It's all About the Bike

Last night we watched the Robin William's move RV.

In this movie, Robin Williams rents an RV and takes his family across the country. Its one of those hokey family movies with bratty kids who get it in the end and they all become the loving family they forgot how to be.

The family mounts their bicycles to the back of the RV. During the 1/2 half of the movie, my son is just fixated on the last bike on the rack. The bike finally got a part in the movie; took a mountain bike ride before biting the pavement and bashing into pieces. My son talked non-stop about the
bike the rest of the night. It is a pretty cool bike, specially made for this movie.

Out of all the stuff in the movie, he focuses on the bike. I am PROUD, I have taught him well.

The View From The River

We went snowmachining down to the river behind my home.

It was a beautiful day. We had a fire and roasted hotdogs and spicy buffalo sausages.

Morning Fuel

I like my white chocolate mocha every morning. I can give up beer/booze and food easier than my mocha. I'm an addict and I like it.

Being an addict sometimes causes me to take what I can get, when I can get it.

I recently ran out of coffee beans. I was at X-mart and took a stroll down the coffee/soda isle. Feeling weak and fuzzy from withdrawal, I grabbed a big bag of cheap coffee beans. I swear I felt a tiny surge just knowing I had "the beans" in my cart. I immediately went to the cashier, paid for my stash and went directly home.

Leaving everything else I had just purchased in the bags and in my truck, I grabbed the beans and went into the kitchen. Edgy with anticipation, I ground the beans. The sound sent comforting waves through my brain. I brewed the coffee, steamed the milk to a luscious froth. It was ready, I drank. It did the job. I continued using the cheap beans from X-mart. I got used to them, they became normal, even good.

Then Bike Guy gave me a bag of this coffee for Christmas. The first thing I noticed, even before opening the bag, was the aroma. Ohhh it was goood. And next the color of the beans, deep, dark and oily. I ground and brewed and drank.

Clarity came within seconds. I had sunk very low....I had been drinking anorexic coffee.....pale, dry, small beans, no aroma, not much flavor.

I have pulled myself out of the spent, soggy coffee-ground strewn gutter and am now back to coffee that is worthy of my addiction.

Another reason to ride Bikes

Kona Zing

Ok, I did it. Again. No, this has nothing to do with Brittany Spears gyrating her bellybutton and there is no "oops". Like someone could "accidentially" buy a bike.

My K2 road bike will keep the riser bars, lights, racks, trunk, combo clip/platform pedals and will be my summer commuter bike.

My Zing will be my leasure, long distance road bike. Bike Guy, once again, gave me a great deal.

Capt'n Balance doesn't know it's a done deal yet, I have been telling him "indirectly". Sometimes it's easier to ask for forgiveness that it is to ask for permission. I don't anticipate any issues, he will most likely roll his eyes, ask if I will actually use it (well, YEAH) and go back to his projects.

Thank you George, for passing your wisdom on to me...

"Bikes are like golf clubs, you need a different one for different situations.

It's not like they cost as much as a new car or anything....you only live once:-)"

That just about says it all. I think that will help Capt'n Balance understand.

I looked at a Kona Lisa, the women's specific Zing, but it turns out I am taller than the average

American female...HUH?? I'm 5'6". I never thought I was on the tall side. So the Lisa didn't fit right.

Bike Guy also offered my a deal on a all carbon Felt, but it was, in reality, too much bike for me. I'm not a racer and I am concerned about my shoulder, which has much less pain but still isn't a strong or move quite like it used to.

While I'm admitting secrets, I confess I like the Geico Caveman commercials.

Sean Spence

Is a man with a mission. He is going to ride his bike from Missouri to Manhattan to raise funds and awareness of Multiple Sclerosis. Anyone who has been reading my blog for awhile knows I have been fighting this monster for years and a few times I didn't think I would survive it.

So check out his blog Missouri to Manhattan.

33 Degrees ABOVE 0!

Over a 60 degree difference in just a few days...That's life in Alaska.

