Sunday Solo

So I went from riding in a beautiful Saturday with warm temps, friends and sunshine to riding solo in freezing rain on Sunday. My jacket, boots and bike were covered in a thin coat of ice when I arrived home Sunday afternoon. It had started freeze raining harder as I was getting close to the house. Then of course I got caught with the gates down and sat in the rain for 10 minutes with this long, long, slow freight train. I was happy to have gotten out. I met a couple of guys riding in waterfall glen. One guy was staying warm with his small dog in his Jacket. What a great idea! Keep something alive in your jacket for extra warmth. More frigid weather our way. Maybe January will be a balmy one. 
Don't let your meat loaf, Trans Iowa is around the corner. 
Ari 

This glare ice was impossible to ride

Then I took to the fences where it was a bit easier

I later stopped under this tree to add layers and make the 10 mile ride back home. 

Weekend Riding

Just an image dump of what I did this weekend. Today Sunday I plan on getting out since the week coming is going to be super cold. I recovered some miles over Friday and Saturday with 40 and 70 miles respectively. December has been a bear to deal with but sometimes you just have to put your head down and go for it. I thank my Slender Fungus Members for this. All the time!
Ari 

Night Riding is the best.

That scary glow in the back is Chicago

I hate riding over this bridge when its iced over. 

Blue Demon showed up Saturday Morning for some Miles. 

So did the Bonk King Aboard his Salsa

Will the Afro come back??

we found this random Chimney and hiked there to check it out. 

A perfect place to hangout overnight. 

We hiked thru this thick grass. 

70 miles on this geared bike. It felt weird to have gears all day. 

Dereek's Singular Kite. He was lucky to run it singlespeed. 

Nice view of the Des Plaines river

We rode for miles on this snow covered Centennial Trail. Yeah, you roadies need a cross bike. 

My Dear wife. The person that puts up with my craziness.  

Now I must get out and ride. 
Thanks for reading, 
Ari 

Had to get out

After being inside the shop and just being amazed by the weather I got home, ate dinner and hit the road before 8 pm. I headed south and then took Kean ave all the way south until it literally dead ended by the Canal. Jakey and I had ridden that CAnal trail so I thought it would be cool to road ride down there and then head west on the Canal trail and then make a huge, crazy loop out of it. Night riding was great. I cannot congratulate my Supernova E3 generator light enough. This thing punches out endless 800 lumens and makes cars stop at intersections. I tried riding the gravel trail at Palos but it was a icey nightmare. Then with the slick Jack Browns it was a no go. 
Today I am meeting the Bonk King for some more miles. Get out while it's good cause all of next week it is going to suck. We are getting another polar blast. 
best, 
Ari 



Check out my new route I did late last night. It has huge potential. 
Ari 

Getting Dressed with Jay Petevary

I found this on the WWW.  I think it is helpful to see the different layering techniques that Jay uses to stay warm in the winter. There are many more of his videos on You Tube that are really helpful.
Thanks for making this Mr. Petervary.

Ari

Now get out in that cold and rock some miles!!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!!

On behalf of the Slender Fungus Cycling Association I would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I would like to say hi to all family members, friends, and everyone out there. I hope you all have a great time together with Family and Friends. I hope that next year we get together more often and share a ton of miles on the roads and trails. I would like to send a big hello to all fellow Gravel pals out there. 
Ari 

Merry Christmas Y'all

Waterford Touring Bike

This is a dream bike. Custom Waterford build up with Ultegra 10spd Xt rear derailleur. Paul Mini Moto brakes. All Chris King bearings. Mavic a719 rims, Salsa Cowbells. S&S couplers will guarantee easy transport when it goes to Laos. I really enjoyed building this bike. Still have to figure out Saddle, stem, tape and tires for this lucky customer. 
Ari 

Waterford Touring with s&s couplers. 

Weekend riding

December has been tough to say the least. But I saddled up on the Quickbeam Saturday morning and got in 35 miles. Met up with A.G. midpoint and we rode some more miles. Weather was wet, wet, wet and it was a great day to have fenders on the bike. The trails are no accessible unless you own a fat bike. So sticking to the roads for miles is the only solution. 

Roads are clear time to take advantage

Balaclava, Winstopper jacket, and my Helmet Cover. Stay warm and dry

Nothing but brown and grey. Keep you mood up!

Willow Spring rd. Road grime everywhere. 

