discovering

discovering. from Slender Fungus on Vimeo.

video footage by ari, music by Postal Service, video editing by mauri


n-joy

ari

Slender Fungus Tuesday Night

Gumby getting his high mineral content water and our only junior survives close to 50 miles of riding with no complaints.

Slender Fungus Tuesday night ride

Heading out on secret route to South Elgin. Lots of Corn Moths.

A rolling cloud we caught with the camera. Then it rained like crazy

Slender Fungus Tuesday Night

Our nightly walks with the gang.

Gumby and Mauri. Gumby making transactions in the middle of the night.

Hanginig out at the Slender Fungus Post.

Rolled out on tuesday night around 9 pm as we mostly do. Crew was Gumby, My Son Mauri and me. Still kinda hot and humid when we left. Had a great ride, one flat, and the young man from Berlin was able to complete the 42 mile trek without any complaints. Must be great to be 13 years old. He is always very psyched when he comes to visit and just wants to ride the bike. Bugs were out in force and the required bandanna comes in handy. Last week both Gumby and I swallowed bugs and coughed for hours.
Best,
ari

We´re in Iowa, still ? Thank God.

Sabula, Iowa

near Sabula Iowa

Rte 64 Iowa

Near Maquoketa Iowa

"Rambo", ultra secret location. Don´t Ask.

Caves at Maquoketa, Iowa

just a beautiful prairie

Pantanimobile raging war on the B roads

Secret B road.

Fantastic Road trip with Giugi and Mauri. We drove some excellente gravel roads, did some B Maintenance roads, went hiking, had lunch, had ice cream and came home dead tired. I really enjoy visiting our neighbor state and am surprised as to what I find just on the other side of the river.
enjoy the photos.

Ari-Giugi-Mauri

Mini road trip out to Winnebago

Around Leaf River

Heading south towards Rte 64

Drink Milk. Best sign in a long time

Pecatonica trail off Boisington rd, intersecting RTe 20. I don't know if the underpass going under 20 is complete.

Winnebago town hall.

Downtown Winnebago

Pecatonica Prairie Path going through Winnebago. It sure was easier to find then in the town of Pecatonica

This is what I did yesterday. Took Mauri and Giugi out on a road trip. We did a bit of Recon for the Flandria 100+ and then ended up in Winnebago. Had lunch, ice cream and checked out some more portions of the Pecatonica Trail. It was really hot and of course the Pantani-mobile is air condition free as not to pollute the environment. We drank lots of water, sweated and had a great time listening to music and finding some amazing roads. North of Mt Morris, around German Valley, Leaf River town areas there is some fantastic riding to be done. I guess one could park in Oregon and just start riding around that area. I hope to have some time in the fall to do those rides. Perhaps you will see more organized rides at that time.
best,
Ari

Still like Tom Lamarche

20" bmx, 700c fixed, 29er whatever it is Tom is just incredible.
ari

Update to Flandria 100+ and Pecotonica Trail

Off Meridian rd, south of U.S. 20 facing east

Off Meridian Rd, South of US 20 facing West

West of Pecotonica town facing East. Looks Passible to me. What do you think?

First of all there is an update to the Flandria 100+ blog. you can check it out by the "blogs I read"or by clicking on the image on the right column.

I am scouting out the Pecotonica trail for investigation and discovery in the fall once the mosquitoes die down or get their bellies full of blood whichever comes first.


The Pecotonica trail can be seen just south of US 20 off of Meridian Rd. It is on the west side of Meridian as you cross over the bridge. BTW the bridge is out so you have to go west and come back down on US 20. and exit meridian going southbound. I don't know why I obsess over things so much but it has been stuck in my mind that I want to bushwack from Rockford all the way to Freeport and then perhaps have a ride back . I can see doing this in thick pants, thick shirt and workgloves because it is going to be a bloody mess. Bike of choice would be a 29er that you don't keep on a pedestal. Is anyone game????
The Pecotonica trail was supposed to receive 5 million dollars from the wonderous and progressive state of Illinois to open up the trail, build ammenities so the fine citizens of Illinois and neighboring states could enjoy the open prairies and fresh air. Com Ed, fine providers of cheap energy, had bought the strip of land from one of the rail ways and had planted high voltage cables. Underneath the humming wires were supposed to be a smooth, flat trail for Hikers, Bikers and Skiers in the winter. Thanks to our fearless and greedy leaders the money never came and the trail is at a stanstill and the weeds are out of control with all the rain we have received. I have this dream of getting enough offroaders to use it so it stays open before the weeds turn into trees and the raspberry and blackberry bushes make it impassible.
Check out the photos depicting the current conditions. Hurray for our Illinois Government !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

best,

Ari

Saturday Cannondale, Crawfish and Tanq+Tonics

Giugi and Mauri chiling by the bonfire

My Son Mauri and I

Everyone had a blast.

