All of the work and school lately is starting to catch up to me and tear me apart. I am busy with one or the other from 6:00 a.m. until 8:oo p.m. almost everyday so all I want to do is sleep when I get home. Getting close to the end of the semester though so I can at least see some light at the end of the tunnel. As of now, sundays are the only day that I have a block of time to get an outside ride in, if I am not at the shop. The mountainbike class on tuesdays will allow me a couple of hours of riding but, with a group of newbies it probably won't be a very fast pace. I could start night riding instead but that will cut into my sleep time. Of course that could be good training for Trans-Iowa. You know, sleep deprivation is one of the "benefits" of endurance racing. Isn't that right Kerkove?

I think I am going to take a nap now. Yes I am at work while I do this.

-Peace.

Yesterday was the first day for the mountainbike class at UNI and I believe it went fairly well. There are suppossed to be 13 people in the class and I think ten actually showed up. The class only meets five times so if a person misses one class they could potentially miss quite a bit. One of the students was wearing cycling shoes so I will have at least one person that is bored out of their mind. I tried to keep it pretty simple by not getting into all of the different aspects of riding. I only covered XC and went with hardtails and full suspension. No singlespeeds, 29'ers, softtails, DH/FR, etc., etc. Too complicated for some minds. There was also a student that is taking this class and does not own a bicycle or a helmet. They might have a hard time keeping up. Yesterday was just an overview of the class as a whole and a description of the different parts of a mountainbike. There were a couple of students that approached me after class with additional questions. The first one would like to buy a new bike and helmet so he needed a little direction. Hopefully he will be in the shop spending his paycheck soon. The second one is interested in entering the realm of clipless pedals. He seemed to be a little cautious about diving in head first so I do believe he will stop into the shop to see what is available. Overall I think it went pretty well. Should be a fun time.

My wife called me yesterday to inform me that she saw a yellow Ducati 996. Same model as mine only a different color. Pretty ccol, you don't see many of them in this area. Well, when I arrive at the shop Ted informs me that this guy actually came into the store yesterday with the understanding that an employee owns one. (That would be me.) Of course I'm thinking "what are the odds of this?" when Ted then tells me that another customer struck up a conversation with the yellow Ducati guy and claimed to have a Ducati also. You have got to be kidding me!! What are the odds? Why was I not there? Arghhhh!! Attention: Ducati convention going on at Europa.

The SUPERSALE is fully preped and ready to roll. Everything is on the floor, marked, and ready for you to give us your $$$$$$$$$$$$. There is a corral of balloons in Brett's area. I hope that the corraling of balloons there is "O.K.". I didn't know where else to put them. There is so much yellow in that store that I think Lance Armstrong would say it's too much. The boss man, A. Lo. and I stayed an extra hour last night to get everything ready. I hope that it meets the approval of THE boss.

The racing stripes on my legs are looking pretty sweet. I'll have pro tan in no time.

Okay, I think I should get to work now.

-Peace.

Today will be the first day of the Intro to mountainbiking class at UNI. I am assisting with the instruction of this class by contributing the wealth of knowledge that I have gained with instruction from supreme chancellor Guitar Ted and the great Mr. 24 (his words are golden). This year I have decided to start a little more low key with the equipment introduction and descriptions. I am taking along the Fuel (maybe one of them will buy it), the XTC, helmets, pedals (platform, cages, SPD), shoes, gloves, and the trail essentials such as hydration (Camelbak and bottles), pump (hand pump and CO2), tube, and tools. I am trying to keep it as basic as possible so that no one gets overly confused. Last year I had a couple of people who thought they knew it all on day one and they couldn't keep up on the trails at GW of all places once the riding started. Maybe I'll get a good group this time.

Stopped to put ethanol in the Exploder on the way to work this morning. $35. Not bad. Still cheaper than Europe although not as cheap as the United Arab Emirates.

My co-worker at POS loaded about 40 hours of music onto to my computer. Since I exhausted my CD collectin this has been very helpful. Today's music so far has been Marilyn Manson, Snoop Dog, and Cypress Hill. I was definately due for a change of pace.

Okay, it looks like I may have to actually work today so...

-Peace.

So as I stated on Friday, we skipped out on REI saturday and went to Des Moines instead. Went to a quilt shop for the Cheese Queen and I went to the Ducati dealership to pick up some parts for my dad. That place is full of beautiful Italian machinery. You really do have to love it. We even ate at Hooter's for lunch. Food was good as usual but, the service was really pathetic. I'm guessing that if I would have wanted a bucket-o-beer and some hot wings I would have gotten better service. All we ordered were burgers and water.

Plans for sunday were to go to Frederika to have dinner with the in-laws. I decided to ride the Bianchi to dinner in order to get in some much needed saddle time. I chose to take the scenic route so I went from Waterloo to New Hartford, Shell Rock, Finchford, Janesville, Denver, Readlyn, Tripoli, and then Frederika. It totaled about 73 miles and took 4 hours and 18 minutes. Kerkove also went for a ride yesterday and his T.T. took him 4 hours and 18 minutes also. Isn't that weird? Of course he had a couple of extra miles more than me. I ended up with a bit of sun burn on my neck, face, and I have a couple of racing stripes on my legs between the edges of my socks and knee warmers. Pretty cool although those spots on my legs are a bot tender today. I only saw one other cyclist put during my entire trip. Come on people it's nice out. Park your car and get out and ride.

I rode the Duc (that's short for Ducati, Kerkove) into work today so the Exploder has not moved since Wednesday afternoon. I will have to drive it tomorrow in order to get the XTC and the Fuel to school for the first day of the mountainbike class. Have to show these little punks what real bikes look like. Convince them that their disposable bikes should be disposed of and they should come to the shop and buy real bikes.

That's about all for now.

-Peace.

