Oregon, IL

 Since we don’t work today we decided on a short trip out to Oregon, Il. This is a cool old town next to the Rock River off route 64. We like to visit there and grab dinner at the Blackhawk steak pit. 

After dinner we crossed the river and drove up the hill to Lowden State Park, home of the famous Blackhawk statue. The statue was recently restored thanks to a lot of donations. 

At the same time we were enjoying our dinners there were a bunch of gravel grinders participating in the “Dusk to Dust” event. A gravel ride done in the dark, with options of 20,40,60 miles. We saw the bike racked cars all over town as we visited the restaurant. 

When we lived out in Sycamore, IL this area used to be one of our destinations in our training rides. Sycamore to Oregon is 34 miles one way. It was fun riding here via the back roads and enjoying some of the rolling hills in this area. Great memories for sure. 

Thanks for reading. 

Ari

Work with what you have

 A few weeks ago I had commented to my friend GT how I hadn’t been riding a whole lotta gravel as of late. We do have quite a lot of miles of rails to trails. They are so smooth and groomed I routinely do them on my road bike. 

I’ve been doing a lot of road riding and that’s been fine. The group is very good, very punctual and we start super early and get home early as to have time to do other things. It’s always good to ride with others to have the company and mainly the motivation. 

I hope to get out in some real gravel in the coming weeks and enjoy the changing colors which here in Chicagoland we are slowly starting to see. 

I need to do some work on my main gravel bike, Black Mountain Cycles Monster cross disc, aka MCD. Some gearing issues but mainly tires, tubeless and all that kind of stuff. Been toying with the idea of a suspension stem for a while. They are kinda speedy but might be worth it. I’ll post some photos of the MCD so you can have an idea of the changes I wanna make. 

In the meantime have a great weekend, happy Labor Day. Enjoy your rides and tell your family and friends how much you appreciate them. 

Thanks for reading, 

Ari

*** Video above is of this mornings Saturday ride. It was really well attended. 

The long month of August

Salsa Mariachi ti bike. Still a great ride

 August was a busy month for sure. I was able to ride 30 days in a row so far. Hope to ride tomorrow to make it a full month of riding, commuting and plain being outside. I have collected an amazing amount of mite bites. This little mites appeared to eat larvae from the Cicadas we had earlier. Now they are dropping and chewing on us. 

I have noticed some improvement in my riding with all the miles I piled on. I did have some knee pain on right leg, most likely due to a mal adjusted cleat. I carried a wrench yesterday and adjusted that cleat a couple times and today was better. 

I’m excited for the month of September, hoping to make it over to Iowa sooner than later. 

Ari

August 22, 2024 Road and Limestone ride.

The Surly Troll with 26” wheels

Added some Ergon grips for my achy wrists

Took the Continental Race King 26x2.2 and Installed the Panaracer RibMo

Kind of a real pointy profile. Weird

I really like this tire. Will save up for a rear

Traffic was horrible today. I think they hated my jersey

Trails were empty and good

Great western Trail

Prairie Path
 

I woke up kind of achy everywhere but resolved to get a good ride in to see if it would go away. Traffic, construction, tree cutting on the trails was at a peak. No matter what I wanted, where I wanted it wasn’t happening. I just kept plugging along grateful for the perfect weather and sunshine. I had intended to get my Pink Gravel bike out but found the front tire , which is tubeless, completely flat. It probably needs a replenishment since I haven’t used it in a while. 

I took the Mullett, my Giant Contend, and it handled all the surfaces no problem. I started off with arm warmers and soon enough the temps picked up and off they came. I got home tired, dehydrated and wondering whether my Car ‘r’ Coffins Jersey ticked off todays drivers. Oh well! 

Thanks for reading, 

Ari

Third week of August, 2024

 Been getting out in the am before work to get some miles before committing to 8 hours of labor. We are still getting a fair amount of bicycle repairs. The fall riding is in people’s minds. I really like this time of the year. Better colors, shorter days and a drop in the temperature make for great riding, specially on trails and gravel, if you have it. 

This year in Chicago, and elsewhere, we had the 17 year Cicadas emerge. That lasted a while and we all thought it was done. The aftermath of the Cicadas are the mites that have come to feast on Cicada eggs. The mites also like to land on people and give awful, itchy bites. They will supposedly be gone x end of August. Good times for sure. 

