Will they find me?

I find having a crappy day at work combined with instant mobile interet access I spend more time in the john. Treo out.

The Ride...............

Got all the gear loaded up on my new Trek 1000 road bike. Seat bag or ass bag as the wife calls it, water bottle cages, and CatEye Mitty 8 cyclocomputer to tell me how much or little I am hitting it. Then it was off into the sunset. I headed west and at mile 5 I realized something horrible. The more west I went then the more east I had to go to get back home. This aint the gym where I can get off the bike and head home when ever I want. You got to ride the damn thing home.

Well, I was also very exhausted and figured 10 miles would be a good first ride. For some reasons I had visions of 50 mile rides dancing in my head today??? It was 10.85 miles in 43 minutes with a 15.2 mph avg and 22.5 max speed. Who knew that at age 31 a guy could have so much fun riding bikes?

Hope to ride tomorrow, but the freakin boss is off which means I get his duties. Ha I said duties. Could make for a long day or I could just delegate! Yes that is the choice, Delegation for all task and task alike.

Later.

Safe Place....

Work really is overated. I wish I could spend all day in here. Treo out.

The pic

Forgot the pic for below.

The Road View......

Road bike views are not as scenic as the singletrack, but the workout is still solid. I took a quick 10 mile ride yesterday and the Trek 1000 can fly. I am camping this weekend and have plenty of mountain biking in the plans, but this week its about the road. Treo out.

New Obsession Time??

2005 Trek 1000
Originally uploaded by aham23.

I really love this biking thing. I have been mountain biking this summer and just did 10 miles last week, which makes for 200 miles of off road singletrack this year. Mtbing is fun but I have to load up all the gear and take a car trip over to the singletrack fun. Sure I can ride it around town but it's a mountain bike!

So I got me a new toy. A 2005 Trek 1000 road/racing bike. Now I can just hit the road from the house. I am in the Chicago Burbs, but just west of where I live there is plenty of country roads with minimum car traffic.

I got a great deal and service from Richards Bikes over in Palos Hts.

Later.

Done

Only one hour. Steaks are on. Treo Out.

Happy Fathers Day......

With assembly required.

Are we there yet?

Eddie Vedder the travel dog.

On the road again.

Headed home full waffles and hashbrowns all the way. Treo out.

Saturday Dinner

Double order of hashbrowns all the way.

The Arch

The Arch is the Gateway?? For me I guess its the gate to Waffle House?

Anyone seen.....

The Bandit? Classic cars and Waffles.

Day 2

Breakfest day two.

Fresh Start

On the way to the Waffle House we stopped at the local fresh market. Treo Out.

All the way?

How do you like yours?

We made it!

Heaven on earth. Treo out.

Are we there yet?

Sleepy ride time. Treo out.

The trip...

130 miles into the Waffle House Weekend we needed to stop for fuel. Treo out.

Back on the Trail...........

Well it took me two weeks to fix my bike, clear up my poison ivy, and mentally recover from the hell that was my Memorial Day Ride. It was tough but my arse was back on the singletrack today. It was freakin awesome in Chicagoland, 77 degrees and sunny. I guess this is spring, wait, summer, no that was last week with temps in the 90s. Ah, it must be fall??

So I hit the local trails for 7.25 miles in 46 minutes with a 9 mph avg and 18 max speed. Felt good to get some exercise and I forgot how much I like to mountain bike. I did take the clipless pedals off as I just aint ready to be attached to my bike while screaming 18 mph down hill towards a log jump switchback turn. That be mountain bike lingo for you.

Fridays in the summer at my job are half days. We work "Summer Hours" which are Mon thru Thur 7am to 415pm and Fridays 7am to 1145am. I don't have a desk job so the finishing hours don't really mean shit to me. The point is tomorrow afternoon I am embarking on a fabulous W.H.W. What the heck is W.H.W..................it is the Waffle House Weekend.