Here is a pictured of the mom and baby moose visitors we had the other day.

We were also able to see the McNaught Comet a few days ago. I got a few pictures but they didn't turn out very well.

I was coming up the stairs at my home after I got home from work and looked out the window and there it was...the comet. We had no idea there would be a comet visible, hadn't heard a thing about it, so we are looking out the window, speculating about what it was, way tooo huge to be a jet or plane and it looked like a comet. I friend came over a little later and we told him about it, he comfirmed it was a comet. Check it out at www.space.com. It's a cool site if you're a space cadet. The skys have been cloudy since so we haven't seen it again but it is partially clear today so maybe we will get a glimps of it again tonight.

Supposed to go snowmachining again today, but things don't seem to be working out as planned. The days are starting to get longer here, it's no longer pitch black when I get out of work, there is a little bit of a "glow" in the sky.

I have been debating if I want to get another road bike. I converted my road bike into a commuter with riser bars and that has been the main use for it, going back and forth to work. It's a pain to remove the lights and racks so I can just take it out and go on a long leasure ride. Also after 40 miles, my hands are begging for alternate positions. I have looked into bar ends but I don't like my hands so widely spread to the ends of the bar and I don't have enough room on the bars to put them on the inside of the grips.

Ok, so overall it may be a lame excuse or maybe not, but the pain is real. I could have drop bars put back onto my bike but that will also require a new fork as this one was cut down. I would replace the fork with a carbon one, overall it would cost about $400 to covert it. For a few hundred more, I could have another bike. Or I could buy a new couch. Couch (potato) or Bike.....couch....bike...couc.....bike....cou...Bike......c....BIKE.

I still haven't decided. It will have to be a good fit, Bike Guy has a Felt picked out that he thinks I would be extremely happy with. Of course it has only 2 chainrings....scary, it's like committing to be tougher than I may actually be. I just don't want MORE bike than I am worthy of. And I haven't actually committed to another bike....right??

-31 degrees F. This Morning

Yeah, you are reading that correctly. 31 below 0 F.

My truck heater never let out a single breath of warm air on my drive to work.

We had frozen water pipes. Not good.

Got them thawed out but had a cold shower.

2 moose were in our yard yesterday eating the birch tree. I will post some pictures later.

The ice has been bad, roads are very slick. So far, 3 vehile accidents within 1 mile of my office. 2 in one day, on my way home, 1 on each side of the road.

Today a REALLY bad one, in the same spot as yesterdays. A truck lost control, had a head-on with another truck. Scary. The trucks were ripped apart and crumpled.

Be careful out there, everyone!

Ban Hummers

This is not a political blog, but here is my $.02 on this particular topic.

Bicycles out sell cars in Australia. Will America ever figure it out or will the HUMMER remain the King of Excess Waste?

While I'm not anti-vehicle/gas/oil - survival in Alaska would be very difficult without it (think 3rd world survival mode), I am for using resources responsibly. I am anti-HUMMER and I'm not the only one.

BTW, temperatures are something like 20 degrees BELOW 0. Too cold to ride. My face is chapped/peeling a little from windburn/cold weather, even with a balaclava. Time to let it heal. I don't want to look like THIS - call me vain, I can handle it.

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Traded Tires for Tracks

We decided to go for a snowmachine (snowmobile) ride on New Years day. I haven't been on my machine in 2 years due to lack of snow. We have made up for the lack of snow. So much snow that my office was closed down at 3pm today due to poor weather conditions.

We went down to the huge riverbed behind our home. We tried getting to a place were we go to camp sometimes, but a tributary blocked our path. It was too deep to cross.

My snowmachine does not have reverse, so the guys had to muscle it around.

There is soo much power that it was difficult to see, also the light was so flat it was hard to see any detail or bumps. We just had to be careful and not blast around crazily. Also, it's difficult to determine the edge of the Matanuska River, which is huge. If you go in, you are gone for good. So we were sticking close to areas we knew were well away from the main river.

I LOVE THE SNOW!