Ch-ch-ch-changes!

I didn't forget about this blog, I have just been super busy. I may have made Dean's list this semester so obviously that is a big time suck. I also have not been as active on the bike as I would like. Things have changed a lot however.

I recently started working at Freewheel Bike in Eden Prairie, this is huge for me. It has restored my love after a dreary winter and spring. I am still working at the coffee shop but that will end soon. I am biking there today actually, hopefully it doesn't rain tomorrow so I can bike to the bike shop too.

My girlfriend is still on the hunt for a new bike. We are looking at the Surly Ogre, she is afraid of the drop bars and I don't really blame her. That or she is looking at the Novara Safari from REI. Both of them are nice steel frames but I feel like the Safari would be more enjoyable to her, as it is lighter and probably much easier to ride.

Frustrations.

I have caught fat bike fever again as well. Every time it snows I just wish I had a fat bike, I reckon that no one would see me for days at a time. I ride by a giant pile of snow and I think to myself "That would be fun to ride over.". It will happen some day.

After I fix the fenders that I messed up I should be good to go with the road bike again. I did ride it roughly 32 miles to work last Friday and it was good to be back on the road. I was surprised to find it only took me about an hour to travel 16.5 miles, that is pretty good time for me as far as I know.

I am considering selling the mountain bike so I can put some of the money into a new wheel for the road bike and put the rest into the savings for the fat bike. I am also looking for a rig for the girlfriend, she wants to try biking this summer and who am I to say no?

Leave of absence.

After extensive riding on the single speed, I have found that it is in fact too short for me so that is out.

I had taken the road bike down for repairs when I got my new front wheel. Deore XT hub and a Mavic rim, very nice wheel, I will be getting the rear to match it very soon. In the mean time I have replaced my brake pads, brake cables, and handle bar tape. I also disassembled the drive train for major cleaning and slapped a new chain on there. The new wheel will have to be nine or ten speed compatible, because should I ever want to upgrade my rear derailer nine or ten speeds is the only game in town any more really. Which is fine, I just don't currently have the cash flow to upgrade a new derailer and shifters. I also disabled my brakes from the STI levers that I never use and now they are controlled strictly by my "cross" levers on the flat part of my drops. I also put the finishing touch on the bike and added fenders, I am in the final stages of mounting them as I had to trim some of the V-brace ends up a little, but it is looking pretty slick as of right now and should be fully operational later today.

I think I'll ride to work on Friday. Should make for a good and fun test ride.

I once was lost but then realized I was reading my map wrong...

I took my bike on the bus to school again yesterday. Once I arrived at the Brooklyn Center Transit Center I decided I didn't want to wait another 30 minutes for the bus and then an additional 20 for the bus to get me to my location so I took off on my bicycle. Brooklyn Park/Center is a confusing area to me. Mostly because Brooklyn Blvd cuts diagonal through both of them, kind of like St Paul and 7th. Any way, I got super lost because I was reading the map on my phone incorrectly and also I didn't have the satellite gps enabled so it kept telling me I was somewhere I was not. Well after I was already late for class I figured out the way. I made it to school with about 5 minutes left of class. So I turned around and rode home. It was a nice day but again my thoughts are on different bicycles, such as the kind with fat tires. I am really just thinking of winterizing my road bike a little more or something because I want to commute still but riding 30+ miles on this single speed is just brutal.

Picture of the day: More ducks, these ducks got up real close to me so I gave them some of the crust from my PB & J.

Just Because...

My Tuesday night class was canceled so I figured I would ride the bus to school and ride the bike home along the river road. There were some spots in the path that made me wish for gears, however, I still love my single speed. Though my thoughts right now are of fat bikes.

I came to a stream that was an offshoot of the river and it was located just after the park that is between Brooklyn Park and North Minneapolis on the west river trail. Literally hundreds of ducks in both directions.

Then this ice water fall was just down the hill from Gold Medal Park on the west river trail.

It was a fun ride home, I do not regret taking the long way.