Buddhist Temple Ride

I had to attend a Baptism on Saturday night and that was a great time seeing family and hanging out with my Brothers. We went to Church in Chicago and then hit up the Banquet Hall. We arrived home at midnight and I was not able to fall asleep until 3 a.m. 
The alarm clock went off at 430 am and I jumped out of bed with burning eyes. I peeked my head out the back door and I made a very cold fog with my breath. It was about 26 degrees out there. I got dressed and hit to road to meet Ron. I instantly felt cold and my toes started to burn. Did I really need to pull out the winter stuff already??
I met up with Ron and we rode Westbound. Around 530-6 am the temps seemed to drop in the pre dawn time. 
We had to dismount and run with our bikes to warm up. My hands were not articulating and I fought to open a vest zipper. We finally made it to the meeting point at 8 am after 40 plus miles of riding. The Bonk King was there. So was T.J, Agatha, Jakey La Cruz and to our surprise Cookie showed up. 
We started to head west and ended up in Cherry Valley. We fought the head wind all the way there and just wanted to head home with the coveted tail wind. The return trip was great. 
I ended up taking some trails all the way back and arrived home 13 hours later. I did not expect such a long ride but was happy to have done it. I know I have that mileage in me. The new BMC road bike was flawless. Maybe I need to tweak the position a bit. 
Thanks to all who came. It was a great day on the bike. 
Ari 
Here is the route we did.
http://www.strava.com/activities/91805712

That's our Gang. 

We always need to rummage in the corn.  A family tradition

Buddhist Temple, Cherry Valley, IL. 

http://ridewithgps.com/trips/1961176

Above is the route on GPS . Check it out and see where we rode.
Ari

Slender Fungus Ride

It is time to get together for a ride:

Sunday

October 

27th

@

8:00 a.m.

Intersection

Rte 47 

and 

Great Western Trail

by 

the 

Silo 

on the trail

on 

Wooley 

Road

Wear 

wool. 

Ari.

Boss Says: Shut up, Get out and ride your bikes. Trans Iowa Mission rides are on!!

Another reason to get off the roads, ride in the country.

Watch this man make an ass out of himself.

Careful out there.

http://autos.yahoo.com/blogs/motoramic/pickup-driver-fight-cyclists-leads-crushed-bike-jail-165443573.html

Slender Fungus goes the Distance.

The wife had been preparing for the Chicago Marathon for a long time. She did a lot of trail running and finally on October 13th we took the early train down to the city and she lined up for the big race. I had never attended such an event. There were 45,000 runners and all together more than 1 Million people showed up for the enormous race. She was really pumped and had a game plan. She told me she would run her pace. She would drink and stay hydrated. She would use her favorite Roctane Gu's. I wondered around the course seeing a sea of runners. I was amazed as to how well everything was organized. Security was tight with local and federal police. 
At 11am I met up with Cookie and it was just great to hang out with him. We tried spotting the wife with no luck. We finally met up with her and she had had a great race. Finishing her first marathon in 4hours 31 minutes. She looked tired but great. She had never stopped running and had run as she planned. We later walked to Greektown for a much deserved meal. We saw other runners hobbling around the whole day. 
The Chicago Marathon was a great experience and the Slender Fungus is very proud for this accomplishment. Good Job!

Ari

The Corrals

The elite field flying not running

Elites towards the finish

At the reuniting area. She looked great after running 26 + miles. 

early morning before the start

Done and heading west for some food. 

Black Mountain Cycles Road Bike

62cm Assault Bike

more on the build soon.

It rides amazing.

Thanks Mike.

62cm Road Frame from Black Mountain Cycles

Build list
Chris King headset and spacers
Fsa Stem
Salsa Cowbells in 44cm
Cane creek levers
tektro r737 brakes
Shimano 68x107 bb
Sugino cranks 50x34x175
sram chain 9 speed
Dura Ace downtube shifters 9spd
Ultegra rear der 
Dura ace 8spd front der
Mavic hub, Open 4cd front wheel
Chris King  Open pro rear wheel
panaracer pasela tourguard 700x32c tires
Fsa Seatpost
Aliante gamma saddle
junk white tape
Shimano a520 pedals
Salsa nickless stainless cages
topeak road pump
jannd pump strap 
bontrager wireless computer
jagwire segmented gold housing (thanks Jay)
ED coating plus frame saver.
sram 950 level 11x28 cassette

SingleSpeed making me crazy.

So, ever since committing to singlespeed a while ago I have been really hooked. I had a couple of post a while ago in regards to what makes them beat the way they do. Our dear friend A.G. has been studying Physical Therapy and she gave me the term "Law of Parsimony". I am going to look that up. I was thinking that when a geared bike of today, say with either 20 gears (2x10),30(3x10), or 2x11 always gives you the perfect gear to follow that magical cadence number that everyone professes. 
So, if so rider is travelling at 20mph and the terrain is ondulating this rider uses his gears to keep that cadence and that speed. I understand that the rider uses the same muscles and muscle groups to achieve this. When the rider hits a long hill he will shift to the lower gears and try to keep that cadence up. 
To me, and I might be completely wrong, the singlespeed rider is spinning like crazy to keep a certain speed. I think singlespeeding is like a Yo-YO. Speed up, coast, rev up again, coast, hill coming up, out of the saddle, crazy hill, out of the saddle and muscles. Extreme hill, off the bike and walk. Hey at this point you stretch your legs and gluts. 
I am explaining my point or not?? After riding the death ride which was 140 miles I finished the ride tired but to be honest I was quite fresh. That was aboard the Selma pushing a 34x18. On the Demi Dirt I was aboard the Quickbeam turning a 42x18 for 200 miles. I am starting to become a believer that singlespeeds don't tire a riders a much as a geared bike. Do I use gears wrong? Is it Psychological??
I would love to hear more thoughts on this. 
Ari 

