Bender sends news of progress (?) in Aberdeen. It ain't much, but it beats the alternative. And then there's this. Tempting target? Yeah, I admit when I first saw the treadmill bike I was shaking my head, but then I explored the website a bit and gave in after reading the story of their couchbike adventure. A snippet: I should never have let us go that fast to begin with, but we had reached the point of no return. Because of the inconsistent dirt surface, I feared that braking hard could cause us to spinout. As the couch hurdled closer…

Now that the ass bruise from my close encounter of the vehicular kind has subsided into a hazy interpretation of Picasso's Guernica, it's time to move on to other things. Mostly riding bikes and tipping back warm beverages. Yes, it's that time of year when the single-speeders of the greater Minneapolis area migrate out onto a local lake and do stupid things for pride and the entertainment of lookers on. You guessed it - it's time for the Snowball's Chance in Hell Formula Ice Race and Snowy Dash for Cold Hard Cash. This time-honored tradition was started some 9 (or…

Hello droogs. The trails around here are fast. The snowpack makes them almost as fast as hardpacked dirt, with some ruts and ice patches doing the part mud would in summer. I rode a 20 minute loop at Wirth yesterday. My average summer loop time is 17 minutes. Not bad. Not that I keep track of that sort of thing. So I got an email today letting me know that MPLS protorocker Dale T. Nelson is once again having his birthday bash at The Entry. His band, Otto's Chemical Lounge, and a spate of to-be-determined loudbands will be playing there…

My butt hurts. Yesterday, while I was riding in to work I had a little run-in with a little car. Now, there have been many occasions in my riding life where I've witnessed a dumb-ass behind the wheel pulling idiot moves, but yesterday was a new one for me. Suffice it to say that a car passed me too close. I raised up a finger (in mittens I might add.) The driver stopped in the middle of the road. I rode by his window and gave him a small piece of my mind. That bit's happened many times to me.…

"My own love of fixing comes from the fact that I like to cycle, and a quiet, basic machine appeals to me. My good memories of cycling have little to do with equipment and everything to do with experience. Ride your bike to ride your bike. Do it because you want to. If you approach riding with a relaxed, light disposition rather than with an aggressive mindset, you'll really enjoy yourself. If you enjoy yourself, you'll stick with it. Sticking with it is good." So says Matt Chester in a piece he wrote for 63XC.com. I like this quote because…