Tex's Luavull Cycling

What a difference

2009-07-18T15:19:00.002-04:00

Last Sunday I could barely finish a 50-miler. I agonized over the last 15 miles of the route. I walked parts of 2 hills. I didn't enjoy myself (the last 15...). Agotado-dripped out- is the Spanish word that best describes my experience.

Today was the opposite. Having ridden with LithoDale yesterday, I worried about how my legs would respond. We called an impromptu RCCS 80-miler, and left this morning at 6.00 to make it happen. I'll put a ride report on the RCCS site, but today I was just good. We ended up doing 68 miles, but I felt confident and strong all through those miles, and I wish I could've tagged on more, but with birthday parties coming (in fact, in 40min), other responsibilities awaited.

Bicycle Schizophrenia at its best.

Rides

2009-07-17T15:10:00.005-04:00

I've done quite a few miles this week (for me), and they've been of highly varying quality. Sunday's RCCS Mixed-Terrain was half bliss, half death march. Monday I took off. Tuesday's was a mediocre effort on the Quickbeam. Wednesday I tried something different and took a Cherokee/Seneca Hill ride on the Blueridge and I used my heart rate monitor for the first time in a while. I wanted to see what crappy legs felt like at specific HRs. Really it was a pretty good ride, with some "brisk" (and in effort) climbing. Thursday's was another mediocre effort on the QB. I strongly feel like some of these tough rides have been influenced by mexican food-induced lower GI issues.

At this point River Rd. is definitely closed

Today I rode over to IN and did a lunchtime ride with LithoDale.. I used the HRM again to gauge my efforts to there and back; I think it worked pretty well. But of course, long and lean Dale whipped my on the moyenne montagne. Tomorrow the RCCS does a show-n-go 80-miler. That should be interesting.

self-explanatory

2009-07-16T07:47:00.000-04:00

bum legs

2009-07-14T18:36:00.003-04:00

Took care of an almost 30-miler this afternoon on the Quickbeam, doing the Algonquin/Riverwalk Loop. After the Sunday death march (write-up found here), I wanted an easy spin, and mostly i got one until the Riverwalk. As I stopped to fiddle with the iPod, a group of 3 gentlemen came roaring by, all of them on "non-standard" bikes. I do admit to raising the pace ever slightly to see if I could catch up, and to one I did. I saw him in the distance and worked to reel him in. On one of the last open sections before the Belvedere I passed on the left, but it only took about 20sec and he was back through. Mind you, he was pushing the largest gear his bike had and I was doing it "hamster style" on the QB. Anyway, we sort of shadowed each other through the various routes around the Belle (outoftowners, visualize, but I'm too lazy to describe) and I got slightly ahead by taking a more direct route via the bridges by the Great Lawn. His 2 buddies were there waiting, so they must've done a decent clip.

After that I came up Adams/Spring and passed a group of 6-7 cyclists, and an interesting group it was. The guys in front were standard lycra/carbonbike roadies, the middle 3 looked to be riding hybrids or mtbikes and the woman with them was on a fendered Bianchi. I complemented her bike and moved ahead of them only b/c I thought it would be odd to just join up, although their pace was more my pleasure. From there it ws through the park and up golf course hill. I'm not feeling fresh right now, and haven't since the vacation, or really since the start of vacation. Granted, climbing SS style on the QB is not a great way to build confidence, but after that I was sort of done and mosied home from there. 28 in the bag, a great feel on the QB, but not feeling all that rosy myself. Hope it's not the ticker.

Ride

2009-07-11T18:17:00.002-04:00

After 2 days of post-vacation lethargy, I took the SSFrankenTrek out for what amounted to an errand ride this afternoon. Skies were mixed and the radar showed electrical, barometrical nastiness at some point, so the SS Trek seemed logical. I had purchased a few things before the trip: tube, old-school mesh gloves, and finally a box of CO2 cartridges, figuring that in an alien city and with morning time constraints, a quick fill would prove better for all. Upon departing the shop, I noticed that my total was a bit high, and looking at my receipt, noticed that my box of 8 cartridges totaled $20. Yikes!! Guess it's been a while since I bought those. I assume buying threaded increased the price a bit, but Wowee, I just had a hard time paying more for throwaway cartridges than I did for a decent pair of gloves. So I stored them on the trip and mcguyvered the carry method for an old minipump I had found in the "parts" box.

