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!!

J.D Drifter 150 a Gravel Caravan

Not much time to write but all I can say is that that ride was a success. Ten of us met up at the Apple River Canyon on Sunday at around 5am. We headed out of the canyon on a steep climb and came out to view some very beautiful terrain. The ride ended at 930 pm when the storms rolled in and AG got the perfectly timed flat. That was the sign to get out of town. We rode on Gravel, dirt, grass, mosquitoe infested area, along the Miss. river, Pavement. It was a super-diverse ride. The total climbing for the day was over 11,000 feet. I was glad to have my triple and sometimes that was not enough.
Thanks to all who came out. It was a blast riding with all of you!
Ari

Part two:
The riding was spectacular and it was great to ride with Lance,Traci, Eric, Richard, Blue Demon, L. Perfecto, Jakey La Cruz, Grant, Tom. We ended up in Savanna for our first break after about 50 miles at a Casey's. We fueled up on Breakfast Pizza, Gatorade, Red Bulls and whatnot. We then headed up into the Palisades where we had a couple riders crash out on a  very steep descent. Both riders continued on despite some injuries. We later descended on some crazy singletrack. We finally made it to Galena and stopped for lunch. This was a great idea since food on the bike gets boring and old. A freshly stacked salad bar with Chicken Noodle soup was  a great lunch. We then came out of Galena and hit some monster hills. My legs were starting to act up and I kept pounding them with water and gels. I finally stopped cramping as the sun was going down and it was cooling. I started to feel really good around mile 110. I wanted to continue riding all night. It was cool, we were listening to Johnny Cash on Blue Demons Blue tooth stereo. I was in my glory and did not want the ride to end. We eventually ran out of water and knocked on a door. The lady gave us free range on the garden hose. We were so happy with full bottles. I kept thinking how right Jake la Cruz was about Jo Daviess county. The hills, the views, the roads, the river. It is the best part of IL that I know of. 
Ari 

The Group heading out early morning. 

Bushwhacking to get to the hidden Bridge. 

These bridges are slowly dissapearing. It's great to be on a bike and find them. 

Sometimes the scenery was so good we all stopped and stared. 

More bushwhacking along the Miss river. 

about 930 pm. We wanted more but got stopped by the storms. 

There was a lot of Walky hills. 

The Blue Demon rode 150 miles on his ECR on a new Brooks. 

J.D Drifter 150

The J.D. Drifter 150

will be 

Happening on June 29, 2014. 

Departure will be at 5:00 a.m. 

sharp from 

the Apple River Canyon 

forest preserve.

The ride as you can imagine

will be 150 miles of rugged terrain

in the Jo-Daviess County in Northwestern 

ILLINOIS. 

We suggest you bring a bike with larger tires, 

plenty of water, food, lights and whatever else you think you might need. 

There will be no sag wagons handing off ice cold bottles of evian water. There will be no epic photographers pacing you up the hills. 

There will be thousands and thousands and thousands of feet of climbing. 

But on the other hand we will stay together. We will have food and music to share. We won't race the course. We will also have a shorter section where you can peel off. This distance will be around 60 miles or so. The whole idea is to get out there and ride together. It's like a caravan, like a gypsy caravan. Please let me know through comments if you like to come. We will have maps for you to use and keep. 

Let us know, 

thanks for reading 

Ari 

June 29th, 2014 5:00 A.M. Start Apple River Canyon State Park, IL.
Leave comments whether you are coming. No drop ride. 60 mile shorter course included.
Ari 

LtR Blue Demon, Giugi, Self, Giaco, Gravel Jesus



Sometimes you are just lucky enough to have some people to ride with. In my case I am super-lucky to have the crew that I have. We are a tight knit group and we help each-other out all the time. Oh,we also ride bikes and hang out. So, now that my injury is coming along better I am very glad to be turning the pedals once again.
We hope to see you out there at some point. Summer don't hang out too long so don't let you meat loaf.
Fixed gear for the month of June to get back in shape. I just drop my gearing for more spin to a 42x16. I also added L.P's old cowbells, cane creek levers and the bike feels amazing.
Lots more to come and as always,
thank you for reading and being there.
Ari 

More night Riding with the Slender Fungus

Was able to get out last night and chase the blue demon around while he rode the wife's big Dummy. L. Perfecto joined us on the fixed gear. It was a wonderful, warm night. Just taking advantage of this weather for all the winter nights we were couped up. Get out while you can.
Ari D 

Blue Demon on the Surly Big Dummy Burning it up.

 

L.Perfecto and I chased with no hope of catching the Robot.

 

Back on Track. And glad to be there.

So on March 23,2014 I had my little mishap where I just completely messed up my left ankle. It has been a long of recovery and the people that helped out know who you are. I have been going on shorter rides of 20-30-40 miles and things have been improving. Today was the day to give that old ankle a good test. I rode over to L.Perfecto's house and arrived there a bit before 7 a.m. We headed south and then west hitting the IM canal, the centennial then the Im canal trail all the way to minooka,Il. We stopped at a Pizza place and enjoyed a reasonably priced buffet. We filled our bellies and headed for the return. I was on my steamroller fixed gear bike turning a 42x15. That gave me a cruising speed of around 16mph. L. Perfecto was on her Trek 520 fixed on a 42x16. Jakey La Cruz was aboard his Salsa Casserol. The weather was hot and we went through a lot of water. We encountered a large Fox snake close to 4 feet in length. I also found a really good knife on the road. All in all I was able to get in a 100 mile day on the fixed gear. We were tired but happy to have been out on a long one again. It felt really good to pedal for that long. I hope full recovery will come soon. 
Thanks for reading, 
Ari 

fox snake we helped off the road. 

A very confusing connection between the two trails. 

A good day to hide in shaded trais. I+M canal towards Chanahon. 

Pizza to go. Anything to prevent the dreaded Bonk. 

Great Place to refuel in Minooka, IL. 

L.P. with found knife in hand. 

the I+M canal was very green today.