Archive | Cycling

Wind in Black & White

By soiledchamois on May 11, 2016 in Cycling

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Tuesday I was pretty bogged down with home, work, and family stuff, so I snuck out for a quickie. Just before I got ready to roll, I checked the weather and it said there was a seven mile an hour wind coming from the east. That was fine with me, anything in the single digits around these parts is a blessing from the cycling gods above. However as I sat in the garage bucking down my shoes, I heard the garage door rattling. “Hmmm…. that’s a pretty strong seven mile an hour wind I thought to myself.”

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Closer To Not Being Closer To The End

By soiledchamois on May 10, 2016 in Cycling

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Playing Catch Up, Monday 1o:50 PM

This blog is funny in that if I go one day without posting something, I get the itch to post something; whether it be some unfunny commentary, tales of one of my short and shitty rides, or just a couple of photos. However if I go more than four days without posting I reach blissed out on Valium and sleep med levels of apathy about ever posting anything again. Then once I hit five days without posting something, apathy gives way to creative ennui, or I actually go for a ride and have something that I feel like blathering on about.

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As Expected

By soiledchamois on May 4, 2016 in Cycling

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In the midst of various home and freelance work projects I looked at the weather forecast for the week and saw that Tuesday looked to be the one day over the next few that I could finally get out on some singletrack. Despite my left hip and lower back being in various stages of suck, I forced myself to load up the PrOcal and head up to the trails.

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Thoughts After a Year

By soiledchamois on May 2, 2016 in Cycling

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After B’s soccer match on Saturday I stuffed my ever-expanding body into my ever shrinking kit and headed out for a quick 25 mile ride before dinner. As I rolled along dirt roads in the crisp air that qualifies for spring in Michigan I realized that I had ridden right through the Boone’s 1 year birthday last month without any acknowledgement whatsoever. I believe we were moving that day, so I guess I have an excuse. However I hope to make up for all that here today.

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Squeezing

By soiledchamois on April 28, 2016 in Cycling

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I had hoped with our move over I would be back to a semi-normal riding schedule. Sadly, this week things have not really come together. First weather got in the way (hard to believe it’s nearly May given how cold and crap our weather is), then a long “to do” list was presented to me by our realtor in regards to our old home which is going on the market in two to one hundred ninety-six hours.

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Getting Settled

By soiledchamois on April 24, 2016 in Cycling

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I, er I should say we, are finally getting completely settled into the new crib and totally digging it on so many different levels. As a bonus I finally have a desk for my Mac and junk, and it only took me four hours to put together. Thanks Staples! (Not really, maybe next time you could get it shipped in 500 different pieces instead of just 400?). In any event, I have a desk and it looks swell in my office. Even better than finally getting settled in a new crib is getting in two-days in a row in of riding.

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Slow (Back at It)

By soiledchamois on April 21, 2016 in Cycling

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The past week has absolutely flown by! It seems that everything has been moving non-stop: house walk-through, house closing, moving boxes, traveling for B’s soccer, moving day, un-packing, sorting, arranging, getting things done to get our old home on the market, picking up a new lawn mower, mowing the small patch of grass at our old hose (15 minutes), mowing the large patch of grass at our new home (45+ minutes), taking B to soccer practices, getting some light “at-large” web work done, and doing all the other stuff that is expected of a father/husband done.

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Two In a Row?

By soiledchamois on April 13, 2016 in Cycling

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After a crap week of riding, it felt amazingly good to get out for a second day in a row on the Boone. Slightly warmer temps, less wind, and remembering to actually wear the appropriate base layer helped me go a few miles further than yesterday and get in a ball hair under 30 very unimpressive miles. Yeah, my hip/back still hurt a bit, but screw it, I was riding my bike when I should have been home packing, updating the shop’s website, the soccer club’s site, getting a flyer finished, packing, doing laundry, painting the basement, grocery shopping, and cooking dinner.

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Almost Warm

By soiledchamois on April 12, 2016 in Cycling

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Spring in Michigan means that even when there’s no snow, sleet, or freezing rain, ride time often greets you with 32˚ temps and a crisp 10+ MPH wind coming out of the north/west. With a heavy sigh into the vat of coffee raised to my rotund face, I reluctantly made my way up to the Chamber of Farts™ to strap myself into Part 1 of my winter riding gear (spring ensemble): wool socks, fat condensing base layer, lined bibs, and Craft WindStopper base layer*. Then down to the big box of bike shit for Part 2: riding jacket, cool weather gloves, vintage Bikeman.com skull-cap and my regular Pearl Izumi kicks. With that, me and the Boone were out the door…

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In Between Storms

By soiledchamois on April 5, 2016 in Cycling, Random

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The past four or five days have been spent dealing with one storm after another: rain, snow, gusting winds, sleet, cold temps, and a bout of the black dog like I haven’t dealt with in a while. Obviously the black dog part was the worst, but the end is in sight, and for that I am grateful.

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