Fall, TransIowa, Gravel,Iowa, Mississippi River, Sabula,

Those are the things that have been running through my mind. I am a bit far away from the roads where I used to ride with my Slender Fungi and that has me concerned and worried. I have been riding my road bike, my fixed gear and hitting up the Water Fall Glen trail but to be honest it just all feels kinda empty. There isn't enough suffering, the surfaces are too smooth, I cannot ride my fatter tires. So I must find some kind of solution to this dilemma. I have been dreaming of organizing a ride out in Iowa but my weekends have been booked solid trying to settle back in IL. So, for the time being I am dreaming and thinking of all these things while I ride and sleep.
I have this bug, this yearning that something is missing. I must escape to Iowa, must take the Fargo and go for a long gravel ride.
Ari

Calling all riders for help, calling for help.........

 

 

 

 

The Donut Shop with No Name

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My sister-in-law has finally made the leap and is going to open a donut shop in the near future. She is honing her recipe and I have been sampling some of the best donuts I have tried in a long time. Her Donuts are not as sweet, do not have that burnt taste from oil that has not been changed and they have the right shape, size and consistency. The only link missing is that we don't have a name for the place. We are asking people to come up with a name for the shop. We are looking for a name that is easy to remember, rolls off the tongue easily and that has a bit of Americana to it. Think of these names that we have seen:

 

 

Dunkin' Donuts

 

Dimple Donuts

 

Randy's Donuts

 

Honey Fluff Donuts.

 

 

 

If you have an idea we would like to see it in the comments.

 

 

Tomorrow might mark a long ride for me since the 40 miles that I ride on Sunday is just not cutting it.

If I don't get to bed so late I will be out pounding a long mileage day.

In the afternoon my Bro is firing up the brick oven and we are cooking some Pizzas.

 

 

Enjoy the weekend.

 

 

 

Ari 

Puma Farka experiences...........

So this past Sunday we ended up having a total of 9 riders which seems to be a large crowd. We dearly missed Trapper since he had decided to evade civilization and escaped to the driftless part of Wisconsin.
The shop continues to be busy with the back to school panic. Bikes that have been sitting in the attic for 40 years suddenly have to be tuned because Blain is grown up and going to college tomorrow. The interest in the fat bikes keeps growing and we just turned another XL to a nice man from Chicago. He could not get over how nice the moonlander rides and feels and he is optimistic it will help him become a stronger rider for next spring.
I have been riding my steamroller as I transition away from the road bike and onto the cross. Temps are starting to drop in the morning hours so soon enough it will be time for jackets and warmers. Lots of neat bikes coming out from all the companies as we hit the new season. So far I have not been really impressed by anything. I still want an All City Spacehorse and I would not mind a bitching fast Cinelli Mash to fly into Chicago with.
In the meantime I will ride my junker bikes that I have.

Make it nice,

Wifey and daughter riding the Surly Big Dummy. Yes, we do sell those wacked bikes.

No, You cannot put those "big Tires" on your G.T Avalanche. You need a specific Frame. 

Puma Farka chilling at the 7-11 in Batavia. Peter, Snake, Ricardo, Miroslav, and my bro in Pink.

Pleasure to ride with the Mesh.

Ari

Time to get Fat

 Puma Farka Cycling Club. 

Downers Grove, IL. 

Thank God the road season is coming to a wrap and it is time to get on the wider bikes. As of late I have been enjoying my Steamroller. It is a fine machine and with some riser bars, All City Grips and a 42x15 I love riding the thing. Puma Farka was out this morning at 7 a.m. at the Bucks in D.G. and we had a great ride. Trapper and I caught a landscaping truck and rode 35mph into a headwind. I received a Cateye doublewireless and spun out at 144rpms. What a dork. 
My new Job at Hartley's Cycle in Hinsdale has been fantastic. Ken and I go back a long time and are good friends. We have great customer service and have great customers. We sell Giant, Cannondale, Eddy Merckx, Surly, Electra, Gunnar, Waterford and Bianchi. 
In the service department I have Miroslav and Snake. They have both been working with me for a very long time. 
We are starting to bring in some Fat Bikes for the fall and winter season. At about 2400 bucks the Surly MOONlander is the best fat bike out there. 
So, as the weather continues to change we will be having excursions out to Palos Hills and Waterfall Glen. I have to regain some trails that have grown over. 

make it nice, 

steamroller with the risers. Iam never going back to drops

Moonlander with mallets, Gobi saddle and Cork Ergons.

Moonlandres and my old skool Pugsley

Miroslav amazed by the enormous wheel.

Building up a moonlander

My favorite boxes arrive

Put a lower stem to get the position right.

Saw this awesome idea from customer. Put the cable in, tighten in the gear you like and then anchor it. I think I would add the barrel adjuster to fine tune it easier. Nice, really nice.

