Iditabike invitational 2013

Our fellow comrades from the DBD are out racing in Alaska as we get paranoid about the couple of inches snow we are receiving here in the midwest. 
Jason Buffington is up on the leader area while Charlie Farrow is roaming around 15th place. What a race! What courage and determination!!
The Slender Fungus wishes these guys a good finish and health. 
Here is the link so you can follow them. 
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?key=0ApSjGdk7EFlidHdiMXdSLW9zX0Z1RFJDQm5aSWdkZWc&output=html




Hope all is well. I will be back on the bike soon. Chemical medicines are destroying my sickness and everything else in there. 
Hold on, just hold on, 
Ari 

Living in the Past and staying there.

I must admit that I am aware of what is going on around me. I am not blind by any means. We used to live in a more rural setting and things were actually a bit more mellow. After moving back to the outskirts of The smelly onion city we have noticed the "urban" pace that everyone carries. Everyone is in a frantic hurry, all the time. There seems to be no time to even take a longer breath. 
Electronics have taken over  everywhere and they were marketed to make lives easier and offer more off time. Obviously what they have done is add more to our plates and they have taken away all our free time.  People pay with their phones, take pictures and videos and just about do everything with the new member of the human body. We drive around with the phone glued to our ear. We walk around hugging the otter cased device. Who called? Who texted? Who made a comment on Facebook? 

I have refused to buy into the smart phone lifestyle. Because of this I have been forgotten by some people. I am not connected, not part of that group, so nobody has the time to "dial" my number and talk to me. Wait, why did you buy the phone?  Twitter, Facebook,Strava, Watts, Zones, etc, etc, etc. Where is the limit??
I do not have a facebook account either. I miss out on a lot of good things I guess. I get excited to see a payphone. I love to listen to radio and read some real  books made of paper. I love to look at real art work and thumb through pictures. I think we have been all too quick to abandon all these things for that dumb smart phone. I think it is time to slow down. 
Just a thought,

My trusty, analogue radio. 

real life posters and art work. 

Compact disc. They work with a player and you don't need I Tunes. 

I have had this analogue clock for about 30 years. 

We lost a vast book collection in our last move but we will rebuild. 

More real books. My oakleys and Trek belt buckle. 

Real film cameras. Yes, they still work and take amazing pictures. 

Ari 

Mucus Maximus

Yes, that is me above. I have been dealing with a chest congestion like never seen before. I am going on day 18 and it does not want to let go of me. Sometimes at night it wakes me up, sometimes I lose my voice. It makes me feel tired, I ache from coughing. I have consulted several people that have had it and it just goes away after 4-5 weeks. So, I don't want to go through with doing anti-biotics and will just wait it out. I have been slowly commuting to work and back and drinking lots of water, tea and that is about it. I hope to get back on the bike soon and do some last minute catching up. Last year I did not get sick like this. I think a lot of it had to do with working a lot and the constant fluctuation of the temperatures. 
I will leave you for now and go cough for a while. 
BTW all those anti mucus things don't really work for me. Hot tea, lots of water and honey seem to work best, 
Best, 
Ari 

Gravel Prototype Built and riding

I have been riding the new Prototype from Waterford and it is just fantastic. I need to gather up some more miles. I am adjusting stuff, dialing in the position and whatnot. Here are a couple pictures  of the build. I basically took a scandium Cross bike apart and used up the parts. Wheels, BB and headset are Chris King. Cowbells, Fsa Stem, Thomson post, TRP brakes, Michelin tires, Xt der, BArend shifters, All City saddle. 

Once my chest infection goes away I will be putting in some long miles. Hope all is well on your end. 

Ari