Snow can be a pain and fun...

So we got dumped on Saturday night.

This is the view after the garage door went up as I bolted for the snowblower.

This was the view from the front of the house Saturday morning before my biking adventure.

This is the same view 24 hours later. Note the same car is on the street.

That car belongs to one our tennet's next door so I took my big-a$$ snowblower and cleared the snowplow induced mountain range from around her car. This is what is left. I call it winter camo.

The snow was deep and heavy, so it took an extra long time to clear it. 4 hours of my day were spent doing this at our 3 different properties. Heck, I even managed to straddle the bike on the trainer.

Off to clear more snow...

Maybe you should do something productive as well?

Breaking it in.

So Friday I wore myself out with weights and a long trainer ride. However, I did get my Supercal built and it sure is purty. Hmmm, there is a winter storm out and I want to ride my bike. What to do, what to do?

So needless to say, I woke up Saturday morning like a little kid wanting to open his Christmas presents. There was about 2 inches of new snow on the ground and it was sleeting. I figure sleet is just a harder snowflake, so I had the wife open the front door and out I went at 7:30 in the morning.

The view from the front door.

Got down by the Zumbro River. Yeah, I am a trail blazer. It can be difficult because there is a lot of uneven packed snow underneath from people walking in places.

The flying poop machines were all present and accounted for. FYI, the power plant in the background dumps water used for cooling into the lake here, keeping it warm all year. The geese love it. Another FYI, the stream you see going into the lake is where a sewage drain comes out, YUM!!

Cool pic, cooler bike.

Despite the snow not being terribly deep, it had a hard crust that proved to be quite draining.

Yeah, the snow was so hard I could stand my bike up in 2 inches of it. This was at Eastwood. No, I could not ride the trails, but I can say I tried.

The bikes big 29" wheels, cushy suspension, and packed snow made riding on the railroad tracks an easy task. It took some skill to get this picture, lucky for me I got some sweet skills.

I finished with 2 1/4 hours. I would have gone a little longer, but the sleet turned to rain that would freeze when it hit. The booties were only good for so long when that started. Dude, check out the helmet, that is ice...ice...baby. I don't get that from riding the trainer!

This ride was brought to you by my Baby's Momma. She made it a point this year to get me some awesome cold weather gear.

What did you do today slacker?

Just checking in quickly.

I am gonna go lift. Yeah, I know what you are saying, but I think my muscles do have (small) room for growth.

Been on the trainer a lot the last couple of days. But, that is not unusual.

Snow coming, I might just take the mountain bike out this weekend cause snowstorms are fun.

The Supercaliber is 99% done. Just some grips and small adjustments and it is rocking!!

The wife is skiing/tubing with the students today. The wife of the guy who won the RASC TT series (aero division) went with.

I gotta go, but I will leave you with a video of myself...YA!

"Seriously, don't you have something better to do then read this crap?", direct quote from your boss if he knew what you were up to.

Post birthday ride.

Alright, so I got yelled at by a gentleman at the shop (who adores his son-in-law) about having not updated in 2 full days (oh no!).

So I received an envelope in the mail on Friday marked top secret. Being my birthday and how I was freaked out already (see below) I opened it cautiously. Inside instructions were giving to grab my bike and head up to the city that holds Valley Fair. I did as it said that Sat morning.

There I met up with the fearsome threesome of MTB-Velorochester. Chris, Brendan, Ben, and I took off in the hopes of some "top secret" training. So here is the conundrum; is it top secret if I post it on my blog? I mean, anyone has access to it, but at the same time, what loser would read this drivel?

Brendan lives 2 miles from the River Bottoms, so off we went. The helmet in this pic is mine, the shadow is Brendan's, and the river is Mother Nature's.

We ran into Sam Oftedahl (left), brother of Erik. Brendan (right) is shown here having a smoke I believe. Either that or he is applying lipstick.

There's Chris digging for his Digi-pet. We had to stop several times so he could "feed" it and "clean up" after it.

A live action shot from the trail and it looks as though Chris is searching for his Digi-pet again!!! Ben is mad because he obeyed the rules of no computerized pets on this ride.

In this picture now Chris is mad because Ben said, "Digi-pets drool and Tamagachis rule". Boys with their toys, hmmmm.

