Loose the dogs of the peloton. The time has come. The
season is near. Grease your machines and stretch your extremities and prepare
for battle.
It is time for the annual Wheel and Sprocket
Bike Expo.
But there is more!
The WORS Racer
Handbook has been out for a while, and if you are not racing mountain bike
on May 6th, the La Crosse Omnium
is open for registration. I wont hold it against you if you are a road
biker.
And do not forget about WEMS, though most due. They begin in less than
four weeks.
The Chequamegon
Fat Tire Festival, a September event, is of great popularity. It may already
be too late to register.
Emery’s is already in
sales mode, now through the end of The Bike Expo. They are more your road
bike people. Known for not being big financial contributors to the Mountain Bike
Agenda.
Registration for the Bike Fed’s RAW (Race Across
Wisconsin) is open. The sooner you register the more you save.
Otherwise all local trails are closed. Do not ride
wet trails please.
With my father approaching the end of his life here,
I did not volunteer this year for the Metro Mountain Biker’s booth at
the Bike Expo.
Catalogues; this one in particular
brightened my Winter. They come from everywhere and according to the Nightly
Business Report people like to look through them.
The yard and garden will be going through great
transformations this year. I will be re-firing up our YouTube channel to cover
my exploits here and on the mountain bike trails. And you may find some of our
security video playback, particularly of our neighbor’s dogs peeing on our front
yard trees and berry bushes, threatening the lives of our greenery.
The $163 question: What were my three most favorite
WORS
races? (some may no longer exist as venues
have changed) Keeping the same question. Check out the Charity Jackpot Page link
in the sidebar to possibly triple the amount.
The State of Mountain Biking is strong here in
Wisconsin.
Not so for IMBA; International Mountain Bike
Association.
Ironically Metro Mountain Biker’s joining
with IMBA in the recent past, cast a wide attractive net for membership. Metro
Mountain Bikers is flush with younger up and comers, movers and shakers, that
will push local mountain bikers to newer and greater heights.
Mountain Biking will be great again.
WORS and WEMS, the mainstay of mountain bike
competitiveness in our state are hanging on strong with solid participation
numbers. Though attendance may be down for these events, it is only due to the
rise of High School Mountain Bike Leagues driven by NICA.
My mountain bike has been domesticated. I still need to
change the pedals, if they will come off. If I ever race again it will be on a
new bike.
Mountain Biking is primarily a family event and only
so many races can be attended annually. A percentage of past WORS participants
with children in High School have been putting their energies towards the High
School League events. But fear not. They wont be in High School forever.
Eventually they will be racing WORS because they have no reason to leave, there
are plenty of great jobs rising in Wisconsin. No drain of any kind
here.
Maybe an idiot drain, but that shouldn’t include
mountain bikers. The beer in Wisconsin is too good.
Minooka Park, with paid parking, is overrun with High
School mountain bike teams on certain nights. The demand for good trails is
higher than ever.
Magnificent trails are being designed. Minooka is a
high benchmark for our state; built by loving hands.
The current trend is to pay for professional builders
to design and build fantastic trails in short order. No more weekend gatherings
of club members toiling with hand tools to cut paths of enlightenment through
the wilderness. It is all mechanical equipment driven.
Returning to the irony, the
increase of funds that makes local trail building possible may be attributed to
the IMBA name, that wide net. But IMBA has been making some bad decisions that
are driving members away; like supporting the government’s stand to deny access
to mountain bikes in National Parks. IMBA also stands against any e-power
assisted bikes on trails. This is a growing issue. There are several levels of
power assistance for bicycles of all types.
The
velodrone In Kenosha has been plagued with issues. A crack in the new
construction, no funds for painting the track, and when all that was resolved
seasonal thunderstorms highlighted the fact that proper drainage had failed to
be included in the design, producing a small lake. I could go on, on how poor
design of every type infests our lives and points to the downfall of
civilization as we know it, but I digress.
Cyclocross rolls quietly on
as a shoulder season activity.
All the fervor is now with
Fat Bikes for Winter riding. Grooming cross country ski trails for fat bike
riding seems the obsession of the up and comers. They ridicule the funds spent
on cross country ski trails for a dozen skiers, or at least for the dozen they
see.
