Good bye to the Professor

I am so devasted to read that Laurent Fignon has passed away. I have so much respect for his style, his way of riding and his attitude. I am deeply saddened and he will also be added to the list of people that I will remember all the time.

Ari

more riding

Do It yourself lighting

Last nights ride with Gumby

Then this mornings ride out of the shop. Man I hate that bright sunshine!

Riding home around 12:30 a.m. last night. It was cold, thank God

Gumby's secret gravel travels.

Rode the shocker a lot this week. Rode Wed, thursday, friday, saturday. Friday night was a great ride. Call Gumby and met up at his shed and ended home with 50 miles of gravel and road. Woke up saturday morning to attend the shop ride out at 730am. Rode 25 at a good pace on the Cannondale CAAD 9. Thursday was a great ride with the Wife on a very beautiful day. I really enjoy when the weather gets drier and those f#$%&*(ing mosquitoes go away. Man, where they the worst ever. All the hard work I put into the powerline trail has been just a waste. Nobody rode the thing and the weeds are again 6 feet tall. It is just amazing. We should really go out there and keep that trail alive. It is worth it. The Shocker has been a revelation. 35 lbs with an internal gear hub. Suspension fork and post and a real good riding position. It is great on bumpy gravel and the huge continental touring tires are the ticket. Gumby and I and perhaps new mechanic Chad will be working on a ride down south. We hope it rains so it won't be easy and that it will also scare people.
Hope all is well. Our laptop is back in order and Comcast never informed me that they changed their whole online pay bill thingy, so I almost suffered a disconnection. I chatted with some friendly person, somewhere far away from the u.s. and they got me back on track.

Best,

Ari

Day off riding

Wifey and the fancy Bleriot

Nothing but green, white and blue. What country is that? 'merica

In a rare occasion the Mrs and I had some time off together. We saddled up and took the GWT trail out to Wasco and back clocking in 37 miles altogether. The weather was absolutely perfect with the temps in the low 70's and not a hint of humidity. I was riding the brown Shocker and the wife was on her fancy Rivendelll Bleriot. It was kinda weird to be out in daylight and see things one normally does not see during the night. I must confess I still prefer to ride in the dark. I feel that I am getting back on track with the riding and feel like this is going to be a good season.
Ari

trip to decorah and some other riding

Giugi at Dunning's Spring

A great trail for Family riding.

My greatest supporter

Straight Shot style riding

My great friend Ben Shockey

Big Mama Express

Giugi and I climbing very steep hills

a moment of gentleness.

Last nights ride. Glad you all missed it!

My new secret weapon.

Secret eatery of the Slender Fungus

Stretching the the legs on the Cannondale CAAD 9

My dream Car. Alfa Romeo GT Junior from the 70's

As usual we went up to our favorite place Decorah, Iowa. The 5 hour drive went by like a breeze. We had mounted the Salsa Big Mama on the rack and stuffed the wife's Interloc and the trailabike in the trunk. Our suitcases were in the back seat along with the little one. We stayed there for a few days and just enjoyed riding the trails, walking, and hitting up the local bar. Was really stoked to meet up with Ben Shockey and do a nice gravel grinder up to Bluffton. The local hills quickly reminded me of the route we had done on T.IV4. That's were Ben lives and those are the roads he rides. Great way to get ready for the Trans Iowa. On the other hand summer time is the time were I get fat and out of shape. My season basically starts August 1st. At that point I am starting to work on base miles, lose some weight and start to get in some lengthy miles. I am known for riding loose shoulders on roads for miles on end. That is why sometimes I am referred to as straight shot. In the five days I was in decorah I clocked in 200 miles on the 4" suspension Salsa. I felt good and by the fifth straight day of riding I was noticing a change. It also helped that I did not have to stand on my feet for 9 hours a day.
I was also able to get in a 50 mile ride on the Cannondale in sub 3 hours, and last night we had an awesome, awesome ride with Gumby out on the trail. I am glad nobody else showed up.
So, the girls are back in school, Gumby's kids are in school and we are starting to fall into our Autumn routine. Bikes are ready, lights are good, we will work on Gumby's winter bike situation and I am stoked for some cold weather.
As far as the Salsa Big Mama, it is really fun to ride. Even if hard core trails don't exist it is useful to have the full suspension. It is plush and it keeps the arms and back fresh.



Looking foward to Fall and a lot of riding.

best,


Ari

The Mukluk is Coming to NCC

Thanks to Joe from Salsa Cycles for the funny Video!!

While the gang at the shop was talking and seeing the new Salsas, the girls and I were up in Decorah taking some days off before school started. I was fortunate enough to wrangle my Salsa Big Mama onto the rear mounted rack of the Pantani-mobile and make the 5 hour trek. I rode the large beast for 5 days and covered over 200 miles on it.
I rode some great singletrack, did a lot of gravel roads, pavement and also pulled the Adams Trail a bike with my 7 year old daughter on it. The blogging has been spotty since the Toshiba laptop has a busted charger. I should be up to speed starting friday. I need to do a huge photo dump that is clogging my cameras.
I encourage all to go to the Salsa cycles website and check out the new bikes. If you are thinking of a snow bike DONT THINK FOR TOO LONG. Come in and place a deposit because when these animals come out they will be gone. We will also continue to build the incredible Surly Pugsley as well.

