So maybe I don't write everyday or...

.... take showers, or eat with utensils. Okay I'm no Chris Farley, but I was on a roll. So what's up in mah world? Well, I have been mountain biking all over the great state of Maryland hitting up hot spots, such as Gambrill and Avalon.

Had the pleasure of riding with a huge crew this weekend that spanned all disciplines and skill levels. It was good times indeed. We hit up a pretty large chunk of Avalon, withe the majority of our time spent at the "playground" of log rides, jumps, berms, etc.

After the ride, I headed to my parents' house to begin my reign in the homebrewing world. My dad and I sat in the garage, swilled some beer, and made our first batch of brewsky - a pilsner. The choice was decided based on the flashbacks it provoked in my pop. He remembers growing up in Milwaukee and drinking a good Pilsner. The smell of the boiling wort wafting in the air reminded him of the essense of his childhood hometown.

The brewing was followed by a family BBQ...The company and food was tasty as always...the food, not the people...sickos.

I'm out...'til next month...kidding...hopefully sooner.

Bye,
Cycle

I'm back...

First commute of the season....pathetic. Although I think I set a new PR (43 minutes). I'll have to check the archives. I was rollin' and it felt pretty good. I need to dial in the bike a little better, some shift issues, but nothing major.

I almost didn't hit the road this morning...I have been having a terrible time waking up lately. I'm really glad I pushed myself though. Morning commute feels like a great cup of coffee. I am ready to kick this day's ass! Nice cheesy bacon omelet with wheat toast and milk, checking the emails and GO!

Sorry for the lag...I was busy training for the 24 Hours of Big Bear. Not really "training" in the classical sense, just riding a ton of mountain. Our team, Enter the Draggin killed our personal bests and we are very happy with our results. Big Bear was awesome this year. Fast trails, cool weather, good times...indeedy. I owe a lot of my success (aside from my team) to riding single speed for most of my training. When I hopped on the geared 29er, it was on.

Gotta go.

Bye Cycle!

I know, I know

...not so much in the way of blogging lately. Between training for Big Bear, building the 29er geared machine and other house and work duties...just no time. After all the chaos I will sit down with a nice snifter of tequila and wax poetic on the trials and tribulations known as my life and the way of the bike. Until then....

Punch a Meteorologist in the Face Day

Evening weather forecast for Friday morning

Dense Fog: Okay it's not raining, but I'm not a fan of commuting in fog...not to mention dense fog.

Showers in the morning time and throughout the day: Damn, now I guess I'm really not commuting to work...Damn!

Fast forward to wake up time

I figured I would sleep in. When I wake, I see sunlight drizzle through my blinds. That's odd...fog and sun...doesn't register. I open the shades and there stands the most gorgeous spring morning I could ever recall.

Now it's too late to commute...ARRRRGGGHHHH!

Lesson learned - Just prepare for a beautiful day.

I think I'm gettin' the vapors!

Funny article found by my wifey: Start thinking of excuses.

GIRO and BIG RINGS

Some mo' news to report re: Giro and Big, long road rides...HI-YAAAAAAAA!!!

SPY-YO-GIRO

A little recap with a little help from my friends at cyclingnews.com, this is where our picks stand by stage:

Stage 1 Results: Saturday, May 6: Seraing - Seraing ITT, 6.2 km

1. Savoldelli
10. DiLuca .19 - Crankfurter grabs the upperhand in this battle
13. Basso .23
15. Cunego .25 - RideCam is happy that Cunego fairs this well in a race format he is not known to do well in.

Stage 2 Results: Sunday, May 7: Mons - Charleroi Marcinelle, 197 km

Nice race - awesome finish - McEwen once again proves his kick finish worthiness with his saavy dissection of Petachi and his Milram train.

