Headquarters for the Slender Fungus Cycling Association

Headquarters for the Slender Fungus Cycling Association
Brewers of Hardy Rides.

Monday, February 10, 2025

Sunday, February 9, 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. 

Sunday, February 2, 2025

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 

Friday, January 31, 2025

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. 

Monday, September 2, 2024

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


Saturday, August 31, 2024

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. 

Friday, August 30, 2024

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