March 29th, A long blustery Sunday

St. Nikola Orthodox Church

Our longtime Cactus's

Trader Joe's flowers 

Tivoli Theater in Downers Grove, IL. 

Today is Sunday and since I was working all week I have just sitting and laying around most of the day. It is cold, windy and rainy outside so unless it changes in the next few hours I will just be walking around the inside of the house. I don't mind being inside since I have a ton of projects to do. 
As examples I have been calling my friends and family with the landline. My friend in Vermont also has a landline and it was a good uninterrupted conversation. I don't really like talking on cell phones. The quality is so poor. Maybe Cellphones are not being designed for people to talk to eachother. Wait, I thought that was the main reason??? 
I have also been reading the brick manual that came with my new Camera and it has been fun figuring out stuff. 
I wish I could get some sunshine and get some photos to share. I am sure that day will come. I am also in the process of clearing out bills, ripping up old receipts and just getting those little things done that burn a little hole in the back of my head. My whole photograph organization will be a monumental task with prints, thumbdrives, hard drives, negatives, slides and old files on several computers. God help me. 
I also have some bike stuff to get done. If my garage warms up a bit I will be in there as well. Tomorrow starts another week. I don't know what will happen at work. Day by day I guess. I don't worry about it since it is out of my control. Trying to stay peaceful, reaching out to people, thinking, writing, remembering old stories, digging in the back side of my head. 
I hope this is a good time for you as well to take time and find positives. My FB time is down to 2 minutes and that feels good. I hope to see you out there soon and that we can share some miles together in some nice weather. Take care and thanks for reading. 
Ari 

Some pictures with new cameraA

A very dark and gloomy afternoon. 

Even Salt Creek was not moving. 

The little hill on the left is 14% Believe it or not.

Spent a good time reading the manual and trying to learn all the settings. Man these things are complicated but I can tell they do take better images. At 18 megapixels it's a lot more than what I have had before. A friend from Oregon suggested a 24mm Flat lens for on the bike use. The zoom it has is bulky and it would  be a pain to carry on bike. We will see how that progresses 

On another front I made it thru another tense week at work. Everyone is on high alert. We are wearing masks, cleaning everything and keeping far away from eachother. Some of us eat lunch in our cars. 

It's a weird time for sure. Today I went to drop off and pick up product in Chicago. I have never, never seen it so dead. The major highways were empty, like I was in the middle of nowhere in Wyoming. I truly feel I am on another planet. Wanted to get lunch, didn't. Wanted to get coffee at Dark Matter, Didn't. I am only allowed to go one place and come back. 

So tomorrow and Sunday will be great to be home and catch up with some projects that have been waiting for me for the past.....10 years. I am actually excited to get some stuff done. I will probably go for a walk too. 

Let me know what you guys are up to. What are you doing with all the "extra" time that you didn't have before. I hope we all work towards getting thru this. I will also be making a lot of phone call with my beloved landline since I STILL don't have a working Cell phone. Oh Well! 

Thanks for reading. More colorful pictures as the sun comes out.

Ari 

New Camera day.

I have been doing photography since I was a little kid. My mom was into it and she took lots of photos of us using a Voigtlander Bessa Folding Medium format camera. I found the same camera at a used camera store and bought one. She also shot a lot with a Kodak Instamatic 126, the one with the cube light flashes. 
I have alway been interested in capturing moments. A lot of people tell me they record stuff in their heads. In my case I have pretty poor memory and I  also like to share photos to family and friends. I have a ton of cameras. In my digital time I have mostly shot with a bunch of cheap point and shooters. A lot of bike shots I have used a waterproof CAnon D10. My nicest digital to date is my Canon G11. 
I had been itching to get a DSLR and wanted to start saving some coin to get one. Then all of a sudden Grandma Linda calls the house and tells me she wants to sell Grandpa Bob's Camera. He had passed away a couple years ago and I wanted to also help her and be able to shoot Grandpa's camera. I didn't want a stranger to have it. 
She boxed it all up and sent it to my house. It's a Canon Rebel 4 Ti, couple lenses, filters and a bunch of gizmos. I am satisfied with it since that is a good little starter camera. Great photographer Mike Curiak has shot some wonderful photographs using one of these. 
I wanted to post a photo of my new camera but blogger is being pesky. YOu will get a chance to see it soon. My goal is to photograph more people, more family, more friends. Images are forever and its nice to see somebody when you can't be close to them. I like the new digital services where you can order photos from home and pick them up later. I would like to print photos and mail them out. 
Maybe this camera will teach me a lot and then I can buy the "big one".
On other fronts I am starting to grow tired of the media. Yesterday I made it a point to get on facebook for under 5 minutes. I think I maxxed out at 2. Too much negativity, too much doom. I suggest that if one wants to post something make it positive. Post a recipe, a workout, a nice photograph, a nice thought. Negativity will wear us down and get us depressed and sick. 
I think we still need our guard up but we can be positive. If this keeps up on FB I will delete the app for a while. IF you have any comments on this let me know below. I am happy to ready comments all the time. 
Get out and walk, ride if you can, use that indoor equipment, lots of workouts on the internet, meditation is good(also available on Youtube), call friends and talk, call relatives, keep tabs. 
I hope we end this week on a positive note. I hope next will be better. 
Thinking of you all!!, 
Ari 
thanks for reading and have a good day. 

