Flying Down Xenwood

the Xenwood downhill

had been cleared of ice patches by the afternoon's sun

so I could hear the studded tires 

against the asphalt

I could hear the tempo increasing

hear the speed 

my numb fingers grabbed for the brakes

it was nighttime, after all

I was cold and cautious of the intersection 

the driveways between snow piles

that emptied onto Xenwood

near the bottom I let go

as the brakes eased off the disks

the bike relaxed 

and flowed into the straightaway

the rush was small

but not 

incomprehensible

I pedaled to the street's end where I turned

away from home

and I pedaled up Webster, over 29th

where I saw myself 10 minutes prior

in the tracks of the wet snow 

they wobbled left and right

I remembered holding my line

the snow lies

I coasted full-out the second time down

crouched

watching

tires buzzing

fingers ready to grab

but they 

didn't

the third time 

I stood pedaling up Webster

over 29th 

in the sloppy snow

I hit the big ring, pedaled over the top

I flew down Xenwood

spinning

body warm

toes freezing

smile spreading 

and this time 

at the bottom

turned toward home

- TOfinally satisfiedB

Reset

clawing my way out of the abyss

is a bit overly dramatic, and it's not like

the only place to go is up

because truly there are lower places, and

starting from square-one

invokes the award for cliché-usage, but damn-it

yesterday I didn't know what to wear for a 50-degree bicycle ride



-ob criminy, how can I not know?!?

Oscar

2001-2010

Oscar was a kitty, abandoned and fending for himself, when he found my parents in early October, 2001. He came home with me about 2 weeks later and settled easily into the household.

He rid the backyard of bunnies, mice, bumblebees and a wayward bird or two just so you know, if you make a cat drop it! then YOU have to deal with the half-dead bunny...pretty amazing considering he was functionally blind. He could see movement, but would stumble over things in the house that were out of place. A telltale sneeze from the other room meant a diningroom chair had been left out and he'd just rapped his nose.

He was often moving, forever exploring, always finding the chink in the fence. He wasn't much for cuddling, but my lap was his lap...always. Through the years, Oscar taught me the value of sleeping deeply and waking up slowly; that more can be made of love than of hollering; and that in spite of shortcomings, life is best spent barreling ahead.

He was diagnosed with kidney disease about 16 months ago. I'd really counted on him to be an 18-year kitty (Barney set the bar awfully high), but tough beginnings can sometimes mean endings that come sooner.

We had nine years together that we wouldn't have had, had he not popped his face up through the autumn weeds.

I'm very lucky.

- tob with a very empty lap

Instant

Is your trip business or pleasure? I could see the blurred form of the car rental agent in my peripheral vision. He held the clipboard, pen ready to check a box after I answered.

The car was candy red. My eyes stared past the surface. I felt them sting and I blinked a few times.

Did you know my mother never came home from the hospital after I was born? And they were never close, my dad with her family. They all drifted apart over the years. There was anger, sadness. I don't know what it was, exactly.

And my life was a dad, a sister and brothers. I didn't think to ask questions, it was just the way it was. And no one ever really explained what happened.

But I felt self-conscious as I hit my teenage years. People who knew her were spooked by my uncanny resemblance to my mother. People I'd never met would tell me things about her. Things that I didn't know about someone I should have been familiar with.

Did you know that I would stop at Grandma's house now and again on my way to and from college? One time my uncle was there and we spent hours talking. And he said to come visit him out in California anytime, he'd love to have me.

He repeated the offer in Christmas cards. I can't believe I didn't go visit him until nearly 17 years later. After two family funerals. After he moved to Phoenix.

And you know, once I started visiting, it became a yearly ritual. Phoenix gave me warm spring days riding my bicycle in the desert sun. It gave me the smells of blooming cacti during the depth of Minnesota winters. And my uncle gave me an understanding of my mother and of her life and ultimately of myself.

And did you know...you know he's receiving hospice care now. I'm losing the one who fit all the pieces together for me. I thought he'd be here forever.

I took a breath.

Neither, I answered.


- tob

Here's The Deal

Well, I've got this deal going on. It's not a huge deal, but it's a deal. Some people have deals like this that are worse. Mine's not worse.

But I have to be on this stuff for this deal. Regularly. And the stuff is starting to tire me out. And give me headaches.

And I'm queasy sometimes...or maybe that's from the kindergarteners who aren't using kleenex. It's hard to tell.

The whole thing has cut into my time lately, because all I want to do once 7:30 hits is go to bed.

