Black Friday

I wouldn’t call it black, but more of an oppressive gray with silver gilded pockets of sporadic rays from a traversing sun Friday. And we didn’t go shopping.

Overcast, more in the silver spectrum, and continuous flurries should dominate every Winter. The clouds keep the nights warmer and the flurries the landscape white. Thanksgiving was with family and this picture from years past is near identical to this present holiday. No one went shopping after the feast. A good Black Friday is getting up and finding oneself not constipated.

Thanksgiving was late this year but many events, like the Christmas music, are coming early. The infamous Santa Rampage, receiving occasional news coverage, will be December 6th. Yes, a mere week away. It is also Global Fat Bike Day. They went global people. The Lapham Peak Fat Bike Series has begun. Their second race is the evening of December 4th; you’ll need lights of course.

The Bicycle Federation is also having a holiday sale on their promotional products. The next Metro Mountain Bikers meeting will be at there facility in Milwaukee on December 9th.

Many people use this weekend to put up the Christmas tree. When I was young a lot of families waited until Christmas Eve. For us it’s time to start on the Christmas cards. I fear my list is incomplete. Holiday blessings to all in this wondrous season.

The $76 question (it’s getting up there): What are my three most favorite WORS races? Yes, I’m keeping with this question. Check out the Charity Jackpot Page link in the sidebar to possibly triple the amount.

Happy Thanksgiving, Again

It’s cold here in the city… Not sure what happened with warmer by the lake or global warming. But the cold, gloom and snow sure makes the Christmas music sound more relevant. Yes, this is about the time Christmas music should begin, but it has been playing on the radio since Halloween.

There will be a Turkey Hurl Ride Thanksgiving evening for those in the know. Social rides are strongly associated with the drinking of beer. I often partake of beer of the non-alcohol type. This often, Okay always, leads to talk of my being a boozer. Someone sees a bottle in my hand, it has to be bottles, or me carrying in a set of six and… It is particularly enticing to many since in my faith the consumption of alcohol (coming under the influence) is consider a grand leap towards a life of sin and debauchery.

With the spread of micro-breweries, creating convenient routes for social rides official or otherwise, I asked at the last club meeting if the micro-breweries make near beers (maybe the wrong question since near beer still contains a discernable level of alcohol), to which the answer was, no. Is there a market for non-alcohol beers for the micro breweries? It would be nice if there was and it could possibly make the social rides more memorable. As it is, our county parks are looking to require permits for any advertised rides on county trails (that would be riding through any county park). Posting on social media is considered advertising. $1million in insurance considered as a requirement. The county park beer gardens are not open when most social rides take place; spring and fall.

Thanksgiving is with the whole family this year; at least that’s the story. My wife is making the green bean casserole and I my famous rice pudding; the recipe of others. Misao, my wife, ran some casserole recipes by me. I looked over the ingredients and said, “The one with butter.” I, for my part, will be using the least-processed cane sugar possible this year; I hold great expectations.

We will not be shopping on Thanksgiving. I consider Thanksgiving Day shopping (coming under the influence) a grand leap towards a life of sin and debauchery. Besides, Amazon has already been having huge sales this last weekend. Emery’s, a fantastical bike shop of the highest reputation, is holding a Black Friday and Small Business Saturday sale with discounts of 50% and more. The IMBA store, like every year, will be slashing prices as year end approaches. IMBA recently published their third book on trail building.

My wife completed a project just this last week and is damn proud of it. She painted four chairs, four different colors of course: sun yellow, real orange, berry pink and I believe this color is sea foam. October through Thanksgiving has proven the time of year when I get the most work done on the house. This year the weather did not cooperate. Product specifications require how wet or how cold something can be to use or install. This has led to much consternation and pressure driven spurts of work.

Everyone have a Happy Thanksgiving. I was always raised just to be grateful for having been born in the United states. We have much to be grateful for, don’t we. We will most likely enjoy the parade and dog show on TV, before the big meal shared happily with family. The football looks good too. I can’t believe I am saying this but, “Go Bears! (you losers)”

The $75 question (it’s getting up there): What are my three most favorite WORS races? Yes, I’m still keeping with this question. Check out the Charity Jackpot Page link in the sidebar to possibly triple the amount.

It’s Back!

Snow… I finished some prayers and there it was. Winter is back. But did it ever truly leave? Something else that is back is my e-book for free; at least until the end of Sunday. I’ve been looking to post for a while but have been busy. So for now you just get this shameless self-promotion and the promise of a long Winter. Click on the book cover for the link to my free for now e-book

On the bright side this quick post drives up the prize pot for the Charity Jackpot gimmick where even you can win big if you have all the right answers. Same question bigger amount.

The $74 question: What are my three most favorite WORS races? Yes, I’m still keeping with this question. Check out the Charity Jackpot Page link in the sidebar to possibly triple the amount.

