Sunday ride in Jackson County, Iowa.

There is not much I can say about how amazing it was to escape to Iowa for a few hours. Bonk King, Jakey and I met in Sycamore and carpooled out there. Rode for 3 hours solid and came back to IL. It was an amazing day. The gravel was amazing, the tailwind that brought us back was amazing. I loved every minute of it. 

I hope this happens again. I really do. 

Thanks, 

Ari 

Sunday July 20th, 2014

Rode 150 miles on the Salsa La Cruz. Made it all the way out to Rochelle, IL and back. Met up with Gumby, Bonk King, Kurt and Steve in Dekalb. Then I rode home for another 4 hours solo. Got pretty tired since I rode hard on the MTB on Saturday. I totalled 200 miles for the weekend. Today will for sure be an easy day and tomorrow I will be at it again. Hope all is well with you guys.
best,
Ari

A long distance Sunday.

Saturday night I got called in to work at the Bistro. It was Bastille Day weekend and being a french place we were going to be packed. WE were super-busy and luckily everything went well. I arrived home around 12:30 a.m. and could not fall asleep until 2:00 a.m. I kept reminding myself that  I should get all my stuff ready for the long ride I had planned for Sunday. I wanted to leave by 5 am. but I ended up leaving at 5:30 instead. I had promised the Bonk King that I would meet him at the Silo at 7:30 and I soon hated myself for having to time-trail there. Riding a Cross bike with touring wheels and 37mm tires was not a fast going. I did make it in time and covered the 35 miles in 2 hours 5 minutes. 
We quickly left the parking lot since the skeeters were already sucking our blood out. We headed west on the Great western trail with Bonk King and his friend Lee. We made it to Dekalb and picked up Jakey La Cruz. BK and Lee ended up heading East while Jakey and I headed out to Kirkland. By then I had ridden 75 miles into a headwind and was ready for a change. 
Coming back was easier since the winds had changed and I was cruising a tailwind in the big chaingring. Jakey split off to head home as I had about 50 miles to go. It progressively got hotter and the heat was starting to bug me. At mile 120 the saddle started to bother me too since I had never ridden it before. I stopped at walgreens for a tube of vaseline to quiet down the area. I finally arrived home at 4 pm really dehydrated, tired and glad to sit down on the soft couch. I ended the day with 140 miles on the cross bike. 
Thanks to Bonk King, Lee and Jakey la Cruz for riding with me. It was great to see all of you. 
best, Ari 

Fermi Lab was deserted and the clouds made me think NO More
Water!

Gremlin Hot rod in Sycamore, IL. this car was so cool. 

Lee and the Bonk King. 

Jakey La Cruz and I rode some Gravel 

My favorite Site

On the way back when it got hot it was great to hide in the trees. 

Out in the open it got hot

 

When everything else fails go for a night ride

So last night I saddled up on the Mariachi Steel and took off for Palos. I installed some old Barends on my wide Salsa bars since my wrist has been bugging me for a while. I also put on some cushy tape to take up the vibrations since the Mariachi has no suspension. The night was awesome and it was a delight to be out there. I had my suspicions about bugs but it was cool and they decided to stay at bay. I hit up the yellow trail and warmed up on the gravel. I then got on the singletrack with my little Mako light and it was great to be in there. I ended the night with 35 miles on the Mtb. Sometimes solo riding is not that bad. 
This weekend I plan on a long ride on Sunday. I will make a post and let everyone interested in going on the details. Most likely early meet up somewhere west of where I live. The Bonk King has already picked up this ride on his radar. 
best, 
Ari 

at first it was clear and the trail was dry and awesome

Tired and burned out from 1 too many tune-ups

The moon was out and it got brighter and brighter as I rode. 

An amazing sunset for Jay, king of sunset pictures. 

Then it got full on dark The yellow trail was good. a couple of mud holes though. 

4th of July Fitness Kickoff

So, since I got injured in March I have been riding my bike but not doing much more with my legs than standing at the bike shop. The bad pain has gone away and I have decided it is time to get back in shape so I can keep up with my younger crew members. On Friday I met up with the Blue Demon at L.Perfecto's house and we rode out west. We stopped at the Walgreens to celebrate the 4th with some drinks and chippys. I rode back with my steamroller and ended up the day with 40 miles. The wife and I later went to Palos and we did a decent little loop hiking and then I did 3 sets of the stairs. There is where I realized how badly out of shape I am. I was dragging up the hills while hiking. I was out of breath and my whole body hurt. Dont' ask me how I pulled off the 150 miles of the Drifter. On Saturday morning I took out the Salsa La Cruz with 42mm speedrides and hit the road bound towards the Palos area. I was decided to do the Yellow loop. I ended up doing the whole thing plus the out and back black loop. There were some mud holes but I was really enjoying being out in the woods. I came home, did some chores and then we went again to Palos for our late afternoon hike and stair session. We did the same loop and then I did 5 sets of stair while the wife did 3. We were pretty gased as we drove home tired and sweaty. I am determined to regain my fitness. 
best, 
Ari 

Blue Demon and I celebrating with drinks and chips. 

The Gravel trails in Palos were good. The dirt ones had some mud holes. 

Most of the dirt was dry. 

Etch a Sketch

Giugi's Schleich scenes. The rider is in a magical flower forest. That would be cool!!