Goodbye...

Enjoying my last several beers.. and what a fine brew I chose for them.  I'll miss Abbey, which is probably my favorite mainstream brew ever, but not as much as I won't miss the extra pounds.  Gotta have that carrot on the string, right?  

Dear 2009:  Bring It.  

p.s. Bonus points if you can name the device of ultimate illumination to the left (one of my other geeky persuasions)

p.p.s.s. Due to the most excellent in-laws ever, I ordered some new winter leg coverings, and socks that Cabelas should get to me pretty quick.  CRAZY excited to get them.. 

Resolute

I'm not one for new year's resolutions because, well, on New Years everyone makes these huge resolutions, and nobody can ever follow through. Throw "me" in there, aside from a couple years, and you've got it :). This year, though, I have (kind of) two.

1.) I'm most definitely going to ride the Dirty Kanza 200. I told myself the other night that I need to either will myself to doing this, or not do it, but not to go in it half-assed and ready to either suffer horribly or fail. So I willed myself TO do it, and that's how it's goona be. 200 miles. Gravel. Kansas. Sounds fun!

2.) I will not drink another beer (after midnight tonight) until I weigh 267 pounds. See, I like beer, I really do. I like GOOD beer which is probably the problem, 200 calories a pint isn't goona get you far on weight loss. Lately I've been drinking regularly, which is par for the course for me in the fall/winter. If I want to lose weight, and make #1 happen, well I just gotta put it aside. So no beer, not one drop, until I see 267 (not 267.5, not 267.25) on that scale. If I want a drink I'm going to allow myself two choices: Rum mixed with diet cola, or some sort of wine.

I dislike wine and rum.

Heavily.

(This is now a contest to see how fast I can lose the next 90 pounds..)

So this all adds together that the underlying theme is I really want to finish Kanza, and to do that I gotta drop some pounds. 2009 is all about that final push, I think. Maybe I'm finally ready.

I have a bit of a confession..

..Well more like 361.5 bits of confession. Yeah I managed to gain weight in spectacular form over the past few weeks, back to where I was at in, oh, March. There's no point in dwelling and beating myself up (believe me, been there, done that) but I've gotta do.

Same thing with the Dirty Kanza 200. I had been on the fence, quit it mentally several times, then finally came to the conclusion that I've gotta do it. Not in 2010, but in 2009. I can make excuses in 2009 too, I'm sure, but I've gotta do.

Those two add up, together, because there's this part of me that doesn't like to fail. I think all of us have it, but when I really set out to do something I really don't like to fail. I've kind of fiddlefucked around with the weight loss thing over the fall/winter, and look where it's gotten me? 30 extra pounds. Ouch. Hitting that "300 lost" before Kanza would have been awesome, and still could be (6 months left, 15 lbs a month...).

If you've been reading this blog awhile you know that for the past couple months I've been kind of just treading water, not really doing much. I set my mind to change that, and it happens for a day or two... then back to the treading. And the beer. And the cookies.

Let's see if maybe, just maybe I can make something happen. Because it'd be pretty cool to complete Kanza, and show that anybody - even me, who is as human as they get - can lose some weight and complete a ridiculously grueling bike ride.

Maybe.

...addendum

While the morning wasn't bad, well, the ride home wasn't.  The temps during the day creeped above freezing and the sun came out meaning there was the beginnings of melting.  Add to that the city of Lincoln who cleared the snow from the trail which is great, but exposed the ice below.  The snow started to melt and the water dribbled on top of the ice.  

I'm not sure, but I'm taking a wild guess that water covered ice is possibly the slickest surface on the planet.  Just sayin'

I managed to only fall once, and it was one I laughed about because I saw it coming.  The rest of the way home, though, was extremely slow going as I continually felt both wheels losing traction at various points.  Fun times :).  

Add to that wet snow on top of ice on the last mile and it was..

..you get the picture.  Suggestions?  Studded tires, I know I know, but it was frustrating to average 5mph on the nearly 8 mile ride home.  LONG cold ride.  

Perspectives

As I was riding in this morning I was passed by a jogger who said "It doesn't get much better than this, does it!" very loudly. At the time I said "I sure hope it does.." but then, started to wonder. Wonder turned into full on knowing I'm wrong about a mile down the trail, as I looked and saw I was the first person to conquer it via bicycle this morning, as the snow in the spots that weren't ice (like above) was fluffy and new.