Of
course you cannot mention Fat bikes, 4” wide treads, without mentioning
Wisconsin being awe struck by the Hugh Jass Fat
Bike Series.
The economy may have had an influence on the
perceived decline of the number of cross country skiers (and mountain bikers).
Now the economy is coming back in line along with a Winter Olympics. Ski
on.
Did you know that all the ski
venues and facilities for the Olympics were built by the late Reverend Moon? And
still owned by his family.
It’s the economy stupid. A
famous line, and though I joke about Colorado’s legalization of marijuana
contributing to the downfall of IMBA, headquartered in Colorado, the economy may
have played an even bigger role.
IMBA now provides
only membership management services. They offer other services on an ale carte
basis.One of the first services they dropped, as they suddenly went from way
black to way red in their finances, was insurance.
I made the association, at one Metro meeting, between
insurance costs and Obamacare, Obamacare hence the reason for IMBA’s decline,
and the room went silent.
The Wisconsin
Bike Fed appears, according to the irate tone in response to a question
posed by me to a Bike Fed representative, to have no interest in overseeing
integrated bicycle access in road design as the communities around Foxconn have
all been in the process of redesigning their roadways.
Though
Metro Mountain Bikers have been talking about installing a pump track
locally for at least three years, not one has materialized.
So the State of Mountain Biking is strong in
Wisconsin, stronger than any other cycling sport, though not perfect.
God Bless you all. God Bless the United
States.
The $162 question: What were my three most favorite
WORS
races? (some may no longer exist as venues
have changed) Keeping the same question. Check out the Charity Jackpot Page link
in the sidebar to possibly triple the amount.
Does Christmas begin too early? Would our
culture benefit if we celebrated Halloween only on the 31st? If we waited for
Thanksgiving to pass before playing Christmas music on the radio? What if we
were to celebrate all twelve days of the Christmas season?
Absolutely all that stuff would make all things civil and
spiritual better.
The whole downfall of our civilization began when children
began collecting Halloween candy on days other than Halloween. Think about it.
What kind of message is that?
Black Friday? Now we have Small Business Saturday and
Cyber Monday. But ending it all with Giving Tuesday, before Advent begins
sets the season right.
This coming Sunday is the First Sunday of Advent, but
before the Holiness begins, the Santa Rampage
will rage upon us all this Saturday.
Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus,… but not just
one. Did you really think one Santa could delivery billions of gifts in a single
night? …silly girl.
The Wisconsin Bike Fed is holding a special event for
some special Santa’s. The ride begins at 9:30am at a retail establishment
fittingly named “Cranky Al’s”. (They
have donuts) Santa’s will be rambling in from multiple locations and then streaming
off from the “Lakefront Brewery”,
where the ride ends.
These are not your mall Santa’s, taking requests and
preparing gifts for good little girls and boys. These are the coal bearing
Santa’s, the ones you do not want coming to your Chimney.
Yes, Bobby, Cindy and little Billy, not everyone
receives a gift for Christmas. In fact out of over seven billion people in the
world only 3.141592653 billion actually receive gifts for Christmas (and lots of
pie). All others receive the black stuff and I’m not talking goods
accumulated on Black Friday.
So take care little Billy, you and your tiny little
friends. If Santa should ride by on a bicycle and offer you a gift, turn and
run. Run Billy run. You are far to young to be drinking beer.
Merry Christmas to all, and I mean you! Each of
you!
The $161 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.
This is not science fiction. I contemplated quickly
throwing together a greenhouse to extend the late production of eggplant and
peppers in my garden but kept with this. Just a bit of solar heating to keep
the ground warm, which is what is most important. Have had this up most of
September, as it was quite cool. Stuck my hand down among the foliage this
chilly morning and it was considerably warmer under the canopy.
And Elon Musk best not steal my design for his
supposed Mars project. The guy is not even American and is collecting big off
our tax dollars and the technology our tax dollars paid for.
In regards to science fiction programing I would like to suggest
a protest against paid TV by simply making better science fiction
viewing choices. The latest incarnation of Star Trek is available only through
CBS’s paid service. May I suggest “The
Orville” on FOX as a superior production? Or even “Andromeda”
with Kevin Sorbo which will be playing
every weeknight from tonight on Comet; channel
24-2. That is free HD quality TV people. Also available on Roku.
Then you have your “Star Gate”s and other science
fiction, far more interesting than another Star Trek clone.