Stage

1. Robbie Mcewen (Aus) Davitamon-Lotto 4.51.40 (41.14 km/h)
2 Olaf Pollack (Ger) T-Mobile Team
3 Paolo Bettini (Ita) Quick Step-Innergetic
4 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Team Milram

GC

A little reshuffle due to stage bonuses known both Basso and Cunego down a spot...thanks to Olaf Pollacks placement in the top three today.

1. Savoldelli
10. DiLuca .19
14. Basso .23
16. Cunego .25

Stage 3 Results: Monday, May 8: Perwez - Namur, 202 km

German rider shows the field that he can dance on the pave.

Stage

1. Stefan Schumacher (Ger) Gerolsteiner 5.14.41 (39.086 km/h)
2 José Luis Rubiera Vigil (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team
3 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Gerolsteiner
4 Paolo Bettini (Ita) Quick Step-Innergetic

GC

1 Stefan Schumacher
2 Savoldelli .13
13 Di Luca .39
16 Basso .43
17 Cunego .45

Stage 4 Results: Tuesday, May 9: Wanze - Hotton, 193 km

McEwen again....ROBBIE!!! (a popular Crankenstein war cry). There's that Bettini character again.

Stage

1 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Davitamon-Lotto 4.38.51 (41.527 km/h)
2 Paolo Bettini (Ita) Quick Step-Innergetic
3 Alberto Loddo (Ita) Selle Italia-Serramenti Diquigiovanni

GC

2 Savoldelli .13
14 Di Luca .39
17 Basso .43
18 Cunego .45

BIG RINGS SUCKA

I left my front door in Owings Mills for a little jaunt (20 miler) and decided to hit the road a wee bit longer. Instead of heading own Deer Park, I opted to hit Ivy Mill Rd to head to Westminster, ending up in New Windsor beore turning around. I got a little lost in some parts, but I decided that would only add mileage...FINE WITH ME.

And the title may be misleading, because I maintained most of my time in the middle ring.Gotta do some spin fests every once in a while. Still got a decent average mph. Here's the map/mileage/ride time @ Software Brewery. Big thanks to Marc for creating this tool which is improving every day. Next on the agenda, Altitude Changes? SICK!!!!

Let the games begin

With the grand tours on there way this year, Crankenstein* and RideCam** will be going toe-to-toe to show our vast knowledge of the inner workings of the beautiful art of road racing (Wow, what a mouthful). The anticipation has been too much for the gents, which has led to many conversations during the working hours, which has led to a little wagering and side betting on these events. Of course we trade in the sweet nectar known as beer.

First up, Giro d'Italia:

This race will be determined in the hills. If you're a sprint-boy, sorry about your luck...see you at Le Tour. As such Crankenstein and RideCam have based their picks on the riders who are strong in the hills and have a team who can support such an effort. Oddly enough our picks were identical, except for the second podium position. They are as follows:

Crank-masta-flex
1. Basso
2. DiLuca
3. Savoldelli

RideCam-a-cam-a-cam-a-chameleon
1. Basso
2. Cunego
3. Savoldelli

Crank questions my second pick, Cunego, because his team may not prove to be sufficient to support his effort through the challenging course. He may be right. We'll have to wait and see. Who will win the Maglia Rosa?

THIS JUST IN: Crankenstein writes, "editorial note: betting with my big brains i have him [Savoldelli] placed 3rd, although my heart is rooting for il falco to don the maglia rosa in milan." Always rooting for the home team...I hear ya. I would love to see Danielson shine, but alas, I think he will be the workhorse. The life of a domestique, although DC has done a tremendous job of thinning those lines since Lance's departure.

Check out OLN every Sunday for race highlights or check out their coverage on OLNTV.com. Other sites to watch:

• Cycling News
• Velo News
• Pez Cycling

Here's the start list.

* Crankenstein is better known as Brad Snyder who hails from
them thar Harford hills.

** RideCam requests to remain anonymous due to the beating he is
about to give Me Llamo Bradley.

Personal Ride News

Mountain Biking. Team Enter the Draggin' is in our final month of training for the 24 Hours of Big Bear. With grand aspirations of competing on a 29er SS, I think I will end up taking my Sugar Race instead.

