thuaidh, go alaska.

on sunday, june 15th at 6am i board a plane for alaska with a one way ticket.

fuadach m'fhiacle.

50 miles today on the rigorilla(gf rig w/ 26x3" knobby downhill tires), including riding to and from an extensive root canal procedure. woot.

mise aris...

sorry bout that. had absolutely not motivation to update this thing at all since alaska. so, i'll give a whirlwind photo tour of the last few months of my life. check my flickr account for more photos.

alaska:



the race was painful and difficult, and i was unprepared and smart to drop out when i did. i got frost nip on my ears.



the week after the race was filled with good beer, incredible scenery and new friends.



















got back and really hated myself for a few weeks for not staying. my mind was pretty much made up though that i would be moving back up there, and i shall. but life went on. i commuted to and from work:



hung out with the brothers uniatowski in philly







did some trail work at mahlon dickerson:





messed around with some different wheel stups on the rig and karate monkey:





and just today, i did some hiking with my sister, nephew and brother in law on the lackawanna cutoff:

suil gloineach

whew, lot's going on since the last time we spoke. for starters, there's the kung fu gorilla, which is now poised and ready to project me to new levels of suffering while attempting to ride through the weather alaska has in store for the susitna 100. weight as shown below with 26x3" tires on 46mm wide rims: 32 lbs. add barends, pogies, bags, racks and mandatory and necessary gear and we're looking at around 50-55 lbs. it the snow get's deep, that's alot of bike to be pushing around.





it actually rides surprisingly light, all things considered.

been pedaling to work almost every day. i love it. i put $40 worth of gas into the tank several weeks ago(mid january i think), and still have better than 1/4 of a tank left.

this morning's commute was, i believe, my third coldest commute ever. i had a -4f commute back in the lat 90s while working at esco products, and last winter, i rode in at about the same temperature. this morning hit a low of about 2f. it was great! i had ice on my eyelashes. the only part i really felt underdressed during was the @40 mph downhill at the end. i'm sure that kind of speed knocked the -10ish standing windchill down to -30 to -40 or so. it certainly felt it.



here's some shots from oak ridge resevoir today:

la truamhealach.

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/index.html

domhain na gloine

ca bhfuill m'airgead?

been riding to and from work since the last post. non stop. yeah what. i sleep on the downhills... really though, getting back to bike commuting has been nothing short of wonderful. a headlight in my truck went out, and when i went to change it, the cable snapped. so it'll be a bitch to change it. if i get pulled over, i'll either get a ticket for the headlight, my 7 month overdue inspection, or both. i don't want a ticket, and i want to ride my bike. partly because i like riding my bike, and partly because i want to not die from exhaustion while trying to ride 100 miles in the snow in the bitter cold of alaska next month. money's tighter than a nun's wrong 'un right now. has been since la ruta. by the time i recovered financially from la ruta, christmas and mom's bday rolled around, by the time i recovered(kinda sorta) from that, susitna rolls around. i ain't friggen buyin nothin for a month after i get back from ak. here're some pictures of some nifty crack patterns in the ice of oak ridge resevoir:

fuar bean sheain

this morning was great. coldest commute of the season at @5 degrees farenheit. windchill in the negatives. felt great, all my gear worked fine. could have probably used a second pair of socks, but it was only 1:20, so my toes didn't get cold till the end. beard ice was quality. coworkers have written me off as certifiable. i really love 'the cold'. i'm probably gonna marry it.

then there's this:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22765054/?GT1=10755

if i ever decide to be a satanic naked psychotic master of a genocidal army, i'm gonna name myself General Butt Naked II

gan freagra.

combined 70ish miles this weekend. good enough. although todays ride involve me being fully masticated, digested, then defacated out the backside of the group to pedal back to the cars on the road by my lonesome. one long downhill on the way back to the car froze my forehead to the point that i was actually having a little bit of trouble seeing straight and focusing by the bottom. never felt right from the first mile. hopefully my commute to work wont hurt nearly as much tomorrow. might have to leave ten minutes early.

amadan mise

rode to and from work today on the rig. no gps as it had a temper tantrum.

the mornings commute hurt. been more than a week since i was on the bike for anything worth noting, and i felt it. i also reassured myself once again that i hate riding in my current selection of tights. i need something thinner. they just make my legs feel alot more sluggish than without. by the time i arrived at work i had some notable icycles in the beard. nothing crazy, just a few little stalags.

(yes, i was that exhausted. i've had a cold for going on three weeks now, it was 6:45 when i arrived, and as noted, i was not in top form this morning...)


for the afternoons commute, it had warmed up quite a bit, and wasn't precipitating when i left work, so i went with baggie riding shorts without the tights underneath. i was fine untill about halfway through the ride when those occassional flurries turned into a wintry mix.

i asked a stranger to take a photo so that i could see how stooopid i looked later(now).


i arrived home, and i was warm all over(seriously), and my legs felt great the entire ride.

icycles on one's leg hair is completely normal, right?? i know, i should have worn tights, and i'm a moron.


but at least i'm fashionable....