The plan for this morning was to go for a ride with Ed but, the weather had different plans. Frickin' snow anyway. I sat around the house until 10:30 when I left for school for a couple of hours. One class, searched for an internship some more, and then a short meeting to finalize all of the details for the mountainbike class that starts on Tuesday. Originally it was to be on Wednesday but in typical UNI fashion, they changed it. Hey Ted, if you have any ideas about stuff I should include in my day one speech let me know. Decent night at the shop. It has been staying fairly steady. Had a couple put over $80 into a $40 Huffy. I love that. The intention was to drive to the Twin Cities tomorrow to visit REI but, I think we will stay home, maybe get a ride in. Nothing is set in stone quite yet.

That's about all for today.

-Peace

In an attempt to do my part to save the environment while still getting some excercise and justifing owning mor than one bike I rode the XTC to work at POS today. I used to ride to work all the time when I worked the 9 to 5 shift but the 6 to 2 shift makes for riding my bike with half awake drivers. I decided on a route that is about 70% sidewalk/biketrail and I should be okay. It's only about 4.5 miles (7.3 km) from my house and it took me 20 minutes to get here. I kind of felt like Guitar Ted out there riding with cars. I don't want to work up a huge sweat and be required to bathe in the sink. A bit of Old Spice® and I'm good to go. It will probably rain this afternoon so I'll be soaked at the shop. Cool.

Kerkove and Yielding went for a nice little tempo ride yesterday. They both have pics and stories so check them both out. Looks like it was a good time to be had by all.

Did everyone get their SUPERSALE flyer in the mail? If not get a hold of me I can tell you what's up yo. There are some good deals to be had. Mind you, the sale prices are not good until the sale starts. March 30 - April 3. There were a couple of customers that thought I was going to be mister nice guy and hook them up last night. I don't think so people. Hopefully we will get some bikes in today, we need some of the good stuff instead of all of these old people bikes, I mean comfort and hybrid bikes. We have the same guy stopping in every couple of weeks looking for the new road bikes. I'll be surprised if he actually buys one.

I have officially exhausted by CD collection at POS so I had to take some drastic measures and borrowed a few from the shop last night. Sorry Ted. Van Halen, Beastie Boys, Stevie Ray Vaughn, James Brown, The Ramones. Quite the collection, eh?

Today's equipment review touches on the all powerful and addictive heart rate monitor (HRM). Many of the people that I ride with won't even leave the house for a ride without one, including myself. It is my understanding the the great Guitar Ted doesn't wear one anymore because the numbers were always above 180. Of course he rides like a bat out of hell so I am not surprised. The guy's a locomotive so get out of the way already. Anyway my HRM choice is the POLAR S210. MSRP: $199.99




As is to be expected, it gives a heart rate reading, excercise time, lap counter, and the time of day. You can program five different exercise sets into the HRM as well as three heart rate zones so that you can work on different things each day. Hill repeats, sprints, tempo, recovery, etc. It also adds in a calorie counter based on your body weight that you enter and it has the POLAR fitness test. This test measures your aerobic/cardivascular fitness and prdicts what your VO2 MAX is. Now remember that this is a test for the masses and so it gives an approxomation. The S210 also gives the max. HR, avg. HR, and elapsed time for each lap as well as yoyr overall. This comes in pretty handy when doing intervals. It also looks good enough that you can wear it everyday as your normal watch. BONUS!

That's it for now.

-Peace

It's Wednesday already! Can you believe it? It's a short week for me because I do not have to work at POS on Friday because of the holiday. I still have to go to class and work at the shop but that's all good stuff. Business is finally seeming somewhat "normal" at the shop lately. Plenty of people bringing their bikes in for the great Guitar Ted to give them their spring tune-up and get them on the trails. It's nice to see the excitement that some of these people have to get out and ride. I rode the XTC to the shop last night just for Ted. It takes me longer to get dressed for the weather than it does to ride to work. Hopefully, I can make a habit of parking the Exploder more often. I only have a 5W Vistalite headlight on the XTC right now, I think that it is time for an HL-500.

As I have mentioned before I am planning on purchasing a new road bike frame soon (I have made my decision, it is classified) but the wheels in my head are still turning. I blame it on Ted always building more bikes and making me jealous. Well I have an old steel Orbit road frame at home that I believe I am going to build into a single speed road bike. One of our honorary employees, Ron, was in yesterday and we talked about his fixed gear and how he has a love/hate relationship with it. I think I will pass on the fixed gear though. Quite frankly it scares me to think of riding one on the streets...with people driving their four-wheeled coffins. Single speed is good. I have been rolling this around in my head for a while now so I began to take inventory of extra parts lying around the house and have determined that it should be pretty easy to assemble. I just need to get the frame a nice coat of fresh paint and I can get started. Should make a great commuter.

Hopefully my tools will show up today or tomorrow. They should have been here last week but there was a funny little hold up at the shop. It's actually quite amusing but I am choosing to protect the names of those involved so if you want to hear it you'll have to stop in the shop sometime and ask me about it.

Today's equipment review returns to bicycles because certain people who shall remain nameless cannot seem to contain themselves when the great DUCATI is mentioned/seen/though of. So today I will tell you about one of the greatest little cycle computers on the market. The Cateye Enduro 8. First off, the Enduro 8 is exactly like the Mity 8 except that the cord is thicker for off-road durability. So technically this review could also be for the Mity 8 for roadies.

First off it's a fairly basic computer that includes an odometer, two trip distances, current speed, average speed, maximum speed, elapsed time, a 12/24 hour clock, pace arrow, and the ability to set it up for two different tire sizes so you can use it on more than one bike. The head unit has a good overall look which most of the other Cateye line also share and the functions are easy to understand and use. The head unit and wire harness have a firm connection so that your computer does not vibrate off while riding. I do find it interesting that if you use the 12 hour clock everything is in miles while those who choose to use the 24 hour clock get the honor of using the metric system. Of course all of highway signs are in miles so that may cause havoc on the roadies that choose to go with the metric system. Extra wire harnesses are also very reasonably priced and readily available at the shop so it makes it quite easy to use one head unit on multiple bikes. Overall I must say that I am very pleased with Cateye products.



I added a new weather gauge yesterday. I hope that it can help a few of you out with the local weather. Conditions, temperature, windspeed, direction, barometric pressure, it's all there for ya. In standard/°F as well as metric/°C. Should accomodate everyone. It updates every hour.

