January 4th Riding

Thanks to my team mates Dereek Von Weider and Jakey La Cruz for coming out Saturday Morning for a really rough ride. We got out in the cold and snow and ramped up 40 miles out in the refineries loop. We headed out to Woodward, then took International Parkway to Joliet rd, then Bluff rd to Lemont road, to Timberline, to Ridge rd then back up Lemont rd to Frontage and then home. 
Great ride with 40 miles in some harsh conditions. This was caracter building ride and will come handy in those demon moments in Trans Iowa

Slender Fungus Men

Happy New Year to everyone!!

I cannot believe 2013 is gone already. I was not even done with it yet. Anyway, I hope everyone has a great year. Today was hard to get out and ride. I really miss the fact that I sold my snowbike last year. I will definetely have to get fat again this year. I got out on the 29er and it was impossible to ride even on the roads. I went to the shop and hooked up an old schwinn Sierra steel frame with some nokian extremes and I got the job done. I mostly rode on backstreets staying away from the crazy drivers. I calmed my cabin fever a bit by gettin out today. 
Hope all is well with everyone. Let me know if you want to ride at some point. 
Ari 

This had to come out to conquer the "Storm" of 2014. Schwinn Sierra with Nokian Extremes. 

The tollways were bad yesterday worse today.  I am glad I can ride to work. 

25lbs of pressure works pretty good. 

Sunday Solo

So I went from riding in a beautiful Saturday with warm temps, friends and sunshine to riding solo in freezing rain on Sunday. My jacket, boots and bike were covered in a thin coat of ice when I arrived home Sunday afternoon. It had started freeze raining harder as I was getting close to the house. Then of course I got caught with the gates down and sat in the rain for 10 minutes with this long, long, slow freight train. I was happy to have gotten out. I met a couple of guys riding in waterfall glen. One guy was staying warm with his small dog in his Jacket. What a great idea! Keep something alive in your jacket for extra warmth. More frigid weather our way. Maybe January will be a balmy one. 
Don't let your meat loaf, Trans Iowa is around the corner. 
Ari 

This glare ice was impossible to ride

Then I took to the fences where it was a bit easier

I later stopped under this tree to add layers and make the 10 mile ride back home. 

Weekend Riding

Just an image dump of what I did this weekend. Today Sunday I plan on getting out since the week coming is going to be super cold. I recovered some miles over Friday and Saturday with 40 and 70 miles respectively. December has been a bear to deal with but sometimes you just have to put your head down and go for it. I thank my Slender Fungus Members for this. All the time!
Ari 

Night Riding is the best.

That scary glow in the back is Chicago

I hate riding over this bridge when its iced over. 

Blue Demon showed up Saturday Morning for some Miles. 

So did the Bonk King Aboard his Salsa

Will the Afro come back??

we found this random Chimney and hiked there to check it out. 

A perfect place to hangout overnight. 

We hiked thru this thick grass. 

70 miles on this geared bike. It felt weird to have gears all day. 

Dereek's Singular Kite. He was lucky to run it singlespeed. 

Nice view of the Des Plaines river

We rode for miles on this snow covered Centennial Trail. Yeah, you roadies need a cross bike. 

My Dear wife. The person that puts up with my craziness.  

Now I must get out and ride. 
Thanks for reading, 
Ari 

Had to get out

After being inside the shop and just being amazed by the weather I got home, ate dinner and hit the road before 8 pm. I headed south and then took Kean ave all the way south until it literally dead ended by the Canal. Jakey and I had ridden that CAnal trail so I thought it would be cool to road ride down there and then head west on the Canal trail and then make a huge, crazy loop out of it. Night riding was great. I cannot congratulate my Supernova E3 generator light enough. This thing punches out endless 800 lumens and makes cars stop at intersections. I tried riding the gravel trail at Palos but it was a icey nightmare. Then with the slick Jack Browns it was a no go. 
Today I am meeting the Bonk King for some more miles. Get out while it's good cause all of next week it is going to suck. We are getting another polar blast. 
best, 
Ari 



Check out my new route I did late last night. It has huge potential. 
Ari 

Getting Dressed with Jay Petevary

I found this on the WWW.  I think it is helpful to see the different layering techniques that Jay uses to stay warm in the winter. There are many more of his videos on You Tube that are really helpful.
Thanks for making this Mr. Petervary.

Ari

Now get out in that cold and rock some miles!!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!!

On behalf of the Slender Fungus Cycling Association I would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I would like to say hi to all family members, friends, and everyone out there. I hope you all have a great time together with Family and Friends. I hope that next year we get together more often and share a ton of miles on the roads and trails. I would like to send a big hello to all fellow Gravel pals out there. 
Ari 

Merry Christmas Y'all