To everything there is a season

A table full of home canned tomato products means that the annual Labor day weekend marathon canning session is over. Now there will homemade pasta sauces, pizza sauce and stewed tomatoes for another year .

The last 12 of Leinenkugel Sunset Wheat I could find means that summer is over.

The first 12 of Buffalo Bill's Pumpkin Ale means that fall is here.

And a 12 of Fat Tire Ale means Whitney is back at college.

And a new pair of frogs for the cross bike means that Cyclocross season is finally here!!

Commuter

It all started in late May. Gas was fast approaching the 4 dollars per gallon mark and I was getting sick of paying. I had been saying for years that once the new US 30 was finished it would take most of the traffic away from the old route and I could start commuting, but somehow I never seemed to get it started. But like I said before, that all changed in late May.

I started out just riding one of my cyclocross bikes. I think of all the bikes I own this one has to be my favorite one. Since May, the bike has seen the addition of a full time rack and panniers. I am lucky to have a place at work to keep my uniforms and I can change there. But I still have to carry in lunch and coffee (I refuse to eat out of a vending machine and would sooner drink battery acid then have to drink vending machine coffee). And I will tell you that a thermos of coffee in a messenger bag is not a fun thing to have digging into your back.

Then, with a lot of talking, I was able to convince the wife that there wasn't much in town that we couldn't do by biking or walking.

Now, most weeks we do our grocery store run with 2 bikes and a trailer. I can manage to get a week's worth home without her needing to carry a pack. The Amish bulk store is on my commute home from work, so there is one less place to drive. And the wife works just down the road from one of the best meat markets in the area. So also, it's one less trip.

I have tried to talk her into riding to work, but she is still holding out. Something about it being uphill both ways or something like that.

I do drive to work one day a week, so I have the energy for the Wednesday night club ride.

These are a few of my favorite Things

The small white sign does not show up so good but the name of the store is Beer 4 Less.

This photo was taken in Erie PA just a few miles From Presqe Isle State park, The only thnig that would have made this area better would have been a place to ride cross across the street. But that would involve tearing down a strip mall and a couple of cheap motels. Maybe that would not be a bad thing after all.
Ron posted this one on the Orrville cycling foum, and I felt it necessary to repost it. The guy in the picture has a good idea, BUT notice there is no way to keep it cold. What if a system could be added to cool the beer with liquid nitrogen, that way you would not have to deal with the weight of ice and a tub to contain it. Also it needs a cup dispenser for those red plastic cups that draft is always served in.

I do work in a machine shop so this would be an easy project to fabricate. Now who has a matching pair of rock shocks they would like to contribute?

Its Tour Time Again

What will the scandal be this year? Who will be caught, and who will beat doping control?

Why is it?

Why is it that you can ride a road bike for a season and not to much to it. Replace your cables and housings once every couple of years. Clean the drive train and keep it lubed. And you re pretty much good to go. Maybe every now and then you will have to adjust a derailleur, or change a flat tire or in a worse case scenario you may have to true up a rim after hitting a pot hole.

But Ride a mountain bike for 2.5 hours and come home and spend at least that much time cleaning and repairing.

Saturdays ride at Regan park resulted in a new middle chain ring (OK maybe I tweaked that one at Vulture's Knob). The replacement of a worn out chain.

Got up this morning to do the work only to find a flat tire on the front. Changed the tire and decided maybe I need to get the rim trued.

And to top it off, the day after a serious road ride you don't sit there and try to figure out where the large bruise on you leg came from, or where the scrapes on you shoulder came from.

Judge Judy

I know, I know, this is old news but it's still worth viewing.

Deerfield

Woke up this morning to a layer of heavy wet snow on the ground. There went the motivation right out the window. Finished up some projects I had started, cleaned the drive train on the XO1. And went and had the rear wheel re dished for my single speed.

By late afternoon the snow had melted and the roads had dried up. Wangpig had been in contact so I guess it was time to ride. He had time for a quick ride and so did I. So it was out the door I headed. He seemed to have a route in mind, one of these days I will learn to ask what he is thinking. We headed out towards Burton City and cut over to Burkhart. He said we were heading to Deerfield, and I thought to myself "cool, it's a pretty good ride south on Deerfield". We got there and he turned left............... OH &*%# he meant climb Deerfield! This is one of those hills that I usually leave till some time in June or July. Oh well once again I know that I must get out and do this one more often. At least he was kind enough to wait at the top and let me get a picture of the sign.