cruising down a nice country road then it would just switch to a gravel grinder with soft peanut butter like surface!  That really sucks on a road bike!  Darrin ended up having enough of it and had a break down on the road! 

How fitting considering the name of the trail!

Either way we trashed the bikes today!

Finally we hit some good roads and I was able to settle in and stop suffering on all of the gravel and steep low cadence hills.  Today we ended up with almost 7000 ft of climbing!  With all that climbing and another good day on the bike I had to talk Darrin out of trying out another hobby!

Sounds like I have him convinced to try it one more day before making the decision!  Therefore the Hillbilly Tour Stage 3 is a go!! 

One trailer, two trailers, three trailers, more!

Saw lots of trailers today, trailer homes that is.  Either way on the trip down I did see one of my favorite trailers, can I get this into my office to use as my daily fix?!?!?

Too bad it is really not a coffee cup.  Anyway we made the trip down here and got a good ride in.  The temps did warm up and made the trip worth while!  The wamrest that we saw for the day was 50 degrees, sweet!!  We also got some good hills in, which after awhile they started to get to Darrin.  Come on where did the happy face go?

After we made it through the hills and back on the flats we settled in and did some nice pace making with some wind at our backs.  Darring ended up bringing the smile back, not sure if it was cause we were almost home or the terrain fitted him beter?

Along the trip we ended up running through Metropolis!  Sweet!  The home of Superman.  Since this was only like 10 miles from home Darrin had felt as if he was a super hero himself!!

Day one down!  More to come tomorrow! 

Best of 2010....

Ok this might be a bit early, but I have to get this out there.  If anyone is looking for new kits this year for your team, look no further:  http://www.hiddenbaysports.com/ .They have come a long way just in the 2 years that we have worked with them and they continue to improve each year.  This is where the best of comes in, their 2010 shorts for this year rival some of the best shorts that I have ever owned.  The chamois is very comfortable and the addition of the compression band at the bottom of the shorts vs. the elastic makes for a comfortable fit.  Check them out!

In the mean time, sneak peek of our 2010 team design.

On another note, I am otta here tomorrow!  After sufferring some werious wind burn on my nose and checks I am off in search for warmer climate!  I leave in the morning, stop to pick up Big D and the plan is Kentucky right now!!  If that is not warm enough then further south we will push!