New Year Ahead

I realize that there have been few readers since I got back from my Transamerica bike trip but I’ll take the rap since I’ve barely written anything since then.  I spent 2019 coaching track for the first time and working the front gate at the Indiana Dunes State Park over the summer.  Then back to my fall cross country gig.  My hope for another bike trip at the end of the cross country season got squashed by two weeks of sickness.  I didn’t realize I was sleep walking through the year until our travel partner for part of the bike trip, Finley, contacted me to see if I wanted to ride part of the Northern Tier route in 2020.  The adrenaline surge was immediate!  It turns out I can’t leave when he is leaving because I’ll be involved in the high school track season until June, but the seed was sown. I’ve decided not to work at the park this summer to free up some time and I’m thinking of following in Finley’s footsteps, so to speak.  The route goes from Indiana to the western North Dakota state line.  Much of the route will be new to me.  I’ve asked Steve about joining me but he hasn’t committed yet.   Actually I haven’t committed yet either.  I’m not big on resolutions but having something out there to work for is exciting.  By the way I bought a Bluetooth keyboard, a tip from Finley, to type out my blog entries just in case I take the next step.  Happy 2020!

Moose Mitts

Well I suppose I'd better post something so my two readers out there don't think this is a zombie blog-living on for eons after I'm off to the Great Beyond. I bought some Moose Mitts to combat what has become chronic cold hands during the winter. The Moose Mitts are also called pogies. The temperatures plummeted this week to near zero and I've wimped out on my commuting. Maybe fortified with my Moose Mitts I can venture out over the weekend when the weather supposed to moderate to the 30's during the day. I've also purchased some Snow Sneakers to keep my feet warm. I'm looking to break my personal record of +9 degrees set last year. Bring on the winter!

Tour de Fance Baby...

No time to really think about a post this morning but thought I'd let you know I haven't forgotten that the Tour is on the horizon, baby! Here's a little mountain action from Mr. Armstrong. He's in the race this year and they climb this mountain just before the ceremonial ride into Paris. Should be something. Enjoy!

It's about the bike...

So I sold a mountain bike frame on eBay. The entire bike cost me $65.00 on Craigslist . I sold the frame for $102.00. Nice, right? This comes on the day I picked up my new touring beauty, a 2009 Jamis Aurora. Then I find this interesting little bike gathering coming to Chicago in July. Somethings going on here and I'm not sure what to make of it. I'm definitely commuting to work tomorrow.

Lance Twitters, Do I?

Just when I think I'm catching up with the techno wave (I finally got a cell phone!) I find some new cool but totally unnecessary gadget. I'm fascinated with Twitter. I know it's only new to me, but I've been following the Tour of California via Lance Armstrong's Twitter feed. This guy continues to amaze me. He's either the most amazing, accessible, and savvy athlete ever, or one heck of a con artist. I don't want to hear anything about blood doping.

Resolutions-Welcome to 2009

The beginning of a new year is a wonderful experience, isn't it? So much summing up of the past year and then looking ahead over the next twelve months.


1. I resolve to post more often to my blog!

• I hope to up my readership from one to two!

2. I resolve to end 2009 in fitter health than I begin it.

• 2008 was a tough year, fitness-wise. I went almost three months without running a step. This is a personal record of sorts for me. Since I've returned to running (in about September) my running mileage has been very low but I'm injury free. I'd like to average at least five days a week running or at least 260 days running this year.
  

3. I resolve to continue to commute to work by bicycle.

• I haven't totaled up my bicycle miles yet but I had already exceeded my 2007 mileage by the end of October (I think, I need to check). I bought my commuter bike for about $300 dollars. I thought I'd paid too much at the time but it has more than paid for itself. By the way I thought about naming it Floyd in honor of Floyd Landis. Needless to say I've changed my mind. I'd like to commute at least once every week throughout the year. This will be tough during the winter as I still haven't figured out a reliable way to stay warm down into the teens. My personal record for cold is eight degrees-it was not fun!

4. I resolve to get my professional license. I won't bore you with details here. This has been a decade long process. I need to get it over, already!

What else?

Wish List (these are not goals or resolutions so much as things I think about): New bike; ride around Lake Michigan with Steve; complete Pike's Peak (ascent)-not likely this year; new job; a variety of home repairs/improvements; hike Appalachian Trail; backpack at Glacier National Park.

That's it for now. I'll be back to post my 2008 bike totals and maybe a picture from today's New Year's Day run at the dunes.


