Afternoon Exploration

I had some free time between classes, and so I decided to go thrash around in the woods. I donned my denim cycling kit, tightened my boot laces, and headed out.



I found evidence of "single track" in use. It's sketchy and overgrown, but it's enough to provide a bit of afternoon entertainment.



The locals were kind enough to construct a makeshift bridge, which leads you to "The Island".



On the island, you can find remnants of some old dirt jumps, which should really be fixed up. I couldn't resist the temptation to give the jumps a quick session. After all, I had Primo Tenderizer pedals on the 29er!



I also took this opportunity to play around with the old rangefinder camera I picked up at the antique shop. It's a Petri Computor 35. It takes 35mm film and measures shutter speed electronically. I've been itching to take photos with film again, and I think this is going to be a lot of fun.

Thanks Otter

The Otter spent a month in Ashland, Oregon to obtain a professional wheelbuilding certificate from DT Swiss while adventuring throughout the west coast. Congrats Otter! While there, he mailed me some fantastic coffee from Noble Coffee Roasting that was brewed right in Ashland. It's dark and delicious. One of the best coffees I've had. Thanks buddy! It's good to have ya back too.





If you ever find yourself in the area, stop by and grab some beans!

Road Bike Stunting

For some reason this really impresses me, like, way more than fixed gear freestyle ever did.

Vinter Prospektering

Jag gick ut för att utforska DeKalb. Jag tog några bilder:

Happy Holidays

Hope y'all had a good one.

POLO POLO POLO!

A few recent polo photos for your enjoyment:

We recently celebrated the One Year Anniversary of the DeKalb Bike Polo League with a "Winter Formal". We all had a great time reminiscing about games past and talking about how far we've come and how polo has brought us all together. One year ago we were riding around a parking lot hitting a ball of duct tape through goals made from McDonald's bags.

NASA Time Lapse of Earth

"Time lapse sequences of photographs taken by Ron Garan, Satoshi Furukawa
and the crew of expedition 28 & 29 onboard the International Space Station from
August to October, 2011, who to my knowledge shot these pictures at an altitude
of around 350 km."

I thought this video was worth watching, at least part of it. Check out the lightening. Our planet is pretty awesome.

Monday Remedy

Alleviate your Monday unease with the latest Siki Siki Baba remix by Gaetano Fabri. I really enjoy all of the bizarre imagery, especially the ones of the sperms. Enjoy:

Weekend Camping

Did some camping this weekend at Starved Rock. The fall is always the best time of the year to camp. It got a bit cold at night, but the fire and wool kept us warm. Photos:

Autumn is Upon Us

It's that time of year again! Colder temperatures, crisp air, shorter days, no mosquitos... What's not to love!? This is quite possibly my favorite season and I hope to be spending a lot of time outside, both on and off the bike. Turbo Tuesdays and Bike Polo are happening regularly. Come out, drink port and have some fun.

We've got some exciting events in the works so stay tuned.

Labor Day Weekend

Spent the entire day under the influence of sunlight and fresh air. I took the dog out for a hike at Busse Woods and ended up doing about 10miles (I think that was the longest walk either of us had been on. The next day my body felt nearly the same as if I had ran 5 miles the day before). We explored some interesting areas of the park and found some "secret spots" for hangin. Afterwards, I came home to a delicious grilled salmon dinner at my parent's house. What a day...

The Skooler Legacy

I thought this was pretty funny, and well done too.

Seen on Surfstation.

Weekend Photos

Hope everyone had a great 4th o' July weekend.

Day Off - Gone Fishin'

Had the day off Wednesday and rode out to Afton Nature Preserve. I packed up the fishing pole and a very small "tackle box":

It's quite a peaceful place and you rarely see other people there. It was nice to just hang out, relax and enjoy the sun.

As usual, no fish were caught, but I ended up losing some equipment which will soon be replaced.

The ride was only about 25mi round trip, but it was a good way to spend the day. I crossed paths with a few other cyclists on my way and it was nice to see others getting out there and riding.

There is talk of a 200+ mile ride occurring July 31st. Updates will be posted!

Sunday Festivities

Met up with Tobie on sunday morning to support the MS150 ride. We set up the tent and pumped tires/tuned bikes from 7am-10:30. It was interesting to see all the different types of bikes and riders that came out for the event.

...T.J. was one of them.

Something about the dripping paint gives an entirely different meaning to the message written on this van.

After the MS, I headed to Arlington Heights and went fishing with a couple of good friends.

We didn't catch a single fish, but I didn't really expect to. For me, fishing is just an excuse to relax outside by the water and hang out. It was a good time and the weather was perfect.

Starved Rock Melting

Took advantage of the recent warm temps and went out to Starved Rock State Park this weekend with Adi and the doggy. That place is pretty cool when covered in melting snow and it was great to be outside without freezing.

Hockern

A new EXTREME sport taking Europe by storm! Extreme sitting! WHAT?

I thought this was a joke at first, but it appears to be an actual thing that people are doing, and an actual product that they are selling.

Snowed In

Last night we got hit hard by the blizzard and all of the midwest is in a state of panic. Cars are useless and it's more practical than ever to own a snowbike.

"New" Shoes

I got bored and thought I'd customize my hemp Vans "kicks". Some red dye, leather laces and I've got a new pair of shoes. Sweet! I'm thinking the dye will gradually fade quite a bit and it will be interesting to see.

Reflections

Although this may be extremely cheesy, I'd like to take some time to reflect on the year 2010 before it comes to it's conclusion tomorrow morning. This past year was quite exciting for me, in terms of cycling. This last summer I got my first real "road bike". Previously, I had just been riding BMX and commuting with a fixed gear Steamroller. The new bike brought on all new adventures. It allowed me to go on longer rides and (attempt) to keep up with the other guys.

Some of the most memorable rides would include my first century, with Hellmutt and Feller:

The Gravel Metric, which (so far) has been my most painful, yet awesome ride yet:

The New Glarus "Eleventy", and it's unfortunate turn of events:

All of the ever-epic Slender Fungus night rides:


And of course, Le Tour De Schlitz:

May next year be filled with even more greatness!