Throw Back Fridays

I was thinking of the fruit loop ride we did a while back. What got into our heads to do such a thing? 260 miles. Riding thru the night. Delusional dropouts. Sleeping in Sheds at a hardware store. Endless hills. Heat, humidity. My son getting an open sore on his back from a hydration pack. In my mind it remains one of the most impressive rides to date. I wonder if I have the energy to ever do something like that. I wonder. 
Ari 

Riders look so small compared to the environment. 

Early morning break

Around midnight Chad passed out and ended up in a Shed at the local Hardware store. 

Jay Barre with 40+ miles to go. I think it was around 2 am at this point. 

My daughter Franny and son Alex rode about 90 miles worth.




Jay, Eric and I finished the whole thing around 630 am on Monday. We started at 4 am on Sunday morning. With no sleep Jay drove to Springfield to go to work at Wheel Fast. Eric and I showed up at work at 10am at North Central Cyclery.
Probably the hardest ride I have ever done.
Thank you for reading.
Thank you.
Ari 

More August Riding.

Next month will be 2 years since I donated the Subaru to the Vietnam Vets. Still have not replaced my car. 

Joined the Tower Racing guys on Saturday for a brisk warmup. 

Friend Tim loaded up his Surly and headed west. Hope he had a good trip. 

August has been flower explosion time. 

Found this tag on a repair. All I can say is Lucky. 

Lots of sun in August. 

More crazy flowers.

Canal in the quiet of the morning. 

Been riding quite a bit and felt a little burned out on the weekend. I rode with a superfast road group and after about 15 miles decided to leap off and go do some hills in Lemont. I really find it relaxing to go there. I find the hill and do some repeats on it and then go to the next one. Once the legs are good and burned I hit the Polish Deli up for some water and food. I then roll home and feel good. On Sunday I took out the Carboner bike and was trying to pinpoint all the creaky areas in it. I think the BB creaks, so does the seatpost. My shit bike Bianchi from 1984 does not creak a bit. It is quiet like a panther. I hope y'all are having a good Summer. I know it is starting to wind down little by little. Time to start checking lights, pulling on arm warmers in the morning. I think this fall is going to be great. 
as always, thanks for reading. 
Ari 

Flowers for G.T.

I guess with all the rain we had this summer it allowed a lot of flowers to  come out and  bloom. On the commutes to work and general riding I have been noticing some flowers I have not seen in the wild. Next time you are out there take a break and check out the flowers before winter takes a hold of them. 
Ari 

Focus, focus, focus.

Thanks to all my readers. I really appreciated all of you. It has been hard to find the time to sit down and do the posts. The shop has been super busy and I am the only full on mechanic working there. On my off time I have been trying to cram as much riding as possible. My "gravel" riding has dwindled to a minimum. Gravel is 1 hour away by car. 
These days I am on the road. I have built up this old, old Bianchi with a low gear, lights and a mountain feedbag. I ride the thing everywhere. It is fun to have an old bike that I don't care about. I ride it on trails, offroad,wherever I desire. 

Switching to another topic. I wanted to talk about "Focus". I had a very good friend end up crashing and getting 4 broken ribs, a broken collarbone, and his 4th concussion. Another rider we know of is in intensive care and we are not sure if he is going to make it. Both riders lost control of their bikes and crashed without any involvement with cars or other riders. 
I see many riders headdown staring at Garmins, riders looking at their phones while riding. Riders swerving into traffic distracted with something on their bikes. We need to Focus while riding. Leave electronics alone. Look ahead, look behind, be aware of your surroundings. I just don't like hearing of people getting hurt. It is already an ever increasing challenge to deal with other road users being distracted. 
Thanks for reading, 
Ari 

August has been amazing. 

The bridge to Lemont,IL. 

View from atop bridge. 

awesome folliage this year. 

a wee bit of gravel 

a break for a 7up and bananas. 

a  

my trusty 1989 Legnano. 

Giants new GPS 

The full moon brought out the werewolves at the shop. 

Need quiet time? Visit a Cemetary.