Road riding. I have taken the MintyMonster on a couple road rides which have been a pleasurable separation from straight mountain biking.

Commuting. If the weather cooperates, I will be commuting next week or I will take down this website...My word is bond!!

Can you 3% ?

Jacked from SSO's website

Ride your bike more, watch gas prices go down. "If everyone decided to drive 3%
less the next 30 days, prices would crash," says Tom Kloza, senior analyst at
the Oil Price Information Service.
Source

Guess I really need to get on the bike and commute!!!!

In other news, a buddy of mine has created an online application that allows a Garmin FR201 GPS user to export code from the The 201's Training Center application into Google Maps. Pretty sweet!

Sorry for the Hiatus

I was waiting until my first commute of 2006 to write my next entry, but my fans have been waiting and making it known. Well, I'll meet you half way. For your viewing pleasure, my new 29er singlespeed and my trail buddy, Sake (doubles as a horn, and triples as a dog toy...he's a good partner).

Housekeeping

No better way to describe this edition of RideCam. I have been slacking at writing/lacking at time for my blog. So, I am going to throw a couple highlights of the past few weeks your way right now!

Family Birthday Party @ Dogfish Head. After getting lost based on my "shortcut" directions, we arrived at DFH about a half hour late. When we walked in my parents and Aunt Barbara were already noshing on an appetizer. We got settled in, ordered a brew and the fantastic conversations started. It's amazing the things you learn about your family over a good meal. The fortunate/unfortunate part was that my aunt could not partake in the beer offerings, as she is starting a South Beach regimen. I on the other hand took part in the Ocean City Beach diet...beer and fried food. Oh, and I got some great gifts, too. I received a Dremel engraver just like my grandpa used to use...on everything, which made Christmas interesting. Imagine waiting to play with your toys because they were being engraved. I also received some Margarita Salt...and I was just running out...Thanks Barbara! My parents rounded out the gift exchange with a picture of a cruiser bike leaning against a brick building...really cool. I also received a gift certificate to the home brew store, so I can start building my empire. Although we were there for three hours, it seemed too short.

My birthday (Feb. 28th). Pretty low-key. Some workmates took me out for lunch, which was nice. Then I got home and waited for my wife to decide what to do for dinner. We ended up heading to Red Robin for burgers and then had dessert. It was a Mud Pie ice cream, which looked like a nice sized delicacy, but this thing came out on a platter. It was absolutely humungous...K and I finished it!

Biking. It's on like Kong! The training season is upon us. Hoppe and I have been out in force the last two weeks. We have adopted the race strategy, which will push us. We have built in enough rest time, that this strategy might actually work. After a two week hiatus off the bike, I already feel my strength coming back. I'm not sure what the equation for muscular and aerobic atrophy is, but I certainly felt it on my first hard ride.

I thought I was going to start commuting, but the weather has not been cooperating. I really hope to get going within the next two weeks. I need to complement my MTB with road miles to build a stronger endurance base, without destroying my body and bike. I received my first 29er flat last night. Thankfully it was a slow flat, which I found when I got home.

The Enter the Draggin' site is up! It's just a homepage right now, but good things are to come. (Ed note: site has since moved to Blogger).

Beer. Our last beer class was the Saturday after my surprise party. Oi vay. I would have rathered kicked my own ass, then walk into the brew area where our class took place. The idea for the class was to sample a similar commercial beer and then our beer. I got to sample the brown ales and I have to admit, I liked our classes version (and this isn't even the beer my team made). After that, I had the commercial IPA and I couldn't go any further, and the next beer was ours! I had to excuse myself a couple times, which enabled me to make it through the class. It was really too bad, because I wanted to participate more than I did. Oh well, a good surprise party always trumps a beer class. My dad and I walked out of there with 26 bottles of brew, which is nice. It was great taking the class with him and I can't wait to start experimenting at home!