And did you ever see anyone on Star Trek riding a
mountain bike in one of their holographic adventures? Enough said.
Yes, I would watch “Star Trek Discovery” if I could
watch for free. It is how we have been programed since childhood.
The $160 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 is going to be huge!
Tomorrow is the first day of the Wheel and
Sprocket Hugh Jass Racing Series. The first
race is at Minooka.
Emery’s Cycle and fitness is holding a Trek e-Bike demo day at their
Menomonee Falls location. Great sales pricing on some 2017 models. (They may
still be hiring)
The State of Wisconsin has just made allowances for
electric assisted bikes on some State trails. Not that 85mph mountain bike they
have in Australia; you know, where all the criminals live. 15mph will be the
civilized speed for those sharing the trails nicely with others.
And do you know you can get your Internet from
Milwaukee PC at an always
low price; not just for 12 months. They even provide a dial up service at
56Kb.
The autumn heat continues and the garden keeps
producing.
Be safe.
The $159 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.
This Saturday is The Fall Color Festival here in
Wisconsin. Located in our beautiful Kettle Moraine I had to put out a post to
let you all know, even as I writhe in illness. Events designed for every age
make it a fantastic family event. Then the uncharacteristic autumn heat will
return, great for our garden.
Wausau Wisconsin is a lovely area to appreciate the
fall colors. It is also a city with an increasingly growing number of mountain
bike trails, an intriguing down hill recently opened.
Though Metro Mountain Bikers has been
attempting to get a pump track built for years, it has yet to materialize. A
memorial repair station for Rob, I forgot his last name, will be installed at
the old Tosa train Station. It was too much of a hassle working with county
parks, but I believe that is a better location. It will be right across from the
farmer’s market.
Yes we can. The peach tree is showing its age. We
will have to get a new fruit tree before the old guy gives it up all together.
About the same viable lifespan as a good dog.
The $158 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.
With rocks and ruts and switchback stunts? Yes this
is primarily a mountain bike and biking blog and this weekend there will be
a stupendous event in this, the greater Milwaukee Area.
It is the WORS Collectivo Coffee Bean
Classic, at Waukesha’s Minooka Park; Sunday. If you don’t ride, spectating
is free, except for the parking. And if for some strange reason spectating does
not excite you and you don’t plan to race, there are plenty of other things to
do in the park.
Unfortunately my schedule and limited
resources, mainly having only one car for two people, do not allow me to
participate. Nor will I partake of The Polish Moon Ride. It is tonight and it is
raining, with warnings out. It sounds like a great time that both I and my wife
could enjoy together. Includes food and dancing. Oh well. There is always next
year.
Yes, we were in New York last weekend. Not a garden
paradise, but our garden did not suffer our absence. Actually caught some of the
Tour de Fraud, or France as some people like to say, coverage on the Hotel
cable.
And if you would like to garden but do not feel
knowledgeable enough, I must recommend Charles
Dowding, on YouTube. Grows organic and does stuff like growing the same
thing in the same place every year to see what happens.
My very first
beet.
If you want to get down on all that, garden and
health and vegan stuff, watch John Kohler. He has a
few videos where he comments on all the malice and hate he receives from other
vegans, because he doesn’t demand everyone in the world be vegan.
Now, if you want to go homestead, but just a little,
and still remain bound to civilization, Becky’s Homestead is the
place to be. “Farm living is the life for me.” Just a couple acres and lots of
good neighbors. And she is a single mom who started with no money. “What did you
say? I got no money.”
For you, “Money!” types there is always the Urban
Farmer. The Urban Farmer. I know of no
other (on YouTube).
If you are truly the eat your own food type,
regenerative farming fanatic, permaculture junky, I must recommend two sites
full of chickens, sheep, cows, rabbit, duck, orchards, organic beds, fruitful
fields and the growing of hops so that you can make your own beer on the
farm. They would be the sites of John Suscovich (looks like
he did it all in six years) and Richard
Perkins.
See! See how I brought everything back to mountain
biking. Yes!!! The beer, making your own beer.
I just drink the NA varieties.
Cucumbers and the
infamous bitter melons are producing. They say if you keep chewing something
bitter it will turn sweet. Heard that from Reverend Moon and again later from
Dr. Axe.
The $157 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.