Today, box and receipt in hand, I returned the box of cartridges, figuring that I can handle a frame pump if need be, and at worst I can buy 2 cartridges for a quickie a.m. commute fix. Taking in St. Matthews, I turned onto Frankfort and encountered a nice headwind to work into. I made my first stop and headed towards the river, taking a quick look at the new Lincoln statue there. I turned for a turn up Washington and went to my 2nd shop of the day (preferred one this time, although the other one isn't bad at all) to pick up a couple tubes for tomorrow's potentially carnage-inducing RCCS gravelfest. Under normal circumstances, I prefer to patch tubes and save the $$, but experience has told me that some folks who might come might also come unprepared. The RCCS experiment is sort of static right now. We've had a couple rides with good turnout and good fun, but it's sort of laying there, under the radar, and not gaining as much momentum as I would like. I think it's one of scheduling, in that people need time to put in on the calendar, and with my life and with Dave's, we just haven't been very firm in making the calendar discipline happen. That said, we're going on a near-70m ride tomorrow, with much of it S.IN gravel (via the DIRT site). I think there is a potential for "epic", at least on the level Dave and I can muster. I'm riding the LHT for the benefit of fat tyres, and hence the extra tubes.

From there it was back through Cherokee and one more stop, at Morris Deli this time, for libations, to be had later this evening. 19m total and a good warmup for tomorrow's fun.

Mixed-Bag Vacation Rides

2009-07-09T12:37:00.013-04:00

We're home after a very successful out west vacation. Instead of doing multiple entries (which would bore all my readers to tears), I'll sum up my later rides in this one. I previously rode the St. Louis Riverfront Trail and on the edges of Rapid City. I'm glad I did both, but neither captured much gusto. Hill City provided me an opportunity to ride a portion of the Mickelson Trail, which is a 100m+ rail-to-trail in the Black Hills of SD. Since we had full days planned, I was able to only get out a bit early and experience a portion of it. That morning was cool and drizzly so I wore a rain jacket, which I proceeded to remove in the first 2 miles. As it was, I turned north and went up hill for about 4-5m and then turned around, giving me 2 very different experience, those of steady climbing while being very warm- even in the morning mist-and that of a freewheeling descent pushing a big gear. To be honest, I enjoyed the scenary more while climbing. I'm sure it's a lovely trail start to end, but I really only got a 50min introduction.

woodland phlox in full bloom

nice valley and near my turning around point

typical trail scene near Hill City

My plan (in my mind) was to explore some Nat'l Forest Service roads near our hotel the next morning, but alas. My next ride took place in Rapid City before leaving for the Badlands. In this case, using a city bike map I put together another quick morning jaunt, this one much more fun than the slog that took place the previous Thursday. Rapid City's mostly concrete trial snakes along a river that apparently killed 200+ people in '72. Now, the area along the river is a series of parks, now tied together with this path. I did almost 15m, doing outnbacks along both arms of the trail. It was interesting that the "across the tracks" addage certainly applied to RC. To the west the parks and path were well maintained; across the tracks to the east was decidedly more roughntumble, with some sketchy characters milling about.

Minnelusa River (native American name)

My final ride was the most satisfying, but also the longest, so is it chicken or egg? Good legs+time to appreciate=well-designed facilities? Our last night's stay was in Columbia, MO, where I found a nice bike trail map which would supply me 2 hours of enjoyment. Not only did Columbia have nice trails in and of itself, they also linked up to the well-known Katy Trail of central MO. I took the Hinkson Creek Trail, tying into the MKT trail, and finished up (well, in the middle of my ride) rode a portion of the Katy as well. I came back very, very satisfied. These three combined for a 14m one-way, bringing me to 28 on the day. The Hinkson links several nature preserves and then ties in to a UnivofMissouri "fitness" trail, which is just an extension of the same. The surface here was a nice, compact crushed limestone, one which made for good bike handling and a cushy feel. Eventually those connected to the MKT, which is a central trail leading out of Columbia. I was impressed with the number of users at 7.00a.m., but with such nice facilities, why wouldn't you? The entire trail followed Hinkson Creek, so grades were gentle, something good for a general-use trail such as this. Eventually it tied to the Katy, where I took a left (east) and experienced some miles- maybe 4?- of it before I had to turn back. I suggest anyone to take advantage of this series of facilities; it provided an awfully nice morning ride and something of an experience that I don't think the Louisville Loop/Riverwalk quite meets. Sorry.