More to come soon,

best,


ari

Trek World Part Three

The Trek maintained singletrack in Waterloo, Wisconsin. It was a blast to ride the Gary Fisher Superfly Elite on these trails. I would have ridden for at least 24 hours without stopping. Seriously.

Probably the best Moutain bike I have ever ridden. Xo 2x10, great wheels, fox fork, avid hydros, Tubeless tires, Carbon frame,

Gary Fisher hanging out with us. He loves bikes and is just full of knowledge.

I was really happy to meet up with my good friend, Trans Iowa buddy, Pizza Dan.

Just wanted to convey that the show was amazing. I really enjoyed going through 9 one hour seminars and hearing the speeches by John Burke (president of Trek) and many other great guests that were invited. Trek has heard a lot of comments about their products and has spent a lot of time, effort and dinero to rectify those situations. The Gary Fisher line is just fabulous. I rode the Superfly elite 29er for 2 hours on singletrack and did not want to give it up. I also rode the Cronus Carbon Crossbike and it rides perfect. The transport is going to be a good seller as are many other bikes. Wheels, tires, clothing, helmets, shoes have seen dramatic improvements over past models.
So, I encourage you to check out these products and give the Gary Fisher line a good inspection if you are looking for that special niche bike. Whether you are into the Superfly, Rumblefish, Cronus, Sawyer or others, we will be able to order them as they become available. Keep in mind that these are special bikes so don't wait around too long.

Below is the link with all the photos I took at Trek World feel free to check them out.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/20897064@N02/sets/72157624575532113/

Almost New Glarus Ride on Sunday the 8th of August

Morrie Straight Shooting it to Sycamore on Rte 64

Old decaying tree, fresh strong little oak tree.

New Glarus ride in full swing.

NCC boys

Morrie holding a wheel up front.

Morrie and I met up with the gang in the back of the shop to see them out of town on their New Glarus annual ride. We had to go visit my bro before Morrie left for Germany so we just ended up doing a quick 40 miles and were home by 9 something a.m. The crew encountered the hand of the law and had their plans heavily modified. If you want more of that kind of scoop visit the North Central Cyclery Blog and get the low-downer.



best,

Ari

Trek World Part Two

Here is the incredible Tim Blumenthal from Bikesforpeople.org. Stop by the shop to sign the sheet so we can all make a difference in our evergrowing bicycle population.
Lots of inspiring ideas came from these seminars.

Trek World Part One

Attended Trek World recently and I really learned a lot and also saw a lot of new product. The whole show was truly themed around advocacy. I encourage you to start riding your bikes whenever you can.

more to come.

Ari

Thursday night Slender Fungus Ride

Morrie hitting the gravel

Gumby on the now rare Gary Fisher

Hanging out at some powerstation.

Night riding is the best. Too bad we can't convince more people. Maybe it's better that way.

Since Morrie will be departing back to the old continent next week we got out tonight to do a gravel grinder. We met up at the Gumby Shed and departed around 9:00 p.m. usual time. We hit some secret gravel and had a blast. Roads were absolutely dead, corn was tall and the temps had finally fallen to were it felt a bit chilly as we were warming up. Gumby was on his Gary Fisher Presidio, Morrie on the Interloc and I was riding the Surly Steamroller with a Carbon fork and low flange front hub. The combination of chunky Surly fork with a large flange hub made for a real harsh ride. I was also rolling on some old school Michelin Cross tires in green. Drivetrain was fixed and the bike rolled very well. We clocked in a decent 30 miles of gravel and the roads were very bumpy. They had been graded but nobody seems to be driving them so the chunky stuff is still on top.
The winds tonight had shifted and were coming out of the north, northwest. It was such a change to be able to feel comfortable whilst riding. I cannot wait for the cooler temps and actually I am looking foward to the winter for sure. Pugsley is riding very fine indeed and I am also contemplating whether I should also rig up a studded tire bike.

Untitled from Slender Fungus on Vimeo.

junior showing off his smooth pedal stroke.


best,

ari

tuesday night rides, Sunday Hundo, Fatty tires

Morrie on the GWT

Taking a break in St. Charlies

Shortcutting on Mt. Hunger.

Slender Fungus member out of his element. I nearly melted to death on Sunday

G2 and Potatoe chips to keep those heat cramps away.
Bytheway the Chili rides Hott.

Morrie singlespeeding his first 50 miler. And he accomplished it!

He loves to ride the bike.

been really busy but did the tuesday ride last week, then rode 100 miles on Sunday and tonight did the tuesday night ride. It was wet, foggy , buggy, buggy, and really warm and humid. Man did I feel gross. Rode with Gumby and Mauri. Cross bike with fatties, cause anything else is cheating.


150 miles so far for the month. Am targeting 1000.

T.I training will start soon.


best,

ari