And I sometimes do.

Then I get up and go to work in the morning. Who can ever get anything done when so many hours are taken up working?

But tonight I took the bicycle outta the garage and went for a ride. At 7:30. I think I averaged about 4. MPH. I rolled home around 8:00.

And you know? I think I'll do it again sometime. But right now, damn, it's waaaay past my bedtime!

-ob  zzzzzzzzzzzzzz....

Playground

Hiking outside Hood River, OR, the multi-use trails look a bit different than they do in MN. We were hoping to see someone come by and actually take some of these features, but we had to imagine it.

- TOto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore B

Staring it Down

We were facing down loop three. We'd done the smaller loop once, we'd done the long loop a couple of times, and we were back contemplating the long loop again before heading home.

There's something I like about completion. I like being finished with something. I like looking back after I'm done and saying And it was Good. We'd done several laps. My riding was nothing stellar that day, but given the extreme heat and dew point combined with the fact that we were at a stopping point, I could have easily said And it was Good and headed back to the car.

My bod felt the way it feels after leaving a sauna: weak and relaxed. But there was daylight left to burn and the heat had been making us stir-crazy inside. The woods were relatively cool by comparison. Wheel was going to do another lap.

I was hesitant to commit -- I liked being done. I could wait for him at the car. I could wait in the shade while drinking an ice cold caffeinated beverage (the hopped beverages were at home). I could spend some time on an out-and-back paved trail. Or, I could start the singletrack loop and bail early at one of several points.

There's strength in the suggestion of another. I decided to join him and start the loop but consider bailing if the attitude or body pooped-out. I like having options.

Typically Wheel holds-up at points along the loop just to be sure I'm fine. Since I was considering taking the shortcut, he said Well, I won't wait for you then. We'd meet back at the car.

It was an interesting comparison knowing I wouldn't see Wheel at any old point along the trail. My thoughts earlier through the loop were: around this curve? at the clearing? I hope he's not waiting at the log pile...I could take that if I wanted to. This time, I knew I'd see him when we were both finished. My thoughts were free to swirl around other things...or, they were free to leave my head completely. I was in my zone as I took rock piles and logs that I'd walked the previous time around. I hit my bail-out points, but decided I wanted to finish.

I'm typically not a whiner when it comes to riding, but that day I had a couple things on my mind and I just wasn't feelin' the love for the effort. On the last loop I surprised myself.

I always want Wheel to be there waiting for me. He makes my life stronger.

It is nice knowing, however, that I've got it inside when I need to face the going on my own.

-OB facin' it

W else WJD?

And another!

-ob

WWJD?

For you Jens fans....

- OB shut up legs!

Demons

Sometimes I outride them Other times I invite them along and we have a firm chat This time they thought it would be a nice social ride but I flatout ignored them

- bag I'm not listening!

Betty

Betty is eight years old this season. In human years, that's...well, I don't know what that is, but she's no spring chicken.

Neither am I.

I got her right at the end of my racing stint. Bianchi sponsored our team, and I got her for a song. Actually, the frameset was a replacement for a 2000 version that had cracked. Bianchi finally did Scandium right -- I never did race this bicycle, but to me she was a dream to ride over the long miles and the hills.

Lately however, I'm not riding her as much as I used to. This season in particular, long miles have meant aches in my lower back...it's a tough realization. My bod is aging and I need a ride that complements it. Compared to the tandem and the commuter, Betty is just a bit too aggressive in frame geometry and material.

I've started tentatively looking around at road bikes, but I'm in no hurry. And I really question the wisdom in getting something different. There's nothing that says I can't use my old travel bicycle as my everything road bike.

Except.

Except that we all have our reasons why we ride. Some ride to save money. Some ride to save our corner of the world. Some ride to keep in shape, to be social or solitary. Me? it's all of that: it's the groceries, the beer run, the commuting, the road less traveled, the day-long ride just because.

Mostly though, it's about the wind in my face as I'm doing all of that...especially as I'm screaming down the hills.

But it's also about the wind in my face as I'm screaming up the hills. Any old bicycle can follow gravity, it's the breaking-free that I'm looking for.

I need an all-day comfort ride that can climb a hill like a crazy woman. The travel bicycle isn't a crazy woman. It's a safe, careful tourist.

Betty's my crazy lady.

Shorter stem, new seatpost = hopefully more comfort for a bit longer

white bar tape is for dweebs

- OB

Who Knew?