On another note been trying to dial in this All City Zig Zag that I’ve been riding. I went with a zero setback post and I truly could not get comfortable on that bike. The reach was the same as my other bikes but it just wasn’t right. I ended up measuring the setback (tip of saddle with plumb Bob then to center of Bb) and the bike that rides perfect was 9.5cm. 

The zero setback with the saddle slammed on rails was at 7cm. I ended up swapping the post to a setback and things are going in the right direction. Now the stem will have to get shortened to get back to that 87cm reach. To me these differences are important so one can sit on a bike and feel comfortable. Otherwise it’s a no go. 

Sunday Road ride

 I talked about this with my friend Mark last weekend as to how I haven’t been riding much gravel as of late. Mostly because I live just outside Chicago and what we have the most of is paved roads. We have some trail systems that have limestone but I just take my road bike on those as well since I turn the ride into a blended surface ride. 

Things were different when I resided in Dekalb county, IL where we had plenty of gravel roads to travel on. In order for me to get out there it entails a 50 mile drive with bike in car. I just cannot afford 2 hours of windshield time to do that. So I work with what I have. I make the best of it for now. As the fall approaches I’ll be doing my SS rides to Chicago and hitting up those limestone trails. 

The next order of business is to get them lights sorted since the days are getting shorter. Time to clean out and maybe rig up a bike with a generator hub. Sounds like a good project for the fall. 

Thanks for reading, 

Ari

Yesterday’s rain ride

It was a good day for a rain ride. Spent a fair amount of time figuring out some issues posting photos on this blog. I’m blessed to have some smart friends that were able to help me out. Thank you! 

When everything else fails

I have this theory that after being sick the best way to get back in there is a Single Speed Bike. I have been dealing with a stubborn cold for almost 3 weeks. No idea why I can kick this thing good bye already. It was warm and sunny and I decided to hit the limestone trails for a while. I found my rhythm after about 15 miles. It was hot and humid and loud! Millions of cicadas doing their thing. I guess with the SS bike I just focused on pedaling and nothing else. Pictured above is my trusty All City Nature Boy disc. Running a 42x16 with 28mm tires. Cruising speed about 13-15mph. Position is dialed and I love those Ritchey Venture Max handlebars. This bike will bring me back. It always does. 

Thanks for reading

Mid June strikes

As the bike season ramps up I just realized it's the middle of June already. I have always dreamt of taking that longest day of the year and ride from sunrise to sunset. I've thought about it for a long time but commitments with work and such have always but a damper on it. I think keeping such goals, dreams in mind is a good thing. I don't give up on it and eventually I think it's going to happen.
The shop has been busy with the usual fairweather cyclist tune ups and flat tires. There is no end to it until schools start again. I've also been dealing with a nasty 3 week so far cold. I've been riding to work and back but it really has taken a toll on my fitness. Today was a bit better and hopefully tomorrow will show even more progress. So, whatever you are up to I hope you are doing well while you read these words. 

Ari

Unbound 2024

Unbound 2024 is over and it was an exciting event. Lots of my friends drove down there to participate in the various distances offered. I , unfortunately could not take off work and watch thru social media all the highlights. I am kind of surprised, when I think back, at how things have changed. Everyone seems to have nice bikes and the equipment has developed so much. I saw some of the pros sporting jerseys with incorporated hydration packs. 

I saw superfat tires on gravel bikes. Narrow,narrow bars. Nobody seems to be riding
Salsa woodchippers anymore. Anyway it was a spectacle and very entertaining to watch it all. If you went down there I hope you had a good time. The photos are emerging and they are good, really good. 

Ari
 

The Pinarello Grevil with Campagnolo Ekar 13 speed.

The Ekar 13 speed ergo shifter. With a Steel Cable!

40c Maxxis tires with lots of clearance left. 

Pinarello Gravel bike with Campagnolo Ekar

13 gears to choose from. The largest is a 42. I left the derailleur cable a bit longer in case customer want to raise the stem. Since all cables go thru bars, stem and frame. 

 Had a better time building this Ekar bike up today. It's all a learning process. The Ekar shifting is good. Just gotta make sure to lube  up that cable with some drislide lubricant . I put it all together, bled the brakes , torqued it all and it was ready to go. I like the simplicity of the groupset, the brakes are fine and once the shifters break in a bit it all works just fine. I was able to test the bike for a few miles and came back satisfied with my build.Im sure people want this groupset in electronic but this runs pretty good and is simple to work on it once you learn it. I really like how this bike rides. 

thanks for reading. 