Ari 

Introducing....................................................

Puma Farka Cycling Club

It is a pretty long story as to why my new shop decided on this name. Let's just say that it is in honor of one of the greatest mechanics you have ever met in you lives. He smoked a lot, could not speak much english and he was very short so he could not test ride any of the adult bikes that he built or repaired. He was hired on the spot because of his heavy accent. Our old boss thought that if the Emperor of the East, Miroslav, was such a mechanical wizz, Puma would be even greater since he had much more broken english. The rest is a long story that we should go over with a bottle of heavy red wine and some smoked ham.  So we are gathering several times a week to ride and punish our old bodies and from now on we will do it in his honor. Come join us if you feel like it and if not we really don't care.

We ride on Tuesdays 6:30 a.m Road

Wednesdays Trapper and I are doing Cyclocross training  630am

Fridays we have another road ride at 7 am.

Sundays we ride out to Batavia and back as fast as possible so we can spend more time at the coffee shop.

Join as if you like. You are required to have a Puma certified bicycle, a helmet and a complete set of vise-grips at home or in your repair kit.

Puma and his friend getting a frozen B.B out of a Colnago.

Picture dates around 1995 in the back of Bicycle Specialties.

Picture taken by B.K of M.K.

This is copyright material so please don't use it  without my permission.

Make it nice,

Ari



August and the summer is slipping away.

As we enter the month of August the summer heat is seeming to dwindle. Today was a wonderful day and there was plenty of sunshine and dry heat. I was not able to get on the bike because we are still trying to get the house in order to start the new school year. We are giving up hope with Xfinity and are going to try a smaller company and see how they work. As I come back to IL and move into a more "urban" area I have noticed my dislike for technology. Today I was in Costco and was amazed at the new t.v.'s that are out. They are so big, have so many features, have Wifi, HD, and I don't know what other features. I got scared for a moment and just wanted to say no to all of it. 
We have had a hard time with getting service that works at home. That is why my blogging has been so sporadic. Have we become so dependent on all this crap? Are we losing touch? There is this frantic desperation to be informed and in contact all the time and that gets me tired. 
I have pondered with the idea of letting go of this blog many a times. I have kept it going just to convey some ideas and to give cycling all the help it needs. I hope you share my idea that technology has gone nuts. I will commence to ride more, perhaps type more since I cannot figure out how to download my pictures yet. 
Tomorrow the gang will get out for our Sunday road ride to Batavia and back and I will get another chance to turn those pedals. I hope I am never forced to run an electronic shifting system on my bike. I love my cables too much. 
As many of you have read Trans Iowa 9 has been announced and the Slender Fungus will start planning this wonderful expedition to the Strade Bianche of Iowa. Thank you Guitar Ted for the extreme effort to put on another Trans Iowa for us riders. 
Giggles, Cookie and I will be there for sure. I can't wait to start going on long rides again. 


Make it nice, 

Ari 
President, Slender Fungus Cycling Association. 

Hello? Is it me you are looking for??

Hello out there to all my loyal readers. Our stay out in beautiful Upstate New York ended on the last day of June. I have nothing but good things to say about our stay out there. The landscape is absolutely beautiful and I will always look foward to getting out there again. I love the condition of the roads, the shoulders, the Erie Canal trail, the singletrack, the endless parks and preserves and the diverse culture that is found around the Syracuse area.
We packed up the 26' U-haul and headed back to Illinois. We are currently in our old neighborhood, about 20 miles outside of Chicago. We have rented our house out in the Dekalb area and decided to move closer to the city and to where there is more work and people.
IF you are out and about, like T.J. you can visit me at my current shop which is Hartley's Cycle in Hinsdale, IL.  It is a very old school shop and I have worked there in the past and I love it. The Owner and I go back long years and there also work my old friends Mike, Snake, C.B. and Davey.
We sell Cannondale, Giant, Gunnar, Electra and do lots of repairs and custom wheel builds. The vibe is great, the jokes and storytelling endless and the day goes by quickly.
We currently are spending our time on road bikes and have 3 rides we do: Tuesday morning before work we meet at Starbucks in Downers Grove. We get in a 1.5 hour ride before work. We do the same on Fridays. On Sunday we meet at 7 at the Starbucks and head out to Batavia and back. It is a fairly quck ride and we have a blast.
I also commute to work everyday and my ride is 15 minutes to the shop. It is not even worth thinking of driving since parking is such a hassle in Hinsdale.
Last week we headed out on a road trip to Iowa. We visited the Maquoketa caves and did some gravel exploring just west of Sabula, Iowa. I have been eyeing that are for a gravel grinder for some time now. I hope to eventually map out a ride and then have an event. So, for the time being I will try to post more often as things at home get stabalized and our connection to to outer world continues to work.