- OB pretending to be a gardener

How to Buy a Bicycle

...apparently...

1. Attempt to establish a connection to the seller by asking: where have I seen you before? I know you look familiar. What shops do you go to? Be sure to inform seller of your prior bike shop employment experience.
   
   
2. Assume there's no reason to ask the seller about her prior bike shop employment experience.
   
   
3. After a particular LBS is mentioned by the female seller, discuss this LBS with the male partner of the seller.
   
   
4. Discuss well cared-for, relatively current bicycle being sold. Say, yeah, I'm looking for a winter ride. Raise eyebrows when seller exclaims how wonderfully the bicycle rides with studded winter tires.
   
   
5. Make a statement about the bicycle's less-than-high chance of selling.
   
   
6. Deadpan when seller acknowledges that while it is a specialized market, two other cyclists have been interested in the bicycle. Unfortunately the fit or feel wasn't quite right.
   
   
7. Establish your ignorance by scoffing about potential buyers who don't understand their cyclocross bicycle size??
   
   
8. Don't actually ride the bicycle you're interested in purchasing.
   
   
9. Ask seller whether or not the cassette has been changed out. When seller reminds you the bicycle only has about 2,000 miles on it and that the chain has been replaced, insist that any cassette needs to be changed out at the time the chain is replaced.
   
   
10. Ignore the seller's educated explanation that frequent chain replacement delays cassette wear.
    
    
11. Further expose your ignorance by pressing the need that well any buyer will need to replace this cassette and chain after the bicycle has been purchased. Use this to justify your offer for $250 less than the asking price.
    
    
12. Hear the seller's bottom line price, but stick to your offer.
    
    
13. Realize that no means no.
    

By the end of the encounter only $50 separated us, but by that point it was about principle.

Principle: don't sell a loved bicycle to a putz.


- bein' a cranky  Ol' Bag
.

How to Sell a Bicycle

Stop anthropomorphizing. Bicycles aren't people, friends, pets, ponies or sentient beings of any kind. We're the ones who develop attachments; frames and forks don't however, an aluminum seatpost and a steel seat tube....

Quit labeling bicycles as svelte, pretty, genius, hard core, sophisticated or genteel. They're made of [trendy or vintage frame material here] which makes the ride appropriately [stiff, noodly, spritly, harsh, quick].

Don't name your bicycle. Naming it causes problems in the same way it causes problems for the farm kid who inadvertenly names a chick, and then one day has to face Mrs. Peeper sitting on the platter in the middle of the supper table.

Realize that a bicycle never did "carry you away" "help you escape" or "open new doors". YOU pedaled yourself away. YOU escaped. YOU opened the doors. You chose to do it on a bicycle. Smart you.

Remember, a bicycle doesn't have eyes, a heart or memories. Your ride doesn't pine for you after you park it and head inside for the night. YOU experience these things. You will still have memories after a bicycle is gone.

Understand that your riding needs and interests change over time. These changes sometimes require you to sell an old bicycle in order to buy a new one that is a better fit...for instance: you need a mountain bike because Betty just doesn't go there. Don't worry, she won't care that you're two-timing her. She's cool in that way. So don't sell her, sell the old track bike.

Besides, you've gotta know that Italian track frame was just toying with you. Your only contact now is when you bump your head into him as you're grabbing something off the far garage shelf. And does he even say anything?!

Realize that a bicycle hanging in the garage not being used isn't living the life it deserves. Find it a good home with an owner who can give it what it needs: the open road, the parade, the back woods, the competition.

Sell it. And get over it. It's not a loss.

It's giving an old friend new life.

- The said goodbye to a couple of pals Bag

Equation

+ - = ( ) x ÷
inclination
inspiration
revelation
transformation

- OB make one

Translation

Overheard at the bike shop:

Do you have any cup holders?

...um, do you mean...bottle cages???

- The Bag and the clerk was so kind and helpful

Not REAL Women

There's a Wed night ride that meets across the street from an LBS nearby. It's a recreational club ride considered to be at a B pace: short mileage, relaxed pace, social, a warmup to the recreational ride that is scheduled shortly afterward (which is also considered to be a B ride).

This ride meets a couple blocks from home, has a late-afternoon start and end before supper; and it gets me outta the house during the week to socialize at a time of year that I don't much care about being social. It's a nice, easy spin that works out the kinks in the legs and the brain. This past week, we arrived back at the parking lot after the ride with about a half hour until the next ride started up. As we chatted, an LBS shop ride was beginning to gather across the street.