Ari 

Definitely different than last bike season

This year has been a bit different than last year. I have definitely seen the increase in bikes and escooters. It has been a challenge on how to service these since our repair area is in the basement. Hauling these bikes up and down has been a challenge. Also we don't have an adequate stand for them. I have been hoisting them off the ground to do some work on them.

The other thing that has been different is the amount of e-tap and di2 bikes coming in for service.More and more hydro brakes and not to mention everyone wanting tubeless. It good practice to work on all this and at some point one becomes proficient. Some of the internal routing is very time consuming and poorly designed. That's my take. I'd rather work on a bike with all external routing any day. 

Tomorrow Im working on some Campagnolo Ekar13 speed stuff. We'll see how that goes. In the meantime being a bike mechanic is always interesting. That days of 6 speed freewheels and downtime shifters seem so far away. 

Thank you for reading. 

Ari 

 

Memorial Day 2024

 I was fortunate enough to get out and ride with my son yesterday. It was a blustery day with cold temps and high winds. We truly got beat up doing our 45mile ride. Later on in the day the temps climbed and we were able to get outside and do some grilling. I thought a lot about people that are gone and how I miss them. Friends, family, loved ones. It turned out to be a decent day and towards the end it felt good. To everyone out there that reads this blog I really thank you. 

Riding towards the end of May

 May has been a mismatch of weather and continued rain. This weekend I had planned to take some days off and get some serious miles in. Thursday was good, Friday was good, sat was good then today Sunday I woke up to thunder and lightning. There is perhaps going to be a window of no rain in the mid afternoon and that might be my chance. 

Have not been able to get any consistency in lately. It is what it is but this is how the time goes by and I feel like it gets wasted. I'm gonna hit the garage soon for some organizing and cleaning of bikes until I can get outside. 

Let me know if you have any plans for riding anytime soon. Would not mind attempting a 100miler soon. 40 miles would be on limestone and the rest of the 60 on pavement. That's the best we can do around here. 

Lately I have been riding my Black Mountain Cycles Monster Cross. Ive been on all road Gravel kings in 32mm. Those tires can handle anything you throw at them. Probably gonna do the 100 miler on those soon. 

better news and mood in the future. It's just another bridge to cross. 

Ari 

Almost at the halfway mark

Now that the nice weather is here I have lost a bit of motivation for riding. It kinda hit me once the temps got up and it stopped freezing in the am. I got thinking if I just don't like the warmer temps, the bugs, the crowded trails and just the noise in general that summer brings. I'll find a way to come around these thoughts. Maybe I'm wrong, not sure. 

I'm still planning on doing some long rides this summer and maybe that will get me going and out of this slump that I'm in. I've been commuting and so forth but everything else seems to be in a standstill or standoff. 

Time to sort things out and make the best of every day. I might have to cross the mighty Mississippi and spend some time in Iowa. That might be the ticket. 

Ari 

Is it time??

 I’ve been having this urge as of late for a while now. It was always customary for me to be logging in some tall miles for some kinda reason. For what seems years there has been no reason. Maybe the lack of reason has been this inexplicable barrier. I’m really not interested anymore in travelling for hours and hours , paying an entry fee plus all other expenses to do a ride. I can just roll down my driveway and ride as much as I want. I might have to put the word out and start small, yeah, then make it bigger. Maybe that will be the plan. 

In the meantime that little rock will continue to remind me to get this done. 

Thank you for reading, 

Ari

Long overdue post.

 Yes, it’s been a while since I typed some words on here. With today’s newer formats I just wonder if people even have the patience to read anything a bit lengthy. Last weekend the daughter and I took a road trip to Iowa. It basically rained the whole way there but we were in good spirits. We arrived in Dubuque and hit up a couple of great record stores. Then we went to a Goodwill, where I picked up a fleece since I was freezing. We left town and took Rte 52, along the Mississippi. 

We stopped in St Donatus at Kalme’s for lunch, then took some photos by the Lutheran church. We then drove further south to 308th street to visit the tiny Chapel of St Fritz, then further south to Bellevue, where I rode my bike briefly , just to say I rode in Iowa. We then headed to Sabula for more photography and Ice cream. We travelled south to Clinton and started on our way home. A long day of traveling but worth it. It was TransIowa weekend and I had this urge to be in Iowa.