The freakin Waffle House is like the best freakin place in the world. Hash Browns all the way baby. I first discovered the Waffle House many years ago while on spring break in Florida. It has been true love ever since. Now, this just aint any waffle house, but the one and only with the classic yellow sign Waffle House. I will travel four hours so I can eat Dinner, Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, and Breakfast before coming home Sunday afternoon. You do the math.

On a totally different note check out Alicia Martell's blog and the pregnant pics of a certain celebrity she has posted. I love the zipper down look. I am out. Later.

Who loves me........

Its crazy how much this dog luvs me. Even more crazy is how much I dig him. Eddie Vedder the dog you rock. Treo Out.

Beer Anyone?

Poker Fight Night tonight and loading my frig made me think of MTV Cribs. The stars always have their frig so nice and clean. What's in your frig? Treo out.

A Bird Story....

A Bird Story....
Originally uploaded by aham23.

The birdies have hair and seem to barely fit in the nest. We don't see Mom around much??? I wonder how long before they fly away?? Later.

Must Have......

This is must have when climbing roofs in 90 degree temps. I luv my frosty delight. Treo Out.

Anyone see Spring?

Today it was 88 degrees in the Chicago Burbs. I guess that means Summer has arrived. I love Summer and it can stay as long as it wants, but damn maybe a couple days of sunny and 70 degrees would have been nice.

I just finished watering my yard. Yes, it's 10:30 pm and I just said just finished. Watering a medium to large side yard with sprinklers has to be the biggest pain in the arse for a homeowner. You never can put the damn sprinkler in one spot where you soak the entire yard. It's like looking for that "G" spot thing. So damn hard to find.

Why do I even care to water? I know it will come back when the floods of summer rain come, but this is the burbs. The neighbor waters for an hour then I go two hours. I must have the greenest grass of all suburbanites. Said the water grass life I lead is.

I am a bit behind in my daily blog readings but you must check out the bushblog. If you don't check it out then you must be gay........................oh yeah the comments too. Later.

Diner Time

Diner Time
Originally uploaded by aham23.

Remember my bird nest situation? Well I am glad I did not disturb the nest. So far it seems the birdlings are doing well. I was checking them out and it appears they took the noise to mean feeding time. Good thing the Treo was in hand. Cool Pic. Treo Out.

Does it ever end?

More warnings. More potential bad weather. Welcome to life in the Midwest. Treo Out.

Epic Holiday Ride

Epic Holiday Ride
Originally uploaded by aham23.

While on a semi camping holiday in central Illinois with the In-Laws I decided to mount up and hit a local trail. Jim Edgar Panther Creek State Park has 25 miles of mountain biking single track. My goal was to ride the 17.4 mile loop.

Uh, yeah, I said goal and I didn't make it. I barely even found this State Park. It was out in the middle of no where. After I found the park and the trail head I got right to it.

This was my first singletrack ride with the new CrankBrothers Candy C SL clipless pedals. Yes I was attached to the damn bike. Well, I was for about ten minutes. I missed a poorly marked turn and went to stop to turn around when I realized holy shit I am clipped in and not moving........BAM I fell over. I laid on the ground still attached to the damn bike. The rest of the ride was "un-clipped." Several minutes after this fall I went flying over the handlebars when the front tire dumped into a covered hole. No injuries, just good fun.

The singletrack was rough and not nearly as used as Chicagolands. It was overgrown in spots. It followed a lake and weaved in and out of the woods. That part was cool. I only saw and got passed by one other rider. No other peeps were seen.

At the ten mile marker I got a flat. Not the front but the rear, which is a bitch to change or fix. Well, so I have heard because I did not have a spare tub with me to try. Yep, 7 miles to go and I was walking.

While walking it began to rain, I picked five ticks off my lower legs, I lost my riding glasses, and I developed bloody blisters from walking in my new riding shoes. The blisters hurt sooo bad I could no longer walk, but I had 3 miles to go. Nothing like finishing the trail in pouring ran with a totally flat rear tire. I am sure I need a new rear rim now?

The epic ride and walk took me over 3 hours when it should have been more like 2 hours. Plus to top it all I have poison ivy on my arms and legs!! Good times.

Epic Bike Ride Out. Later.