That's about it. I'm sure I missed a lot, but that's all I got!

SURPRISE!

Okay...so let me sum up the last coupla days for you. Friday started off with me taking some down time from work because I felt a little punk. Lots of new stuff going on at headquarters which had taken a toll on my eyes...giving way to headaches. Time for some R&R.

So the day rolls on, I slept in for a bit and then I got my bones out of bed to pick up a gift and card for my buddy Keith. He and his lovely lady were coming over to celebrate our births (his on March 1, mine on Feb 28). I wasn't too sure I was up for going out, but thought I could play it cool by laying low (i.e., don't "celebrate" too much).

So Keith and Becca get to the house and get ready. In the meantime, I offered a beer to my guests whilst they got freshened up and waited for my wife to get home. Eventually, K got home and the "big wait" began. I had been ready for two hours, so I was primed to get this over with (still a little tired). Crazy enough, K and Bec took forever to get ready and Keith was begging for another beer. I told Keith to hold off until we got to dinner and he agreed which doesn't happen - the "not wanting a second beer"part, not the agreeing part [remember this part for later].

Still waiting for the girls, Keith and I are shooting the breeze about how we might be set up for a surprise, then his phone rang. It was Munro, which Keith said to me, "If we were being surprised then he wouldn't be calling from home". The surprise factor really had come and gone a few weeks back, so hearing this affirmed no such action.

Finally, the girls were ready to roll out and we headed to North Star. I asked if everyone minded if I played a little Matisyahu and everyone was perfectly agreeable [remember this too]. We get to the restaurant, which has our favorite section, the patio, under construction. We all were hoping that the patio was open, but oh well. After nearly forcing Becca and Keith in the door, remaining the gentleman my momma raised me to be, we got to the hostess desk. I was just taking in the sights, I've never been in the restaurant part. Keith handled the reservation and then the owner came out and we talked for a minute or so. We were waiting for a table to clear. Then we walked into the wing of the restaurant that our table was in. The hostess opened the door and there was Hoppe...HUH? That's cool, why didn't he tell me he was going to North Star? Wait, there's the post-college crew, and the Lobley's....shit.....SURPRISE!!!! I turn around to tell Keith that we had been taken, but Keith wasn't there...wait...what a [very expletive]. He was in on it too.

Everything now made sense...kinda [remember all of these asides above, yeah those make sense now]. Well, now it's a party. And it easily goes into the top five memories of my life, which is a pretty tough category to crack. After doing some gesturing/posing to the crowd, which I normally would never do, I turned to see the biggest smile on my wife's face and after hearing stories of her gargantuan planning efforts...it may have been from shear relief.

I got to see family and friends that spanned my three decades. It answered the age old question of if you could have dinner with three people, who would it be. It would be, I would throw a party and these people would be there. I had a feeling rush over me that is impossible to describe, but I wish it upon everyone. I got to look around the room after I said hello to everyone and thought to myself, there are a million good memories I've shared with these people, there are a lot of hard times I've shared with these peoples, there are a lot of bars that got independently wealthy from these people...it was like a living scrapbook and I was the glue. Damn, I'm still getting goosebumps. A lot of things became clearer that night, about friends and family and such, it sounds silly, but it was an honor to be in that room with my "circle".

Okay...then I got really wasted, wore a cowboy hat, introduced my mom to a new vocab word based on my wife's uncle's gift of edible undies, took about a million pictures and "drifted" to sleep in my party clothes.

What? Did you think I was going to end this on a dramatic note?

Okay...I will. K, hope you read this...Thank you from the bottom of my heart, that was one of the coolest things anyone has ever done for me, and people have done tons of cool things for me. I love you tons...now give me back my credit card :) Just kidding, I already got it!

48 bottle of beer on the...

Tuesday night had my dad and I bottling our creation during our second homebrewing session. I was relatively straight forward. First rule of bottling: SANITIZE. Our instructor, Bob, said this time and time again. He's a very laid back, soft spoken individual, so I determined that this was his way of shouting at us.