Example bridge crossing the Perche Creek. I crossed probably 10 or more bridges, many designed to reflect railroad heritage.

McBaine station along Katy. These had postings of resources, facilities and notes for riders.

Return portion of Hinkson Creek Trail, this being a sideshoot singletrack encircling the nature preserve. I met numermous dog walkers here.

Rapid City

2009-07-02T22:00:00.004-04:00

After a long-but-satisfying day viewing the grandeur of the grassy plains and amber waves of grain, we arrived in Rapid City, SD. We went for a slice and a drink and then I jumped out not far from the hotel for an hour spin. I encountered spitting rain, gritty gravel and dark skies, but nonetheless I did my hour. Here are a few views.

**a couple commenters have commented on the "flatness". What is interesting is that I remember it not being that flat. The last picture looks into the valley with the opposite ridge showing the elevation. Later, I put the route into mapmyride and found, as it were, that it was pretty flat. Rapid City sits at around 3000ft. Can that elevation change have an effect on the the cardio system? It felt more tiring that the terrain suggested. My later ride in Hill City begat a similar observation.

Desoto NWF

2009-07-02T09:06:00.004-04:00

Desoto NWF in western Iowa and Nebraska. This made for a long side trip, but worth every minute. I have many more pics which I'll have to doctor and post, but I can express how wonderful this corner of the world is, and our subsequent scenic drive through Nebraska made me want a vacation home there. *Very* attractive!

2 possibles

2009-06-29T19:38:00.001-04:00

Hopefully I may get some action on the following locales in the days to come:

Mississippi River Trial-St. Louis- downtown St. Louis. Apparently not scenic, but who cares.

Mickelson Trail- Hill City, South Dakota- 110+ railtotrail. Entry point near our hotel

MKT Trail- Columbia, MO- will have to drive if I'm to do this one.

Sioux Falls, SD- close to the park loop trail of some sort

Sioux City, IO- WOW! I just found a "bike trail" along the river, with an entry very close to our hotel room!! Just found it!!

Rapid City, SD- Just found a potential trail near our hotel here too. Or googlemaps is wrong and it's a drive.

I don't care if it is one of Chris's 3-mile loops; I gotta ride if I can and if it fits in the schedule!

4-Star

2009-06-28T16:35:00.006-04:00

Not much to say other than I wish more folks had the opportunity to experience what a fantastic ride we did today, well, save the near-death experience careening out of control in front of an SUV while descending at near-40mph. I digress. I first suggested the route and Dave made appropriate alterations, maps and cue sheets. Much thanks to Dave. We started in Sellersberg and head north via many empty country roads. Some of these showed up at both a Spring RCCS ride and one I took with Dave a ways back as well. This route put us toward Underwood, where we both found the necessary goods we were lacking. From there we again ventured over some of the same roads as the RCCS ride, but after the climb up S. Liberty Knob Rd, we headed SW into new territory on the Blue River Rd., or some variation of it (E.B.R. or S.B.R., etc.)

Maize, plenty of that today, although the recent flash flooding hasn't helped.

Our tour along the Blue River- I never saw it unless it was the creek we followed, delivered us into Pekin, sometimes known as Old Pekin. We were greeted with a rough-n-tumble kinda rural town. The Sunoco provided snacks and drinks, but also a myriad of, well, rednecks, of all sort. They were pleasant enough, but living in a near-hippie enclave and teaching reasonably middle and upper-middle class sorts separates me from these kind of folk I used to teach in Trimble Co. I made the comment that I understood why there was a New Pekin just up the road. Not nice, but the truth hurts sometimes. I hope escalating globalization and State and Federal education and economic efforts bless these folks with future reward.

Gene's right on the track. I failed to get a good pic of a big pipe coming out of the side of this building, one used to refuel the train with water and/or coal from back in the old days.

