My shoulder looks great compared to the bike.

Busted

In the Streets Department they call them breakaway poles, but I would beg to differ.

The good news is that I don't have a zipper on my spine, the bad news is that my bones now number one more than they did Tuesday morning.  Six to eight weeks in a sling, don't know yet if I need surgery.

Looking back

Mom retired this month and has been cleaning out the closets. I am the lucky beneficiary.

Lots of pictures of my awkward teens, but some keepers.

Last year, so hot, so tired.

The day started with shaking hundreds of crickets out of our clothing at the roadside pullout where we camped.  We got water, and a breakfast of some cheese, apples and Dr. Pepper at a gas station and grocery store in Cody, Nebraska.

For lunch, we stopped in Valentine for the best salad I've ever eaten at a McDonalds.  I took a work call because we had cell service for the first time in a long time and then I attempted to rinse the sweat off of my body in the bathroom sink.  It wasn't very effective.

By the afternoon, the 20 mile per hour tailwind from the southwest had turned into a 25 mile per hour cross/headwind from the southeast and we were beat.  We sat by the side of the road for 30 minutes, saw one car, and watched a monarch butterfly flap in vain as it tried to get to Mexico.  We settled down for the night just off of Turbine Road in the one bedroom house that we rented in Springview after 100 long, hot miles. 

Lightning bug and I

Both staring at our true loves.

Return home and return home

Jennifer and I spent the last weekend in Ames for no particular occasion.  While I love the fun of being home at CHristmas or Thanksgiving with all the family in place, it was actually really great just to spend some time with my parents, see Jennifer's family and pass some time in lovely Iowa spring weather.

The general routine is to fly in late one night, crash at the McMakens and then spend the next day or so trying to maximize time with my folks.  Saturday morning I ended up working a Bike Rodeo with my dad at the Nevada (pronounced Ne-VAY-da) Police Department's spring safety fair.  A bike rodeo usually consists of a helmet giveaway, safety instruction for kids, and a couple of willing souls from a local bike shop trying to make a bunch of really crummy bikes safe enough to ride.  The Nevada Police auctioned off a bunch of bikes that they'd impounded or recovered over the years and as the morning crept onward it was clear that we were working on a bunch of refuse.  On one hand, it sucks, because people with low expectations purchase a bike for a 'good deal' and then are left with something that barely functions.  Deals are only deals when they are worth more than you paid for them.  I joked with my dad that next year he should head over a day in advance and pay the police $20 bucks to throw about half of the bikes in a dumpster.

On the other hand, this is the type of repair that I am truly excellent at.  My years working on shitty bikes at Michael's Cyclery, Grand Performance, Skunk River Cycles and Trophy Bikes prepared me well for fixing crap and fixing it fast.  I got a surprising amount of satisfaction from quickly identifying the real failings that would keep a bike from moving or stopping and then hosing it down with Tri-Flow and making it do its thing, at least to a small degree.  I am a top-shelf kludge-master.

The remainder of the day was spent hanging out with Claire, who sort of surprised everyone last minute by making the trip from Iowa City.  It was great to spend time with her and have some tasty drinks and catch up on the various craziness that is her life. Her husband is now helping one of their catering customers put together a hydroponic system on his roof in his spare time, which is nearly nil.  I can oddly identify with that.  My people are helping people, even at the expense of their own free time or sanity.

We had an oversized dinner, oversized numbers of beers and other drinks, and then had a small backyard fire in the pit that my dad had constructed from pieces of an old bed frame and the guts of a washing machine. Classic style.

Down'a Shore

In late April I rode down to Avalon, down on the Jersey shore with Colton and Nick. It was a great ride, for reasons I can't fully explain. I guess I just like to sweat. The initial tail wind was nice, and we rolled along at 24 mph much of the time.

It ended up being 110 miles in 5 hours and change. Met a fair bit of headwind and a fair number of crazy people in Atlantic city where we boarded the train back.

Locally Famous, again!

Spent the morning hanging out with my IndeBuddies and Quincy Harris from Fox 29 here in Philly.  Its amazing how easy news can be when you work with a morning show personality on a channel that you pay for advertising.

Locally Famous

I'm frequently found about town with a bike frame strapped to my back.  Usually it's something that I'm picking up or dropping off for a friend or teammate who has busted their carbon race bike.  That's exactly what happened here last month as I was delivering this to Philly Bike Smith for one of their folks.

The picture below was posted to "Philadelphia Stolen Bikes" on Facebook.

It's the little things

In preparation for having Susanna and Camilo over on Saturday, Jennifer and I finally took it upon ourselves to put the refrigerator into the lovely little nook prepared for it.  While the move itself caused the standard sort of argument that occurs when people move furniture into tight spaces, the end result was fantastic.

Friday morning, I had the unmitigated joy of reaching into the cereal shelves pulling out a box of granola, and then reaching a mere 3 feet below to open the door to the refrigerator to extract a bottle of milk. 

Fantastic!

Peppers

Jennifer found a recipe for fermented chili sauce that was mostly jalapeños, with a little salt and a little garlic thrown in. We started slicing them and knocking out the seeds, but then the air got a bit too spicy. Drastic measures were in order.

posted from Bloggeroid

Wise men sometimes

My friend and bike club teammate Kevin posted this to our list serve the other day. I didn't write it myself, but it describes a lot of what I love about my team and riding in general.

The new year is a month old and races are already being posted and trained for. We have had a blizzard - life goes on. In the hours spent in the house last weekend I thought about the the bonds that we form as a result of being connected to this crazy sport - the people we meet - the people that change us. And I suppose that's why I keep coming back every year because I know I need to be changed - that I'm missing something many things and if I just hang in one more mile I'll find at least a part of it. The ride is never truly complete. I have ridden since 1986 and there are more miles- I watched Meurig ride across the United States - there is more. Those of you that I don't know well I should know better/ those whom I think I know I do not know enough. Those who have left us are with us- on every ride which is never done.
       K.G.