Thursday, November 27, 2008

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

12 miles - Bryn Mar/Cuppa Java - 26 degrees - 11/25/08

12 miles

Swamp Monster

Went to lunch with my wife at Cuppa Java in Bryn Mar neighborhood of Minneapolis...I had the Reuben and a cup of asparagus and cheese soup...it was delicious...definitely recommend the Reuben!!!

Monday, November 24, 2008

Introducing the Swamp Monster winter bike!!!

The name comes the fact that this bike was in a flood...therefore it was severely dirty and has a lot of oxidization on the aluminum components.

I took the parts off and washed them in solvent and since there were no brakes, I added a set from my 1985 Trek MTB, which work swell.

I added the fenders, which obviously need adjusted, the Bontrager cyclocross tires (b/c this is a winter bike), the nice Bontrager saddle, my SPD pedals, a rear light and a couple of stickers to spruce it up.

I don't like Grip Shift, but it functions fine and I took it out for a 20 mile test ride today and the Monster rides great. I wish I could ditch the flat bar, but that would be too much work.

This is primarily a winter bad weather bike...so I can retire my Trek "winter bike" and save that nice old frame from the salt!!!

The Trek will get Extracycled next year!!! That I cannot wait for....














20 miles - Errands - Hardware Store TJ's/Lake Hariet/Uptown/SW Corridor - 34 degrees - 11/24/08

20 miles (approximate)

Maiden voyage of the Swamp Monster...see above post. I helped an old guy fix his flat on his Giant Yukon dics mountain bike...he never fixed one before...my good deed for the day is complete!!

12.64 miles - Commute/Cedar Lake/Minnetonka Blvd Extension - 31/31/degrees - 11/23/08

12.64 miles
avg 16.4
max 26.1
cal 395.9
0.46.11

Trek Winter Bike

Friday, November 21, 2008

10.94 miles - Commute - 24/19 degrees - 11/21/08

10.94 miles
avg 15.4
max 25.9
cal 323.4
0.42.04

Trek Winter Bike

Thursday, November 20, 2008

12.34 miles - Commute - 24/16 degrees - 11/20/08

12.34 miles
avg 15.0
max 29.7
cal 349.9
0.49.15
Trek Winter Bike

Very chilly ride...the goggles helped tremendously, but they don't work well with the helmet...I am going to look at the helmet option.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

3240 miles - goal 3500 mile mark by December 31rst

19.31 miles - Lake Circuit/Errands - 31 degrees - 11/18/08

19.31 miles
avg 15.1
max 23.1
cal 524.3
1.16.20

Trek Winter Bike

Was going to do the Greenway/Minnehaha Parkway loop but decided against it due to the windy cold...I figured that if it got too chilly I could just hop off the Lake Trails and head home...it was a good idea...I hit all the lakes from Cedar to Lake of the Isles to the E side of Calhoun and 3/4 of the way around Lake Hariet...I went through Linden Hills to trader Joe's to finish up my grocery shopping...so I had to ride with both panniers and my backpack - no big deal really...not too excited about taking "pleasure" rides in this weather...

My two dilemmas are:
1. figuring out how to dry my lobster gloves...I put them in the dryer tonight, but I don't want to waste a half hour of electric just to dry my gloves...my other thoughts were a) use the hair dryer shoved inside them on low, or b) take a piece of PVC pipe and shove it into the wrists to open them up to air, or c) a combination of both.
2. finding a system, besides just taping under the sole of my shoe to keep the air out. I was thinking that my Am-Phib shoe pullovers just don't keep the cold wind out enough. I may try and Velcro something over the toe area, because the pullover only covers the top of the shoe and allows air to get into the front of the shoe.

7.81 miles - Commute - 11/17/08

7.81 miles
avg 15.3
max 29.3
cal 230.0
0.30.36
Trek Winterbike

Sunday, November 16, 2008

22.93 miles - Commute/Errands - 28/31 degrees - 11/16/08

22.93 miles
avg 15.2
max 30.5
cal 660.7
1.30.04

Trek Winter Bike

SW Corridor to Dunn Bros on lake St...by Lake of the Isles/Cedar lake/bridge over Cedar Lake Trail to Cedar Lake Rd...west to Penn Cycle/work...home and then to Trader Joe's and back...chilly ride...on the way to work my index finger and thumb swelled and went numb on my right hand...

Friday, November 14, 2008

23.21 miles - Commute/Erands - 36/31 degrees - 11/14/08

23.21 miles
avg 15.1
max 28.4
cal 665.3
1.31.33

Trek Winter Bike

Thursday, November 13, 2008

7 miles - Errands - 11/13/08

7 miles

Trek Winter Bike

Trader Joes/Jerry's Hardware and home via SW Corridor

Vintage Trek "Winter Bike"

My very slow, but very comfortable winter bike put together with a vintage Trek (1981 or 82?) Ishiwata tubed lugged steel frame.