Nice bridge on E.Main St. in Old Pekin

Church steeple may or may not be visible in the distance

After Pekin, and a steep set of short climbs to get us to appropriate altitude, we were blessed with amazing expanses high above the knobs. Who knew? It was truly beautiful country and worth the 40m we had ridden to arrive there. Shortly thereafter we happened upon a couple cultural touchstones of Southern Indiana: Stumler's, Huber's and St. John's the Baptist Church. Concerning the latter, with the quantity of Virgin Mary statues we saw in Starlight I would say that the parish is doing a pretty good job getting the word out. The former- and middle?- are both popular family-run orchards and restaurants. Huber is big enough that it has a bit of everything, including wine. The ride through Starlight where these are based was just heaven, with blue skies, cooling tailwinds, sunshine and no traffic to speak of.

Our last leg involved getting down off this plateau and into the valley where Sellersberg resides. This is where the brief plot thickens. We came upon the following descent

Top of Dug Knob

Dub Knob Rd. falls off the plateau, so we fell too. Not smartly, I took the lead. Dave had been descending all day much better than I, but I divebombed the hill, zooming through the first sweeping curves. Approaching the 3rd one, a steep switchback, I realized I was going too fast. I felt the back wheel skid and I just sorta freaked. I understood based on speed that I was going to cut across the switchback, and my good grace would not find a car coming up the hill. Alas. At that point, the SUV ascending looked like it was going to hit me or I was going to hit it in the side. Somehow, whether he sped up or slowed down, I got around him, and I slowed into the gravel on the side. No harm, no foul. No tarmac, no blood, no boo-boos. Just alot of frustration for being irresponsible- STUPID- and loosing control like that. It happens, but I'm still frustrated with myself; I could've negotiated the descent much better and not created such drama. And thanks to that driver. Whether he/she really did anything, he/she didn't hit me, and that's good.

From there we rolled down St. Joe's Rd., different Catholic church, and into Sellersberg, capping off a 61-miler that I'll put right now into my top-5 list of favorite rides. It was just fabulous. Hope everybody hit the road today.

Mammoth Cave

2009-06-26T17:14:00.017-04:00

After my conference day on Thursday, I headed home towards Louisville, but taking advantage of the location and the timing, I stopped off for a bit of an adventure (not much of one) in Mammoth Cave. I had read inklings of a new rails-to-trails in the Nat'l Park, so a bit of research led me to some general info about the converted rail-to-trail. Interestingly, I couldn't find a paper map of the sign below, but online full park maps are available. I parked where you find this trailhead, but the the trail actually goes back east a bit, so I went to the end and returned to the trailhead for the full route.

Trailhead marker

Typical scene on much of the trial, with heavy gravel along a forest tunnel

I did particularly enjoy the first part of the trail. The pic below shows a strangely deforested, sun-searing land, and for reason, it had been re-gravelled or dragged recently, so it provided heavy, slow-going conditions. I later found on the return leg that the inital portion was a long, steady climb. At one point, the NPS even posted a sign of "steep trail" conditions and encouraged the public to walk this one off. I just rode in a tidy, low gear.

Eventually I broke away from the deforestation and back into the forest, sometimes very close to the main road and sometimes curving a bit further inward. My informative ride would educate me to 2 new nuggets, first that the deforestation was the beginnings of "prairie renewal", and secondly the trail often followed the road, because the road, in fact was laid on the original rail line. Nice and tidy, eh? I came to Sloan's Crossing, which is a sinkhole that never drained, hence a pond. NPS built a nice wooded raised path around the pond, providing multiple viewing spots.

By this point I was having that much fun. The trail surface regularly used very heavy limestone gravel; it reminded me of riding in sand. And the heat of the day- 92F and humid, was taking its toll. After Sloans' Crossing, I roused 3 wild turkeys having a snack in a meadow, but they ran off before I could get a pic. I then descended into a steep valley, one I didn't relish climbing back out of. The trail used three wooden trestles or bridges to cross steep gorges. Soon thereafter I was almost run over by a deer bounding across the trail. Boy, they look sort of big up close. Not long after I arrived at the terminus, the visitors center and hotel. I had decided at some point that I didn't enjoy the trail surface enough to return via it, so I aimed to go back on the main road. After perusing a park map, I found a different and interesting alternative for a return. Not far from the visitors' center, the map showed a one-way gravel road- Joppa Ridge Rd.- that connected to State 70, which would put me back at Sloans Crossing and a relatively return via the main road. The descent towards Joppa Ridge had the LHT at 41.5mph on the descent. Weee!

