Busted

I received a voice mail yesterday afternoon that I think we all fear.  The message was from the Roseville Police Department informing me that our home had been burglarized. I got home to an awful discovery at the house and to a sad realization.

Sure enough, a team to two thugs had gone through the house top to bottom accumulating our valuables.  The worst of my curiosity and concern was realized when I found that the collection of rare and eclectic vintage bicycle components that I have squirreled away was left undisturbed.

I can mock myself since I am the victim here.  But this violation of our home may very well go down in the books as a further argument against my attempt to claim that the tidy sum of family funds that I have spent on bike parts is an investment.   Yes, indeed… the bicycle collection was left undisturbed.

Instead, a team of two miscreants had gone top to bottom through the house to collect virtually all of the household electronics, computer, PS3, WII, and television.  They’d smashed my daughter’s piggy bank, taken her recent birthday proceeds, and all of the other household change.   Obviously not your health conscious criminals, they left behind the virtually brand new WII “Fit” and my bike stuff, but did go for the lest practical items such as my wife’s jewelry.

I’m hopeful that the experience does not serve as ammunition against my arguments and rationalizing bike purchases with the claim that items are valuable and worth the investment.  Instead, I am certain to be reminded by my better half that it was her jewelry and the less practical household electronics would be more commercially valuable than my bicycle obsession.

Sometime yesterday morning the Roseville police department received a call from a  concerned citizen that two suspicious individuals had parked a car in their neighborhood and set off on foot.  Police were dispatched and an unmarked officer waited until the individuals returned.  Sometime around noon the suspects returned to the car and drove off.  They were followed by the Roseville PD to our house were they backed into our driveway.  Police waited for a few minutes until several squad cars descended upon the house to catch the guys in the act of loading our goods in their car.

I’m uncertain how things will proceed from here or when we might get the possessions back that had already been loaded into the car.  They’re evidence now.  We did get our household electronics back.  The cretins had “disconnected” the Sony Playstation 3 and WII by brute-force.  Pulling cords and forcefully pulling the built-in entertainment center from the wall.  I’d love to send the bill to these thugs for the 3 ½ hours of time and the cost of new audio visual cabling costs that it took to re-assemble everything last night. 

I’d also like to send a bill for the personal suffering and disappointment that I experienced because I caught a ride home from my wife in the car.  Last night’s trip home in the car was the first time that I haven’t ridden a bike home from work in over 14 months.  I guess I can say that I still haven’t ridden to work in that long?!!

New Belgium Urban Assault Ride

It has been a long time since I have participated in any type of competitive event.  Of course, as soon as that thought leaves my finger tips I think of having participated in the TransIowa ride.  I think of that as more of a “survival” event than a competition.

This weekend was the Urban Assault Ride sponsored by New Belgium Brewing.  This is an unusual event where participants in teams of two set off to navigate to a variety of disclosed “checkpoints” without any prescribed order or route.  At each of the various checkpoints, team members were required to perform some type of activity before earning a bead to indicate that the team of riders had reached the check point.  Failing to obtain a bead (or losing one) would result in a 10 hour penalty for each missing stop.  So, there was no short-cutting the course or picking off only key destinations.

In addition to the 5 disclosed locations, there was an initial clue to the first of three mystery checkpoints.  Reach the first and get a clue to the second.  Find the second, get a clue for the third.

Preparations for race-day began on Saturday afternoon with a ride to pick up our race packet at Old Chicago in uptown.  We arrived around 1, picked up our packets, and then stuck around for a few beers at the bar while discussing “strategy.”  We didn’t get anywhere on our true route planning, but managed to finish a Guinness, a Surly, and a Fat Tire before leaving. We did determine that Sunday’s “race” was going to require some specialized equipment and early morning preparations. We weren’t but a couple of miles into our route back home before we decided another pitcher of beer was required at the Longfellow Grill.

During our pre-race planning session, Scott and I had decided that performance was going to be key to our participation.  We made a stop at Big Top Liquors on the way back to his house to pick up some supplies for our morning adventure.  A bottle of top shelf Vodka and some Bloody Mary mix.  Scott made a trip to the grocery store on Saturday night while I worked secretly in the garage for bit on preparing the race machine. I mounted a basket on the front, low and level to make sure that it could be easily reached.  I also mounted a cup holder within easy reach so that I could keep the beast on the road.

The secret weapon:  a 1960’s era Schwinn Twin tandem.  Single speed, fenders, basket, coaster brake, single front brake, brown, squeaky and heavy!   Perfect!