So I started thinking, you know, maybe that jogger is on to something. This morning I had the trail all to myself, and due to the ice, I was again going (brutally) slow. You know, it was actually pretty dang peaceful out there, I didn't have to dodge any dogs on ninja leashes, worry about cars coming up behind me, or even worry about carrying enough water. Nope, the only worry I had was the ice.

The ice, you see, someone asked me today how I handle it on a bike. "Really simple" I told her, "You go as slow as possible, make no sudden movements, and before you go out accept the fact - in advance - that you are going to fall on it". Which really summarizes it perfectly, for those who ride on it, but the last part is crucial. Once you come to accept the fact that you will fall, it takes that element out of it. You no longer worry about falling - you know it's going to happen, so you know you have to accept that it's going to happen.

Once you accept that, like I did today, you start to smile. Even as I was going down on the ice, just a mile from where that picture was taken, I was laughing. I knew it was coming before it did - I saw the water covered ice, and there's just no way to avoid falling on that stuff - so I had slowed down to about 3 or 4mph, and I just went down into the snow on the side of the trail. Even laying in the snow, laughing, 20 degrees outside with the road ahead of me covered with ice - it doesn't get any better than this.

"Arctic Blast" = ?

For us? A good day for a ride. The plan was hatched as Brian - visiting from California - really wanted to give Oliver's Pugsley a ride on some snow.  Oliver and I, being insane Nebraskans who like to bike, figured we might as well make a Saturday ride of it.  The trail above - usually pavement, and usually a stretch I rock in the 42x11 gear, was probably some of the best trail conditions we saw.  

But man oh man was it fun! 

So the plan was hatched.  Oliver chose his studded-tired Volpe, and lent the Pugsley to Brian, while I chose the ever faithful snow cat Hardrock.  Destination was Monkey Wrench Cycles, then maybe on to Cycle Works to peruse the various offerings they had.  This wasn't about the destination, no in a day with the temperature hovering in the single digits, and wind chills in the -20 range it was all about the journey.  

Our average speed was, while my cycling computer actually worked (before it froze and refused to power on), around 8mph, so the 16 mile trip was around 2 hours of riding.  Why so slow?  At best the conditions were like above, a snow/ice mix that provided little (but at least some) traction for B and I.  Oliver's studded tires were amazing, at one point on an icy sidewalk uphill, the two big tired bikes were being walked while Oliver stood up out of the saddle and rode up.  A little wheel slippage, but not much.  Absolutely amazing.  Studded tires, I must have ye.  

Two of us feel once in a comical moment on glare ice at around 3 mph.  While comical, it wasn't nearly as comical as this: 

Which was, you know, a visual aid showing why the SUV is definitely NOT invincible, even if their drivers think they are.  And why I'd rather be on a icy bike path than on an icy street, in a car, any day.  

In the end, it was a great ride.  We beat mother nature, and beat her good.  We enjoyed ourselves and saw a side of the city - an icy, snowy side - that many won't see as they run to avoid the arctic blast.  Was it cold?  Yeah, really cold.  Cold enough that by 10pm, after a couple beers, I had finally beaten the chill that I seemingly couldn't get rid of.  But I'll definitely do it again as I learned a lot and enjoyed myself.  Sick to say it was fun, but it was fun.  

As an aside, lately I've noticed that the Hardrock really is a bit too small for me, and my suspiscions were proven Saturday.  I raised the saddle (well) above the "minimum insertion" line then took it for a quick spin - it felt great.  So I think a longer seatpost and a longer stem may be in order.  Other than that, it makes an awesome icebike.  Maybe by next year I'll get some studded tires because man, Oliver looks like he's having way too much fun with his!

A tale of two (or maybe three) cars

THAR BE SNOW, I say, thar be snow! However, you may say, why is a perfectly good bike in the back of the pickup? Have I regained my senses, and decided to bring the bike home and use the perfectly good F-150 "Snow Cat edition" pickup to commute?

Oh HELL no.

See, our minivan yesterday decided it was going to be the worst character ever. My wife called me a little bit after three as the van decided that it no longer liked it's front tire, thankfully in the driveway at home. So off I went to pick up the kiddos, then came home to take the tire off, take it to the tire store, then bring it back. Whilst putting it back on at 6pm, in the dark, somehow things went south. Probably a combination of cold metal, cold Ben, and dark made one of the lugnuts go on crooked.. and it just went downhill from there. Now it has four tightened lug nuts, and one stripped out wheel stud. Tomorrow at 8am it has an appointment with the van doctor, who will replace the wheel stud (one of those mechanical things I can't do on my own, I don't have a press and well.. it's freaking cold).

