Trans Iowa T Shirts for sale!!! UPDATE 6/18/2021

 Guitar Ted and I have made a small run, (50), of these TransIowa t-shirts to commemorate the event. T-shirts are a nice cotton poly mix and have a nice feel to them. The funds will go directly to publishing the TI stories or Charity. T shirts are 20.00 each plus 7.00 for shipping. If you are interested in purchasing one to support the cause hit me up in the comments. I can take paypal, a check , cash, whatever you want. 

thank you , 

Ari 

UPDATE ON T SHIRTS

BELOW IS THE CURRENT INVENTORY:

XXL:  4

Large: 12

X Large: 22

I am sold out on Medium. 

If still interested in buying one of these shirts let me know. 

You can Paypal to   andonos63 at yahoo dot com

Any questions let me know 

and thank you once again, 

Ari 

Welcome June

 Maybe this month the temps will stabilize and I’ll be able to get a streak going. May’s crazy temp swings had my Asthma in a tizzy. I’ve worked on my bikes and gotten the stable pretty squared away. Also got a couple shots and feel comfortable getting out there. 

It really has been a while since I rode with people. Lots of riders got used to riding alone or just with their dedicated groups. Maybe I have to start my own (?). 

On another topic wanted to mention how there has been a decrease in cycling this year around here. The roaring herds of 2020 are gone. People getting vaccinated and places opening up has made people abandon their bikes once again. We’ve noticed it at work with a decline in bike repairs. Now the new cyclists that came out in 2020 can go back to their pre pandemic activities. It was good to see so many families riding while it lasted. 

That brings me to the bike industry. Everything is still out of stock as the industry plays catch up with the complete depletion of everything in 2020. The sad part is that in that we lost a lot of products. We lost the Surly Troll, Long Haul Trucker, Pack Rat, Pugsley V2. This is just a small sampling. I have been waiting for flat mount mechanical disc calipers for months. 

We’ll see what happens with all this. I’m glad it’s finally getting warmer. I’m glad the sun is out. 

I’m  ready. 

Thanks for reading, 

Ari

Memorial Day 2021

 I woke up later than usual today at 8:00am. Normally I would be up around 530-600. I had a restless night despite sitting outside staring at a fire until late. I kept thinking of all that happened in the past months. I kept thinking of the Men and Women that served our country. All those people that served in other ways with the pandemic. I am grateful to them. 

I also want to remember all those people we have lost. You will not be forgotten. 

thank you for reading and may you be well, 

Ari 

A Tuesday in May like no other

 So I started riding the fixed gear bike in the mornings again. My daughter will be done attending school since she will graduate from High School tomorrow. My wife will be teaching until this coming friday. I usually am the first one up in the house. I like to make my coffee and settle in for the day. I then pack lunches, make sure everyone is good, including the pup, then get myself ready. 

With school ending I will be able to get up early as usual then get ready and go riding before work. I don't have to be at work until 10am so I got a good bracket in the morning. Girls will be sleeping in after getting up super early for a long time. 

I really hope to regain some sort of fitness. I have spoken with several friends that are on the same boat. It is hard to get back in there. It is hard to push and see small results. There is no bouncing back like in the old days. I have been watching diet, taking vitamins and drinking water. Progress is very slow and painful. 

My normal gauge is to ride my fixed gear bike. I know where I am with that machine. I know when I can't turn the pedals. I am still in that stiffness mode. I foam roll and use the Lacrosse ball. Come on already!

Those are things that happen. It has been tough thru these times and I think that has a lot to do with it. It's a mental block perhaps. Maybe it's the stress with everything going on. 

In the meantime I will keep rolling that fixed 42x15 and see what happens. 

thank you for reading. Any ideas or comments are always welcome, 

Ari 

A glimmer of hope

 Today as the clouds roll thru there was a shining star. The Brown Christmas truck stopped and delivered 2 bikes. I was kinda shocked to see them arrive. I had lost hope for any new bike delivery in 2021. Seems like things are starting to move. 

I guess we will build one and keep it in the window for peeps to know that we sell bicycles. The other one will be up for grabs. 

Strange times indeed

An Audax bike in the making

 I had this draft a while back about this Long Haul trucker I was building. The bike came out fine. Still tweaking it to this day but it is not possible to make this frame become a fast long distance bike. It truly is intended for long and slow. For the time being it is a great machine for commuting and foul weather riding. 

Ari

Fixed Gear Freedom

 I got out today with the intention of clicking 20 miles on my fixed gear. The winds were/have been bad for a couple days with gusty breees from the SW bringing the much needed warm air. I rolled in the am in a Rapha jersey and arm warmers. 

It took me a while to get that 42x15 rolling but eventually it took place. 

This might just be the ticket I need . Some base miles  on the fixed gear. 

Ari

5/2/21

 First couple of days of May. Never been so out of shape in my life. I was doing well up to January 21st of this year. Then the cold wind settled in and froze me. The winter was unkind and my stubbornness against indoor training saw my 7,000 mile 2020 season slowly fade away. I left my previous Manufacturing job and joined the bike industry once again. 

I started to slowly get back on the bike and realized how bad it was. Is this possible? A couple of months off the bike, which I thought would be a good idea, landing me in the dumps? 

I finally arranged to ride with another human the other day. We rode for 13 miles at a leisure pace of 13.5 mph, on the road. I spent the rest of the day in a complete state of zombie. Water, food Emergen-C kept me alive while the hours ticked away at work. 

More than complaining I am wondering if this is normal. I talked to my son last night and he suggested I muscle through. What else would a Marine tell me to do? 

I hope to find my lost legs somewhere. They gotta come back and give me that much needed freedom of the long distance. If you have ideas let me know. I’m all ears. 

Thanks for reading, Ari

TransIowa weekend. April 24th, 2021

 I know it's been a while since I have made a post here. It really has been kind of crazy with lots of things going on with you know, the pandemic. There have been a lot of thoughts, memories and ideas floating in my head. I have been meaning to write them down but it has been difficult. 

Today is what we used to know as TransIowa weekend. As I sit and write this while sipping on some coffee we would instead have been riding closer to checkpoint #1. Dr. Giggles would have arrived at my house this past Thursday and we would have made the drive to Iowa. Friday would have been the meet up and then the nervous hours of sleep before the 4 am start on Saturday. 

The endless stories that happened on all those attempts are waiting for when we can all get together again at some point in our lives. We have stayed together and communicated thru out all these years. The memories are too strong to forget. I guess it all happened by accident to be honest. 

I continue to have hope to see all my TransIowa friends at some point and share some gravel miles. It has been too long without seeing all of you.

I hope you all have a moment to remember those good times we shared together. I would write some more but the words don't come out at this time. 

thanks for reading, 

Ari