It's time to catch a wave.

-Peace.

Well the Giant XTC is all set up with lights so that I can start to ride it to work at the shop everynight and I am going to try to ride it to POS on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I have to go to class in the middle of the day on Mon, Wed, and Fri, so that will not work out so well. With all of the new trail that they paved last spring/summer I should be able to stay away from traffic on about half of my commute. I trust no automobiles at 5:30 in the morning. I would rather stay as far away as possible. I am not quite sure what I will do with my bike at POS yet so I didn't ride it today. I used to just leave it in the warehouse but I am always a little worried that something may happen to it. I wonder if the boss would mind me storing it on my cubicle. I think there may be room...almost.

The mountainbike class at UNI starts next Wednesday at 2:00. I will be assisting with the instruction of that class again this year. It's kind of funny who shows up to take this class. There will be a couple of guys who actually ride, all kinds of people who ride because it's "cool", and a few who show up on hybrid bikes. Scary. The first day we discuss equipment, clothing, and the different types of mountainbikes, not hybrids, just mountainbikes. The next four classes are spent out in George Wyth riding the trails, discussing riding techniques, working on improving these techniques, and making sure everyone knows how to properly wear a helmet. You would be surprised at how many of them don't know the front from the back or how to adjust one. I think most of them do not wear a helmet except for the class because it is required. I keep forgetting that wearing helmets is not part of the cool factor.

Finally had the opportunity to watch the Milan-San Remo road race last night. Wow! The course just looked plain brutal. Last 40 km had cars parked on the side of the road, motorcycles with cameramen were stuck in the peloton during the descents, couple of nasty crashes and near crashes, and of course the great Italian sprinter Alessandro Petacchi of team Fassa Bortolo won the sprint on his Pinarello Dogma FP. Maybe I should join the dark side and give road racing a shot. (Que the Imperial March from Star Wars). Hey, don't get mad at me, it's just a thought...for now.

Today's equipment review still involves two wheels, although they are the type that are powered by a high-octane gasoline engine. Today I will discuss the beauty that is...the Ducati 996.



First off, as you can see it is dead sexy. It is a 1999 model and at the time it was available in two colors, red or yellow. Of course as all lovers of fine machinary know, Italian sportscars and motorcycles only look good in one color...Red. It has a very distinctive exhaust note due to the valves being desmodromic which means that they are opened and closed by a belt driven cam instead of using valve springs. It also uses a dry clutch instead of an oil-bathed clutch which sounds kind of like two pieces of sandpaper being rubbed together. You really have to hear it to understand and appreciate it. The clutch and the exhaust both create sounds that are either loved or hated. She has around 115 horsepower, weighs in at just over 400 lbs, and is faster than any person truly needs. The engine is a 996cc, 90° twin cylinder mated to a six speed transmission.

I hope that is enough to confuse the majority of my readers. Ask questions if you have them.

-Peace.

Greatest day of the week, Monday. Why you ask? I don't know, it just is. Short work week at POS because we will be shut down for Good Friday. Spring break is now over so I must continue with my schooling. I only have seven weeks left. It's kind of a scary deal. I have absolutely no idea what I am going to do after I'm done and I still don't know what I am going to do for an internship this summer (Final requirement to get my degree). I have been officially shot down by three of the agencies that I originally contacted. I am beginning to fear taking an internship with a non-cycling agency. Can you feel my pain? I have another lead to check on today but I am quickly running out of time.

We had a pretty slow weekend at the shop but people are coming in the store to look at the new stuff and ask questions. I am hoping it picks up this week. Sure would be nice for the new road bikes to show up soon. I think I have at least one person ask when they will arrive everytime I work anymore. I was in charge of teh tunes at the shop on Saturday morning but it didn't last too long. Started out with James Brown and then the Beastie Boys. After that I lost control of the CD player/radio. Oh well, it was cool for a couple of hours.

Today's music selection is brought to you by Bryan Adams. Upbeat yet still relaxing. Peaceful.

I see that Ted thinks I should be getting a tandem mountainbike. I have this thing for BMC bicycles (work of art) and they build an off-road tandem. Ted feels that I should get one so that the Cheese Queen can go ride with me. Little does he know that my ride time is the Queen's quie time. She uh, kicks me out of the house to go ride alone, yea, that's it, she kicks me out. Yea, yea.

The sun was almost peeking over the horizon today at 6:00 a.m. Yesterday was the first day of spring so we are almost there everyone. Little bit more patience and the nice riding weather will be here.

EQUIPMENT REVIEW - HYDRATION PACK

I have used a couple of entry level hydration packs (cheap) that didn't hold up for more than a season before the fell apart and found their way to the garbage can. A couple of years ago I splurged a bit and purchased a Camelbak Cloud Walker.

It is one of their "hiking" hydration packs although most of their packs can be used for hiking or cycling. The price was right so I bought it. It's extremely comfortable even when full of gear. It comes with a 70 oz. bladder and has a cargo area of 988 cu. in. which should be enough cargo area for Trans_Iowa. However, I may grab a 100 oz. bladder before the big day, better safe than sorry. I have very pleased with Camelbak. The pack itself still looks practically new, no tears, no equipment failures of any sort, large opening in bladder for adding ice if needed and makes cleaning much easier, and the mouth piece is easy to use with no leaks. Padded shoulder straps, chest and waist belts are both comfortable and compression straps to secure the entire pack to eliminate movement. Definately a great product.

Enough for now.

-Peace.

Today seems like a good day to discuss the Chris King Wheelset that is part of my Trek Fuel. They were handbuilt in 2003 by the great wheel builder known only as Guitar Ted. They were only used for around 200 miles in 2003 due to my insatiable desire to ride/race my then Surly 1x1 every chance that I had. They picked up less than 300 miles in 2004 due to me turning into a roadie for the summer, don't ask. So here they are with less than 500 miles and still as bling-bling as any wheelset you have ever seen.