A Harrowing Halloween

The temperature could be ten-degrees higher but otherwise it is the ideal Halloween, a howling wind included. I actually had visions of a snow covered holiday, but I’ll settle for flurries.

Dusky blustery days bring to mind Winnie the Poo and outdoor childhood adventures. That, and the coming Winter suggest that it is time to plan one’s Winter training program. Emery’s has several options in Milwaukee and Menomonee Falls. Wheel and Sprocket also has Indoor Cycling Classes you can sign up for. I am sure if you visit your local bicycle shop you will find they too offer similar activities.

To the right of our picture window the tree is still holding out amidst the stiff winds, in contrast to the first tree pictured, to our left. A hopeful omen for our upcoming elections in these spooky times? There are several bicycling events still occurring despite the weather, most namely psycho-cross AKA cyclo-cross. One event  worth reminding of is the Winona Cross Cup in nine days. An extremely beautiful area if the trees are still in color; very doubtful. The Outdoor Recreation Alliance promotes outdoor recreation for every season in that beautiful area of Wisconsin.

The Morning Glories continue to hold on, in outright contrast to the falling leaves. Just like the Minooka Trail Work Days attended with religious fervor by the faithful every Sunday. And even though my wife has given up on The Band Perry, and has professed her allegiance to One Republic, I still listen and sing along in the car. The love never runs out Misao.

Bikes and Beats is a new event being promoted by the Wisconsin Bike Fed, at Turner Hall this coming Thursday. Music and an auction, for those interested in supporting the cause. But Thursdays is bowling for me and I know you are all dying to hear how our team is doing. It’s a tough tight league; many teams have split 4-3 this season. That’s winning two of three games but then losing in nights total pins. We are right in the mix among the top four or five teams; two points behind first after nine weeks. I don’t like to brag, but, after taking up bowling again after a long absence, over the past year I have made more strikes than you can count on one hand without my ball ever hitting the head pin.

I am looking forward to getting into a Winter training routine myself. My weight is inching down still, and a good Winter push may put me over the cusp. Misao’s favorite method of preserving the fruits of Summer is freezing. Having acquired an abundance of jalapeno peppers one Sunday, from the garden of another, she decided to pickle them and found the process on the Internet quite easily. Just like the sandwich shops. So you can eat delicious sandwiches while your riding in place in your basement this Winter. I also saw a recipe for a two ingredient pizza dough; self-rising flour and Greek yogurt. I’m not sure if one should count self-rising flour as a single ingredient. I see the pounds melting away.

Some may believe that I sleep too much, from what I wrote in my last post. My sleep is accurately recorded on my CPAP machine and averages just over 6 hours a night. The doctor checks it every year. They actually say now seven hours is the healthiest. We work late some days of the week and on the others I tend to procrastinate in my daily prayers and writing. Sometimes if I’ve been too busy to write on a particular day, and my goal is to write something every day, I sit down in the middle of the night for ten minutes and before I know it, it’s been more than an hour and I’ve written as many as a thousand words. I was happily surprised, and then regretful over my lack of attentions, that one of my blogs has developed a very consistent, though small, level of traffic, despite the lack of a new post for two months. I get so consumed in writing my books, and more profitable endeavors, that my blogging goals are suffering.

The $72 question: What are my three most favorite WORS races? Yes, I’m still keeping with this question. Check out the Charity Jackpot Page link in the sidebar to possibly triple the amount.

My Dog Ate My Breakfast

I took Ike, our dog, out for a walk though the weather was wet and blustery. I had seen a beautiful turning tree on Sunday and thought I could get back the next day to take some pictures, but continuous rainfall provided sparse chance. But I braved the elements and threats of downpour for these photos, though the tree in question was much more beautiful before.

Yes, my dog ate my breakfast. What that would be an excuse for, I am not sure. Not a particular surprise, considering. What is a surprise is that my wife left my breakfast out on the table and left without waking me, and believed the dog wouldn’t eat my breakfast. Maybe there is a better word other then surprise. (‘conspiracy’ comes to mind)

There were two successful bicycle related fund raisers recently. The Saris Gala in Madison, which included an auction with fanatical bidding, and the IMBA appreciation night at Ray’s Indoor MTB where they held a raffle. Don’t forget there is a slew of Metro Mountain Biker activities tomorrow. A great way to enjoy your Sweetest Day, a total manufacture ala the wonders of capitalism.

Ray’s wowed at the IMBA appreciation night. Not sure if they had a similar event in Cleveland but one could always jump on Frontier and fly out to ask. Good thing gasoline prices are dropping.

The $72 question: What are my three most favorite WORS races? Yes, we’ll keep with this question for awhile. Check out the Charity Jackpot Page link in the sidebar to possibly triple the amount.