 I  was up early on Sunday morning for final packing.   Put the cooler in the basket, stretched the bungee over the lid to both hold the cooler in place and keep the lid closed. The ride over gave me a bit of a chance for a good shake down run.  I arrived at Scott’s house almost right at 7am.  I was glad that overnight, our desire to bring massive quantities of alcohol with on the ride were tempered.  We tried to mount the Burley Cargo trailer on the back of the tandem, we would have been unable to negotiate any right turns without the trailer interfering with the fender.  Even though our “plan” was to travel in a counter-clockwise route through the checkpoints, we decided that the ability to turn both directions was important. We premixed some goodies for the road, poured ourselves a traveler, and set off on our way around 8am.

 

We arrived at the start/finish around 8:30 and waited to be released for the start in the second wave of riders slightly after 9am.  The mood festive and very entertaining.

We set off to the first mystery check point: Lake Harriet to learn the clue to One On One Bicycle Studio for the second. 

We back-tracked north to Chipolte the first of our other check points.  Being the first choice of many people, we waited in line for the obstacle.  The bicycle limbo.  Team members took turns riding their bikes under a pole at three different heights.  Since we were on a tandem, we were obviously set for efficiency.  Though we managed to nearly take out a volunteer on our first pass, we easily cleared the lowest setting, earned our bead, and were on our way.  Deciding that since our second point was north that we would instead travel the “course” clockwise.

We headed north toward One on One to learn that the third mystery point was none other than 1^st Avenue in downtown… Only a few blocks away.  A quick trip down Hennepin to Washington, to Cedar to Freewheel Bike Shop for our second physical challenge.  We had to don a pair of wet oven mitts and gather enough flattened bottle caps from the parking lot to fill a small bowl… While volunteers squirted us with large “super-soaker” type squirt guns.  We quickly accomplished this goal, earned our bead and set off to our next stop.

Peach Coffee parking  set  up with a course to be completed on large big wheels.  Short cranks, slippery back tires made for a very entertaining but brief stop.  I did a quick mental calculation and time check to realize that finishing the whole event within the 3 hour time limit was going to be somewhat of a challenge.

We refilled our cups for the final time and set off for the long haul south to REI for our next activity and to collect another bead.  I climbed aboard a 20” wheeled kids bike complete with stocked basket of rolled up newspapers.  Objective, ride and throw newspapers to Scott who was to catch them in his cardboard box.  I don’t know if it was wind, weather related, or skill but it took me several  throws before I could get 3 newspapers into the box to earn our bead.

We rode the southern frontage road of 494 on our way West to Penn for a run at our final stop.  We passed by one of the clocks for I believe a car dealer to see that it read 11:30.  Even though we had been really make the wheels on the ol’ Schwinn turn at a furious pace, we picked up the pace to make sure to roll into the final checkpoint.

Penn Cycle had what was probably the easiest least entertaining, least challenging of events.  One partner to ride a minibike from one side of the parking lot to the other where the other partner could ride it back.  It was a quick stop before we were back on the tandem on our route back to the start/finish line.

I don’t know what our official finish time was, somewhere right after noon.  After spending a couple of hours at the post-event celebration, we were back on our way back home. We covered ground vert quickly with what felt like a small number of people passing us.  Our route was certainly not the most efficient, but with the exception of waiting at the first checkpoint, moved quickly through the challenges.  It was a truly very entertaining adventure.  The ol’ Schwinn Twin was the perfect machine to take, though I have to admit logging nearly 60 miles on it made me a little tired.  Scott (I think I can speak for him) and I had a great time.  I would definitely suggest participating if it comes around again!

I wish I had more photos to share.  My hands were full either captaining the tandem or with my drink :) Here's the route:

Movie Streets

Awake unusually early with the excitement and anticipation of getting to ride in the rain.  Out the door at 5:20am the light rain quickly faded.  I stopped for a moment to shed my rain jacket and switch from a t-shirt into a wool long sleeve top. The rest of the ride to work was dark and uneventful and  I was treated to a ride on what I like to call Movie Streets.

Movie Streets:  Ever notice that streets in movies after dark always seem to be inexplicably wet when it’s not raining?  Well, occasionally I get the treat of riding in that same condition.  Dark with wet streets, no rain.  Some of the thrill of getting to ride in the rain, without getting wet.  Moment of gratefulness for fenders and a front fender flap.  

Conflicting Thoughts...?

Captain Obvious here with this startling observation; “Fall is imminent.” 

With its impending arrival, I understand firsthand what the fauna and flora must experience.  There has definitely been a different feel to the commutes lately. If I were one of those crazed squirrels, I too would be frantically gathering nuts.  Instead though, I find myself mentally going through my checklist of seasonal clothing.

There are parts of me that are thrilled with the prospects of donning layers of cozy wool and taking on the cooler temperatures.  When these moments of excitement hit, I’m anxious to get out and ride.  This enthusiasm has carried through each morning for the last several weeks.  Amazingly, I’ve been getting up on time with the anticipation of getting out the door into the darkness of pre-dawn rides.  I love riding in the dark; the kid with a new flashlight syndrome. Furthermore, I actually find myself fantasizing and looking forward to the days of getting to ride through snow. 