They are 28 hole Chris King Classic hubs that are green in color and they are laced with a two-cross pattern of Wheeelsmith double-butted spokes to a pair of citron green/yellow Mavix X517 rims. They truly are a work of art. I have never had a single problem with them unless you include the guys in front of me complaining about the "noise" that King hubs make. I prefer to call it "music" myself. If you have never heard a set of King hubs you truly are missing out. You can read about the mechanical aspects of it here. This wheelset is well over a pound lighter than the original Rolf Satellite wheelset that came with the Fuel. They were trued up after about 100 miles and have been straight as an arrow ever since. Guitar Ted builds some really nice wheels. I am hoping the master will one day take me as an apprentice and teach me some of these skills.
UPDATE: weight of wheelset with Shimano XT cassette and without tubes and tires is four pounds. Light as a feather and strong as an ox thanks to Guitar Ted.

The matching Chris King headset on the Fuel is just as bling-bling as the hubs as you can see here.



It has never had to be adjusted, makes no noise, is smooth as butter, and looks absolutely beautiful. What else can I say? It's a cartridge bearing headset that requires absolutely no work after it is installed. By the way, it was installed by the great Kerkove who's words aboout endurance racing are golden.

On a side note. I researched a couple of steel road frames after ashwinearl gave me a few ideas, thanks ashwinearl. (Make sure you check out his site. Great reading and pictures of the life of a Virginia mountain biker and family man) Anyway, I have another candidate added to the mix. It is the Salsa La Raza which has an OX Platinum steel front triangle, a cro-moly rear, and a carbon fiber fork. Weight of the frame and fork is right arond 5.25 pounds and with a MSRP of $738 it's considerably less expensive than the other candidates.


It would look pretty pimp with a pink Chris King headset too.



Okay enough for today, I need to eat some food and get ready to work at the shop today.

-Peace

I'm pretty excited for the weekend just because this has been a hectic week. I think I have somewhere around 65-70 hours in between the three jobs. $$$$$ I know that there is more to life than money but, right now I need to collect as many dead presidents as possible. Many things to pay for yet. Tools, helmet, rain gear, shoes, pedals, clothing, hopefully a new road frame soon.

The climbingall was very, very slow yesterday. I believe that there were eight climbers during the three hours that I was there. At one point I think that two of them had the wall to themselves for about an hour. Makes the shift drag on forrrrevvvvvver. Hopefully it will be a little busier today since it is the last weekday of spring break.

Continued to stock the walls and floor of the shop with tons of new product last night. It's actually starting to look like a bike shop again. Parts, accesories, clothing, and tools from floor to ceiling. We are actually running out of wall space. As long as we can sell it all, the boss will be happy.

During my never-ending quest for a new road frame, I'm picky so this may take a while, I came across another one that caught my eye. Yielding, you're going to love this one. The Raleigh Team full carbon frame looks appealing. Anyone have any experience with this one? Any thoughts? I have not done any research on reviews yet, I am strictly intrigued by the looks and description in their catalog. Heck, I'll probably ride my 17 year old Bianchi until it falls apart underneath me.

Yesterday's music selection included Beethoven, Billy Idol, Aerosmith, and Kid Rock. Yet again you can see how the tempo increases throughout the day. Today's music selection begins with Johann Sebastian Bach. His music is absolutely beautiful. It makes me wish that I could play the piano. I do believe that I will follow up Bach with a bit of ZZ Top or maybe The Dire Straits.

Well, that's all for now.

-Peace




Where's Mr. 24 been lately?

This week is definately catching up to me. Leave the house at 5:45 a.m. and return around 8:15-8:30 p.m.

With spring break this week my schedule consists of:

6:00-2:30 POS

3:00-6:00 UNI climbing wall

6:15-8:00 Europa

I need the cash, new tools should arrive today at the shop. Yipee!!

Last night I told Kerkove that this weeks work schedule was helping me train for Trans-Iowa. I have to eat whatever I can whenever I can with very little time to spare on anything else.

I don't usually discuss my primary job because some one will probably read it, somehow be offended, and Ill get in trouble. Oh well, here goes. Some days are better than others at POS. Every once in a while the conversation in the department that I work in turns into the social-economic-military-religion conversations and I am usually the first one to jump in head first with my opinions. Well lately I have been doing my best to stay out of them and have returned to wearing headphones and listening to music (sometimes at very loud levels) in order to retain my sanity and suppress my desire to engage the sometimes small-minded conversation. (I’m sure that some POS employee will read this and jump down my throat about how offensive I am being right about now) My musical choices yesterday began with about 90 minutes of Mozart followed by The Bangles, Aerosmith, and Metallica. The tempo, along with the volume, seem to pick up as the surrounding conversation gets more controversial or I just need to block out as much as possible. Today I have started with a bit of Beethoven and since it is still quiet in my cubicle I have not yet decided what will be next.

The climbing wall was actually some what busy last night. Four of the regular climbers were there but they tend to climb with each other and do not need assistance. There were a couple of new climbers that are still in the skill-building stage so they tend to listen to my advice a bit more than the final group of participants last night. (Notice that I didn’t call this group “climbers”) This group consisits of the offspring of professors. Some of the kids are pretty cool. They listen to me (safety issues), they appreciate advice, and they are also polite. However, a small slice of this group has the “serve me now!” philosophy that seems to run in their family. They are not that big of a deal because most of them can only climb to the top once or twice and then they call it quits. Hopefully some day they will rebel against the constrictive ways of their parents and discover a polite and pleasant life of their own...hopefully.

Kerkove, Whizbang, and I rearranged the shop floor last night in preparation for the upcoming “SUPERSALE” where everything will be a bargain so come down and spend all of your money at Europa during the sale. You’ll have to come into the store to get details because I don’t have them in front of me.

I need a new pair of gloves, sure wish we sold Pearl Izumi. Maybe I’ll get some Salsa gloves.

I am also searching for a MP3 player. Right now it looks like I will go with an IRIVER or an IPOD. Still need to do some more research.

UPDATE: Beethoven has now finished and I am moving on to...let's see...what next...here we go...British bad boy...Billy Idol. Good stuff. As you can probably tell, I enjoy a wide range of music. Pretty much anything goes. Although some of Kerkove's musical choices kind of scare me...sometimes.