Entrance to Joppa Ridge Rd., with barely discernible gate

If the rail-to-trail failed to meet expectations, Joppa Ridge Rd. exceeded them in every way. While only 2 miles, it steeply climbed out of the Green River valley on a nicely gravelled surface completely devoid of anything save the shade, whisper of the trees and my heavy rhythmic breathing from the climb. At some point a SUV with a canoe attached passed me, not far from the top of the climb, and I was able to keep site of him on the descent. Thinking that it was a simple "climb up, fly down", I was confronted with a short, steep climb towards the end of the road (seen in pic below). The entirely of the road was gravel, but NPS had paved- only once, and a while ago given the deterioration- the steep pitch to the top. I admit to walking a brief portion here.

Steep portion

After Joppa Ridge, turned my sights for the truck, using State Rd. 70, which doubled as a park road here. Notice in the pic, the mown, parklike maintenence of the road. With little traffic and a steady 3-4% grade towards Sloan's Crossing, it and Joppa made for the highlight of the ride.

If you look carefully, you may be able to discenrn three turkeys in this meadow. They're there. It's the same coven I passed earlier in the day. They're there, I promise.

I finished the ride up on the main road towards the truck, noticing that I had come across hillier terrain than I had realized. I really enjoyed the return portion, the trail, well, I did it. It might be fun in a group, or it might be more fun when the surface improves. Nagging aside, it made for a great ride, all in all, to experience new roads, new trails, a Nat'l park, and some honest mixed terrain. yea for me!

Bowling Green

2009-06-26T13:46:00.008-04:00

I returned last night from a 3-day conference in Bowling Green, KY. Thanks to my good bud, Doug, and his lovely bride, Tamala, for their hospitality. The sessions ended late afternoon, so I had a nice 5.00-ish window to explore the town a bit. Tuesday night I took a evening ride that turned a bit dark in me, but I put in 10 miles of closetothehouse suburb riding. Oh, and Dough and I went to see the midnight showing of the Transformers movie. I was more entertained than I thought I would be, but it's 30% too long; good editing could've made for a fun time. Wednesday I headed out in the heat, using the Bowling Green bike map for assistance. I would like to chastise BG a bit for not making a more usable map; it offered vague hints but no concrete usage, especially in a map holder.

BG Greenway

Same Greenway

Riverwalk over old bridge

This is listed as Kinlock Ln., on googlemaps, but as you can see, it used to be a lane. I turned around when it became singletrack out of fear. It was dark and scary.

Country Ride

2009-06-22T08:00:00.022-04:00

We went to Plumville for an augmented family reunion on my wife's side yesterday. Since it was Father's Day, she was gracious enough to let me take a country ride for a couple hours. I'll let the pictures tell the story of a very nice 2-hr ride.

Cyco-Active Map Case

Thomas Grocery, outside Tollesboro, KY

I believe Sugarloaf Mt. is to the left

main intersection of Burtonville, KY

came through that notch

"sign, sign, everywhere a sign..."

South Bear Wallow, 'nuff said

Ride the Rans!!

2009-06-20T12:15:00.018-04:00

"Ride the Rans!" was the rallying cry at the end of our 43-miler this morning, but the beginning had Dave and I taking advantage of an open Saturday. We went out early to beat the heat, using River Rd. and Rose Island Rd. to get some "easy" miles in and to let me try some mileage out on the Quickbeam. While I waxed poetic about the QB from my Lawrenceburg trip a couple weeks ago, I'm still trying to get a feel for its capabilities, and my own capabilities riding it. River Rd. is table-top flat, and Rose Island is about the same but with a few rollers just for good measure; both provided the means to stretch the early morning legs.

Our route started at 7.15 and took us through Seneca and St. Matthews before linking up to Lime Kiln via Rudy Ln. Once on River Rd. We were greeted with an empty path and morning sunrise sunshine. Ah!!! Below are the bikes by the tracks in St. Matthews. What is not pictured here is the bizarre sight of a small raptor almost attacking me, talons bared (sic). It flew off but scared the beejeebees out of me. Not something you would expect so early in the a.m.

early morning light

Bacchetta and Quickbeam

Our first significant obstacle wasn't the terrain nor the weather; it was entirely man-made and contentious to boot. River Rd. crosses Harrods Creek at a quaint one-lane bridge (it used to be a two-lane bridge before cars metastasized, requiring a reduction to one lane). Of late it is in horrible condition and the State condemned it, much to the dismay of the many yuppies that live in Prospect and western Oldham Co. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out. It's well closed to autos, but it seems bikers are jumping the barriers and using the newer portion of River Road for futher training. Glad I don't have to worry about it on my commute, but it did lend us a nice 2-3 mile stretch today of very limited traffic, almost like a bike trail.