After we got done with our 4+ hour ride we headed over to Chipotle and ate handsomely. Ben was the last to sit down, but the first to finish his burrito. In fact he had 1/4 of Chris's and still wolfed it down faster than my 1 burrito. That boy can sure fit a lot in his mouth :0

So, I found out that it is possible to ride outside in the winter, amazing. I look forward to venturing out again, but for now I am hopping on the trainer for 2 hours. Yep, 2 hours.

Time for less bloggy bloggy, and more worky worky.

Creepy

My favorite MTB wheel size in 29!

My baby's momma will be 31 this year. There are 2 of us. 31-2= 29!

Jim Carrey is starring in a new movie called "23". I have seen at least 6 of his movies. 23+6= 29!

I just looked at the clock, it is 8:29!

29 the first prime number after 24 (as in 24 hour race)!

Creepy huh?

Well get this, I turn 29 today!

Dude, this is freaking me out!! This is not coincidental. I am not leaving the house today, something bad is destined to happen today. Armageddon? Natural disaster? Attack from the Greys? Sleestacks come out from hiding?

I want everyone to be on alert today. Watch the shadows.

Work carefully, prepare to gather your family and run.

Rant mode on.

Sooooo, time for a rant, ie me whining.

You want to know what pisses us off at the shop? When people exhaust our services with the intention of purchasing the same product elsewhere. I'll give 2 examples.
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Example #1

Customer comes in wanting to looking for an item. They know about a deal that is soon ending through a local organization. The deal is not through our store, but we are the only ones that stock the product locally. So the customer comes in more than once and spends at least 30-45 minutes to figure out exactly what they want (they need sales assistance the entire time). They act as though they are looking to buy it from us, but it is quickly realized they are wasting our time. I see that customer with said product 2 weeks later, but it was not purchased through us. This was intended all along.
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Example #2

We have a customer that expresses interest in a bike. We measure the customer and order the size that is needed. The customer spends large amounts of time looking at the bike, getting sized on it, and test riding it. Then the customer goes and buys it off of e-bay.
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Both times customers have no problem wasting large chunks of time with no intent on purchasing a product there. Effectively they COST us money.

I understand that there are other ways of procuring bike parts besides our shop. I do not fault people when they do not buy from our shop. Just don't waste our FREAKING time so you can save a couple bucks somewhere else.

My grandparents say "way to go" on the sweet internet deal that cost us hours of our time.

Don't you have a job?

Off the hizzle, here is the shizzle.

So last winter I'll label the "comeback". I lost a significant amount of weight I had gained over the previous years. I actually trained in the winter *gasp*, and my fitness improved dramatically.

This winter I hope I can label the "confirmation" (Can you here me Lance?). My fitness has been improving steadily and I believe I am as strong or stronger than I was at any point last summer. Last night I was on the trainer for another 2 1/2 hours (yeah, yeah I hear you groining). I "cruised" most of that time in a single gear. Last winter and earlier this winter I would not have been able to sustain that same gear for more then 5-10 minutes. This year I happily spun along I that same at a fast cadence for 1 1/2 hours. I am sure that much of this is the structure from the Candyman, aka Sugardaddy, aka Marky Mark, aka Mark Consugar, aka Off The Front Coaching. Tempo workouts are the "thing" for me for the next several weeks, and I can already see the benefits.

Click on the picture to realize why this bill board is so poignant. Prepare to be very amused.

I am already eyeing up the races for next year. Many from here, some from here, definitely from here, what about here?

Your boss said get to work and quit "following your heart".

Randomness

Brendan's wife (Jen) popped.

Unibet?

Supercal is almost done.

Hopping on the trainer for the next 2 1/2 hours.

It is frocking cold still.

Tiled the bathroom floor, installed new vanity, sink and mirror.

Paragon is done.

Sugardaddy's site went stale and now it disappeared.

His new nickname is Candyman.

Lifted weights last night.

Excited about this series.

Got more songs loaded.

Dreaming about kicking butt this summer. Key word "dreaming".

Day of tiredness.

Worked on the bathroom this weekend. *pause* I had the pleasure of breathing in ceramic tile dust yesterday as I cut them to fit. *pause* Now my lungs fell it. *ughhh* It is all worth it because my baby's momma likes it. *not really, but...*



The good news is that I started to build the Supercal. It is looking bad ass.



I am tired. Not feeling like doing anything except go back to sleep. I guess it could be worse...

Your boss called, says the your break time is up.