Fall Color Festival

I’m sorry if the title confuses you. Yes, sometimes I awake, or rise from some all consuming task, and a bewildering ponderation  envelops me; Is this Spring or Fall? Alas, July too has betrayed us all.

Thanks to all for the birthday greetings, no belated cards included. I had a very pleasant birthday thanks to my mom and dad, or in other words my mother and father. But doesn’t that go without saying. We had an early dinner at ‘Parkside 23’, a bit high end but not too pricey. They have their own kitchen garden akin to that of George Washington’s (I always wanted to visit Mount Vernon) that they call a farm. Looking at the menu one thought kept going through my mind, ‘Can I get fries with that.’  Actually extremely delicious. I had the Shrimp Pasta.

The Fall Color Festival feels closer than it is, and before that, just around the corner, is the Ore to Shore race August 8th in the UP; or upper peninsula for those of you not from God’s Country. The week after, WORS will be at a familiar venue under a new name. Nordic Mountain will be hosting the Scarlet Knight Scramble.

Yes, it is a good time to remind you all of The Fall Color Festival, a family friendly mountain bike event in the Southern Kettles. You never know, they may have to move it up a month. For now it is set for September 27th.

Again alas, I must warn of a great evil, caution you to close your ears to the tempting's of the Siren’s call. I heard of an event, now past thank God lest more be caught in the terrifying Charybdis, lost in the depths, or dashed on the stones of despair amidst the shattered delusions of ages. On the local TV news they told a tale of what one called ‘Tour des Trees.’ The words flow pleasant on the ear and boosts ones ego with visions of virtuous deeds to claim. But have you Gone to the web site? Have you scrutinized their sponsor? …No? The sponsor for this supposed group of tree lovers is Stihl. They make …chainsaws! Ha! Not to mention the organization is Canadian. Those Canadians just don’t think right.

Ike says, “Get out of the house and go to State Fair.” I got some free tickets from my summer bowling league. We hope to make it. One of our most favorite annual events. I think we can swing it this year.

Sorry for my blog delinquency. I have been busy working to get another book, first draft, completed. Yes, I really write books.        …The horror, …the horror.

Now, the $65 question: How many proofs did I order last week and for which book? See Charity Jackpot Page for details. Yes, you can triple this amount.

Lake Country; Light out of the Darkness

No, we didn’t ride our bikes to the Fourth of July fireworks, we took the car. We headed for lake country to watch fireworks with my family at my brothers home. Cars everywhere. Not a bicycle in sight. The flames of change rage.

And there will be no bicycles at Sunburst this summer as the WORS race has been cancelled due to labor disputes with the new management at Sunburst.

But wait. You can cancel all your plans this weekend and go to Cascade Mountain to participate in or spectate the WORS Cup this Saturday and Sunday. (Ignore this order if you already plan to attend) It’s the best mountain bike racing event of the season. The Colectivo Coffee Ban Classic event is late this year but I highly doubt I will drop thirty pounds by then to get down to my max race weight.

For those of you from Illinois, or those few willing to travel to Illinois, The Prairie State Cycling Series ‘Intelligentsia Cup will be held for July 18th to the 27th. Events will be held all around the Chicago area. My counter suggests I have a following in Chicago. It is becoming increasingly common for me to receive e-mails from various events. I will have to make a file and seriously promote and track the nearest and greatest for you all.

Support the cause and attend a mountain bike event. I am sure you can find one near you. You can also support Metro Mountain Bikers by purchasing a raffle ticket. First prize is a $1,500 gift certificate at Erik’s Bike and Board. They have two locations in the Milwaukee area and rumor has it they are opening a new store on 84th and Layton soon. It sounded like much more than a rumor but I haven’t seen the ‘Coming Soon’ signs myself. To buy a ticket find a Metro Mountain Biker’s event or head for Benno’s in West Allis.

Dark images this post, but flames of hope and bursts of inspiration light the way. The first half of July is a down time of the year for me. Dark times because my birthday is coming. I’ll be 28. ‘Wait! That’s impossible’ some of you are saying. OK, I’m a bit older than that.

Dark times for Brazil too. GO GERMANY!

The $64 Question: In my book, “Chuck Hammer and the Invisible Squadron, A Vendetta’s Wage”, From which country did Lieutenant Hammer fly out from, and where did he land? See Charity Jackpot page for details and how to triple the prize.