The Hunter’s Blood Moon

I should have brought my tiny little tripod and set the timer to get a good shot of the lunar eclipse last week. But I didn’t and with Ike pulling on his leash it was no easy task to get a good shot. Still, the Hunter’s Blood Moon fits the mood of the season.

GoPro has a cheaper version, or rather less expensive I should probably say, of their all purpose action video cameras; simply called The Hero for $129. Their stock is tumbling however (not sure if there are any action shots of the event) due to a high profile individual’s ski accident being blamed on the camera.

The cheapest, I mean least expensive action video camera that I saw in my casual perusing was an Ion. Of course they have several models also. I noticed that the variety of available mounts for such cameras range from $20-$40. Must be where they make their money, but I have to admit that I can’t see how those mounts wouldn’t be better than duct tape.

Sorry, no pictures of the day before yesterday’s MTB Challenge, my wife didn’t want to go.

There is still oodles of bicycle action around as the year comes to an end. The UPCROSS is up der in the UP, by dat Copper Harbor place, don’t yah know. It is actually the fourth of nine events. Don’t forget the Dahl-GMC Winona Cross Cup. Here is a list of cyclocross events for Southeastern Wisconsin. I tried a cyclocross event once. My mountain bike was not conducive to the activity; an older heavy aluminum framed model. I tend to not over use my bike these days as with all its cickity-clicks and clackity-clacks I worry that it may breakdown for good and I can’t afford a new one for awhile. How’s that for an excuse? Everything one does is an investment of some kind. It’s collecting the returns that can be a problem sometimes.

Most of my time has been dominated by writing novels. It requires much more investment than one can imagine, not just in time. Many have suggested to me recently that writing a book is a kind of vacation event, not work at all. They obviously have never written a book. I could say the same about artist of the canvas if I were a fool; Mr. I make money selling people’s art work.

The monthly Metro Mountain Bikers meeting is tonight. There is a trail work event on the 18th, Saturday, which is also Sweetest Day and it is also the date of the Metro Social Ride. It is also someone’s birthday.

My wife suggested the other day that we go to a haunted house.

I asked, “How old are you?”

We had our first frost, yet the tomato plants seemed to have survived. We gathered up all the produce we could beforehand. Misao has frozen most of it.

The $71 question: What are my three most favorite WORS races? Yes, we’ll keep with this question for awhile. Check out the Charity Jackpot Page link in the sidebar to possibly triple the amount.

Lions and Vikings and Bears, Oh My!

Yes, it is football season, at least it feels that way when the Packers are winning. I missed the Colectivo Coffee Bean Classic, not just because the Packers were playing at twelve noon, but because our church services have moved later into the day since last year.

Tomorrow is October which means Halloween, which means scary, which means cyclocross is here. If you‘re a fan of the extremely beautiful area of La Crosse, and cyclocross, save November 9th on your calendar. It’s the DAHL-GMC-Winona Cross Cup at Ecker’s Apple Orchard. Makes me wish our weekends were not so busy so we could go out to enjoy the event and the wonders of the natural environment. The most glorious wonders of nature have one of two qualities; either they are devoid of man’s influence or highly influenced by man as a true steward.

And as the days grow short and cold, indoor comforts come to the fore. Yes, Ray’s Indoor Mountain Bike will be opening for the season soon; October 4th. But if you are an IMBA member, and don’t want to watch the Packers play the Vikings on Thursday Night Football, you can ride the new layout for free from 6pm to 10pm. They redesign their courses every season. With gas prices dropping I may be tempted to partake this Winter.

Don’t forget the final WORS race of the season, the iconic MTB Challenge in Sheboygan, now the Sheboygan Bicycle Company MTB Challenge. A great event in a beautiful setting, my wife has been asking me about because she has friends in Sheboygan.

I know what you all are wondering; ‘Phillip! What about your peaches?’ This was a poor year for the soon to be old peach tree. We had few blossoms yet it looked like we might get a good bowl off the tree. Alas, the cool weather made them slow to ripen and one by one they submitted to the needs of the beasts of the fields and birds of the air. A final pair, nearly the size of a grapefruit, were munched on just before they were ripe. They don’t taste so good any way when they get that large. I have a fifty dollar bill from my birthday I intend to spend on a pole saw to give the tree a good pruning. With the one tree, do I go with a cheap Harbor Freight saw that some like, or a $40 pole saw from Menard’s? These are the kind of decisions that tax one’s youth.

Not to leave any one without hope, Christmas is only twelve Fridays away. A wondrous time of year.

I hope I didn’t scare you.

Now, the $70 question: What are my three most favorite WORS races? If you read all my posts you should be able to figure it out. And if you read my books you can double or triple that sum; see Charity Jackpot Page in the sidebar.