Saturday morning Demon Burner

I went to bed late on Friday for no reason. I did get caught up with "The Heart of Darkness" from Joseph Conrad. I was going up some murky river while snakes and all kinds of creatures were swimming along with me. The Sweat around my neck was decorated with all the mosquitoes that I had smashed with my bare hands. Anyway, it was past 130am when I hit the sack. 
My chili con Cross did not get mounted until 10am. I was so out of it riding so late. I don't understand how other riders can leave home so late. Generally speaking I am already 4 hours into a ride at this time. 
I rode down to Willow Springs to give my pal Joe from 2bici a 5 minute hello. I was anxious to hit the trails and just look at trees. I was on the singletrack soon and I was able to complete the yellow trail. I rode home in ever darkening skies and I got poured on just a few blocks from home. I arrived home to find out I had been cut from the restaurant tonight. That also cut my ride short which was not long enough to burn all the demons. 
Tomorrow we are off to take the wife for the Chicago marathon. She is ready and stoked to do her first event. I will be roaming the streets of Chicago checking out the running scene. I think it will be a great day. 

The wife training for the Marathon. Offroad is best. 

Palos Hills was really good this morning. I could have spent all day there. 

I was shocked to see this little guy on the singletrack this morning. I photographed him and removed him from Danger. 

saturday morning 80 miler

Ron and I met up at the usual place around 630 am. It was dark and humid as all get go at that time. I rode the Quickbeam and was happy to be spinning the 42x18. We started heading south and rode thru Hinsdale and then headed towards Water Fall Glen. We did a loop around the forest in dripping humidity. It was gross. My wool jersey was wet and heavy. We then headed further south and did Bluff rd, took a connector to the Centennial Trail and ended up in Joliet. Our multisurface bikes went from pavement to gravel and back with no hiccups. 
We found another connector trail on the way back that runs along 355 heading north that connects to International Parkway. That was awesome. We took that trail with its steady climb and headed back home. I arrived home with 80 miles on the singlespeed and with a roaring stomach since I only packed 380 calories on me for the ride. I intended to stop and get some food but I had left my cash at home. It was a great day of riding and as I arrived home the weather changed and it rained and stormed for the remainder of the day. 
We have planned to learn how to continue on the I and M  canal trail once we get to Joliet. Then its on to Channahon and Starved Rock by bike. Trail riding in the fall is awesome. 
Ari

Hot and Humid for an October Day.

Des Plaines river looking west.

This was stenciled high up in a Bridge Pillar. Now its turn where the No Jake sign is. 

Beautiful Bike. Just not my cup of tea. Hydraulic Brakes, 11 speed, Carbon everything. Narrow clearance for "race tires", internal bearings. 

Time to Wool-UP

The seasons are a changing and now it's time to say good bye to the artificial Shorts and Jerseys. This morning I rode with my Ibex wool shorts and Rapha jersey It was just perfect. I am ever amazed with the performance of Rapha clothing. They fit great, look great and somehow regulate your body temperature. On the Big River Assault ride I was in the rain for over 7 hours. I was wearing Ibex Fito knickers that Bonk King gave me for my 50th. On top I was sporting the Rapha jersey along with Pearl Izumi Wool arm warmers. I also had wool socks. Upon arrival to Savanna I was wet to the bone but not cold since the wool held in temperature. That is something that lycra cannot do. 

Sunday Long One

Due to some things I was not able to attend the Northern Classic Heck of the North. The Slender Fungus did represent by Sending Cookie, Bonk King, Gumby, T.J and Dereek Von Weider. The many stories that happened up there are not clear to me yet. All I know is that some finished, Gumby is still lost up in the Northern Woods and that Dereek has a steel frame collapse underneath him while climbing a hill. Typical things that happen to the Slender Fungus population. 
I felt embarrassed for not riding with them so I knew I had to get out and do some mileage. I swapped out the 40mm Happy Mediums from my Chili and put on some dumpster 700x28. I met up with Ron at 7 am and we headed west into a NW wind. We hit Batavia, Maple Park, Sycamore, Genoa all the way up to Woodstock. We arrived at Woodstock with 103 miles. It was 103 miles of headwind. We had some Mexican food and started heading home. The NW wind turned E then SE so we ended up riding 160 miles into the wind. I arrived in the dark and my legs were fried to a tender crisp. I started to think that Ron was also getting tired but it is hard to tell with him. I inhaled some Eggplant Parmesan and turned into a Zombie. I was glad to get out and put in another long one in the month of september. On Monday morning,still sore, I went to the dentist for a very painful root canal. 
Hope you got some good riding in,
Ari 

The fields are changing. Fall and Winter are showing up soon. 

It was so nice to hit some gravel

Bruce joined us for a while. 

My long distance pal Ron