Golf Yes, Mountain Bike No!

No, I am not giving up mountain biking for golf. But where the county golf courses are all open from this week, the mountain bike trails are not. And that means big money for our Department of Natural Resources. Volunteers at the John Muir trails in the Southern Kettles reported seeing an out of state vehicle pull up and unload their bikes. They received fines of over $500 for not having a pass for their vehicle, not having a trail pass and riding closed trails; clearly posted.  And the trails are closed for good reason. Riding on soft muddy trails destroys them. Locally you can volunteer to work on the Minooka trails this Sunday from 8am to 11am for all you pagans who don’t go to church (or Catholics who go Saturday). Don’t forget the Social Ride. Ray’s Indoor Mountain Bike Park is still open.

For you road bikers let us not forget the Kenosha Velodrome lest the gods unleash their fury upon the masses for your lack of priestly devotions; racing starts May 14th. Repent for your Winter sloth and prepare. In June is the Tour of America’s Dairy Land. What better way to promote the event at the Bike Expo than with an automobile. Don’t forget the La Crosse Omnium; coming soon.

The Bike Expo was not talked about at the latest Metro Mountain Biker’s meeting other than club product sales. The emphasis at the Expo seems to have shifted in the direction of advocacy and bicycling group promotions, including tours and races, but the sales were still the draw and major focus. The area for bicycle inventory was a bit smaller, a reflection of our economy, but Trek had a trailer devoted to custom bike design. So there are still plenty of rich people but the rest of us… Emery’s sale is on through this weekend.

Bern is a company I have not noticed before. They design and manufacture helmets with a touch of style in an attractive composite design. I need a helmet and a few other accessories, if only I had the money. Our visit to the Expo was short lived. My wife always reminds us that one of our dogs was at the vet dying of poisoning one year we went to the Expo. She was a good dog, only six years old.

The price of electric bikes has both dropped, slightly, and risen. There is quite a variety. Something I will research more for you, my readers. But in the meantime Our team, ‘The Front Four’ is bowling for the trophy next week. No, bowling isn’t a way one rides a mountain bike, we are bowling.

The $55 question, see Charity Jackpot page in sidebar, remains the same but I will repeat it here. What are the names of the two public funded schools I have attended? If the question is missing it is the same as the last post that had a question and the amount still rises per post. Of course the real money is in the multipliers, which are questions from the books I have written (on Jackpot page). One, “Chuck Hammer and the Invisible Squadron; A Vendetta’s Wage” is on sale now as an e-book for $0.99.

Summer, It Has To Come Sometime

And when it does one need be ready. I’m not just talking for grilling but for all the other opportunities in partaking of God’s wondrous creation. Many would say it was all created intentionally for us to enjoy. Others that all things would be better off without us; humankind. To the latter I say lead the way.

For the rest of us, begin your Summer preparations at the Wheel and Sprocket Bike Expo going on now, this weekend only, in the exhibition center at State Fair Park. The colorful Gary Fischer himself will be there. I have more often than not seen my Alderman looking for some deals too. Or Emery’s is having a competing Trek sale through next weekend.

Metro Mountain Bikers will be holding down a booth as well as other organizations with various purposes from advocacy to bike tourism; everything from A to T. The next Metro meeting is Tuesday, where out of the nearly 1700 hours of volunteer time 23 members devoted more than 20 hours individually. They will be highly honored with the bestowing of t-shirts.

Life must be good. I am steadily achieving a small goal of having fashionable head coverings for every occasion. Nothing like a good hat. Not sure why they fell out of style. Of course they would be quite troublesome in these days of declining values as generally few remove their hats when they enter a building and say sit down for a lecture. I am in desperate need of a new bike helmet for when I am hitting the trails. Of course I never had a helmet when I was a child and endeavored in far more reckless acts than these days and I turned out fine, …depending on who you ask.

Summer! Here are some cycling activities to add to your calendar. Or smart phone as you can download WORS’ entire racer handbook. The only place to begin competitive mountain biking not matter what the age. Here’s the WEMS schedule for you hard core endurance types; you have three weeks to prepare for their first event. Some stand alone events that are popular these days are ‘The Ore to Shore’ August 9th, and the infamous ‘Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival’ which is already full, but they have a blog.

For the road bike, the La Crosse Omnium is coming, and they are on you/tube.

My wife and I are hoping to get to The Bike Expo tomorrow after church. I am interested in seeing the latest in electric drives and the costs and features of the latest bikes. Then we will be watching the ACM Awards. I not only need to lose 40lbs to compete again, I need a new bike. My old Trek 6700 has been demoted to a utility bike.