condemned Harrods Creek Bridge

Rose Island Rd. is old-school bucolic riding. I began riding here some 10 yrs ago, and although there was a bit of traffic, it reminded me of some river roads I had ridden many years ago in western St. Louis. Now, of course, there are several new developments and traffic is picking up, making it a bit more tenuous for bikes. I'm sure, before long, they will be flattening it and widening it so the SUVs fit and the soccer moms don't have to think while they talk on the cellphone while scheduling their Pilates workouts.

Rose Island Rd., "green tunnel"

Dave on Rose Island Rd.

After a little excitment with Dave's lack of attention paying (ask him), we turned back and took a very short side route down toward the river side (pic below). Also, here we decided to do a little bike swapping. Dave hadn't been on the QB, and I had only briefly ridden his Bacchetta. I think he found the short time quite nice, noting that the QB is really damn smooth, and its larger size fit him better than his short stay on the Bleriot last year. I also enjoyed the stability over the twitchiness of the Rans. I also noticed that, one back on the QB, the seat felt like it was going straight up my @#@$, but that disappeared a mile or so later.

old man river

historical house next to Harrod's Creek, owned by first African-American family in area

We finished up using River Rd. to link to Mockingbird Valley Dr. and then back through Seneca to Breadworks, where coffee and scones finished a very pleasant morning. This ride gave me 170m for the week, which is more miles than I had in February or April. The heat has set in, though. I got sufficiently hot yesterday on a 23-miler through the parks, and today I didn't drink as much as I should. It's time to adjust to the real summer conditions.

house hidden behind meadow

the 'Ville downriver

Oh, and Dave implored me to ride the Rans some this week. He has mentioned purchasing it, and maybe it's time to ride the damn thing or just sell it. Once observation I can make is that, after having ridden his, I needed to move my Rans seat much farther forward, and I did. I was way too stretched out.

Pocas Millas

2009-06-19T09:09:00.000-04:00

My Sunday adventure made for a great weekend, but so far the week has been a mediocre non-starter kinda week. 2 miles yesterday going to the store (on the newly-tubed TrekSS), 13 miles total on Tuesday on 2 different errands. None Monday. Today I at least got up and out the door at a reasonable time for a reasonable ride, on the QB no less.

There wasn't anything special about the 23-miler on the usual Indian Hills route. There was something special, though, about the ride quality of the QB. It's magic. Really. If I were braver, stronger, and lighter, and boy, I sure am *not* lighter right now, I would make the QB the primary mount over the Bleriot. I don't know. They're different, but the QB is so smoother and steady, so assured on the road, the Jack Browns rolling in perfect unison. Yes, hyperbole, but also, yes, satisfaction. And I didn't get rained on either, today. This is now the 19th day in 27 that it has rained. The QB has no fenders and I still haven't procured a usable fender bracket to fix the Bleriot. Maybe today.

p.s. Addendum to previous rain notice. At 11.00 or so the sky turned green and then black and we experienced a doozy of a thunderstorm. As usual our little dead-end street lost power and only got it back last night (Friday @ 3.00a.m.). Thanks to the electrical crew for working 12 hours on our lonely, little street to bring us back into modernity.

Below is a pic for the Rapha Road Journal. If you haven't, check it out. Although the clothes are ridiculously overpriced, the images and stories of monster, epic rides is certainly worth a read on a rainy today such as today.

Helmets

2009-06-16T11:53:00.003-04:00

You can follow the various threads here, here and here of the old "helmet discussion" Nemesis. I usually wear mine; the only time I don't is when I wheel up to the local plant nursery a mile away. That said, when the RCCS took our Paris-Redux ride back in April, one of our riders hit a puddle-filled hole going slightly downhill at speed. He catapulted over the bars and landed directly, and I mean DI-rectly on his helmet-ensconced head. Without it he would've been hurtin' for certain. If I have one of those days when I feel like going "free", I'll think back to that day and probably make the safer decision.

