May 13, 2025

 Kinda looks like the weather is starting to warm up finally. I've been leaving a bit earlier in the morning and started to extend my mileage before work. Dressed for work and hauling my backpack I've been trying to hit that 20 mile mark before getting locked in doing tune ups all day. Been riding road bikes since they are the most efficient on the road. I started off with the single speeds but a never ending NE wind got me really tired and I switched to gears. 

I hope to extend my range mileage wise and get into the 50 mile range, then 100km, then the coveted 100 miler. One of my goals this year is to do another 100 miler on my SS. I couple years back I did one on the fixed gear with the help of my friend Bruce. I also clocked in one ride with the local road group and that felt ok. I was still battling a cold that would let go but managed to finish the ride. 

And time does fly nowadays. I blink my eyes and 3 months go by since I last made and published a post. The spring here in Chicago has been a very strange one. Cold and windy for the most part. Cold in the morning, warm in the middle of the day then cold at night. It has been hard to find a rhythm on the bike to be honest. I am still wearing most of my normal winter kit until it decides to warm up for good. 

I am sitting close to 2,000 miles for the year so far. Last year I was able to click in over 10K and this year I really don't have any goals. I will let fate decide how much I will ride. 

I have been circling thru all my bikes and have been enjoying the rattier ones in the stable. Some old Diamond back Fixed gear, an old Trek steel bike, my reliable Giant Contend. Mountain bikes, and other bikes that had been collecting dust for a while. 

About a month ago I had my right eye repaired since a nasty cataract had taken over my vision. I had no sight in my right eye and all I saw was white light. My eye surgeon was able to blast the cataract with the laser, cut eye open, clean it out and install a new lens in there. Now I can see well out of both eyes but will still need a bit of correction with some glasses. With the loss of vision in right eye I had brought my city cruises to a halt. I had no peripheral vision to see cars. 

I'm looking forward to perhaps seeing some friends and family that I have not seen in a long time. Maybe this year will be the one to catch up with people. It really would be nice. 

thanks for reading and hopefully 3 months don't slip by unnoticed. 

Ari 

February 10,2025

 

February 9th, 2025

 

Sometimes the image quality does not matter at all. I found that I always had some kind of camera on me when I went riding. At first I carried a film point and shoot which had me limited to 24 to 36 exposures. It was tough getting good shots on the move and worse when it got dark since the flashes would not cover much of a distance. 

Then as film faded, for a time, the digital cameras came along and everything changed. They were expensive at first but it was nice not having to buy film and the processing. I captured so many nice images and am so glad I did so. I will be sorting images and finding them for a long time coming. 

Nowadays I snap photos with my no service iPhone I have. I still carry a camera since I'm so used to it. Taking photos is a nice way to remember places and friends. I like to stop and enjoy the scenery. Colors and formations amuse me. Now to get these eyes fixed so I can shoot the old manual focus machines that I have. 

February 2025

 Again thank you for reading. A while back I had mentioned of some vision problems that I was having. Well  the left eye had a cataract and that got fixed. Now its the turn of the other eye, the right one, to be fixed. How smart to have given us 2 eyes. Anyway this has almost hindered me in writing as much as I have wanted. I have adjusted and I think with the next surgery things will improve dramatically. 

Maybe I will be able to ride off-road again. That has been a while for that. I mostly stuck to the road and gravel last year. Once I get this out of the way I can start making some more solid plans for the year. I need to see some people, it's been too freakin' long. Like stupid long. Gotta get out of Chicago for more than 2 days. Like de-toxify myself a bit. 

I'm gonna start working on this old USA Wisconsin made Trek bike I got soon. I have allocated a stem, bars and other parts for it. It's getting stripped all the way, gonna spray it and then rebuild it. I like modern bikes but those old machines ride fantastic and are a lot more reliable. That's my opinion anyway. I will post a photo of it soon so you can see what it looks like now. Thank God they didn't' clamp a kickstand on it. 

It's Reynolds and lugged. That's all for today. Hope all is well with you. 

Ari 

January of 2025, the very last day it is

 Thank you for reading this blog whenever I get a chance to make a post.  The weeks have been just flowing by like days and I struggle to grasp any minutes I can. 2024 was a blur of many things happening. Super busy at work and even more busy with family and home. We've been at our new place for over 3 years and are still working on getting settled and trying to finish up some projects. This past December we were able to get the roof done on the garage. This year I will work on insulating it and perhaps getting the garage door repaired. After that it should be more comfortable to work in during the cold months. 

My riding in 2024 was something that just clicked for a change. I was able to clock over 10k miles, with all 366 days ridden and I completed the Rapha 500 challenge, which was a bear during December. I was happy with that accomplishment and am not interested in surpassing that this year. I have other goals I'm looking into. I want to spend more time with family and friends. Go on some interesting rides. Get more gravel in. Visit friends. Maybe do something longer than 100. I also would like to declutter my garage and streamline all the bike stuff I have. It's just a matter of getting rolling on that Ebay account. My daughter has promised to help with shipping!

I have also been looking into ways to better my photography. Im learning some new techniques and have been understanding my cameras a bit more. I am every grateful to Steve for the computer and Ricardo for that Sony camera. Those two pieces of equipment have helped a ton. 

I always hope to post more often but I have to be smarter about grabbing those elusive minutes. 

Thank you for reading, 

Ari 

Hellmutt Kost on his SS Crosscheck. 

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