Keeping the guard up

Open space , sun and calmness. Soon 

Iowa is on my mind. 

Last night I had a hard time falling asleep. I guess just waaaay too much to be able to just lay there and count pretty little sheep. As I labored to a hard sleep I started to dream of Iowa. The simple things like driving down rte 64 and cross the bridge in Savanna over to Sabula. Taking that rte 52 north and hanging out in Bellevue for a while. Going up the Scenic outlook and looking at the mighty Mississippi river. Packing a picknic or going to Potters Mill for some barbeque. 
The simple things in life that have become so impossible for the time being. It makes me wonder why it all happened. Is this a reset? Is this another sign to change our ways? I cannot help but have those thoughts in my head. The streets are dead, people are walking and riding bikes. I have never seen them before but I am pretty sure they are my neighbors. 
The highways are empty, at rush hour, with blocks of space between cars. Were we going hog wild and needed to stop? Needed to re-evaluate what we are doing? Did earth need a dramatic drop in pollution to catch it's breath before we punish it again. 
I'm sure this will pass and our memories will fog up and forget. Same as when 9/11 happened. It was all flags back then but those flags have worn,falling and never been replaced. 
This all has me thinking a lot since I have the time. Our home will have changes for sure and I hope that more people have had time to think. It's time to slow the rat race. It's time to give back, volunteer and in our case the dollar is not the bottom line. 
This weekend, if safe I will venture out on bike. I have been walking a bit for now. Trying to get 10k steps a day. Seems to feel good. Eating well, taking vitamins, eating fruits and vegetables, staying away from meats. Lots of water and hot tea. 
I hope to see you soon and share a ride with you. 
It's been a while, 
Ari 

A new Monday , A new week

Woke up this morning to a full blanket of fresh, spring snow. It is spring y'know. I will be going to work today and keep myself busy. This past, first weekend of stay at home was actually pretty good. I made one quick run to store to get vitamins and Garlic. Married to an Italian gal means Garlic and Olive Oil can never be out of stock.

We did a lot of cooking, reading and organizing of photographs. I found a couple of gems that I will post in the near future. The new header photograph above is the Gypsy Caravan ride that we did a while back. We all rode our Mountain Bikes, cargo bikes, fat bikes. We brought food and bevys and rode about 60 miles that felt like nothing. Wifey hauled around a fully stocked Surly Big Dummy with food and beer. 

That was perhaps the funnest ride of all time. WE laughed so much, we enjoyed the gravel, the music, Bonk Kings tamborine. WE still talk about it. Seeing that photo brought back a lot of good memories. It made me realize that we need to get back to that. We need to make time for friends and family. We need to put the screen down. It sucks our time away where we could be calling a pal to chat. 

These are the thoughts that came to mind this morning. I hope you all have a great day, great week. Keep your guard up and be vigilant. Together we can succeed. 

Let's ride Soon, 

Ari 

Slender Fungus Cycling Association

3/23/20 Snowing on my daughter's birthday. 

The lonely Slender Fungus Rider

As per the situation going on the Slender Fungus has agreed to stay away from eachother. Wait. We were already doing that since we all moved away as far as possible from eachother. A few of us are in Illinois, but we don't ride together, some in California, some in New York, some in Vermont, some in Tennessee, heck, even some in Germany. 