Wilco Friday

2009-06-15T22:32:00.002-04:00

Cincinnatti Aronoff Center set list- Fri 6/12

1. Wilco (The Song)

2. I Am Trying To Break Your Heart

3. Company In My Back

4. Bull Black Nova

5. You Are My Face

6. One Wing

7. Handshake Drugs

8. Side With The Seeds

9. A Shot In The Arm

10. At Least That's What You Said

11. Sonny Feeling

12. Jesus, Etc.

13. Impossible Germany

14. California Stars

15. You Never Know

16. Hummingbird

17. Misunderstood

18. Spiders (Kidsmoke)

// E1: 19. The Late Greats

20. Hate It Here

21. Walken

22. I'm The Man Who Loves You

23. I'm A Wheel

it was the wife's 9th time and my 8th seeing Wilco, beginning with their first tour back in '95. We actually saw Tweedy play on the final tour with Uncle Tupelo oh so long ago
I'm not sure why #22 is highlighted like that. I pulled the list form the WilcoBase site.
I enjoyed both "Spiders" and "Bull Black Nova" quite a bit. I'm a fan of dissonance and noise.
The selections are pretty heavy from 'Ghost' and 'SBS'. They only played a few off the new album. The fit pretty well in the typical Wilco repertoire, but don't break much new ground.
We had nice seats at the front of the first balcony, but we had cavalcade of 10 people constantly passing in front of us. It gets very, very, very tiring being stepped on by poseurs who are only there to have been there. It detracted from our show experience quite a bit. We're old. Can you tell?
I was surprised that there was no background. It was some basic lighting and not much else of a stage show.
The behind-the-scenes guys- Nels, Pat, Mike- are coming more forward as full bandmates than just hired extras.
I had a large McDonalds chocolate shake after the show. It was disgusting and I got what I deserved.
The crowed sang all night and seemed to know all the lyrics. I'm not sure what to think about that one. The crowd also reacted very enthusiastically to "Impossible Germany". I never have liked that song.
My fav Wilco venue out of those 8 was definitely the Iroquois Amphitheater who from a couple Octobers ago. My fav Wilco show overall was on the Summerteeth tour at Headliners when the wife was *very* pregnant with 'L'. Interestingly, she was pregnant with 'Z' at the first show. It hasn't affected their musical tastes, as least obviously. Neither likes Wilco all that much.

70!

2009-06-14T21:06:00.001-04:00

Longest ride since 1999, and a great one to boot. Info found over at RCCS. Other than some sore shoulders I felt pretty good through it all.

Ride

2009-06-12T11:59:00.003-04:00

Don't have anything enlightening to say. Finally got up this a.m. and did my "summer thing", which is to get up and out the door for a ride. I did a total of 42m, with a fair amount of it in a firm drizzle, for which I took the un-rust-able Blueridge. I combined 2 rides in one, doing a "park" ride with loops around Seneca/Cherokee and then did a RudyLn/IndianHills loop as well. If I had a magic bike fairy I would have it swap a shorter, more angled stem on the BR, but I guess it's good to have at least one bike that has me in a more classic "aero" position.

The bigger news is that we're off to see Wilco tonight in Cincy. Should be a very good time. Looking forward to it!

Wistful

2009-06-10T08:13:00.006-04:00

This is but one pic from Doug's pictorial review of the Hiawatha Cyclery League Tour, aka "Gentlemen's Tour". I'm just generally very, very jealous. While I know folks do some touring in KY, including some overnighters hosted by the LBC, these trips in WI and MN are assisted by the great facilities they seem to have there. During their trip they used part(s) of the Root River Trail (60m), Cannon Valley Trial (19m), and Great River State Trail (24m). KY doesn't have any amenities of such nature; the longest "trail" I know of in KY is actually the Riverwalk here in Louisville, and it doesn't lead to any camping facilities. In fishing around for more info on the KYRtT site, I did find some nice pics of members scouting abandoned railway access between Lexington and Ashland, the enigmatic 'Big Sandy project. My point, of course, is that it's a bit more feasible for the MN crew to put together these picturesque trips when they have trails and virgin gravel at their disposal. We don't. Whaa!

That said, it's more the effort and the mindset than the facilties. "Where there is a will, there is a way."

Errands and Injuries

2009-06-09T20:29:00.003-04:00

Although I've officially been on summer break 4 days now, I still haven't pulled off my first "real ride" of the the summer. We've been busy with some yard and house projects and I'm trying to be helpful instead of absent like I was all Spring. Today I rode to my errand on the Crosscheck, but that's all the mileage I put in. I'm trying to make plans for a long ride or two coming up, so we'll see.