Happy Fourth of July, A Good Day for a Ride

God Bless America! It is good to be free and to celebrate our liberty. A good day to remember what brought it to be. Celebrated with the traditional fireworks tonight our local communities will be front and center as Milwaukee had their big ones last night. A great way to get to your local celebrations is by bicycle, but be sure you have lights for your bikes and don’t wear black please. Reflective clothing is a plus. A local bicycle enthusiast has been known to hold rides from his home to the West Allis fireworks. He is also associated with Dream Bikes, an organization worth mentioning anytime of year. At the West Allis fireworks you can climb high into the bleachers at the Milwaukee Mile and see all the local fireworks going off across the city.

And even though we are down in a valley we can see several firework displays from our local park, at least the top quarter of them. These temperatures may appear pleasant but proper coverage is highly recommended when you are riding. You can get cold real quick, including your legs. As we have our own fireworks going in our backyard, on display all day long, July still has a ways to go to prove it is  a summer month.

Another great thing about this day is I am upping the ante, with another post, on the Charity Jackpot (see page link in sidebar for details). The $63 question: I’ll keep it easy; the same question as three posts ago. Yes three, not two. What is the title of the short story I started now nearly three weeks ago? Hint: four words, one is “life”.

Germany beat France today in the World Cup, just like they did in all the World Wars. Where would the world be without us. My favors are leaning towards Belgium. Life is good. (that’s only three words) Have a Happy Fourth of July! Celebrate with a ride. You’ll live longer, unless you’re hit by a car.

Those Lazy Saturdays; Products you can Use

Lazy only in the sense that Saturday afternoon is a short chunk of downtime in a week that is full of a variety of activities. I put this last lazy Saturday to an interesting use. Via our Roku, I partook of two channels, Finagle and Crowded Now, and discovered a slew of interesting and useful products.

Looking for an electric bike? All you need is a smart phone and to replace the rear wheel of your existing bike with ‘The Copenhagen Wheel’. You can even find it on Facebook. Looks like it is only available in single speed. It collects not only information on your use but on the environment as you ride. The Fitbit Flex also can monitor and track your activity and even monitor your sleep. It is also available at local retail outlets. We saw them at that gadget store in Mayfair Mall.

Then we found a video on the FlyPedals. An adapter to convert your clipless pedals ( pedals that you need riding shoes for that you clip into the pedals. ? ) into a flat pedal so you can ride with any common shoe. Important in this economy. I mean, how many bikes can one afford to ride? Take your competitive mountain bike, put on the Copenhagen wheel and your FlyPedals and you can get to work without having to change your shoes or stink up the office by coming to work all sweaty.

With the threatening skies of the last week I have been using the trainer to keep the blood flowing, especially on Saturdays which is the most sedentary time of the week for me as I spend many hours driving on the weekend. My weight is inching down, and if you are one to join meal programs and/or incessantly count calories to control your weight, we also found a company on Finagle called ‘Plated’ that sends you complete chef designed meals cooked by yourself in 30 minutes or less. Just pick the meal and the number of guests. I find it much easier to sit back and peruse these products and videos on my television with a simple remote than to sit isolated at a desk, playing with a keyboard and mouse on the computer.

I start July with great hopes, not hopes for many s’mores in this season of barbecues and celebrations, but in continuing to advance my writing goals. My goals had been far too aggressive in the past, but I finally dropped them to a workable level. Not only writing over 12,000 new words last month (my goal) , but also spending many a long hour in editing what has already been written. I also worked in some rides and other activities. Based on this success I can work in more exercise and advance my weight loss at the same time. Yes I include my blog posts in that number, and I have many blogs, but if you think that goal is easy try it yourself.

For you dog owners planning vacations there is one other company that I discovered on Finagle that I should mention: DogVacay. The company facilitates finding other pet owners to care for your pet in their homes while you’re away. And the caretakers are insured.

We need a new flag for this Fourth of July but the finances are tight. One of the reasons we wont go to Summerfest. Not my favorite festival, but when you can see a band you enjoy, especially those from ones youth and can enjoy good food and the lakefront it is a treat. Then again, looking at these old bands, sometimes I think people shouldn’t be allowed to perform Rock n’ Roll after the age of fifty.

The $62 Question: The same as the last post. See Charity Jackpot Page for further details.