I always feel a few pangs when I see a spirited ride readying--a shop ride used to be an easy one for me. I'm still amazed at the fitness a racer has in comparison to Joe Average Cyclist...even the mediocre racer class that I fell into. I still had the fitness for a few years after I quit racing and, while on shop rides, I enjoyed watching the shop-ride guys expend a ton of energy on a training ride. Knowing when to bank energy, knowing positioning and how to subtly push a shop-ride guy out into the wind were advantages I had, and I enjoyed playing a few games on the unsuspecting. They tended to be a bit amazed that a skinny girl could ride so strongly. It was partly that, of course, but it was also partly riding smart.

I like to think I've still got the smarts, but the riding strongly part? Not so much these days.

One of the women in our group looked over to the readying shop ride: Oh wow, there are a couple women on that ride.

Those aren't REAL women a guy in our group quipped. Normally, I'd have taken offense to the comment and flung some shyte at him: the insinuation that women athletes aren't totally feminine chaps my hide.

Instead, I looked over wistfully.

- The not so in shape Old Bag kinda missing being "not a REAL woman" this season

I Thought WE had it Bad....

This was Minneapolis on Monday.

It was a blast furnace: sweltering, muggy and windy to beat hell. But, South Dakota always wins the wind contest hands-down...be sure to look at the sustained wind speeds: The Life and Times of Biking Brady: Conditions Even I Won't Ride In

- OB goes back now and again and doesn't often bring the bicycle!

Double of a Different Sort

- T definitely wouldn't O be able to B retire on time!

Make Mine a Double

It's the Leo Principle: I met Leo when he was 49. Shortly afterward, he started talking about retiring. Not retiring some day but retiring then. At 49.

He didn't win the lottery. He didn't score a big inheritance. He's an average joe with an average job. But he has a secret.

Don't spend money on the little things.

Never pay for parking, eat out but only food you can't get at home, drink your liquor at home instead of at a restaurant you can buy an entire six-pack for what they charge!, and keep the clothes closet simple. Oh, and travel the world during the off-season when the special deals show up…and do it with a carry-on.

Bottom line? Spend money on the things that are important to you. Question all of the incidentals. Small costs become large totals over time. Everyone worries about the big expenses: the vacation. No one worries about $10 for parking or $7 for a beer, $12 for lunch out, but those are the costs that multiply when we're not looking…and we need to be looking.

Wheel and I? We try to live by the Leo Principle: we walk, we garden, we keep the closets lean, we cook, we bake. We run errands on the bicycle.

But last weekend, we both blew the don't buy liquor with meals rule. There's a fairly new sushi restaurant about a three-mile-ride from home…and before 6:00 even the food is on special.

The martini? We couldn't have gotten that at home...so, we each had TWO.

Our retirement is damned.

- TOB because it's been a looong spring

Minneapolis has dethroned Portland, OR

...as the bike-friendliest city in the country.


- Baggie that is, if one trusts Bicycling magazine

Recovery Ride

It's always said
one needs to
stop and

smell the roses

but I couldn't find any!

- TOB

Nekkid and Flying

You know, one of those dreams
but then I realized
it wasn't a dream...I was on the road bike

- OB :-)

Nekkid

When I first started riding back in the early 90s I easily saw the need for cycling shorts. Seams? waistbands? wrinkled cotton underthings with extra elastic in spots that would be bending and flexing over n over n over n over? Lycra with chamois took away all the aches and chafing and made total sense after I got used to the idea: What? WITHOUT undies?? I had to admit there was logical sense, but the first time? nekkid. I felt nekkid.

And everyone who was any kind of cyclist KNEW I was nekkid underneath.

And I knew they knew.

So I wore my t-shirt long and baggy.

Of course as time passed, I adjusted to the idea that all cyclists are basically riding around nekkid underneath and no one cares, so the concept lost its allure...er, its novelty.

And then one summer I took a week long ride through the Canadian Rockies. And I wore a long-sleeved t-shirt. And I carried bread bags for the inside of my shoes if it rained. And I carried an extra t-shirt if it got warm and another extra if one got wet... thus was borne the rationale for a cycling jersey and shoe covers (and a road bike, for that matter). Soon, I got one long-sleeved jersey. Then one short-sleeved. Solid colored....