I forgot to mention one thing. Last weekend Kerkove was being silly at the shop showing me how strong the Greenfield kickstand is on a used Trek 800 when it snapped of with that little "ping" sound that snapping metal has. It was so funny that I am getting tears in my eyes just writing this.

I could probably go on for pages today, so I think I will call it quits for now.

-Peace.

Hey look, another muti-post day. Sweet!!

Today's review consists of two of the most important pieces of equipment that a cyclist can have. Brain buckets and eye wear.

My helmet choice comes from Bell products...the Ghisallo.



This helmet is light weight, has great ventilation, and is very comfortable. At $99.99 MSRP it's also a bargain on the pocket book. Small price to pay for a potential life saver.

I have been a long time user of Oakley eyewear over the years. I believe I have been using them for about 14 years or so using various models throughout that time. I still have a pair of Oakley Straight Jackets that I wear on a daily basis. However, last year I began to use Tifosi Optics as my choice for eyewear while cycling. I chose the Tifosi Tyrants due to the low price of $59.95 which included smoke, rose, and clear lenses as well as a hard case and a cleaning bag. The lenses are easy to change and each color of lens works well for it's conditions. Smoke for the bright and sunny days, rose for overcast days, and clear for night riding.



I give both of these products a thumbs up for their user friendliness and great value.

Stay tuned for a future helmet update...I am planning on purchasing the Bell Sweep R shortly.



-Peace.


UPDATE: 9:30 a.m. The Mac that I use, which belongs to my employer, just crashed...again.

My shift at the climbing wall was cancelled yesterday so I was able to get in more hours at the shop instead. Had the pleasure of working with Whizbang for the first time in ages so that was pretty cool. I also took the XTC in for a bath. It's all shiny and clean now. A clean bike is a happy bike afterall. Sold the first official Haro Expert BMX bike to a wee little BMXican last night. 9 year old novice rider who was making the jump to the expert class soon. He looked pretty stoked for practice last night. Boss man should be happy that we finally sold one of those; they have been in the shop for a long time...or so it seems. Had a couple of the older BMXicans in last night too. The type that knows everything there is to know about nothing, they want you to give them the "hook-up" even when you don't know them, and they are constantly saying,"I can get that cheaper at Dan's Comp". Needless to say, they usually hang out asking questions for about 30 minutes or so and then leave without spending a dime, rarely to be seen again.

Guy brought an old school Trek Y-11 in for some work last night too. I believe it's time he bought a new bike and used the Y-11 for a wall decoration but that's not my call. Hey Ted, call me if you have questions about that bike. I don't think my note was very clear.

After I washed the XTC a pair of Ergon grips began calling for me. I searched high and low for their little screams until I found them and released them from their prison. They sure are comfy and they looked real nice on the XTC too. They look so happy to be out of that dark musky cell in which they were trapped. Poor little guys.

Kerkove and Yielding are going out for a ride today at 8:00 a.m. starting behind Bike Tech in Cedar Falls. Must be rough to not have to be to work early. I'm not complaining guys, I'm just jealous.

Yesterday was the final day that a certain company was going to notify potential candidates about interviews for employment this year. I never received a call. I am sad now.

Okay, need to attempt to get my MAC going. MACs never crash, ya right.

-Peace

Third post today...look out...I better slow down.

These reviews are strictly my opinion and I am not compensated in anyway for them.

My road bike is a 1988 Bianchi with an all steel frame and fork that was originally 6 speed, downtube shifters, celeste green Selle Italia saddle.

This summer will be the fourth season I have had this bike and I still love it no matter how much I talk about getting a new road bike. I have upgraded the wheels and drivetrain to Shimano 105 with STI's and have also added Bontrager Race Lite stem and bars. About three weeks ago I had the opportunity to score a Fi'zi:k Poggio saddle that was on a a new Cannondale at the shop and the customer didn't want it so I bought it. It is my understanding that a couple of coworkers were also eyeing this saddle so I am thankful that they allowed me the opportunity to acquire it. Thanks guys!! Now, don't get me wrong I did like the Selle Italia but, during my trainer rides it started to give me a bit of numbness in areas that shouldn't be numb. So...it was time for a change. To make a long story short, I absolutely LOVE this saddle. As Kerkove would say. "It produces butt nirvana." It also adds to the stealth look that the Bianchi is beginning to take on. (Hmmm, need a black seatpost and headset...)

I am bored today so I may have multiple posts...lucky you.

I have decided to do a few reviews of the equipment that I use on my mountain and road bikes. These reviews are strictly my opinion and I am not compensated in anyway for them.

I believe that I will start with the road pedals that I switched to last summer.
The Speedplay Zero Stainless Road Pedal.

These pedals are the best road pedals ever made, hands down. I have about 500 miles on mine and still have not run into any problems with equipment and absolutely no knee problems at all. They are straight forward, easy to use, easy to maintain, and look the business. You can adjust the float from 0°-15° very easily and quickly.. Find a friend who has them and try theirs or buy some for yourself, you can thank me later.

Weight: 324 g (according to Speedplay website)
MSRP: $185

The headlights on my truck were only on so that others can see me at 5:45 am today. There is enough daylight that I can see just fine which means...everyone will be able to start their rides earlier in the day or they can go later at night with the increased light. Doesn't that make everyone happy?

Three hours working at the climbing wall yesterday. This week is spring break so almost all of the students are gone. I think we had nine climbers total in the three hours with four of them being regulars. A lack of climbers makes the time go by slower but it also gives me time to check out some of the routes myself. There was a nice man that came to the climbing wall yesterday to service my Chris King hubs. They're all ready for their first full season of raging. They sure do sound nice and look absolutely stunning. Those of you who have heard King hubs before know exactly what I am talking about. It's amazing how fast the people in front of me on the trails get out of the way when I sneak up behind them and then coast. Scares the daylights out of some of them.