More rational thoughts strike me now and then too.  Most frequently in that moment either right before heading out the door or just after having rolled down the driveway.  Morning temperatures have been chilly.  One of the secrets of surviving “comfortably” has been learning what clothing works for what temperature.

The most difficult lesson in understanding just what qualifies for “comfort” is that in order to be really comfortable, one must start off uncomfortably cold.   There’s no starting the car to warm up before getting in and heading off on the way.  It takes the first mile or so for the body to come up to temperature. 

This is the moment of being conflicted.  Excitement about getting to ride, but knowing it is going to be cold and temporarily unpleasant.

Last year’s careful record keeping of temperature, clothing choice, and comfort level has paid off. (See the link in the left column for the Clothing Matrix)  The days of experimenting with different options has provided the valuable knowledge of what I will be comfortable in for clothing.  This is great information to know, without it, I could easily see getting frustrated and not riding.

The versatility of wool is wonderful in its flexibility.  One thin layer can serve both as a base layer in the morning under another layer of wool or be equally comfortable in the afternoon on its own.  The variability of temperatures from day to day, morning to afternoon means packing an extra layer of clothes in a pannier.

 Once under way and over the initial period of discomfort, the riding has been fantastic.  Mornings have meant; thrills of riding in darkness, occasional fog-filled low areas, and spectacular sunrises.  There are few greater moments than enjoying a sip of hot coffee from my handlebar mounted travel cup when the air is cool.   Afternoon rides have ranged from sunny and wonderful to cooler and cloudy.  When the sky is clear; it’s bluer than blue.  Each ride continues to prove to be enjoyable in some aspect and I will continue to focus on those points.

School is back in session

To a fault, I tend to pay quite a bit to my surroundings in an effort to re-evaluate my opinions. There’s most definitely a change to the feel of the morning commute.  The hours of sunlight have most certainly diminished; to the point of using lights almost all the way to work.

The route is familiar and riding with a headlight certainly limits the number of things to look at and occupy the mind. I try to mix up the route by taking different streets seemingly at random, often without much thought. I just find myself turning. No matter the street or direction, most everything feels familiar and certainly not mentally taxing to ride. Generally the end result seems to be more thought about life and events than about surroundings.

There have been a few things that feel different lately about the character of the ride and surroundings. Here are a few key observations pertaining to the fact that school is back in session:

Campus Life:

Students are back moving into campus around the neighborhoods surrounding the University of Minnesota Minneapolis Campus.  The amount of trash that is generated is quite surprising.  I counted 6 full-size couches sitting by the curb evidently waiting for someone to pick them up for trash?  There is quite a bit of other general household furnishings and several mattresses. 

Students rank above north Minneapolis for the amount of trash left to blow around in the streets.  If I could suggest a few things of these students: 

• Learn to pick up your crap.  I have high hopes that some of you will grow to care about the community that you live in and care about both the environmental impact of your actions, but also the aesthetic result that your actions have.
  
• Drink all you want, but please don't throw your empty (or partially full) bottles into the street.  Perhaps you haven't taken enough science or physics credits to learn that the ground is harder than the bottle.  F=ma.  When dropped, the glass tends to break and make a mess.
  

Busses:

I feel like I once had the opinion that bus drivers had the character of Santa Claus or Papa Smurf.  Older, wise, and patient.  Understanding and careful.  With the return of school, there are more busses on the road headed off to pick little Dick and Jane up for a trip to/from school.  I'm reminded just how wrong I once was about bus drivers.  Commuter advice; steer clear of any school bus.  Drivers seem impatient and reckless around cyclists.

People:

Haven't identified exactly what or how, but the number of people I see in the morning seems to have changed.  More walkers, more joggers, and I have missed a few of the regulars.  This may be simply coincidence and may take more time.  I've seen new people out the last couple of days, but have missed the "regulars."

Great way to wrap up August

On Friday I concluded the day with an extra-long commute to Lebanon Hills in Eagan. My brother had picked up my mountain bike and met me there where we rode a couple of laps of singletrack. I decided that my favorite type of off-road riding is now on the fixed gear. I used my old Trek OCLV mountain bike set up with only a front cantilever on a rigid fork.  It was a blast.

Saturday Anika and I celebrated our 12th anniversary a day early...  My wife and I enjoyed the day hanging out.  We swam, and generally relaxed before getting cleaned up and read for a date.  We took the old Schwinn Twin tandem on a ride out to dinner at Muffuletta in Saint Paul.  We rode over, shared a bottle of wine, had a lovely dinner, and rode home in the dark.

Sunday, I was out the door at 5:45.  Rode out to my brother's house to meet him just after 7:15.  We rode together through Stillwater into Wisconsin.  Tried a couple of great new roads that I had not ridden before.  Very windy out of the South.  

All tolled, I wrapped up August with 6,860 miles so far this year.