So we sanitized and hung the bottles on a rack, which we would come back to after we racked. HUH? Yes, I had the same confusion. Being the learned brewman that I am, I did homework. I read Homebrewing for Dummies. One section was called racking...I assumed that when we put bottles on a rack, that well, this must in fact be "racking". Politely, Bob corrected me. Racking is the act of siphoning out the fermented wort from the fermentation bucket. This process minimizes the amount of sludgy byproduct (mainly yeast) that gets bottled. So from the fermentation bucket to the bottling bucket our booze did flow.

Next step, bottling. The bottles were at the ready and the caps were, you guessed it, sanitized. The bucket had a nozzle that was place directly into the bottle and the magic happened - beer in bottle. Not yet bottled beer mind you, the next step was to crown (cap, if your a rookie) the bottle. My dad was a ninja on the crown crimper, and with much hesitation let his young jedi operate the heavy machinery.

Voila...we had two cases of beer. They are now bottle conditioning for another 10 days. We will pick the finished product up next Saturday during our final session.

BIKING - HAAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA...um no.

Um...Yum

The mussels turned out delish...I didn't know how much two pounds of mussels were, but it appears to be over 50. The rosemary and garlic fries turned out great too. I think I rushed them a bit, I would have liked to had the fries crispier before I tossed them in the garlic and rosemary. But, all in all a great meal. The Grand Cru was an excellent, but different kind of beer. It is a sour ale, with hints of lemon and cherry...neither of which are part of the brewing process. It tasted almost more like a wine to me. We capped the dinner off with a truffle and wine (for her) and a DFH Shelter Pale Ale for me.

No spinnin' for me...I was too busy stuffing my face.

Oh, Snow!

So, this weekend brought us a ton of snow, the only outdoor activity I got was shovelling...ARRRGGGHHH! I wanted to get my ride on at Loch this Thursday, but I won't have a comrade and I don't want to challenge the night, cold and snow/icy conditions, solo...call me a sissy...I'll beat ya!

Trainin' again. Looks like I will be spinning indoors...again. Awfully boring. I plan to hit the road or trails on Saturday. Something nice and long!

V-Day. Tonight, I cook dinner (like usual) for my special lady. I plan on making mussels a la biere et frites. Otherwise known as mussels in beer broth and fries. It's a Belgian dish. The mussels call for a Flanders Red Ale, so I picked up Rodenbach Grand Cru - some for the dish, more than some for me. The rest of the recipe includes cream, butter and bacon - so I don't think I can go wrong. I would probably eat my arm if those ingredients were on it.

To compliment the mussels, I am attempting to duplicate the Brewer's Art Rosemary and Garlic fries...so good. If I master this recipe, the next time I leave the house may be during the Dr. Phil show when they knock down a hole in my house big enough to back an ambulance in and cart my big ass to the hospital.


Hammer Bar. I just got these bad boys today after waiting a couple months on backorder. I received 15 chocolate and 10 almond raisin. I sampled one for breakfast and one as my midday snack. They are both very delish. This will remain one of my go-to's for meal/snack replacement and pre-ride fuel. It's a great whole food, organic alternative, which will become a main staple for me. I need to knock out the sugar and processed-adled foods out of system...it is zapping the energy out of me...fo' shizzle! I am also looking to stock up on other Hammer/E-cap products for my commuting/race season. Indeed!

To all...Happy V-day...wrap your arms around yourself...you just received a hug from me...I'm out!

VERY IMPORTANT: PLEASE READ!!!

It has come to my attention that my blog has predominantly become the place where my friends and family have come to learn the "goings-ons" in my life. Apparently this has supplanted the need for actual one-on-one discussion. If you are reading this and sounds like the road you have been heading down, don't feel ashamed or disgusted with yourself. This is your "free pass", so go ahead, pick up the phone, give me a ring...we'll talk. Although I have a terrible habit of not answering or returning calls. Just leave a comment on my blog...we'll do lunch.



