Night and Day

Shocker Total for September

Night activity in Kingston,IL.

Slender Fungus Peleton.

Al Capone's Hideout. Home of the 20% hill.

Chocolate flavored nutrition Gel.

Day riding Sucks.

Riverside dr. by Al Capone's

Good rides last night and today. Hope the weather gets colder and wetter.

best,
ari

Photo Sharing

Forest Preserve in Kirkland, IL.

Wifey and Daughter

Some Slender Fungus Hiding in the woods, of course

Somewhere in Chana, IL.

Wifey and very tall 7 year old

Kirkland, IL.

A bike specifically designed for T.J.
Both bike and rider were made for each other.
They are taking Dekalb and its rural vicinities
by storm.

T.J. and his dream machine.

Old school truck. Betcha it could be drivable.

I took some photos on film with my luxurious Contax T-2 then had them processed and put on disc. Some of these were taken while I was on the bike and others not. Minimal adjust on the brightness, contrast and a bit of cropping. Good to shoot film once in a while. Damn good lenses on those old school camera. Not all that shines is gold!!!!!

No riding on Friday, Saturday, worked double then Sunday babysat all day since the wife had 12 hours worth of school work to accomplish. Can't wait for our wednesday night ride.

best,

ari

Slender Fungus riding and Day Riding!

GWT during the day.Weird

Riding home into the wind.

Frankie Doodle

Slender Fungus on a dangerous mission.

Meeting of the minds. Note Gimpy bikes.

Starting on Wednesday night we had a guest appearance by Kitty. It was a real surprise and treat to have him along for the very dangerous Wednesday night ride. We rode out to Virgil than took Empire rd to Burlington then the GWT again to the end where we chilled and laughed for a while. We saddled back up and took some new trail that dumped us back on 64 and then we took Campton Hills rd all the way up to Town Hall rd. Hung a left onto Beith then cooked out to Meredith took it north to the GWT and rode home. We later loitered by the redbox at the Walgreens until 1 am. It was great, and we are glad you missed it. I ended the day with a metric century on the Shocker.
Thursday turned out to be a leg breaker. I took the Cannondale out to visit my old friend Frank in St. Charles. We had some great espresso then rode north to Al Capones hideout to do the loop with the 20 percent hill. Frank is in fantastic shape since he has been riding all summer. Us grease monkeys start to ride when the season winds down. We worked it up to Silver Glen and then I rode home. The winds turned fierce and I barely made it home. Got knocked off the gWT once and finally arrived to find out I was needed at the restaurant. Without missing a beat I showered and went to push noodles.
Thursday was another metric century. Right not I am cooked and sitting on this wood chair is not pleasant,

good night all,

Ari

The Suburbs from Arcade Fire is Amazing!

This video made my brain go crazy.

go to youtube and watch it in full screen
ARi

Photos, riding, Fall

My Delicious Dinotte light. 4xaa rechargeable, up to 7 hrs, super-light-weight. Made in U.S.A. just like Bill West likes it!

My love for riding at night is hard to explain. Quietness, fear, coolness, dampness, noises. Solitude, animals, strange behaviors, and no tanning.

It is great to get out and do the Wednesday night ride. So far it has been a blast.
We both end up very tired on Thursday. I sometimes feel sorry for Gumby since he has to work and I don't. But then he is younger than me.

I find this amazing. I love how the purse is around the cat's neck. The monkey was swinging from the mini-blind rope.

Giugi eating her pasta and telling the world to rock on!

Fall is coming and quick. We had some warm days but they are ending soon. Please be advised to get your bikes ready for lights, fenders and a fall preparation. I usually switch to a wet lubricant, add lights, reflectors on my wheels and I also like to add reflective tape from Jannd to my frame. We have all that stuff ready to go at the shop so don't feel shy. This is a great time to come in and check out cross bikes, moutain bikes, touring bikes. We have Salsa Cycles Vayas and Fargos in stock. We will be receiving Mukluks and Pugsleys. We are not going to stop riding and exercising this winter. We are raging war against winter and the winter blues.

out,

ari

Day off riding, finally!

Gettin tired around mile 40. That wind got me today!

Colors are changing. Soon it will all be harvested and it will look like Beef Gravy Brown Crosscheck.

Took the Bomber-mo-bile to Velazquez Brothers in Dekalb to get the Brakes fixed and a Tune-up done. They are by far the nicest people to deal with if your automobile is down. I had the Screamroller tied to the roof and after dropping the car off I just rode home. No need to bring another car and another driver. Yes, it can be done. I was also able to take Giugi to school with the trailabike and pull up to the lady who always has her SUV idling, with the windows closed and yapping away on her Dumbphone. Free gas? Allergies? Something urgent going on every morning at 8 am ? I guess my ignorant ass will never find out. I try to refrain from giving her dirty looks but I do anyway.

Rode back home and got ready to go burn it out on the screamroller all the way to Kirland, the land of make believe. I tromped on the pedals and fought a stiff wind that finally broke me. I took refuge for a while at Potawatomi forest preserve only to get creeped out for some reason. Back to civilization at the Marathon Gas station in the hunt for some good stories for Erico. I did see a full Gothed-out kid dressed in black with chains and chains and rivets and a very long tailed coat with a very long t shirt with a huge print of David Bowie. Sitting on a tin can..........

Man those were the days.

I also had fun calling the wife from the payphone in Kirkland. I felt so cool, so ghetto, so drug dealer doing it. She called me a nerd, but I was enjoying my 50 cents worth of fun. All in all I got in the 50 miles on fixed gear that I promised Dr. Giggles. I was running a 42x17 and got sick of that gear. I came home and went for the manly 42x15. I want to fly.

Tomorrow its back to work and back to think of more stuff that I got brewing in the old cranium.

Less computer time, more time bleeding on the bike.

best,

Ari

Em-bro-ca-tion

Cy-clo-cross

ba-rriers

frites

beer

cow-bells

jum-ping

hopping

ca-rry-ing

Cy-clo-cross

BEL-GIAN

Cy-clo-cross

Mud

Material Post

Sven

Stybor

Cy-clo-cross

Cy-clo-cross

Fly-overs

Cyclo-cross

PSI

Can-ti-le-ver

Sporza.

Good night.

Shocker News

Dusty trail last night, today a bit of rain to settle the dust

I am going all around in reflectors for that gyroscopic effect.

The weather has definetly turned for the better. The cooler temps, shorter hours and steady winds have made cycling more enjoyable. I have also been able to conquer the weight of the Shocker and I am at ease with it. The latest additions to the shocker have been a Planet Bike Ro-Co-Co rear rack, Jannd Panniers and a slough full of wheel reflectors. I estimate the total weight of the Brown beast has approached 40 lbs. In a world of drilling carbon fibre to lose weight that is a complete atrophy of a bicycle.
Regardless of what Rapha and all the media feeds you I think there is a spot for the Shocker. It has become a fitness bike. A bike you work out the arms, the legs and your mental attitude. When race day comes that is when the "cheater" bike will come out so I can have an "edge" . It has been fun to ride around the whole area with just 5 gears instead of 20, 30, 22 or 33 of them. My total mileage since I started this project is 425 miles. I believe I started on the last wisps of August and we are have way to september. The Gumby is going to unveil the new project he is working on soon. All I can tell you is that it has the word "head" in it.
Today will be a day to spin out the legs on the steamroller. Nice steady pace, burning more and more of that Midwest fat.
More time on the bike, less on the computer. Try it!

best,


Ari