Denied the Ride; Tuesdays

This last Tuesday was the first successful Metro Mountain Biker’s Odd Tuesday Ride. It included a local dealer offering test rides on some of the latest and greatest bikes. That is what I believe went on anyway. I was denied the opportunity to partake by a very tenacious rhubarb root.

There’s the section of yard that was keeping me busy. The rhubarb was too close to the walk, old and unruly. I had to dig some two foot down and still couldn’t burrow my hand to the roots end. It was as big as one of my two (to avoid confusion) legs. Finally I had to break it off as deep as I could.

“Sorry.” I said to the rhubarb for failing to free its entire root. Then I said, “But do you really think I’m sorry? I mean, …we eat you.”

I had to dig out some buried wires too and now will have to patch the foundation wall up, seeing as I pulled them out through the wall. Of course they were dead. I know what I’m doing.

The rhubarb never apologized for keeping me from getting on my bike and checking out the Odd Tuesday Ride. Then again, I have yet to get a new helmet and would have been restricted in my participation. There’s many a thingy we could not buy due to our vehicular misfortunes; fleas spray (for the dog), a steam cleaner for the carpet (because of the dog), the fore mentioned helmet, medical supplies, even a fishing license are all on hold. My wife wanted to go to the eye doctor and also to buy a new mattress. She saw a solar powered bird feeder at Tuesday Morning; it lights up at night. (I blame the rhubarb for the destruction of our previous bird feeder)

My mother will be eighty today; Friday not Tuesday. She is still alive and kicking. “Bring me rhubarb so I can bake some pies.” she demands. She baked a rhubarb cake. I gave her part of this plant which she gave to a cousin, to increase her number of suppliers and expand her distribution.

Happy Birthday Mom!

The Even Monday Trail Work Day will be Tuesday, not Monday, on account of the holiday. A time to remember what many sacrificed for freedom. Check with Metro Mountain Bikers if you are interested in attending the work day. They need to organize the work load and tools in advance.

Fresh food is the wave of the future. The diet is working and the weight is going down again. It is hard for me to consider eating processed foods these days; except for pudding, and Jell-O, and chocolate, but we make the pudding and Jell-O at home. Instant Jell-O isn’t much more difficult to make than instant pudding. I really miss donuts. I went grocery shopping today with my wife and we came to the bakery section and…

We’ll see how much food we can grow ourselves. Your Summer Recreation Guide for the county has several food production classes listed. You can find a list of Milwaukee area farmer’s markets here. West Allis has a market, already open, on Tuesdays; the only one. The Tosa farmer’s market, closest to us, begins next week; May 30.

Reverend Moon many decades ago said that in the future everyone will move to small towns. He never elaborated as to why, from what I have heard and read, but He was obviously right. It is clear to me a great desire to be closer to one’s food is sweeping the hearts and minds of mankind. Growing and preparing your own food is a fantastic part of life. It brings one closer to God and one’s fellow man. The number of small scale farms are growing constantly. Permaculture farming is being researched with the expectation that food production is actually greater than with current industrial techniques.

I don’t like hippies.

Yes, we will eventually be buying our fishing licenses soon. I have been checking up on my equipment. I have two known opportunities to go fishing this summer. I fish to eat what I catch, but if you know what you are doing you can catch a lot and only keep the best. I found Structure Fishing on my Roku and it will tell you everything you need to known about where the fish are. The god of fishing, Buck Perry, has all the answers. Unfortunately when they put up their second season of Structure Fishing they took down the first season. I’m not sure if that was by intent or if they don’t know what they are doing Roku wise. But all the important stuff from the first season is here.

Despite our economic misfortunes I made another purchase today, a purchase that will result in an entire post by itself. You’ll have to wait to see what I’m talking about. I may even post about it on an odd Tuesday if not an even.

The $97 question: What were my three most favorite WORS races? Keeping the same question. Check out the Charity Jackpot Page link in the sidebar to possibly triple the amount.

Change of Season

Ray’s Indoor Mountain Bike Park is closed for the Summer but The Rock Sports Complex’s mountain bike opening weekend begins Saturday. Ray’s will be holding Summer Camps and other activities; check out their page. The Rock is nearly giving away trail passes for their opening weekend at 20% cost. The WORS Battle of CamRock is fast approaching May 30th. I do not believe I will be ready, though it is a race I have had my eye on.