Other news...Olympics start tonight...Oh snap. I'll be eagerly awaiting the skeleton and snowboarding events. Okay, honestly, the figure skating...shut up.

Thursday Night Races

Hop and I may have started a new personal riding trend. Tonight is our first Thursday Night Race and I am hoping the first of many. Hopefully we'll add riders and distance as the season continues into the warmer months. Right now our course is set at Loch Raven - Seminary. It is nice to know where you are going and all of the escape routes, if necessary, during the cold, dark nights...coupled with the fact that your riding buddy may be racing ahead of you. We have a quick, 5 1/2 mile loop that we tackle. By the time we get to the lot and ready, it really is all the mileage we have time for (on most nights). So it's on...

Details to follow....

RESULTS ARE IN: HOPPE WINS THE INAUGURAL THURSDAY NIGHT CLASSIC
Right from the start he set the pace. Although Chesnik did all he could to keep his big bones rolling, Hoppe denied any attempt at a leading role in the race. At the mile marker, with slight trail confusion, Chesnik did some trail blazing which slowed hime down due to the old "stick-trying-to-rip-off-disc-brake" issue. Not that this was a deciding factor in the result of the race, but it sure as hell didn't help. To rub salt in the wounds, Hoppe waited...classy move, but still it burns a little. To add more salt in the wounds Hoppe suggested a re-route of the predetermined race route. Sweet! These races will definitely help us guage our weak points, which as of right now appears to be just me...but that's okay. With a ton of commuting (30ish miles round trip) and training-specific rides, I'll be a new machine. Hoppe is planning to get a new bike, which may be his only weak point right now...effin' scary.

At least we both got the same trophy at the end. A nice cold, but warming Stoudt's Fat Dog Imperial Oatmeal Stout.

Chesnik, Chesnik & Hoolehan

This is the name of our brewing team at our homebrew class at the Flying Barrel. After a bite of my mom's infamous mac&cheese, my pop and I headed down to Frederick to attend our first homebrew class. With 9 students and one teacher, we jumped right into the process.

Step 1: Select our beer. We chose a Pale Ale based on the other team's selection of a Porter.

Step 2: Measuring and Milling our grains. Pretty interesting process. We nibbled on the roasted crystal barley and flaked barley...quite tasty. After milling the crystal into our steeping bag, we added the barley flakes and headed over to the boiler.

Steps 3: Steeping the Barley. It took approximately 15 minutes to steep. Enough time to quaff a brew crafted by our fearless teacher, Bob. Throughout the process we had "spare" time to enjoy different samples.

Step 4: Boil, Boil. Time to add 6 lbs of Pale Mat syrup to the mix. Our team partner Mike got the pleasure of stirring with the world's largest spatula, while I poured the syrup into the boiler. After that we dashed in our first hops, which escapes me now. We waited for a half hour. Yes, more brew was consumed.

Step 5: 30 minues pass, time to add the Finishing hops, Cascade.

Step 6: 2 minutes later we release the beer from the boiler into our fermenting bucket. A strainer catches all the left over gobble-di-gook.

Step 7: Cooling the beer from 212 to 80 degress. We used a copper immersion chiller, which utilizes a water source (hose) and coiled copper tubing. The idea, cold water in through the copper tubing chilling the wort. The cold water turns into warm water which is used to clean the boiler. Pretty interesting process. I got the job of stirring the wort, which earned me a seat and a fresh beer from my bestest beer bitch, my dad :)

Step 8: Add yeast and stir! Pop got stirring duties this time while Mike dumped the yeast. This is my favorite part, because this is where the alcohol is born. The yeast eats the sugar with the byproduct being sweet, sweet booze.

Step 9: Sanitize the lid and pop it on the bucket. Add the aerator and VOILA!

