Tuesday dawned claera and cold. Henk and I headed out for a road ride. Thinking it was around 35 degrees. Tolerable. I on the Battlestar,Henk on the Serotta. Wind in our face,sun on our side off we went. My legs felt OK. MOre wind as we headed south but now the sun was on our face.
A good feeling. Henk took huge pulls tuning the TT motor. I worked hard too.
Crocker Hill is a tough route home the Battlestar had a 42/23. Fine if you're in race fitness. But I climbed it well.
There's a saying in cycling about "burning your matches". Which means giving it your all. We I lit a few up that climb. But being outsisde riding. Makes me alive.It was 27 when we got jome. BRRRR. Even my fat ass was chilled.
So yesterday we rolled out with the "Kid". Same route. But warmer and more wind
Henk posted this ride report:

Don't believe it for one minute. Karl did not break his hip! We were riding again yesterday, accompanied by Mike . Did our usual 1½ hr loop. We have to finish up Crocker Hill to get home. I started out last, as usual, but managed to pass Karl after he broke a spoke. Sucker! I figured it would be one of the rare times that I would beat him to the top. Alas,it was too good to be true. Putting in more of an effort than both of us were bargaining for,Karl surged to the front, I rallied to barely nip our finishing mail box. Anyone else thinking of revenge, dream on.
Henk.

We both burned a pack of matches on that climb. I lost my rhythm to stop and fix the spoke. Then the surge to latch on to Henk. I love climbing.
Today was warmer. I had no legs. So it was a spin and recover. In my head I'm fully recovered.
In body not all the way there yet.

Enjoy life. OGQ

Yesterday cock of the walk. Today just a raggedy man. That's Tina Turner's line in Beyond Thunderdome. That was me on Sunday. I'm cleared to ride. So Henk, Bobber and I headed out in a balmy 35 degrees for our first road ride of the year(truly mine). We laughed as Henk pointed out "WE made the first hill!" A bump in the road. So Henks on the mtb, I'm on the BattleStar, Bobber on the Dale'. We rolled along 79 enjoying the sunshine. No hammerfest. Just spin a high cadence. The long climb up Rt 11 felt good. Don't bump the rev limiter,just ride.

It was good to be alive. As we approached Front st it all came out, Henk pulled to bridge and I took over to get Bob to the line. Fun,pure and simple.

So the next day I decided to do the RUUD team road ride. Right off the bat,up we go. Glad I switched cassettes. Legs sluggish. A dark 32 degrees. I kept getting dropped on the hills. Frustrating? You bet. But,I had to reming myself that,I couldn't even walk under three months ago. Up 26 the paceline formed into the wind. I didn't have here either. Normally I love these Belgian days. At the climb Henk and I decided it was best to turn around. So we figured a tailwind. WRONG. DEAD WRONG! It took forever to get to Endicott. I really had to pee. So A Subway was first up. I clattered across the floor used the facilities. Then was acosted by the manager. "You can't just come in here and use the toilet". I cold tired and noth thinking fast.

I should have said "Well I was going to get in line after I used the restroom. But in this case, NO.

I waved and walked out. By the end I was a raggedy man. 37 miles today.

So today I called into PT and said I'm skipping you guys. It's sunny and 60. Let's see PT vs a ride outside. A nice 25 miles. A good cool down spin. A dumb grin on my face as I rode home. Priceless.

A pic from the infamous day. Ididn't get any beer that weekend.

Now take a look at this bike. The North American handmade bike show was this past weekend. My little bro. Powder coats ANT bikes and the Oswalds shown there. Nice work.

But this one may get me to build a frame again. Look at the old board tracker influence. You can almost see a Indian or HD V-Twin hanging in there. The red tires rock. I'm thinking a scuffed primer paint with pinstripes.

I want one. Aircraft Spruce sells the tubing. I've got the skills. Just need the loot and motivation.

BIG DAY. The cane is gone,except for the long walks.

Sweet. OGQ

So we were all set for the lunar eclipse last night and Gloom county held true to form. Cloudy. So we saw it on the web from Belgium.

We were all gathered at the Cyber Cafe for The fundraiser for Kopernik. Food was good,beers tasty and the band Monkeys Typing were fun. An alien even made an appearance.

Tish was busy with running it all and being the MC with the questions for prizes. Everyone went for Mars mud aka the prison sex toy. Venus was misbehaving showing hers off along with the 50 cent side of salsa. Who knew? Thanks Tish, I hope you made a lot of money. OGQ