The Himalaya race is still on despite the earthquake and human tragedy. It’s always good to pray. We always get small quakes in the Midwest after an event in that part of the world, if you haven’t noticed.

The Trail Work Day bloomed out of control according to a report at the Metro Mountain Bikers monthly meeting. RSVP’s will be demanded in the future. They had twice as many volunteers as tools. Not good unless you’re trying to make Trail Work Days a dating service. The peach tree bloomed abundant, and no serious storms manifested to rip the flowers away before the insects could get to them. Not exactly a dating service but along those lines. Insights abound. It’s why you read. Metro is previewing a new website here. I think the slide show needs to move a bit quicker.

The Spring Social Ride was attended and enjoyed, though not as smashing of a success as the trail work outing. Talk is they want to vary the destinations of future social rides. Bars will not be the only waylays in the future. I suggested a Summer Ice Cream Social ride some years ago, hitting up the custard shops. The problem is there are so many events that attendance would be too low. That’s the reasoning anyway.

Our garden is planted and I have expansive designs for our yard and the increased production of edibles. The Beer Gardens are opening around Milwaukee. The one at Hoyt Park is already open. The first Odd Tuesday ride was cancelled for weather. They will try again this coming Tuesday at Hoyt Park. I believe I need to buy a new helmet to participate. There were many a thing I was planning to buy, including security cameras; or did I buy those already. We had great holiday sales but we almost lost it all and wont be buying much for a while.

The van’s brakes went out completely while I was driving just hours before our big weekend began. We had to borrow a van to build success. If I had crashed and been injured and we couldn’t have completed our sales we would have lost everything. As it is everything we made has gone to a new car. Got a great deal from my brother.

Tears come to our eyes saying goodbye to our beloved Oldsmobile. We put over 140,000 miles (236,000 total) on that vehicle in some seven years. I had dreamed of losing the brakes just as I did, several times over the last few years. Then again I dreamed of Neil Perry last week; one of those the semester is almost over and I haven’t gone to a single class dreams. If I dream of Reid I’ll have the whole band.

A man with slicked back hair sold us this Ford. He works for my brother.

Sticking to my diet it has been a while since I enjoyed ice cream; speaking of ice cream socials. Seeking a snack the other day, having had nothing for lunch, I made an amazing discovery; Instant Pudding. Two cups of milk and whipping it for two minutes and five minutes later you have pudding. Less than ten minutes from thought to stomach. It’s that easy gentlemen. I love pudding. I have not had pudding in a long time. The word “instant” should have been a clue. I should read directions more often. It is difficult to comprehend all the pudding I’ve missed out on in life.

I’ll have to start going grocery shopping, …so I can tell my wife what to buy; chocolate, butterscotch…

My weight has plateaued the last few weeks. Not sure why. I was thinking ‘I’ve lost twenty-five pounds, I must be thin.’ But I still look fat, and I didn’t even look that fat before.

The $96 question: What were my three most favorite WORS races? Keeping the same question. Check out the Charity Jackpot Page link in the sidebar to possibly triple the amount.

Trail Work Days

Metro Mountain Bikers, Milwaukee’s local chapter of IMBA, had its first official trail work day of the year yesterday evening. The days sure are getting long. I felt uneasy and downright near miserable last night. Then I realized; I had forgotten about the trail work day. Our personal economy has kept me from participating in a number of activities including what would be defined as service to others. I had determined for things to be different this year and was looking to make the trail work day a step in the direction of service. I encourage all to engage and serve their communities in some way.

The garden captured my attentions. Even though I am behind in my writing goals, I couldn’t pull myself away. I have been working on a new planting bed for the last two days, amongst other yard work. Ike wasn’t any help.

“To make a Farm” was a very interesting documentary on young people who decided to become farmers despite having no family background in farming. We watch a mess of documentaries on food and food production. I have considered making our small urban back yard into a highly productive garden. I had always kept the back yard mostly open contemplating potential family demands. Companion planting and the great variety of produce one can grow on one’s own attracts me.

One should get their nutrition from food. But that study claiming supplements are bad for you only covered a few major supplements like Vitamin C. I have not been taking the Magnesium recently, that I had found highly beneficial and is recommended by the Bulletproof Diet. I found my weight loss at a loss, or rather a gain, weight wise rather than weight loss wise. I may have hit the 2 rather than the 5 when I made my weekly report to my brother, on our weight loss competition. My weight loss has stopped and wonder if forgetting the supplements has anything to do with it.