crawfish and jumbo shrimp imported from Louisiana

This man graced us with banjo and song

Music and a bonfire that wouldnt start. But we got it going

Miss Jenny and Giaco

Blake and his wife Miss Jenny

first serving. Hot, Hot and Spicy!!

cooking grounds for the crawfish boil

my buddy Blake and I

a storm that was behind me

cheater bike in Kms mode

In a strange turn of events Gumby and I woke up early to make the Saturday morning (7:30 a.m. !!!) ride. We met with two other dubious characters and got out on the cheater bikes. We quickly warmed up and in no time the cheater bikes were cruising at around 20mph. I was weird turning the pedals and going so fast, with no sliding or dust coming up. I enjoyed the morning and the company. After work I also rode down to Hinckley, IL to my mom-in-laws house. I cruised there with Gumby since he had to deliver a stuffed animal and other excuses. My good friend Blake had flown in from Louisiana to do up a Crawfish, Jumbo Shrimp, King Crab boil and to cook up some amazing Jambalaya. We ate , drank and had some bonfire fun before getting home really late. I was really happy to see Blake, his wonderful wife, the family, not have to work Saturday night and to hang out with my boy that came to visit from Germany. I was also able to clock in 90kms total on the cheater bike.

Post # 500!

Thanks to all you readers for keeping this up. Thanks for reading the good and the bad, the interesting and the boring. I hope to continue to share the riding, the photos and to keep spreading good riding out there. WE love the roads, Gravel, dirt, snow, ice, fog, as long as we can be out there enjoying the open spaces. The Slender Fungus movement will not grow much at all if anything it will shrink but that is o.k. since the qualifiers are so absurd. Thanks to all my Trans Iowa buddies out there in Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Ilinois, and to my good Pal Giggles out in the New York Area.
I leave

From the Ground Up from Chris Skogen on Vimeo.

you with a great video that EOJ also shared about the Almanzo race.

best to all,

Ari
Slender Fungus Cycling Association.

Night Riding

Taking a break with our new friend

Mystery Jogger. Nike Shoes, Sweatshirt, Socks.

Tuesday's scheduled ride turned out to be really cool temperature-wise. We were both wearing jackets and Gumby also had some tights. The midwest is so crazy when it comes to weather. One day it is hot and humid, the next cold. So we made our roll out to St. Charlies and had interesting chat all the way. The trail was most excellent and there was an assortment of bugs to chew on. I had a Bandanna going since I just don't care for bugs crawling down my throat. We arrived at the end of the trail and found the Shoes and sweatshirt that you see on the bench. Gumby started telling me this story of how they had found some running shoes with the feet still in them. We checked the shoes for feet and only found some stinky socks in them. We sat at the next table over and chatted with our new friend.
We finally got going again and just froze until we warmed up again. We were tired and had not brought enough food. Around almost midnight we had the sighting again. Two strange LED lights approaching us. We new that these lights were the same ones we had spotted last week. Indeed it was the two misterious riders we had seen the week before. Both dressed in dark clothing, one sporting a Mustachio and no tail-lights as to not be seen. We know they are part of the incognito Slender Fungus Cycling Association. We just grunted at eachother in passing.
I went home, had toast, took all my Asthma medicines, had a shot of whiskey and passed out.
While daylight riding has its benefits I much prefer the night. Cars are more visible, there is less people out. One never runs the risk of getting sunburned and there are a lot of creatures out. The miles sometimes fly by and othertimes just drag on forever. If you haven't tried it go ahead and get yourself a good light and team up with someone and just do it! Nike Style.
The Salsa Chili con Crosso has been riding good and I just worked out an annoying creak. Where the Salsa clamp interfaces with the frame is where the creak was. I took the clamp off, greased the inside and voila the creak was gone.
best,
ari