Des Plaines River is frozen 

A.G on her Singlespeed Trek

My Jack Brown Slicks @ 90lbs were no match for this trail

Balmy night riding

So the other night goes down as one of the worst nights I have been out riding. Another time is when I thought my lungs had frozen  and that is when Hellmut rode me home to make sure I was o.k. I remember taking my jacket off and having ice fall off from my wool sweater. Yeah, that was a horrible night where I fell asleep on my couch in a sleeping bag not being able to warm up. I remember that one to this day. 
Tonight though was in the low 30's and it started to snow as soon as I left the house. I rode thru Hinsdale and then worked myself down south to Palos. I got in there for a bit but was unable to ride with my 34mm cross tires. The snow as coming down pretty good but my legs were content to be on a lighter bike. My feet were a bit cold but that is nothing new. I was happy to see 1 fox and 2 coyotes. Light polution pretty much let me see everything without the need of a light. I just had it on for safety. 
Get out and ride. It's so good.
Ari 

Palos at night without flash or anything else. Just Light Pollution

Willow Springs at night with snowfall. 

This is where I encountered the Coyotes. 

Taking a break from the snow under this bridge

The I &M canal was liquid where the Des Plaines river was frozen. Weird. 

Night photography with available light. I love these conditions. 

Chili upon getting home. BTW I found a Plastic Santa in the Garbage. I plan on bringing him back to life. 

I found this tire track which I plan on checking out soon. It runs right next to the water. 

DARK VADER, the Bike

I thought all traces of Dark Vader were gone. But upon cleaning some folder I found an image of my beloved Trek 420. I had adquired this bike from my friend Dan. He had made an attempt at going Skinny but in the end decided to stay fat. Nothing was better than his Cannondale MtB. So the Trek 420 ended up in my house and I coverted to different things every so often. Very few people were riding fixed gear back in the day and I don't believe anybody had a fixed gear bike with flat bars. I rode to work every day and also rode into Chicago to go to UIC and work. I rode this beast so much I wore out the threads on the BB. Some lady had backed up and knocked a parking sign on it and dented the top tube. I rode it offroad, in the snow and in the rain. Nothing could stop Dark Vader. Then one day I decided to killl it. I had to move on. So, I took its parts off, little by little killing it until it just became a cold lifeless frame. I then hurled it in a dumpster and bid it farewell. 
Ari 

Control tec Stem, barends, 42x15 gearing. Look Moab pedals, Phil wood track hub. 700x23 tires, Original Vistalite blinker. No rear brake, Lugged Made in Usa Frame. 

I think snow bike season is here

Some lucky is picking up this great Surly Moonlander today. I wish I had one of these last night. Maybe, Maybe if I wish hard enough one will appear magically. 
Ari 

Surly Moonlander. Amazing straght out of the box.

 

Getting over the Hump of the coldest day.

So we believe that last night was the coldest night of the year. It was the right time to get out and test out our endurance to the single little number on the thermometer. A.G. came over our house and we departed just short of 10 p.m for a night ride on 29ers. The wind was very bitey and we had on some layers, goggles and winter boots from Lake and Northwave. We hit the road with the wind to our backs and it seemed not too bad. Frost started to form right away on my buff. I eased into the breathing and felt the cold behind my legs. We ended up in Bemis woods riding some dirt trails covered in Snow. Had a tea break and then started heading home. She had done her bit of riding against the wind towards our house so it was my turn to head west. By this time the temps had dropped and the winds had picked up. I fought my gum legs and my heavy bike. I walked a couple of times to warm my toes. I rode and walked the 6 miles home as the cold was not letting me get home. I was happy to make it and it took me a long time to defrost. I know that was a limit ride and the rest of the winter should be a lot easier. I believe it was 2 degrees with a wind chill of -20 last night.  Still working on the layering in my winter boots. Thanks to A.G. for coming out again. 
Best,
Ari 

Tea time under the bridge

Another tea break before hitting the wind

walking home to warm up. 

Riding with Jakey La Cruz Part two

We had a late start on Sunday but made it out to Ghost town with the 29ers. Our goal was to hit the most singletrack we could on the snow. The conditions were perfect and it felt balmy compared to Saturdays 10 degree temps. The sun started to set soon on us and the forest started to glow with the snow and light polution from above. We could see the trails without a problem and we became one with the forest. We were in full Slender Fungus element to say the least. The snow filled in all the bumps and cracks on the trail and our tires just whistled  underneath us. We kept commented on it being perhaps one of the best rides ever. It was so surreal and amazing. We finally got back to the car and fistbumped eachother on a fine accomplishment. We had some coffee from the Coffeehouse and headed home in the snowfall. It was an amazing weekend of Mountainbike Goodness. 
Best,
Ari