So to cure it all, I have my bike. I'll ride it home tonight, then throw it in the back of the van and ride it to work tomorrow after dropping the van off. With the amount of snow that continues to fall, I'm guessing it's going to be a fun ride home :).

Of course when I tell people what I'm planing on doing, they look at my pickup, they look at me and I get.. the look. Hey, I may be insane, I get that. But at least I have a smile on my face, right?

2 Below

It was cold this morning, the average on the weather sites seemed to be -2 (they ranged from -6 to +2), with a -22 to -30 windchill. Here's something I've learned over the years, once it hits the single digits, it's just plain cold. So once it gets below 0, I propose the weather geeks start saying something like "it's just damn cold, don't leave the house". That works for me.

Here's the deal though, and the point where you (and I) start believing I'm insane. I was comfortable during this morning's ride. In fact, parts of my body - my face/head in particular, contrary to this photo - were downright warm. In fact, I'd say that I'm actually glad I rode my bike to work this morning instead of driving. I said it!

Today was a lesson in what worked. I switched pants from old khakis to newer blue jeans as the outer layer for my lower body. On my face, I added a Columbia scarf I got, a fleece one that has always been the staple of warmth AND comfort (I have a neoprene-mix one, I think it's a north face maybe?, and it's very warm but very uncomfortable), and today was no exception. Those two items increased my comfort level by a quantum leap, seriously. My eyelashes may have had icicles, and that scarf may have looked frozen, but man oh man was it warm.

Anyway today I was actually comfortable. By the time I finished the 7.5 miles to work, my feet were starting to get chilly (I wore normal hiking boots, not the winter ones), as was certain parts of my torso that had sweated. My hands had started to get a slight chill - I'm seriously being picky here now - during the headwind portion of the ride, but by the time I got to work were, again, sweaty. I love my gloves. LOVE.

So here's what's weird. Yesterday I took my truck to go on a food run, it was about 10 degrees out, and I didn't (obviously) want the hot lunch frozen by the time I got back on the bike. Well, by the time I got back I was pretty much frozen, because the 15 minutes I was out wasn't enough for the big V8 to actually warm up enough to provide warmth to me. Today I was out in sub-zero temps, completely exposed, for a hair over 30 minutes, and I arrived to my destination a little cold, but overall very comfortable. And I see people getting into their cars looking like death is surrounding them, and getting out looking like death is surrounding them. But for me, really, it wasn't that bad. I noticed last night while walking across a parking lot into the store that it was cold, but it wasn't that bad.

So maybe it's not insanity, but rather that by riding my bike I'm getting acclimated. If I drive everywhere, that never gets a chance to happen as I go from warm house to warm car to warm work to warm car to warm house. See what I mean? The cold in between - in that case - really sucks, as you never get a chance to really acclimate to the surroundings. Same is true in the summer, I noticed it this summer as well, while the heat definitely isn't the best, I could deal with it better than I ever could.

Anyway, long story short, I survived. I got probably 500 "are you insane?" stares from folks in cars, helped I'm sure by my resounding rendition of "Istanbul" by They Might Be Giants, but I'm thinking I'm not. I think, rather, that I really dig riding a bike no matter what mother nature throws at me.

Why I might miss my mileage goal...

Yup, we're almost as happy as the kids are about this one. We've been on the fence, then quietly looking, then going "well crap, interest rates are so low they are giving it away, and prices are downright cheap.. let's do this thing" with the whole house buying thing. Course I work in the industry so I know about these things, and know that you know - really, seriously, I put my damn money where my mouth is (and a LOT of money) - this is the best time to buy a house, ever. Or at least, you know since I've been around.

Really though, we found a lot of stuff. Then we kept coming back to the one that got us started, on a whim, by a certain person known as "Mom", owned by some good folks that my wife knows. Some good folks who had to move out of town and put the home they loved up for sale, and did the whole finger crossing thing. We found a lot, sure, but you know, in the end it came down to the fact that we really dig the house, the location (cul-de-sac, you got it, I'm old and boring now), the trees.. oh man the trees, the price, and most of all the good karma. I could go on and on, but man, it's a good feeling.

