Mogrel 'cross!

Ben showed me his.

Now here's mine. Not quite as, uh, good looking as his, but a mongrel no less. Its an ooooolllld Trek 420 or something that I had canti studs brazed on to. Peiced together from parts in the garage, and its stayed mostly the same for a long time. XC Pro/Araya wheelset courtesy of my man Dale. Ritchey Logic cranks, 177.5 mm long. Ti railed Salsa seat. Bontrager Satelite bars, upside down. Has lived life happily as a commuter for a number of years, but has has seen the race course in the past.

From The Prairie Peddler

There ya go Ben.

listening to: Uncle Tupelo; 89/93 An Anthology

Whew. That storm is over. NEXT!

The BRAVE ride held last Saturday went well. Really well. The [perfect] day had 76 riders show up for our inaugural ride. They came from Chicago, Colorado, Arizona, Iowa and of course Wisconsin (mostly Madison area). I only changed one flat all day, and only gave one lost rider a ride back to the start. Speaking of lost riders...there were too many.

Something I didn't anticipate was the number of people that would rely on cue sheets for directions. I was (I thought) pretty meticulous about marking the course on the ground, and that's what folks would use to navigate with. Not so. So along that line of thinking, DON'T use mapmyride for cue sheets! Directions were wrong, and road names were wrong. The maps produced are fine, but only for examples sake.

From BRAVE

The views. And a little bit of gravel. Won't be any of that next year.

From BRAVE

More views. Something we're not short on 'round here.

From BRAVE

The day dawned foggy. The drive to the start was stunning. Fog in the valley's, clear on the ridge tops. It was hard to not stop and fill the card up on the way there!

From BRAVE

Yep we have corn. Just not as much as IA.

From BRAVE

Near the top of probably the hardest climb on the route. nearly 600' in a bit over a mile or so. And this guy giggled as he rode by. Nice!

And up next we have something I'm really excited about. The Prairie Peddler and Viroqua Cross are getting together and putting on a Cyclocross Race. I've mentioned it before, but things are starting to come together for it! Went out and previewed the course on Monday. I saw that parking will be at a premium, as there was a JV Cross Country event happening as I rolled up on the Kelly.



I think I may have scared a few people. Not that I want to or anything like that! I milled about, waiting for the course to be clear, then proceeded to ride a few loops. I rode a couple different directions, trying to come up with something that'll be fast, but fun and challenging. I think I've got it. Check the image provided by my handy GPS unit.

News and Happenings.

Lots happeing here in the next few weeks!

Next weekend we are having the first organized ride in Crawford County. The BRAVE ride will have four route options(from 20 to 80 miles), a locally sourced post ride meal(yay for local farmers!), and DAY CARE. I've not heard of rides offering daycare before. Clicky the linky to find out more. 

On October 12, I will be hosting an event from Viroqua Cross. It will be a double points race for those competing in that series. One big thing that could draw more riders here, is the there are no other WCA cross races that weekend. I do hope to see some Madtown and Mwke locals making the trek on over to check it out. 

Chequamegon is happening this weekend. Weather is gather up there that looks to be making this years event an epic one. Theres nothing like a good bit of rain to make it hard! Will Mr. creepyfriendly repeat? Or will Jonathon Page represent the cross bikes? I'm not there this year, but the mid-packers better look out next year. I found a way in!

On a personal, business related note, the SBA awarded me with a Small Business Sucess award for this past quarter! I'm honored to accept it, but I can't take all the credit. Everyone who reads this blog has helped. Everyone who has come into the store has helped, whether you bought something or not. And everyone who has helped behind the scenes (Lisa, Ryan, Seth, Kathleen/Dale, Nicole) deserves it more than I do.  Awesome!

Lastly, I have to give props to a local rider. Don is a triathelete. Normally, I kind of make light hearted fun of them. Mainly for thier complete geekery. Behind that kind ribbing though, is a hearty respect for what they do with thier bodies. Impressive stuff. Anyways, last weekend Don went to Madison to participate in the IronMan WI, an event notorious for volatile weather. Two years ago or so it was maybe 50 degrees. And wet. The year before it was 95. This year it was about as perfect as you can get. locals know this. Low to mid 70's and little wind. Don took high advantage of this and proceeded to kick some ass. Top 300 finish over all, at a time of 11:55! Not bad. For a 30 something year old. But Don is 56. Needless to say, Don was feeling GOOD. A hearty congratulations to him!

Listening to: The Current from MPR. And MORE construction. I can't wait till the street is done!

Gone Gnoming Saturday.

So this Saturday, I won't be here. I'll be off riding at Levis/Trow Mound, getting nice pictures, drinking probably too much beer, and having a good time with Sidra(who's coming along with Dad!) We're both very excited.

So I posted a note on the door, if you locals are reading this, please don't be alarmed! I'll be back on Teusday, eh?

On another note, the silly season has begun. Silly season you ask? Yeah. This is the time of year when the bike companies release all the new models. Eurobike is happening this weekend in Germany. While it doesn't really hold much for us here in the US, we sure do get to peak at what may be coming down the line for us. Interbike is the US version, and this will be held at the end of the month here. I'm not going this year, and maybe not the next. We'll see.

With all the new bikes being released, my wallet has been screaming for mercy. Now, I haven't bought anything yet, but there are a few bikes out there already that are mighty tempting to throw some cash at! Salsa just released the Fargo, a bike that promises to provide HUGE adventure. Not that I really have the time nor inclination to take on a week[s]+ long tour. Sure looks fun though. Well, and LOOKS good too. Looks like a mountain bike to me. Simple, and rigid.

This promises to be the first of many. Many bikes that tempt me with thier stunning looks, and promises of adventure, with story's to be told.

We'll see. I'll be sure to post up my favorites here. What I think are bike that are really worth the time and effort to save for.

May YOUR wallet stay safe too dear readers!

listening to: Nothing. fans whirring. Clocks ticking. Cars passing.