I'm sure I missed a step or two, but that's okay. So did Bob, the instructor. He fumbled on a few steps, probably due to the number of batches going on at once. Our team was the first to go, so we were the Guinea Pigs...which will probably end up being the name of our pale ale (credit to my pop's for the name). Or we could call it "Shit..Sugar", a phrase Bob used when he made his first trip up.

It is a great class, maybe not everything I thought it would be, but it's definitely fun. I thought it would be more homebrewing (i.e., making beer in a kitchen) oriented. The facility they have is beautiful, but would be quite an expense to get up and running in one's house.

Oh, the Things I Have Done

Ride. The only rides I have done recently were on Wednesday and Thursday of last week. Both at Loch. Not too sloppy. With a momentary lack of judgement based on lack of saddle time, I rode in conditions that I typically object to. The more unfortunate part is that I'm not the only one. Loch Raven is starting to look like a sloppy, rutty motocross course...in some sections. So I pledge not to go down that road for a while.

I went to the Stop, Swap and Save in Westminster to check out any possible deals. I was mainly looking for SS cogs, but to no avail. I did run into an old PHH colleague who has become a distributor for a west coast frame builder...more details to come. I didn't pick up any gear, but I did have my eye on the wool cycling caps...maybe next time.

Football. Picksburg wins, yinz! My mom's side of the family rejoices. K and I hit the annual Munshaur Super Bowl Extravaganza. Food, Beer and Football...good times.

GPS. I'm not sure if I trust the Forerunner. Ithas given me different altitude readings on two separate rides (same trail). I will give it some more time before I dismiss it as a good tool for biking. It has been useful for trail runs though. Good pace setting and the GPS has proved helpful on one trail run.

Brewing. First homebrew class tomorrow!

THIS JUST IN... A good guage of sunrise/sunset times: http://mach.usno.navy.mil/cgi-bin/aa_rstablew

I'm trying to judge when my first 2006 commute will take place. I'm hoping on my birthday, Feb 28th.

Tools

This weekend was ladened with tools. One I couldn't find and the other found me. As mentioned in my previous post, I got the 20 tooth cog for my rig, the problem is that I didn't have the proper lockring tool. So I went to the nearest LBS, Race Pace, and they suggested a tool that might do the trick. So I get the tool and take it home. I fumbled a lot to get it off, noticing some rounding of the notches...not good. So I immediately take it back. Still looking for the right tool.

On Sunday, I went to REI just to browse. Luckily it was their Attic Sale, where returned goods are sold at cheap prices. Most goods are damaged or heavily used. So I stumble across some "nearly" great finds, only to find out that they are ripped, chipped or missing parts. Then I get to the piece de resistance. Before my eyes laid the Garmin Forerunner 201. I have been tinkering with buying one of these bad boys for a while, but it was way down the list...a hair to pricey for what I would want it for. Well, low and behold, here it was at a cut rate. They had it listed at $50, which is a phenomenal deal...then they shouted everything is half off the lowest ticketed price.

Shocked and awed as I was...I started tinkering with the watch to ensure that there was no hidden damage. I asked if I could take it outside to catch a signal. So I hopped outside and "BINGO!". Then I hopped in my car to see if it tracked and the mph's and waypoint function worked...indeed. Lastly I plugged in the charger to ensure that it charged properly...yessir. SOLD! I got the Garmin with the last of my REI gift certificate with a huge smile on my face. It reatils for $150, purchased for $25!!! It is less expensive than the crappiest cyclometer and has loads more functionality. Finally we can get a good peg on altitude and distance on biking excursions

Workin' for the Weekend

I should be getting my 20 tooth Surly cog tonight. I'm excited to see how that pans out for me. I think I'll be spinning a ton in the flats, but climbing more "currently unclimbable" inclines. One of the joys of SS'ing - always tinkering/perfecting.

Tomorrow promises to be a nice day high 50s!!!

Roll with it!!

THIS JUST IN...Got the cog from Speedgoat, had to find the proper tool...the new cog is installed and ready to roll. Unfortunately, no ride today...I have to go to a work function with K. There's always tomorrow.