I also played some tennis with 'L' today, and as is my usual summer tradition, I injured myself, in this case with the usual twisted ankle. There's some minor swelling, and I'll live, but boy is it annoying, like usual.

We just got back from Dundee, where I made 'Z' ride his bike, thereby allowing me to grab another 2m. The bulb on the B&M seems to be burned out, but I have another. I fully intend on moving to the Lumotec Fly sometime early fall.

Actually, I just read PeterWhite's discussion of the LED headlights and he strongly suggests the taillight as well to avoid excess head in the headlight. More to think about, I guess. I sure do like the facility of a dynamo headlight.

Ephemera

2009-06-08T20:56:00.002-04:00

Worked on the Bleriot some. Pics another time. Has anyone seen my velcro strap I use for my frame pump?
I had/am having an Afib this evening. I'm pretty convinced that 2 things tend to trigger them. The first is sleep problems, which I've had of late. I need to change masks for the Cpap machine and that might affect things. The 2nd is excessive eating or fullness. Tonight the episode began at Kashmir. It's not so much that I ate alot, but that I drank lots of fluids this afternoon before the meal and then water with the meal to counteract the spiciness. Looks like I need to focus on "push aways". Frustrating.
I'm really enjoying the Federer coverage- Lots of talk about GOAT, Fed/Tiger and relative records in realtive eras. I don't know the exact numbers, but his streak of trips to at least a semifinal in Majors (20 maybe) is simply ridiculous. 14 Majors, of course, tying Pete. Career Grand-Slam, which betters Pete (and you must include his multiple French finals, something Sampras never sniffed). It's great stuff all round. I also enjoy the pontification as to whether Nadal surpasses him. Based on his performance now, it's a "maybe", but Rafa's knees will give out before that. Once he slips athletically, he's finished, b/c his game is so bruising and physical.
I'm gonna ride tomorrow, but we'll have to see how Mr. Heart goes before deciding on a course of action.
I was studying tennis29.com and looking at the chart of Slam winners and their respective records in each. I'm doubly impressed what Andre managed to accomplish. Yes, it's unfortunate that he didn't win more; he could have, but when all the other players had their Achilles heel, Andre didn't: Borg/US, Lendl/Wimbledon, McEnroe/French, Sampras/French, Connors/French. Andre's career Grand Slam was the first of the modern era and impressive.

Tomorrow is a new day; let's hope you all take advantage of what it offers.

Mas Errands

2009-06-08T08:44:00.002-04:00

I wish I had an epic entry to write about an 80-miler this weekend on mixed-terrain and including 4 passes, but I don't. I did ride, though, albeit for short loops in the city. Saturday took me downtown for a 3+hr coaching conference, a ride which I did on the 9.2.5., and later the same day 'L' and I did another 2.5m toodling through the neighborhood.

Yesterday, on the 9.2.5. again I escorted the boys to church and then on the return home as well. Instead of monstruous riding yesterday, I spent multiple hours deconstructing the boys' playset and with their help taking to the curb. We having something in the 'Ville known as "Big Trash Week"; once or twice a year you can put anything non-chemical at the curb and the city comes and takes it away. So it was time to finally rid our ourselves of the playset, as it was in a pretty sad shape. After tearing it down I did some other yard-related tasks and then grilled some chicken, so no ride (save the 4m total to/from church), OH, 'L' and I went to the pool for the first time of the season as well. That was fun. No complaints, but no epic miles yet.

Commute No.21

2009-06-05T17:34:00.002-04:00

Nothing special. I didn't want to ride (laziness) but did anyway. This p.m. I brought home the laptop, a couple pics of the boys (framed) that need to be switched out and a few other accoutrements. Summer is officially here, as is mileage time. The plan is for T, W and F to be mileage mornings when the good wife is not at work. I should be able to be back, ready for family activities, by 11 or so, and with multiple hours riding under the belt.

Commute No.20

2009-06-04T16:03:00.003-04:00

60F and rainy on the way to work

forecast of 70F with some sun

on the way home, carrying a bright green bucket,

57F and rainy

not "epic", nor enjoyable and not even satisfying,

but accomplished none-the-less