Waterford Touring Bike

This is a dream bike. Custom Waterford build up with Ultegra 10spd Xt rear derailleur. Paul Mini Moto brakes. All Chris King bearings. Mavic a719 rims, Salsa Cowbells. S&S couplers will guarantee easy transport when it goes to Laos. I really enjoyed building this bike. Still have to figure out Saddle, stem, tape and tires for this lucky customer. 
Ari 

Waterford Touring with s&s couplers. 

Weekend riding

December has been tough to say the least. But I saddled up on the Quickbeam Saturday morning and got in 35 miles. Met up with A.G. midpoint and we rode some more miles. Weather was wet, wet, wet and it was a great day to have fenders on the bike. The trails are no accessible unless you own a fat bike. So sticking to the roads for miles is the only solution. 

Roads are clear time to take advantage

Balaclava, Winstopper jacket, and my Helmet Cover. Stay warm and dry

Nothing but brown and grey. Keep you mood up!

Willow Spring rd. Road grime everywhere. 

Des Plaines River is frozen 

A.G on her Singlespeed Trek

My Jack Brown Slicks @ 90lbs were no match for this trail

Balmy night riding

So the other night goes down as one of the worst nights I have been out riding. Another time is when I thought my lungs had frozen  and that is when Hellmut rode me home to make sure I was o.k. I remember taking my jacket off and having ice fall off from my wool sweater. Yeah, that was a horrible night where I fell asleep on my couch in a sleeping bag not being able to warm up. I remember that one to this day. 
Tonight though was in the low 30's and it started to snow as soon as I left the house. I rode thru Hinsdale and then worked myself down south to Palos. I got in there for a bit but was unable to ride with my 34mm cross tires. The snow as coming down pretty good but my legs were content to be on a lighter bike. My feet were a bit cold but that is nothing new. I was happy to see 1 fox and 2 coyotes. Light polution pretty much let me see everything without the need of a light. I just had it on for safety. 
Get out and ride. It's so good.
Ari 

Palos at night without flash or anything else. Just Light Pollution

Willow Springs at night with snowfall. 

This is where I encountered the Coyotes. 

Taking a break from the snow under this bridge

The I &M canal was liquid where the Des Plaines river was frozen. Weird. 

Night photography with available light. I love these conditions. 

Chili upon getting home. BTW I found a Plastic Santa in the Garbage. I plan on bringing him back to life. 

I found this tire track which I plan on checking out soon. It runs right next to the water. 

DARK VADER, the Bike

I thought all traces of Dark Vader were gone. But upon cleaning some folder I found an image of my beloved Trek 420. I had adquired this bike from my friend Dan. He had made an attempt at going Skinny but in the end decided to stay fat. Nothing was better than his Cannondale MtB. So the Trek 420 ended up in my house and I coverted to different things every so often. Very few people were riding fixed gear back in the day and I don't believe anybody had a fixed gear bike with flat bars. I rode to work every day and also rode into Chicago to go to UIC and work. I rode this beast so much I wore out the threads on the BB. Some lady had backed up and knocked a parking sign on it and dented the top tube. I rode it offroad, in the snow and in the rain. Nothing could stop Dark Vader. Then one day I decided to killl it. I had to move on. So, I took its parts off, little by little killing it until it just became a cold lifeless frame. I then hurled it in a dumpster and bid it farewell. 
Ari 

Control tec Stem, barends, 42x15 gearing. Look Moab pedals, Phil wood track hub. 700x23 tires, Original Vistalite blinker. No rear brake, Lugged Made in Usa Frame. 

I think snow bike season is here

Some lucky is picking up this great Surly Moonlander today. I wish I had one of these last night. Maybe, Maybe if I wish hard enough one will appear magically. 
Ari 

Surly Moonlander. Amazing straght out of the box.

 

Getting over the Hump of the coldest day.

So we believe that last night was the coldest night of the year. It was the right time to get out and test out our endurance to the single little number on the thermometer. A.G. came over our house and we departed just short of 10 p.m for a night ride on 29ers. The wind was very bitey and we had on some layers, goggles and winter boots from Lake and Northwave. We hit the road with the wind to our backs and it seemed not too bad. Frost started to form right away on my buff. I eased into the breathing and felt the cold behind my legs. We ended up in Bemis woods riding some dirt trails covered in Snow. Had a tea break and then started heading home. She had done her bit of riding against the wind towards our house so it was my turn to head west. By this time the temps had dropped and the winds had picked up. I fought my gum legs and my heavy bike. I walked a couple of times to warm my toes. I rode and walked the 6 miles home as the cold was not letting me get home. I was happy to make it and it took me a long time to defrost. I know that was a limit ride and the rest of the winter should be a lot easier. I believe it was 2 degrees with a wind chill of -20 last night.  Still working on the layering in my winter boots. Thanks to A.G. for coming out again. 
Best,
Ari 

Tea time under the bridge

Another tea break before hitting the wind

walking home to warm up. 

Riding with Jakey La Cruz Part two

We had a late start on Sunday but made it out to Ghost town with the 29ers. Our goal was to hit the most singletrack we could on the snow. The conditions were perfect and it felt balmy compared to Saturdays 10 degree temps. The sun started to set soon on us and the forest started to glow with the snow and light polution from above. We could see the trails without a problem and we became one with the forest. We were in full Slender Fungus element to say the least. The snow filled in all the bumps and cracks on the trail and our tires just whistled  underneath us. We kept commented on it being perhaps one of the best rides ever. It was so surreal and amazing. We finally got back to the car and fistbumped eachother on a fine accomplishment. We had some coffee from the Coffeehouse and headed home in the snowfall. It was an amazing weekend of Mountainbike Goodness. 
Best,
Ari