Have you heard the one about cardio being bad for you? Yes, cardio ages one much more quickly than any other type of exercise. The Bulletproof Diet claims you can get all the benefits of hours of cardio training in fifteen minutes. You run all out, like your being chased by a tiger, for 30 seconds. then you stop for 90 seconds. Do that five times once a week and you are supposed to get as much cardio benefit as those who run miles a day do. Of course, with a bicycle trainer you can do the same thing. The trainer provides constant resistance. There is no constant resistance when you go for a bike ride. How much of the time are you really exerting yourself? Not that much if you think about it. Much healthier, and more interesting, than running.

I wont be going to The Iola Bump and Jump this weekend, the first race of the WORS season. But if the weather is heating up too quickly for you the north woods is the place to be. The second WORS race is the Crystal Lake Classic in Rhinelander, WI, May 17th. Mountain Bikers seem to enjoy Rhinelander. May 31st is the Rasta Rally Mountain Bike Race and September 12th the Rock ‘N Root (a WEMS event), all in Rhinelander. I love roots.

Rhinelander is also the stage for the Hodag Country Festival featuring everyone’s favorite band; The Band Perry. That would be July 11th. My wife is all One Republic now, but she can’t hold out forever.

That’s about it for the planting bed. I was going to get the soil tomorrow but my wife said get it done today, again keeping me from my writing. Top soil, garden soil, manure and a couple bushels of compost from my composter and finishing off the peat moss, and the soil is down. I’ll put a fence up tomorrow and start planting. Yes, there are quite a few cool weather plants that can be planted now; spinach, radish, cabbage and such. Actually, I could have planted last week.

Eat well.

The $95 question: What were my three most favorite WORS races? Keeping the same question. Check out the Charity Jackpot Page link in the sidebar to possibly triple the amount.

It’s Still April

And sometimes that means snow but temperate opportunities approach. The La Crosse Omnium, the Iola Bump and Jump and the Metro Mountain Bike Spring Social Ride, May 2nd, are all fast approaching. Don’t forget the Kenosha Velodrome, the oldest operating Velodrome in the nation, will be starting up in June. The track is being completely resurfaced. If all such exertions seem too much for your splendid being, spectating is a noble profession.

If that isn’t soon enough for you, local trail work days begin this Monday, yes in two days. Contact Metro Mountain Bikers for details.

The lady from the farmers market said, and I must take heed her every word, that tilling up the soil disturbs all the good stuff living in it and is detrimental to your gardening agenda. What ever that agenda may be (world peace, good food or weeee, look at me I’m gardening) I’m following her advice. I just broke up the surface soil with that garden thingy in the picture; that one often seen when wasting time in front of the television. I’ll work in some coffee grounds and a bit of compost and throw down some spinach or other cool weather vegetable. Most of the compost will cover the raspberry bed. I will be adding some more planting beds this year. Cabbage is expensive and if you want to make your own sauerkraut it’s best to grow your own. At least that is what I have been told so why go check myself when I have a wife to do that.

Home repair, yard work and spring cleaning have been the go to activities. But they are not getting the job done in terms of weight loss. If I am to make my goal of 225lbs by June 2nd some good long rides and attention to the details of the diet are a must. The weight loss with the bulletproof diet has slowed considerably after the first 25lbs. We could be eating more vegetables and a little less rice. I am only losing a pound a week. While if consistent, that is a great achievement I needed three pounds a week, and now more than five.

But then again, if I do get to 225lbs by June 2nd what category shall I race in. I would most likely drop below the Clydesdale weight (I believe that is 220lbs) by the end of the Summer, not that it will make a world of difference what class I race in.  …I’m almost 30lbs lighter since that last time I road my bike.

Supplements are bad for you; the latest study claims. I have had noticeable benefit from some supplements. I take them until I forget to and conclude that if I needed more I would have remembered to take them. It’s best to get your nutrition from the food you eat. Enough said.

The $94 question: What were my three most favorite WORS races? Keeping the same question. Check out the Charity Jackpot Page link in the sidebar to possibly triple the amount.