Stopped in at the shop last night to put my wheels back on the Fuel while Guitar Ted was getting ready to start his weekly session of "Monday's with Mark" consumer mechanic school for some of our customers. Anyone can come down and it's free. It looked like they had a pretty good turnout last night, people are getting the itch to ride. Yipee!!! I am very impressed with how many people actually want to know how to take care of their own bikes. It gives me that warm fuzzy feeling inside.

That's enough chatter for now.

-Peace

Pretty good weekend so I hope the week is just as good. Nothing of great importance went on Friday night. Actually I cannot even remember if I did anything other than sit around. Worked at the shop all day Saturday, that turned out to be cool. We were busy most of the time so it went by pretty quickly. People are finally getting the itch to get outside. We must have sold five or six bikes with numerous accesories which made the boss very happy. And just for the record. I do not recall wanting to lick the Ergon grips that Mr.24 installed on his NRS, I do believe that I did lick them because they are so cool.

Wife and I went Pepper's for dinner Saturday night and we arrived just in time to see Iowa blow it against Wisconsin at the buzzer. Admittedly, I was happy to see that. Watched a couple of movies after that and then called it a night.

Went for a short one hour ride on the Giant XTC Sunday afternoon mainly to test a few pieces of cold weather gear. The Trek balaclava kept my head and ears nice and toasty while the Salsa Toastada three-finger gloves actually made my hands begin to sweat. The temperatures were hovering right around freezing so I believe that the balaclava and Toastada gloves will work just fine.

I have decided to sell my Trek Fuel. I will be listing it on this site sometime today. Any one that is interested should feel free to e-mail me with questions, picture requests, etc.

That's all for now.

-Peace.

Worked at the shop last night. Pretty slow night, changing light bulbs, babysitting BMXicans, watching/helping Jeff K. assemble a recumbent Burley (it's purple). Kerkove takes off at 5:30 so that he can go participate in the roller rides so I hold down the fort alone from 5:30 until 6:00. Of course it never fails, whenever a person is at the shop alone, somebody has to walk in the door at 5 minutes before close to "look around a bit". Now, if the customers that come in this late spend money I don't mind. It's the people that come in right before close, walk around for 30 minutes and then leave that get under my skin. Well last night this couple came into to buy their son a new Haro Backtrail for their son's B-day. They made a downpayment, requested to have pegs installed on front and rear, and put it on layaway. At least they spent some money. They left at about 6:10 so I didn't get out of the store until 6:25. Oh well, I need the money. I placed my tool order last night. I may need a bigger tool box.

I went climbing for about an hour and a half last night too. I haven't gone climbing for somewhere around a year so I was really rusty last night. I could only make it through about 75% of the first route that I tried. I did end up completing two other routes and then when back to the first route again. I forced myself through the pain to make it to the top. I dislike failure very much. I'll pay for it today. Biceps hurt, triceps hurt, forearms hurt, hands don't work right. You know that feeling you get when you do a 24 hour race or you go riding in the cold ands your hands don't want to open back up? Yea, that's similar to "climbing hands". All of the tendons in your hand don't move as freely as before so it feels like your hands are on a delay. Gripping things like a pencil feels awkward, like your grip isn't strong enough. Should be better by this afternoon. I definately miss climbing on a regular basis though. I need to get up there more often. Good strength training workout.

I finally heard from Ed yesterday. The proud new papa sent me pictures of the newest member of his family. Cute kid. He's living proof that cycling doesn't cause sterility. Not that I ever believed that anyway.

-Peace.

More snow on the ground this morning, about an inch. I, like many of you, am ready for the warmer weather to start any day now. Nothing to really talk about today jast blabbering.

Still sending out resumes and e-mails to locate an internship or employment for the summer. I am still hoping for that one "holy grail" of adventure groups but we will see what happens. End of the semester is coming up quick and I am running out of time, candidates, and ideas.

Ran out of time last night so no climbing. I may try to go tonight after I get off of work at the bike shop.

I see that Lance Armstrong dropped out of Paris-Nice already. Time for another member of the Disco Train to step up. Armstrong is also in the news again concerning the whole Simeoni affair stating that Armstrong will not ride the Giro d'Italia or step foot in Italy for that matter because of the allegations between the two. Come on people you are supposed to be mature adults, let's act like it. Simeoni is such a cry baby. Mad at Armstrong, mad at Cunego, mad at everybody that is a better rider. Heck, he's probably mad at the great Jeff Kerkove. Lance is also endorsing Paris to host the 2012 bid to host the Olympic Games over NYC. Is he trying to please the French media? Hmmmmm, interesting.

Still no word from Ed. I may start a search party.

Jared seems to have disappeared too. I know I saw him yesterday, so he's still alive.

Okay, back to work.

-Peace

Wow this week is going by fast, for me anyway. I wanted to let everybody know that when I go to work at 5:45 in the morning I can now see sunlight peeking over the horizon. Spring is almost here. Thanks to Jeff Y. for allowing me to borrow the Paris-Nice prologue that he had recorded. I know that a lot of people find time trials rather boring to watch but, I really enjoy it. ITT, TTT, sprints, huge climbs, you name I enjoy it all. I think I may be turning into a roadie. Or maybe I am just becoming more diveresified. Who knows. I am on the hunt for a new road frame. Lemond Maillot Jaune? BMC SLT01? Colnago Dream? Pinarello Prince SL? Giant TCR Composite? Bianchi Carbon? Russ' TREK 5200 frameset? Decisions, decisions, decisions. Your input is welcomed, good or bad.

Well there is absolutely nothing to do here at work this morning so I will be surfing for the next hour or two. It is somewhat frustrating that I need to be here just in case someone needs help but, you've gotta do what you've gotta do I guess. I think that I am going to go climbing tonight with all of the new routes that were set last weekend I kind of have the urge. As long as I don't try to do anything overly stupid I think I will be all right.

I saw my buddy A. Lo. (no relation to J. Lo.) last night when I stopped at the shop. He mentioned that my blogs have a different feel about them lately. Is this true? Does anyone else feel this way? Is it good or bad? Am I asking too many questions? I need specifics here A. Lo. Help me out buddy.