Price of a gallon of gas: $1.59

Tempus Fugit

It's been awhile since I've posted! Summer's almost gone. I spent most of August away from any running due to a recurring injury that reduced me to a walk at the trail marathon I went to at the end of July. I just returning to running now-September. I put together two record (for me) months of bike and commuting.








July bike miles =555
August bike miles=634.9
2008 bike miles =3186.85

Price of a gallon of gas=$4.25

GO CUBS!

Chicago

Arndt and his bike on the road to the Emerald City

Last year Steve and I planned to ride our bikes to Chicago from my house in Chesterton-it's about 100 miles round trip. The morning of the trip there were torrential rains and our trip was washed out. This year we tried again to give this a go and the weather couldn't have been better. Much of the route can be made via a network of bike trails that have sprung up over the last several years. Neither of us had ridden much of the second half of the route before. We were also worried because the bike path route takes us at least five miles out of our way (I know...if we're worried about five miles maybe we shouldn't think about riding 100 miles!) So we decided to take the shortest, albeit more complicated, route to Chicago. There are no bike trail until we get to the south terminus of the Lakefront Bike Trail across the Illinois-Indiana state line on this route. Much of this route is on two US highways-12 and 41. Near the state line, the road is marked with unobtrusive Dan Henrys that were very helpful and led us to the bike path proper which I think starts around the South Shore Country Club. All in all it was quite an adventure. We found the bicycle center at Millennium Park but we never found the Intelligentsia Coffee Store at Millennium Park because it's not actually in the park. It's down Randolph Street from the park! We did drink some wonderful Jamba Juice in the cool shade of the buildings along Michigan Avenue. I think we'll try this again!







May Bike miles=447.2
June Bike miles=420.15
2008 miles=1996.15
Price of a gallon of gas=$4.19

Bike Northwest Indiana on YouTube!!

Bike to Work Week-Day #3

The morning commute is a misty foggy blur. It's a comfortable 58 degrees. I've developed a sort of kinship with the landmarks on my route-especially the animals. There's a guy with his dog on the bike path I see many mornings-big guy, little dog. There are the three horses at the small farm just south of town. There's the Dalmatian who runs up to the edge of the road to bark at me but always stops before actually getting to me. There are two big white guard dogs that used to run along the fence barking at me, especially on my evening ride home. I think I've become so familiar to them that they no longer waste their energy on me. I've seen them looking blankly at me as I'm riding by. There are four turkey vultures who seem to have taken up residence in the abandoned barn that marks my halfway point to work from home. I usually see them at the peak of the barn warming up in the morning. Two more dogs that I used to see up on the roof of a house aren't there any more. I figure the owners finally figured out how they were doing it and put a stop to it. Of course riding to work and home allows me to see and hear all kinds of birds, raccoons, rabbits,squirrels,possums, and occasional coyotes, deer, and foxes. I've had near misses in the dark with a few of them.

Signs of Spring

We moved our clocks an hour forward last night but everyone made it out at the regular time for the run. Steve can't help but slip into his Henning Falkenstein imatation as Joe finds the first skunk cabbage peeking through the ice on the Cowles Bog Trail this morning. The shelf ice still hugs the shoreline as we crest the big hill before the beach. Yesterday there was significant lake-effect snow just west of us. The birds seem to be unusually noisey as we run through the woods. The tug of war between winter and spring is being played out. Spring will win this war eventually of course but how long from now? The college basketball tournament selection takes place a week from now and the season ending games are on television this afternoon as I change my commuter bike tires over from studded snow tires to "summer" tires. All together now "Here comes the sun...do, do, do do......."


February bike miles=163.2

;^)

Updating my bike miles

I continue to do most of my miles commuting back and forth to work. I was gone for a week in November. I already have about as many miles in December as I had in November.

August bike miles=319.2
September bike miles=174.6
October bike miles=308.9
November miles=163.4

Miles for 2007=3340.5
Miles since June 2006=6279.5

Follow up to my earlier post-I've figured out how to attach my DIY headlight!

Where have I been?

Time flies sometimes, doesn't it? Seems like yesterday I was mourning the end of the Tour de France, and now it's a few days from the beginning of Autumn.

I had 319.2 biking miles in August. I was gone for a week at cross country camp so no riding. I'll update my yearly mileage in another post (I may just wait until the end of September now).

