Stretching for Cyclists

A good PDF on stretching for cyclists can be found here. Someone posted this on MBL today and it's worth sharing.

On another note, I scored a used BOB trailer last night for damn fair price. No pictures yet, but I will get the camera and document it at some point. The BOB is a clever design and I hope to use it for groceries and errands. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it is to attach to the bike. The Cross Check has the BOB skewer in the rear wheel now and I have one more skewer, so the next task is to see if I can fit this on Molly's Breezer. I am a little afraid of that Nexus hub, but we'll see.

I took it out tonight for a test ride and it was great. When you hit a bump, the un-loaded trailer bounces and it feels a lot like a flat, but it settles down quickly and it's not a problem. I plan to load it up this weekend with groceries and maybe a run to Home Depot. Pics will be posted.

That is all.

Is it just me?

Or does this saddle look like male genitailia?














P.S. This is from a Terry bike on MPLS CL.

Stucchi Poster

I have not heard of Stucchi bicycles before, but I came across this poster on the interweb tonight and tried to do some research. I found only one photo of an actual Stucchi bike (it was yellow a yellow single speed). Classic Rendezvous says:

"Stucchi were known for their high end town bikes and only made a small amount of racers. They fielded a team in the late 40s for the Giro and the Tour. Yellow was the company color.

Family descendants play a role in organising recent Eroica's in Gaole Tuscanny."

Here is all Classic Rendezvous' got (click the link).

Now they seem best known for posters of their product; I found a lot of places that would sell re-prints of the posters on the net, but only one bike photo.

It seems that the advertising has eclipsed the product
in this case. Nice poster, though.

Safe at Home

Flew back from ANC today with a nice older couple from Kitchner, Ontario. They did the Alaska cruise scene and had to tell me all about it, but they shared their oreos with me, so it was fine. Five hour flight with some turbulence over Nowhere, Canada. Otherwise it was uneventful. Glad to be home for the remainder of the holiday weekend.

Link of the week: http://www.hotchickswithdouchebags.com/

Someone has taken to photodocumentation of "Guidos" on this website. It is hysterical, especially if you have ever lived on the east coast and run into these guys.

Moose on the Loose

Here is a token Moose shot. This guy was working his way down Cordova Street in Anchorage this morning when I got up. He is actually a pretty small moose - probably born last year.

People that have not spent time in Anchorage are often surprised to learn that the moose are common in town. This one was browsing very close to downtown. The municipality of Anchorage has something like 700 moose living within it. In some locations, like near the airport, you can see them almost every day.

I nearly collided with a moose while riding my bike once when I was doing an Anchorage Trail Watch patrol. We startled each other, but neither of us were the worse for wear due to the near miss.

Guest Book Now Added

I added a guest book to this page. It is located towards the bottom of the right column. So far there's just a message from me on it. If you want to drop a line, be my guest.

On the Road Again

Tomorrow I leave for Anchorage for a couple of days for Alaska North Slope Gas duty. It has been insane since January and I have either been traveling or sick (funny how that works) since then. Not much new because of the heavy work and light recreation routine I am on, but I'll post pre-Anchorage photos. Anchorage has a "1% for Art" rule in the municipality. I like the concept; 1% of the cost of a construction project is set aside for public art. The net result is that Anchorage has some fantastic public art scattered around town. Unfortunately, the 1% rule has created more demand than the good artists can meet.

Exhibit number 1: the public art that was installed outside our offices:



These freakish Iggy Pop beasts hang out in front of the Key Bank building in downtown Anchorage. They were installed (or abandoned?) with no explanation and have been there now for about two years.

Hopefully the weather will be good as will the trip.

Thule > Yakima

We bought a new roof rack for the car a couple of weeks ago to replace the two Yakima trays that we had. These units supposedly attached to the existing factory rails on the Subaru, but they were very wobbly, held the bikes at a scary angle and generally made me feel like I would soon be replacing anything I put up there.

That was not acceptable, so I ended up dropping more than I wanted to on a Thule rail kit and two "Peloton" trays. I finally got around to assembling the thing this morning and I have to say that the fit and finish, and the installation was far superior to the Yakima kit. The Thule is up there like it was welded to the car, the bikes are perfectly straight (not leaning or wobbling) and the fork attachment mechanism locks and is clever as hell. A big improvement for us.

Photo credit to Mountain Bike Review.