Speaking of good feelings, you know, kids are the best. Their outlook is something that I wish I could bottle up, then release in some of those times when us adults forget what it's like to have that optimism, that joy. It's not the stuff, the rat race, any of that.. they just dig being kids, having fun, smiling, and whatever it is that Mom and Dad tell them to dig. It really helps that I have three of the most adorable children on the planet, I'd imagine..
That was take.. 354 I think. The chubby guy in the center seemed to think it was play time, not serious business. I tell ya, he's still grounded! Anyway, it makes me really, really, really happy to think that in a month, finally we can have a place, a nice place that's ours. A place where these three can start to grow up, can feel secure, and can build some good memories in. It's something I never thought would happen a couple of years ago, morbidly obese, single with a pile of bad debts and even worse habits. Amazing what you can clean up in a couple years with a little hard work. Makes me really hopeful of what it will bring the day next month, after that pile of paperwork, when we can take our key and make this our home:

Course this whole thing isn't all roses and puppies, lemme tell you. Tomorrow morning my alarm is going to be set for 6am - on a Sunday! - so I can hop on my bike and head to the mart of wal, where someone tells me those Nintendo Wii's will be arriving promptly at 8am - first come, first serve. I played football, I betcha I can bust out some moves to get my kids a Wii, if nothing else, I betcha I'm the only crazy bastard waiting in line, at 7am, at Wal-Mart, for a video game system. On a bike.

Good times, I tell ya, good times.

36 @ 20 degrees

The plan yesterday morning was to ride out to Cortland so Oly could enjoy a Fairbury brand hot dog, then ride back to Lincoln. A nice little jaunt, one both of us have made quite a few times this summer, as the Jamaica Me Crazy trail is pretty dang nice. Awoke, the phone said it was 15 degrees. It was right, unfortunately :).

Funny thing about it is that both was it cold, but also with a headwind. Which kind of sucked in a way, but not so much in others - meaning, it could have been worse.

Here's the interesting thing about riding - or any outdoor activity - in winter. You really have to balance what you are doing properly to avoid sweat, which seems weird and impossible (it is for me), but so true. I learned this while previously doing lots of hiking, sweat is your friend when it's warm - it cools you down, etc etc, but while cold it can quickly turn from keeping you regulated to keeping you in the E.R. Basically, you have to figure out a balance of clothing and effort that keeps you warm, but not too warm. From everything I've learned, this is impossible.

Anyway, it was a good ride, everything considered. The sun was out, the deer were out in volumes, and the trail was basically ours. I chose to ride the LHT at the last minute, as I figured that would allow me to expend less effort - and create less sweat - than the Hardrock would have. Completely forgot that it has a "new" Brooks on it, which normally would have stopped me from doing a long ride, but truth be told I didn't notice it at all. I can't say enough good things about the Brooks B-17. Seriously.

Oly rode his new Salsa Big Mamma, which replaced the Dos Niner frame those parts previously lived on, and oh man does it look good. If it rides as good as it looks, I don't blame him for how fond he seems to be of it. Of course the Jamaica seemed to be fond of it as well, blessing him with an inch of steel through the tire, claiming yet another tube. Happened right outside Princeton, and by the time we got to Princeton I was frozen and whining all about it, so we turned around.

The ride back was great, tailwind and the sun was up just enough to take the edge off the cold. My feet were pretty dang cold, which surprised me, I was wearing my Columbia Bugabootoo's which make my feet sweat if worn indoors. Regardless of what they previously did, by the time we were back in Lincoln the feet were cold. Oh, and the gloves continued to rock, they kept my hands temperate on the way out with the wind (not cold, but not hot either - "comfortable" is what I'd call it), and of course sweaty on the way back.. heh.

Overall, great weekend ride. I skipped Saturday to sleep in, and work, so it was good to make up some miles on Sunday. I keep inching closer and closer to the 4,000 mark for the year. Today it's supposed to start raining, then tomorrow morning I'm supposed to wake up to like 2 feet of snow. Sweet!

It's definitely going to take more than a couple feet of snow to stop me. The Hardrock is just itchin' for that kind of challenge.

Oh GoreTex, how I love thee

See these gloves? They are the best thing ever. Today it was 11 degrees on the ride in, most of the ride into a slow (but still there) headwind. My hands were sweaty when I pulled them off at work. I'm pretty sure I want to hug them.

You see ever since I started dropping weight, I found the one thing I have a problem with is my extremities and cold. Mostly, my hands and feet, they get cold fast/easily, and I can't stand how they feel when they do get cold. I've got probably 3 or 4 pairs of gloves, these are the first that consistently keep my hands (VERY) warm. And they aren't anything special, I got them at Cabelas, they call them the "GoreTex Thinsulate Glove" which is, you know, what they are. I would have ordered the very beefy sounding Pinnacle XL online, would have gotten them and realized they are stupidly bulky and probably sent them back. These things aren't too bulky, and are just.. warm. Seriously. Best $30 I've spent in a long, long, long time. If they made a bodysuit out of them, I'd buy that too.