I dabbled in racing. I traded in my floppy, dark purple, pilled Performance jersey for something more form-fitting that screamed in red, white and green and was covered in sponsor logos. I matched-up my socks and helmet. I didn't think twice about it. The kit was at once an identifier and an obligation: sponsors had footed the bills for some of my equipment. Spreading the word was the way to say thanks.

Then? The skinsuit. I guess a skinsuit doesn't leave a ton to the imagination...to an outsider, anyway. At time trials, we all must have looked as if we were nekkid wearing Depends, but to us nekkid was far from our minds. We noticed the team colors, how others had pinned their numbers, and whether or not someone had decided on arm warmers that day. I was confident of the fact, when someone once commented to me, Hey, great skinsuit, that he meant the season's new design, not the body that was wearing it. It's the way racers think.

It's been years since I've raced, but I haven't made a total transition back to cotton and floppy shirts. If I'm riding to supper or to the store, I'll toss travel pants over the cycling gear and I'll wear a sweater instead of a jersey.

Last Sunday, we rode over to see George for the afternoon. As usual, I wore my merino and tights underneath my pedestrian clothing, but the March temps were hitting the mid 50s by the time we were headed home. I needed a stop to switch out the jacket and to peel off the travel pants. As we got rolling again, I realized it was the first time all winter that I was riding with nothing flapping around my legs, with nothing cinched at my ankles, with nothing bunching up where it shouldn't. I could feel breeze...e v e r y w h e r e. ...

Nekkid, I tell you.

And everyone who was any kind of cyclist KNEW I was nekkid.

- tob I have GOT to get out more.

Why Do You Ride?

- OB because "if I ride uphill I will eventually get to ride downhill...that's how it works."

South Padre Island

-OB heading home today

Bianchiism

So I looked. Jamis, Surly and Redline were early contenders, had what I was looking for and the brands are available at a couple LBSs.

I also considered having something done to the travel bicycle that I already have. The old LeMond could be repurposed with the addition of some brazons, but there's no way it would take cantilever brakes and 35c commuter tires with studs. It was out. And the Cross Concept I have already? It can't take a rack (believe me, I've tried 'em all), and I'm tired of hauling a backpack. She goes onto the auction block.

I dug around on the Surly site, the Jamis site. Long Haul Trucker? WD has one and loves it for commuting. Maybe a CrossCheck? Aurora? I poked around online and read forums and reveiws. They each had plusses and minuses. Someone somewhere in some forum mentioned the Bianchi Volpe...I decided that may be worth a look. After all, I converted to Bianchiism seven years ago and with each passing season it seems I become more entrenched in the faith.

And then -- it started innocently enough as I scanned through the frame geometry and component lists -- I found myself paying undue attention to forum comments about bicycle weight. It's the last vestige of my racing days: a 16-pound road bicycle (pedals and bottle cages included) that I still love to ride. The words lightweight and fun have the same definition in my cycling manual. I'm trying to rewrite it, but it takes time.

I headed off to an LBS on the west side-o-town (I know, it's not THE LBS, but it's good to have found a bunch of good joes close to home) and talked to the Commuter Guy every LBS has a Commuter Guy. I told Commuter Guy what I was looking for and what I was coming from. We hemmed and hawed over a Conquest. We talked Surly. You know, in all honesty, in this town I worry about having a Surly locked up outside of any place. I don't think twice about leaving Betty sitting out while I go in for coffee, but I'd have to have a u-lock and cable on a Long Haul Trucker if I popped in somewhere to grab a kleenex.

Besides, WD's LHT weighs in at 35 lbs 35 lbs! with fenders, studded tires, rack and lights.

We were about to walk over to the computer when Commuter Guy stops and says you're tall...what size frame to you take? We've got this '09 Bianchi Axis on sale, but it's a 58.

It's a size larger than I would take if I were racing cyclocross, but I have no plans for that -- it's a perfect fit and reach for riding the road. The aluminum frame means no rust, it's all sparkly black, it takes a rack, it's on sale...and it weighs 22 pounds.

Bingo!

-The now I have to sell one Bag

Education and Cycling

Give this read a chance -- the ending applies to all of us who ride. It's a great analogy.


- OB down south for some R & R

Decision Tree

I'm trying really hard not to let this blog tumble down a long slide into an aging-parents, hot-flashes-keep-me-up-all-night, work-is-depressing-because-of-budget-problems diatribe, but some days it's really hard. I mean, really...I can't sleep, 30 kids in a class, people losing their jobs, no pay raise this year or next, dogs and cats living together, mass hysteria!