I bought a replacement computer on Ebay, a Dell Demension 8200 series computer for $62.00. I think it was a pretty good deal although the cost of upgrading the RAM memory is a little steep because the memory modules must be installed in pairs. I'm hoping to add this computer to the new wireless network I have at home. The primary reason I went with a used desktop is when I went to Best Buy to purchase a cable to attach my printer to my lap top, the cost was $36.00! At that point I figured for a few more bucks a could buy a used computer to connect the printer via the serial cable I already had and network it to the laptop. I'm still waiting for the Dell to arrive in the mail.

I got my yearly late summer, allergy-driven, cold about a week and a half ago. As usual it began with bronchitis-like symptoms. It started after I tried to set a personal best for the bike ride home from work a couple of Thursdays ago because I had a crazy strong tail wind. That night I couldn't sleep because I had this familiar "post nasel drip" (a nice way of saying that crap was clogging my throat!). I tried to ignor my sickness for a couple of days, hoping it would just disappear on it's own, but that didn't work. I eventually took a day to just sleep and read in bed all day. I did get a good ways into the sixth Harry Potter book. I finished it yesterday and am ready for the last book now. I'm almost back to noraml except I'm still coughing more than is normal for me.

We're in the heart of the high school cross country season now. Our team Chesterton High School is ranked in the top 20 in the state so far. Our traditional goal is to qualify to compete in the state meet that is held at the end of October. We're cautiously optimistic about our chances. As I may have mentioned elsewhere, I'm the assistant coach.

That's where I've been!

Off to Camp

I'm off to cross country camp at
Tippecanoe State Park this week. As this is at least the 8th year for me to attend camp, it's become a harbinger of the end of summer and the slide towards winter. Thanks to the Windy City Biker for reminding me of this crazy biker guy! Check out the Ice Ice video for some winter fun!

July Bike Miles

Did an 80 miler this month on July 22nd. My longest ride in awhile. It helped boost my July miles. A also had a Sunday 50 miler this month. Steve says I should just improve on my last month's mileage by a mile or two-kind of like the East German weight lifters used to do-so I can break last month's mark every month. I think I may be tapped out unless I cut back on my run miles. With cross country gearing up I doubt it.

July miles=588
2007 miles=2374.4
Miles since June 2006=5313.4

21 commute days. The running store is now closed on Sunday so I don't have quite as many commute opportunities.

Tour Day France

I know, I know...almost the entire month of July has passed and I haven't blogged a word. I'm not all that good at this blogging stuff anyway, but I've been glued to the Tour Day France as is usual for me in July. It's good stuff...maybe better now that there is no clear favorite. I'm playing the Fly to the Finish Sweepstakes too. I want to win one of those Cervelo bikes the CSC guys are riding. I find the flat stages pretty boring but the mountain stages are awesome. The new guy on the Discovery team is really shaking things up. Now if only someone in the United States with deep pockets and the love of the sport will pick up the sponsorship so we have at least one United States team in the race (Discovery's sponsorship will end at the end of this season). I did hear mention that there may be another US team next year too.

Bike to Work

It's National Bike Month so I figure I ought to mention something about it before May runs out. I see in the paper today that Valparaiso is planning a modest Bike to Work observance tomorrow. I may actually be cruising past the start of the bike to work ride when they shove off-I go by Foundation Meadows on my usual route to work. While my weekly bike totals are modest compared to hard-core bike commuters, in this part of the world bike commuting is a solitary activity (sometimes I think that there is at least one pick up truck for every person living in Porter County!). I think I've got a shot at winning the free bike they're offering for the most National Bike Week mileage!

Signs of Spring-Michigan Trail Marathon

Checking in at Zou Zou's in Chelsea, Michigan.

April Biking

14 days commuting
Longest ride-55 miles on 4/22
Estimated April miles-380.0
Miles for 2007=425+380=805
Total miles (since June 2006)=2455

My commute days increased as I thought they might. My bike needs a good cleaning. I hear a bothersome crackling noise as I ride that I believe is my bottom bracket telling me it's time for some attention. I'm back to dreaming of converting the Trek 950 mountain bike to a touring bike. I've been considering the virtues of drop bars verses trekking bars to the replace the straight bars on the bike now. Steve and I talked a bit about a trip around Lake Michigan like these guys took. This is a discussion that's been ongoing for several years.

Iron Horse Heritage Trail

It looks like the City of Portage will start constructing a second multi-use trail across the city. See where it will go here. Now the town of Porter needs to get it together to build their small section of trail (labeled the Porter Brickyard Trail on the map)! Apparently homeowners near where the trail is planned to go can't see the value of having the trail near their property. IMHO some people just don't get it...hey, build it near my house...please!