Hey Ed, are you still out there? Everything okay?

Okay, I am off to catch a wave. Be sure to sound off your opinions today.

-Peace


UPDATE: Links to each of the bikes have been added for your viewing pleasure.

Nice and sunny this morning, a bit chilly but nice none the less. I'm a little on the tired side today because I didn't get home until 10:15 last night, at a pizza, and went to bed around 11:15. Alarm went off at 5:00 a.m. today and I did not want to get up but alas, my employer was calling for me. Worked at the climbing wall from 5:00 to 10:00 last night and it was pretty busy so it went by fairly quickly. All of the holds were taken off of the wall on Friday, cleaned up, and new routes were set Saturday. The route-setters put up some really technical routes so I think I may go climbing tomorrow night. If I remember, maybe I'll get some pictures of the wall to post so everyone knows what I am talking about. It's a great workout and that way I don't have to get all cold and stuff riding my bicycle outside. Climbing indoors is kind of like putting your bicycle on a trainer or rollers. It's better than freezing your butt off. In my opinion of course. I am sure that Jeff K. would disagree.

Today's stage of Paris-Nice is being shortened due to heavy snowfall and some of the other stages could suffer as well. Read it here. It really bites when the organizers have to do this, I feel kind of like I'm getting shortchanged on my cycling fix. I guess I'll have to surf the MTBR forums and see what's going on over there.

I wonder what Ed's up to? Does he have a family update yet?

-Peace

Well even after yesterday's windy ride my legs feel pretty good. Just a bit tender and not over cooked. Hopefully I might get the chance to go out again on Tuesday if the weather isn't too bad. I started work this morning at the print shop at 6:00 and I will not be done working until 10:00 tonight. I will get off of work at the print shop around 4:30 and I have to work at the climbing wall at UNI from 5:00 until 10:00. Makes good money but you get worn out pretty quick. Need the money to pay for tools and stuff.

I tried to watch the Paris-Nice prologue yesterday since OLN is only going to have cycling coverage on Sundays until the Tour de France starts. Of course it would help if their station was working. All I had was a black screen all afternoon until it was time for the rodeo and then the station miraculously started working again. Cycling coverage is really lacking in this country. Thankfully there is cycling.tv available as per Jeff Y's blog. Congrats on the top ten finish yesterday Mr. Yielding. That's a great way to start the season.

Live coverage of Paris-Nice stage 1 starts at 7:30 a.m. on cyclingnews.

Okay I need to get some work done.

-Peace

Went for a ride today with Jeff K. and the great prairie winds of Iowa. What was it, like 25 mph out of the SW? Wow, was it brutal going into that. That my friends is how you train for long climbs when you live in an area with limited elevation change. We did the "Shell Rock loop" which goes from Cedar Falls to New Hartford to Shell Rock to Finchford and back to Cedar Falls. The county roads around Shell Rock have all been repaved but that ends at the Butler / Black Hawk county line on the way to Finchford. Now if the would just repave New Hartford to Shell Rock that loop would rock. It was a 3.5 hour ride for me from my house. You'll have to check out Jeff K's version about the ride. He went for 7.5 hours total today. Guys crazy but, riding with him definately makes me better, I have to bust butt to keep up with him. The "country part" of the ride went really well but, once we got back into town we came pretty close to being pushed off the road...by a brand new BMW 5 series...twice...same car. Just goes to show that people with money aren't better drivers. Another interesting observation was the fact that we didn't see any other cyclists out on the loop. Once we arrived back in CF though, they were everywhere - staying out of the wind, wuss. All in all it was a pretty good ride.

-Peace

It is very nice outside already this morning. It's already 41° F and it may get into the 60's today. I am going to the annual pancake breakfast at Hartman Reserve at 9 to consume enough to fill my belly but still allow me to go for a road ride with Mr. 24 from 12 to 3. He is meeting up with the "fast" guys at 3 for an hour ride and I may try to keep up with them for awhile, but we will see how I feel then.

Pretty busy at the shop yesterday with all of the nice weather. A lot of new people coming in to buy bikes for differing reas0ns. My favorite yesterday was a young couple (mid-upper 20's) who wanted to bu bikes because they may be going on RAGBRAI for the first time ever. Of course they don't want to spend too much money so they buy a couple of entry-level hybrid bikes. They do test rides (he was a bit sketchy on a bike), helmet fitting, added accesories, etc., and then take care of the paper work. When we are finishing up with all of the technical stuff (liability release on a bike rack) he informs me that he is a lawyer so he read the liability waiver very close. Of course when he said lawyer I instantly thought he was pretty cheap for buying the low end bikes when planning on doing all the riding that they were talking about. This is when he also mentioned to his wife that he hasn't riden a bicycle since he was a kid. This explained the sketchy part during the test ride and the reason for buying entry-level bikes. Well, I hope they enjoy them and come back to buy the good stuff.

Okay I have to get things in order before I take off for Hartman.

Sorry Ed, no German today.

-Peace

Went out and got my butt kicked yeasterday by Ed. We only put in 15 miles in an hour, 6 miles of it into the wind, but it was my first ride of the year so it wasn't too bad, considering. Came acrossed a cell phone on the gravel road during our ride and reunited it with it's owner last night. He seemed pretty happy about getting it back. I also found a MidAmerican Energy payment laying in my driveway. Postal person must have dropped it (nice job). See what happens, the USPS drop off as primary sponsor of Lance and the boys and the next thing you know Postal carriers are dropping mail on the ground. Way to go USPS. Anyway, my neighbor seemed pretty happy to have that returned too. What can I say, I was "Mr. Good Samaritan" yesterday. It makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

I get to work with Mr.24 at the shop today and we should have nice weather which means we will be busy. If you are not busy, you should stop in and say "Guten Tag!" to your local shop employees and I believe Kerkove is giving piggy-back rides after 2 o'clock this afternoon.seven= sieben

Here's your German for the day Ed.