It has Tektro brake levers and Tektro long reach caliper brakes on a Salsa "Moto Ace bell Lap" 44cm cyclcocross handlebar. The bar is attached to a new origin 8 80mm long quill stem. The stem sits inside a newly installed Shimano STX headset.




It rides on Serfas Vida Cruiser - 700x38 80psi tires. I've installed the best fender set available, which is the Bontrager Select removeable fender.



022 Ishiwata steel frame.




Bontrager mountain bike saddle (very comfy actually) and a Bontrager aluminum seat post - 26.6 I believe. I have a bracket for a Planet Bike rear light - the best on the market in my opinion.





The coolest feature is the vintage Shimano bar end friction shifter, which came of a very old "Sentinel" bike frame...the find of the year!!! Its works great. I say it because I do not use the left hand shifter - I find that there is no need for a front derailleur here in Minnesota.






Vintage Shimano bar end shifter states "patent pending." I also installed Bontrager grippy handlebar tape - great stuff!!







New stem and headset as noted before...








XT rear derailleur...I may replace this with an LX or something....I don't want to risk ruining a great rear derailleur this winter!! The 5 speed cassette may contribute to the slowness of this bike, but it may be hard to find a faster geared cassette to fit this wheel...
My wheelset is culled from a 1990 Trek 330 road bike. It has a sturdy concave rims that I feel will be great for what I need on this bike...





Origin 8 175mm crankeset with Shimano SPD 520 pedals...









18.38 miles - Greenway/River/Greenway - 36 degree - 11/12/08

18.38 miles
avg 15.8
max 20.7
cal 524.9
1.09.48
Trek Winter bike

First real ride on the winter bike as a complete bike...I took off the cyclocross tires (700x38 - 90psi) due to lack of clearance from the knobbies on the side and put on the Serfas Vida (700x38 - 75 psi)....it is very slow - feels like I am riding in slow motion....but it is very comfortable - I prefer fast!!!!

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

21.47 miles - Commute/ Cedar Lake Extension - 26 degrees - 11/10/08

21.47 miles
16.4 avg
max 28.6
cal 707.4
1.18.29
Trek 330 single speed

Very chilly at 26 degrees, but surprizingly my feet and fingers stayed warm, which was probably due to the lack of wind today...although my water bottle froze a nice layer on my ride home.

Saturday, November 8, 2008

My Trek Project One Madone 6.9 Pro dream bike!!!


You can customise your own at:
I may be able to win this one...Trek is giving away 6 custom bikes to employees and dealer employees...but you can build your own bike just for fun...it really is a cool site.
Mine resembles a Ferrari dream bike, which really doesn't fit my personality...but I like this one anyway!!!

8.03 miles -Commute - 11/-07/08

8.03 miles
avg 16.7
max 32.8
cal 273.2
0.28.45
Trek 330 Single speed

Thursday, November 6, 2008

10.12 miles - Commute/Target - 11/06/08

10.12 miles
16.0 avg
max 27.7
cal 320.9
0.37.45
Trek 330 single speed

Starting to get chilly.....

Bye Bye George - Don't Call Us. We'll Call You!!!


Wednesday, November 5, 2008

8.42 miles - Commute - 11/5/08

8.42 miles
avg 16.2
max 32.8
cal 280.1
0.31.01
Trek 330 Single Speed

50.24 miles - Lunch w/ LeeAnn (my wife)/Theo Wirth/YMCA/Lake Calhoun/Wooddale - 11/4/08

50.24 miles
16.7 avg
max 33.0
cal 1653.5
3.00.23
Poprad

November...70 degrees....what??? It was absolutely gorgeous outside today....I had to split my ride today - afternnon and then evening...even the evening ride was great. I got hoem at 11PM...can't wait 'til next year!!!

Monday, November 3, 2008

15.72 miles - Commute/Errands/Quick joy ride - 11/3/08

15.72 miles
16.9 avg
max 26.1
cal 536.0
0.55.39
Vintage Trek Commuter

Today was absolutely perfect...probably over 70 degrees - and its November!!!!

Waiting for Train video



It lame...I know!

12.80 miles - Errands - 11/2/08

12.80 miles
avg 15.8
max 24.7
cal 394.8
0.48.25
Vintage Trek Commuter

Drop off movie rental...FedEx...CRC for coffee - read a great short story called "The Hermit's Story" by Rick Bass...headed home...