EXPO

I didn’t know WD-40 made bicycle maintenance products. We bought the bike wash cause that bottle just makes it look like something someone detailing a car would be holding. Had to buy one. The guy said he knew someone who washed their dog with it. They’ve been selling this line since 2012.

Perhaps the weather was too nice today. I thought The Bike Expo would be busier.

Now that’s a Fat Bike, and you can test ride fat bikes and others outside.

The electric bikes were all crammed between some other displays. They weren’t drawing a crowd.

Here’s something put out by a German Company for the urban market. They are selling it at almost half retail. I was surprised however that the majority of bikes in the expo center were geared towards young riders or your comfort type bike.

Happy shopping.

The $93 question: What were my three most favorite WORS races? Back to the same question. Check out the Charity Jackpot Page link in the sidebar to possibly triple the amount.

Weather Related

Nothing proclaims the arrival of warm weather more than thunderstorms and tornados. The snow no doubt washed away, highs in the 60’s for the next week, all a propitious turn of the season for Bike Expo success. Check out their trade in program. Of course Emery’s is running their counter sale, as in counter revolutionary or counter weight, at their stores, guaranteeing to match any Expo price. Success is in the air for bike sales. It is also the last weekend for the Winter Farmer’s Market at the Domes.

I stared at my bike this afternoon. It needs a good wash and maintenance, then it is out to the trails. Of course the local trails were under water last night. Watching the water rise towards the top of our flood wall, I was relieved to realize bridges upstream are lower than the top of our flood wall.

Fat Bikes may peak your interest. Something to ask about at the Expo. I am sure there will be a selection. There are over 100 brands of Fat Bikes according to an IMBA publication. They now design trails and grooming devices specifically for Winter Fat Bike riding. But will there be a greater or fewer number of electric bikes this year as last? The suspense is almost unbearable.

Power assisted mountain bikes are sprouting as an issue on the mountain bike trails. So many advances and trends, all displayed at the Expo I’m sure.

Ike fears the storms. If he didn’t have any boxes to rip up, this one all the way from Japan, he would be driving me crazy.

I built this work bench out of an old solid core door. I will have to write a review of the Kreg system. To be brief, four out of five stars. Kreg will be a catalyst to getting something built, it just isn’t as idealistically easy or without issues as they portray. They do give you plenty of tips and project ideas. Use them.

You may have noticed that the top of a 4x4 post, a piece in the saw horse bracket in the picture, aligns perfectly with the top of my work bench. Serendipity had nothing to do with it. That was planned and achieved with perfection.

More Ike, Everyone likes Ike.

Work on the house can be weather dependent. Depending on your materials, temperature and rain can hinder one’s progress, if one cares about using a product as specified. So it has been over a month since we bought that new screen door; I have to paint the new trim I had to build in, before installing the new screen door.

The diet, the diet the diet. My wife (besides my friends mother) appears to be the only one willing to admit that I have noticeably lost weight; 25 pounds. My parents came back from Florida the other day. We haven’t seen them for five months yet, though encouragement was not lacking, they refuse to acknowledge any noticeable weight loss success on my part.

Still, I see many a fellow man of girth slimming down at the bowling alley, amongst our league, or even at a Metro Mountain Bike meeting. If they are reading my blog they will never admit it. Perhaps they overheard a conversation on the Bulletproof Diet. I highly doubt their success is unrelated to my own. I have surpassed my brother in our weight loss competition. We are both doing the Bulletproof diet. I will still have to ramp up my efforts if I am to make my goal of under 225 pounds by the first week of June. I was +/-280 at the beginning of the year; 289 was my peak about two years ago.

I heard someone on the radio speaking about the show “Justified”. We watch the show a year behind with Amazon Prime. I can say with a sense of certainty that Rayland and Boyd will die together at the end, the final season is coming to a close, as they almost did as teenagers working the coal mine. I’d put money on it. It’s a new month; just realized I can download another free book for my Kindle. It’s been eighteen months Since I started and I’m just about finished with “Moby Dick”. I can’t wait to see how it ends.

I’m changing the jackpot question, this week only.

The $92 question (I forgot to post a question on the previous post): What movie have I watched more than any other? Check out the Charity Jackpot Page link in the sidebar to possibly triple the amount.

Baking

“I baked you something.” my wife said.

“What is it?” I asked.

It’s a Brown-E.

I’m still up 2-1 on my wife. And one up on all of you.

Happy April Fool’s.