Lavender= lila
white= weiß ß is a sharp s
orange= orange
grey= grau
brown= braun

seven= sieben
eight= acht
nine= neun
ten= zehn
eleven= elf
twelve= zwölf

head= der Kopf
leg= das Bein
foot= der Fuß
arm= der Arm
hand= die Hand

Saturday= Samstag
Sunday= Sonntag


Okay that should be enough to get you through the weekend Ed.

Auf Wiedersehen!

Pretty light work load so far this morning. Hopefully it will stay that way because I need to get this new software down. It is getting better but, it's still slow.

I only put in 60 minutes on the trainer last night with a low gear and a cadence of 90-95 rpm keeping the heart rate in the low to mid 130's. I just needed to spin things out because the plan is to get out for a ride on the XTC through the Greenbelt this afternoon with Ed. It will be my first official outing of the year so Ed better take it easy. I am not ready for a death march quite yet, saving that for Sunday with Mr.24.

The new Bell Sweep R helmet has arrived at the shop this week and I must say it is a beauty. Fits really well, I will need one soon. Kerkove takes off 30 minutes early on Tues and Thurs night to go do the roller rides and I get to hold down the fort alone. 9 times out of 10 everything is pretty quiet but, every once in a while you get the one customer who walks in two minutes until close and just walks around, looking at all the bling-bling while his wife is shopping at Goodwill. Last night I was actually able to converse with a real cyclist about pedals until about 6:10. These are the customers I like to hang out with. They may not purchase anything but, the are seeking knowledge and that is one thing that I am always willing to give out. This customer is presently using Look pedals, which have a self centering design, and he has knee problems that may require surgery. He inquired about the Speedplay X/2 pedals with a free floating design for a more knee-friendly experience. I use the Speedplay Zero Stainless and absolutely love them. Super comfy, easy to use, the bling-bling factor, what else could you ask for? Anyway, I don't mind staying late at all for this type of person, it actually makes me feel like I actually did something.

The information for the MTB race @ Camp Ingawanis is at the shop (Kerkove pointed out that my picture is on the flyer - I'm somebody now). If Trans_iowa doesn't kill me, I hope to do this race, it's a great course.

Don't forget. Paris-Nice starts on Sunday. OLN has coverage, not great coverage, but coverage nontheless.

Today's German lesson for Ed.

Friday= Freitag

Four= vier
Five= fünf
Six= sechs

Green= grün
Pink= rosa
Black= schwarz

warm= warm (German 'w' sounds like an English 'v')
cold= kalt

bicycle= das Fahrrad
4-wheeled coffin= das Auto
Cell Phone= die Handi

Okay I think that is good for today.

-Peace

Not a whole lot to say today. I have lots of work to get done this morning unlike yesterday when I sat around for the first three hours of my day. It will make the day go by a bit quicker and then I can go have fun at the shop tonight.

I put in 75 minutes on the trainer last night doing intervals. 5 intervals, 6 minutes each, total workout had an avg.HR of 150 and a max. HR of 180. Felt really good, I am fealing a little better each day and am actually starting to get that "I want to ride outside" bug. I'm thinking a couple of centuries a week maybe. I don't know yet. I must say that watching the '03 TdF helps out quite a bit. It has helped me to gain my cadence back (mid 90's) by matching the cadence of the racers. I always lose my cadence pretty bad over the winter.

It has been brought to my attention that Ed doesn't know German (Deutsch). Well I am going to try to help you out a little bit with some daily lessons. First we will work on some basic vocabulary. Yes I do understand that pronunciation will be difficult but, if you stop in the shop sometime I can explain that to you.

Thursday= Donnerstag

One= eins
Two= zwei
Three= drei


Blue= blau
Yellow= gelb
Red= rot

Check out this really cool website to see Der Konig mit dem fahrrad.

Well here I am...at work...getting paid...with nothing to do. I know what you're thinking, "must be rough to get paid to do nothing". Well let me tell you, it is extremely boring. I could be sleeping or riding or doing homework or mmmmm....XBOX (still haven't touched it Ed). Oh well, I'll be buried up to my eyeballs in work within the hour.

I do believe that I have finished the construction of the Hartman Reserve User Survey. It's two pages long but very direct questions with multiple choice answers so even the average person should be able to fill it out.

80 minutes on the trainer last night while watching the 2003 Tour de France. I have most of the stages on VHS and watching them helps me to stay motivated. Jakob Piil of CSC won the sprint at the line. Pretty sweet. During Frankie Andreau's interview with Jakob Piil, Frankie totaled Americanized Jakob's name. Yes, it does look similar to 'Jacob' but, Jakob is from Denmark so pronunciation is different. Duh Frankie (WARNING: his website is not in English so all you can do is look at pictures, unless you speak Danish). Anyway, five sets of intervals. Avg. HR of 156, Max. HR of 187. The burn was very nice. It was also the first "ride" with my new Fi'zi:k Poggio saddle. Very, very nice. I set it up on Monday and made all of the necessary adjustments to maximize the comfort factor. It is an extremely comfortable saddle that I believe will help me to log some really long miles.

Well, I am going to work on school work for a while now.

-Peace

Fairly uneventful so far today. I am in the middle of learning yet another new operating system to run the "laser" at work. There are a lot of new features (won't use most of them) that are supposed to make things better (take longer) but it just adds to the frustration of everyone waiting for me to get work for them. People get impatient and they begin to yell at me. It makes me sad. I need to stop by the shop to be happy again. Bicycles bring smiles to the faces of the people around them. I like bicycles, they are my friends.

I have a group project that I am working on for my Research & Evaluation class in conjunction with Hartman Reserve Nature Center (HRNC). We are attempting to determine who uses HRNC, when they use it (time of day & time of year), how they use the area, and what improvements/additions they would like to see. It sounds fairly time consuming but, it's not like I am busy with anything else at all.

Have not touched the XBOX in over a week.
I have been on the trainer regularly - just for you Ed.

Big props go out to Jeff Y. for the cycling.tv links. I can now watch the races without leaving the computer, without commercials, with good commentating, and without getting upset about too much NASCRAP. I owe you one.

Well, I think I'll go surf for a while, get some homework done, that kind of stuff.

-Peace