But you know, based on costs, I bet it'd be like $5,000 or something. Which is just a leeetle too much.

This morning revealed I'm lacking in two areas still. My legs and the exposed part of my face. I've found myself dreaming while riding the past two days about Carhartt fleece/flannel lined duck pants. I had a pair a long time ago, and they were the warmest things ever. So warm you couldn't wear them inside, and outside unless it was below 40 you'd be sweating your face off. Low-tech old school work gear that keeps you warm and cozy. I may try jeans instead of the khakis I've been wearing, to see if that helps. It seems only below 20 do I start really getting chilled in the legs.

The face, I think I need either a scarf or a facemask. I have a nice columbia scarf, so I'm going to try that out tomorrow and see if it helps. My glasses keep freezing to my temple which is.. fun.. so I've been trying to find an option on that. Suggestions?

Interesting thing about the legs. In the spring/summer I generally start out slower on my rides than I end up. Seems like after about 5-7 miles I really get limber and start movin', but the opposite is true now. Seems like after 5-7 miles my legs get colder and I slow down. Heh.

I love winter :).

Captain Slow

That, right there, is my new nickname. You see, I've been riding the Hardrock and it's not fast, in fact, it's slow. It's heavy, has big gigantic (new) knobbies, and due to a cheap seatpost collar, I'm constantly too low on the saddle. Then there is ice and snow, which I'm still not really sure on, so it compounds the slowness. It's so slow, in fact, that after riding it for a couple days and getting on the LHT - still clad with Marathon Crosses - the LHT feels kind of like what it feels to get in a Mustang after driving my F-150. That is to say, it's way slow.

But it's also way stupid fun.

I should have just emphasized stupid, but I guess way and fun contribute to the stupid, or vice versa. Whatever way you say it, it's still fun, and lots of it. It's slow, but I roll over everything, and with a lot of confidence. This morning the ride in was 18 degrees, the snow and ice was still in places where the sun didn't touch yesterday, but there was nary a tire slip or a "OHCRAPTHAT'SMYLUNCH" moment. In fact, I had fun. FUN.

You know, I got to work with a smile on my face, a shade under an hour and 10.5 miles (yeah, captain slow) working with 19 degrees and a nice little head/side wind. This winter stuff ain't so bad, once you actually get going. And if, of course, I leave the bike computer off. :)

Mileage-wise I'm low this week, had a bit of a head cold crop up tuesday afternoon, so I drove home tuesday and drove in wednesday. Hoping to come close so I don't have to "make up" the rest of the month, but it's goona be close.

Anyway, it's never too cold to ride your bike.

Someone should be buyin' my truck..

...just sayin'. I've only been trying to sell it for like SIX MONTHS MANG (best Cheech voice) or something. Prices have, it seems according to craigslist, rebounded but I'm waiting for the demand.

In other news, glorious 10 miles this morning. Yes, really, it was glorious. No kidding. No idea why, either, and I really didn't want to get out of bed and on the bike this morning.

That's all I've got for today.

p.s. Thanksgiving wasn't a total loss this year, weight stayed neutral over the week - not great news, or maybe even good, but also maybe not terrible either.

4000

My weight goal for the year just ain't goona happen. Unless I go all Kate Moss and stop eating, and even then it's highly unlikely I'd hit it in 4 weeks. Of December. In Nebraska. So, what's a guy to do?

Interesting thing, I'm at like 3457 miles for the year, which means I totally blew my 3000 miles/year goal out of the water, and could just stop now and take a (cold) month off. I sure could.

But, you know, what fun is that?

So there are 30 days left in the year and you know what? Time to go out with a bang. 18.1 miles/day and I've got 4,000 for the year.

Cake.

Err wait, no cake. Cake is bad. So is pie. Except pumpkin pie. Okay that's bad too.

Anyway. It's cold. Waah waah waah boo freaking hoo. I was cranking out 200 mile weeks when it was in the 90s, and you know what? That sucks just as bad. It hurts too, just in different ways.

(silence, by the way, I'm doing a good job convincing myself..)

4,000 will be a nice little accomplishment. The Trucker seems to agree, it rode like buttah this morning. Absolute new Brooks geeked out with ffenders and big cross tires buttah. 7 miles down for the day, 11 to go.