An Oldie but a Goodie

Time to re-run my video of a wind turbine self-destructing. This is from Norway, I believe. The braking mechanism failed and the poor turbine pulled itself apart. It is pretty dramatic and worth clicking on the link. As far as I know, no animals were harmed in the making of this video, but the turbine probably got a few birds and bats before it met it's end.

The Sad Tale of Puppy O'Shaunessy

I first saw this on "How to Avoid the Bummer Life". Here's the link:

Puppy Tales

Happy Birthday to Me!

Today was my birthday. Same for my twin brother, by the way. It was a nice day. It also coincided with Pick Up Sticks. Every year we have "Pick Up Sticks" at my in-laws farm. This is a low-key forced-labor event where we paint sheds, remove dead trees, clean up the yard and gardens, and force the kids to pick up the sticks that have come down over the harsh southern Minnesota winter. This year, I scraped a fence to prep it for painting, painted trim on a garden shed, replaced 8 fence boards and repaired a whiskey barrel planter (next job: Cooper). My in-laws got an ice-cream cake from the DQ in Blue Earth, so it was actually quite a nice birthday.

Now - on to my presents!!

The sad thing about getting older is what makes you happy. I got a nose-hair trimmer and it made me happy. I also got some hard-to-find, environmentally friendly aluminum-free deodorant, and you guessed it... it made me happy! I also got myself a pair of Continental Contacts (700c x 32) for the Cross Check. I mounted them up tonight, and damn if it did not make me happy, too. I also got a nice email from a friend, a card from my Mom (thanks, Mom!) and a call from my brother). I should go to bed right now, because it probably can't get any better than this. That makes me happy, too.

Edit - May 16:
In retrospect, I have to count that Waterford as a B-Day present, too. Otherwise I am not entirely worthy.

I Share My Handle with a Pet Food Store

I discovered tonight that I share my handle with a pet food store or something.

Here I thought I was being so clever, what with mis-spelling it and all. You be the judge...

Snak Shak

"Offer your hamster, gerbil, or other small pet a secure hiding spot and tasty chew toy. The Snak Shaks are 100% pet-safe, 100% edible straw-roof huts or open-ended logs your small pet will love. "

As a side note, I got the hamster photo from an internet search on Google, so the odds are now very good that this little guy is now dead.

Sorry.

Non-Competitive Racing

BikeSnob had a classic post today. This is for all of you that time trial through the MS 150's, drope the hamer at the Tour of Saints and generally can't not race when you see someone in front of you on a bike:

Dominating the Unwitting

MPLS vs. Anchorage

Two years ago we moved back to Minneapolis after living in Anchorage for 2.5 years (three winters, as my wife points out). I unearthed an old Gmaps route of my commute in Anchorage on an old BikeForums thread so I am posting it to compare to the current ride. There is a lot to like about Minneapolis, but the commute is not one of them.

Anchorage

Minneapolis

Yes, I have more scenic options in MPLS than this one, but with the 35W bridge construction closing the River Road and the damn Twins stadium under construction, my usual scenic rides are out of commission for the season. All in all, though, MPLS is more bike-friendly than ANC.

Just What I Was Looking For

This was listed on Craig's List MPLS under the Boats heading today:

LARC V MILITARY AMPHIBIOUS CRAFT MONSTER DUCK BOAT - $37500 (MARINE)

---

Reply to: sale-XXXXXXXXX@craigslist.org
Date: 2008-05-01, 4:23PM CDT

larc v amphibious military craft, runs and drives, needs finishing, cummins 903 v8 diesel, 4wheel drive, all aluminum hull top speed on land 30 mph in water 10 mph more info and pics at BOHMANACRES.COM $37,500.00/B.O.

WOW!!!!

I can imagine my neighbor's reaction when my white pick-up truck moves aside to make room for this rascal in front of the house. That alone might be worth taking out a second mortgage. But really, where in the hell could you ever use this thing, assuming it actually would start up and run long enough to get to water???

Here is where I would go on the maiden voyage, assuming I did not break down, sink or get arrested too early in the adventure. That's probably 4.7 miles I would never forget, and I bet I would get on Channel 5 news as well.

I followed the link in the listing and saw that this was listed as a renovation to be completed in 2007 and would be available for contract salvage and amphibious site seeing. After dealing with the cranky Cummins, he must have said "fuck it" and listed the thing. Buyer beware.

Good luck to the folks selling this - I am sure there are a lot of people like me looking at this tonight and thinking of possible uses, but I suspect he will have a hard time finding a motivated buyer in this rapidly eroding economy.