Groovy, man!

What a couple weeks it has been.

I am back in Maple Grove as I have mentioned before and it is going alright. Last weekend I took off to Minneapolis for a little work gathering. We met up at the Chatterbox and the general manager bought us some dinner and drinks. I had to crash out there as I was in no condition to ride home. I rode home the next day, Sunday, and it was chilly but I made it alright. I had also went riding on the Friday prior to that and every path was covered in snow, you can see for yourself in the picture below. It wore me and my knees out really quick.

I got a new laptop and I am afraid to carry it in a pannier to school. So I ended up ordering the Timbuk2 Especial Tres. It looks like a really nice bag, I will pick it up tomorrow when I go to work, you bet I will write a review. I also took my rack off the cross check and I was super surprised at how big a difference it made, I gained 2 miles an hour it was nuts. Though I also wiped out. I went through an underground pedestrian tunnel and it looked like there was just water coming out so I went in and about half way through I figured out it was ice, just as I had that realization, I wiped out. I may have bent my cantilever arm as well as my pinky finger. I will also find out about that tomorrow.

Monday kicks off 30 days of biking. I will be doing it this year and I will try to take at least one photo every day. I will post the link to the flickr album where I will be uploading the pictures so you can check back periodically, I will also be doing regular posts throughout the month.

Since coming back to Maple Grove I've started doing P90 again and have already lost a solid 10 pounds. My goal is to get back down to 180 at least, I feel way better, I am eating way better, and I sleep way better. I am hoping that by the end of the year I will be back to my target weight and pretty able bodied on the bike again. I can do a lot of riding but I get pretty wiped out after the fact, not like my first year of serious biking. I want to get back to that. I am pretty excited about the future and where I am heading, everything seems to be working out pretty good.

Cross Check on the snow. Wrong tool for the job.

Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahaaa... wipe out!

All the layers.

It is cold this morning.

I am back in Maple Grove so my commute is about 6 miles longer than it was while I was in Minneapolis. Last time I tried to Bike in this kind of weather I did not make it too far, I think I am properly prepared today, but we will see for sure. I have to work today so I am headed to Eden Prairie via Plymouth/Baker Rd. I did not like this commute before as I had almost been taken out by motorists too many times, but I am not going to let that sway me, I need to keep riding and keep riding in the road too. If worse comes to worst I'll get on the path, but these suburban folks need to get used to seeing bikes any way. Here is to hoping I don't get nailed by a car.

I'm so excited and I just can't hide it....

It has been some time since my last post. I did some stutter biking and I am finally doing it on the regular again. Obviously spring break helps but I also got some new gear and a full fitting.

I'll start from the beginning. The last post I did was near the beginning of February and I had just gotten done with the creek ride. I went on a few more fat bike rides including riding the fat bike as transportation but then one day it was really nice and I decided to dust off the Cross Check. I had a lot of fun riding it so I went ahead and purchased some studded tires for it because I know that in March and sometimes April there is a lot of refreeze. I didn't get anything with too many studs in them but they have a nice aggressive tread and a fair amount of studs. 

Then last week I picked up a couple shifts at Freewheel and a couple more this week and then I also work Sunday. So far I have ridden in every single day and I hope to keep doing it. The only wrench in my plan is that my commute is now a round trip 50 miles as I am back in Maple Grove, where as my commute from Minneapolis was only about 28. Well one thing is for certain, I will get back in shape pretty quick.

I picked up a Gore Bike Wear coat and it is amazing. We got a deal on them over the winter through Gore and I could not believe how amazing it has turned out to be! It is getting too warm to be wearing it but it will serve me well next winter that is for sure.