However, off in the distance is a flickering bulb that I turn and look toward every now and again: this year and next, our perk for not getting a raise is that we can cash in a sick day if we spend it on...fitness equipment.

Imagine.

F i t n e s s equipment.

Just thinking it sends me to my happy place.

So all sorts of bicycles are rolling round the miniture velodrome that is my brain: a single speed mtb, a Pugsley, a full-on touring bicycle. But, these rides would each cost a pile of sick days. One day buys me a bottom-end hybrid at a garage sale as long as I can find one on Sunday when everything is half off. And yes, I can add my own $$ toward something more expensive, but I've got my limits.

Any bicycle would go a long way toward keeping me level-headed in the midst of the insanity, but the sanity that I've been pining away for is that which is attained in the midst of a day-to-day grind, in the midst of commuting and errand-running. I've decided I want something that can take a rear rack (I'm tired of the backpack), but that's still a sprite on the 25 mile round trip commute, as long as it's something that can lock up outside the grocery store, yet it's gotta have decent components, but not cost a ton, and it needs to look good, but be something that I don't really care about....

Can you see my conundrum?

- Baggie

Aging with Dignity

for George

he simply ages
and doesn't always remember
how the rest goes

so those who understand
that he did the best he knew how
help him fill in
the ending


- ob

Comin' Down, Part 2

Comin' Down

Mrs. Braintree, you're a chilly northern woman
Go home from yonder bus stop
Because there's a blessing on the ground

~ob

Just One of My "Jens" Rides

Watchin' the rat race during the deep freeze...

- The Bag is off to ski for the weekend...have a good one!

I'm a 5

Lifted freely from cyclocosm.com

- Ob what's yours?

Monday Mornings

They're the soft tire of the work week,

the rusted link in the chain,

the loose jockey wheel,

the snagged cable housing.

They're the flu just when training is going the best ever,

the tire iron that fell outta the bag,

the season-old ClifBar,

the thinning of favorite shorts.

They're the bar tape that's dirty,

the ding in the saddle that's no longer in production,

the falling-off at the base of the climb,

the cleat that's loose.

- Bag *sigh*

And Then I Said No

Yep, that's sand on the trail...we may be wimpy but at least we're out there!

ice

it's a glamorous pastime

I stepped out the back door with four layers on. The foray to the garage was plotted out with wool baselayers and fleece under the jacket, wind pants, hat, scarf, and heavy duty mittens and boots who the hell came up with the idea of detached garages in MN ?!

I was surprised by the sunshine and relative warmth of the back yard. There was no wind. The day was crisp, but bright and pleasant. Although I was enjoying sitting on my backside after a couple days of skiing, I had to admit it felt great to be outside. Maybe a walk. Maybe Wheel'll wanna head out with the dog and me for a walk....

But he had a different ride in mind. So, let's head over to Wirth! he said to me when I got inside. We went back and forth while I considered some winter singletrack...at 6 degrees.

After all, I've got the studded tires now.

But six degrees!

In the end, life doesn't move too quickly for me on the last day of vacation, I was ready for some sit time, and I wouldn't be cajoled into a mountain bike ride. I told him no. It was damned cold and I just didn't want to be that far from home with no way to get back if there was a problem. While I have warm clothing, it's not quite that warm for that long. Whine. Moan.

Wait a minute! I proposed! He said. And YOU SAID YES!

Damn. He had a point.

I hesitated

but

stood firm. No, I'm ready for a down day. I'm going to head out for a walk.

So, Wheel suited up and rode off toward the singletrack.

And I sat on my backside and read the paper for a bit.

Drummed my fingers.

I'd fully intended to head out with the dog. His booties were on the closet shelf. But in the end I put my booty on the saddle. It was a quick spin down the trail system that passes our house to the north and south, a nice flat ride for the entirety of its 11 miles and never much more than three miles from home. I returned within an hour or so -- Wheel's bike wasn't hanging in the garage, so I figured I'd beat him home.

But as I hauled the bike to the basement, there he was cleaning his.

Busted.

- Bag pogies??

Back-to-Work Blues

Christmas Eve Ride -- St. Louis Park, MN

New Year's Day Ski -- Birkie Trail @ 00

Out for a Walk -- Long Lake, WI

Back on the Trail -- Near 00

6 Degree Trail Ride -- Hopkins/St. Louis Park, MN

- ob HOW long until I can retire???

Search Queries

Google #5

-TOB I doubt he found what he was looking for