That does not keep us from been united and a tight knit group. We routinely keep up with each other and talk. We still get out and ride as much as we can and share our stories and adventures. We always used to ride at night, specially a few of us. WE liked the night cause it had little to no traffic. 

The trails were empty and it was just the right mood for the Fungus. 

Lots of cool creatures roam around at night and it was always nice to see them. I got smacked in the face by a bat once that later ended up attached to my shorts. That gave me a good spook but it wasn't the end of the world. 

Sometimes we saw strange things, strange lights and very strange behaviors. Getting chased by invisible dogs was Gumby's favorite thing. That's how we rolled back in the day. 

So things have changed since we all moved away and are dealing with "life" and "trying to stay alive". WTF? 

TJ has been going on solo excursions out in Indiana so he sent me some photos. He is most proud of his new to him Salsa La Cruz. A fine, ferrous machine he adquired a little while back. I have been meaning to visit him and ride with him and I hope that comes true. 

Meanwhile, Dr Giggles is riding gravel in the mountains of Vermont. He has been on a solo mission for a long time so this is nothing new to him. 

It is my hope that when all this is said and done that we can ride again together. There should be enough time left in the year to do some celebration rides. 

In the meantime I will continue to organize and repair and do ALL my chores. I will be ready to start yet another chapter in my life. I love the Slender Fungus family to no end. I think and give strength to everyone in these times. Don't hesitate to reach out. Talk, write, reconnect and make somebody's day. Now is the time to do it. 

Essential to TJ is Bacon and M&M's

TJ's beloved Salsa La Cruz

Roaming Around in Solo Mode

What it's all about Slender Fungus Cycling Association

3/21 Post 2020 Thoughts in the early AM

Having coffee and posting early on a Saturday morning. At 5 pm a Stay at home order will be implemented. I don't know what to make of all this. We sat and chatted with the wife last night and we both agreed that this was the weirdest thing we could have ever imagined. While we still try to wrap our heads of what has happened, the truth is that there is a lot more consequences coming. 
As a cyclist I think everything is going to change for a long time. Bike shops, rides, races, industry, everything has been turned upside down. It will be a while until we can fully understand the impact, find solutions, and fix stuff to what I think a new order. 
I really think that all events in spring and summer should just be canned. Take that time to take care of family, friends, oneself. 
I will miss,again, seeing a lot of friends I have not seen in a long time. That will have to wait until the storm is over. 
I will have to accept the fact that doing indoor training will be a possible fact if things get worse and we get grounded at home. I have rollers, a non smart trainer, a rowing maching and Trx straps. I also have some weights, a yoga mat, and a foam roller. 
In the meantime I will try to ride outside alone. I will roll out the garage, ride, then roll back inside. Wash everthing, wash bike and be grateful. 
What are your plans? 
I hope to keep posting on here on a daily basis and that we all write more since we now have the time. Let me know if you need anything at all. 
Today I am hoping for a short, outside ride, then I am going to start tackling my garage. I also have 3 sets of full coverage fenders that have to be mounted. They have been sitting, idling for months. It's a tedious process to fit them on bikes but now is the right time to do it. I also have to change the broken housing on my Rohloff system. That should take a while. I also have a ton of books to read and a bunch of movies to watch. Oh, my thousands of photos need organizing. 
These are all things that I was not able to do while I was participating in the rat race. The rat race keeps you alive and pays the bills but does not allow you to do the things you love. 
Stay positive, get stuff done. 
thank you for reading,
Ari

I hope to be out here one day, surrounded by friends.

A great time to reconnect with family and friends

This is just something that has been brewing in my head and I have to let it out. UP until just a couple of weeks ago everyone was going full speed with our busy lives. I personally never had time to keep up with all friends and family. The weeks literally went flying by. I would blink an eye and it was already Monday. 
So now with the familiar situation it has given me time to reflect and think a lot about things. So many things that were important no longer are. This week has dragged by with a lot of tension and anxiety. 
I will continue to write on this antiquated blog and focus less on the instant message thing. This lets deeper stuff get out and I just like how it works. Why did I abandon it in the first place?? 
Call friends, write them, check on family, get projects done, tune up all your bikes, start planting a garden. There is a million things to do while we wait this out. Scrolling the pocket computer and getting freaked out is probably the worst thing to do. Stay positive! 
Ari