You’ll dig a trench thru 3 feet of snow on your deck to cook a brat. For you non-’Sconsiners, first off I pity you, and secondly,  brat = ‘Sconsin’s own king of da brat, Johnsonville … cooked slow on open fire, never boiled (’cept in da beer to flavor it a tich). Of course, I smothered my brat in onions and sauerkraut. Me and the wife are havin a “dutch oven” contest later.   

Yeah, I know the previous post and this one are separated by only a matter of minutes but I felt they needed to be in different posts.

 Today marks what has become (over only 3 years for me) the point at which I move forward and look toward spring and getting back on the bikes again. Riding in the winter has its own charm … if you like raspberries on your cheeks and the feel of stranger hand due to numb cold fingers. Seriously, winter riding is OK but much more fun for me to read about (thanks Geo!) I like winter riding, when it is above 20 degrees and no wind. So I’m picky.

What I do like is ALLLLL the people that are in the bike circle we all share and going to the swap meet brings em all out.
We see young, old, big-boned, skinny, peg pants, messenger bags, suits and ties, dress shoes and sandals, new stuff, old stuph, priceless gems, priceless junk, giant salty pretzels and gooey fake cheese, picked over bins, good deals, hagglers, firm pricers, story tellers, tattoos, piercings, stale popcorn, Pabst in cozies, local Brewhouses’ fares, old bikes, new bikes, cobbled together bikes, perfectly matched bikes, lotsa ooohs, many more aaaahs, and about a dozen missed opportunities cuz “I” waited just a hair before make the deal, crazy hair, big stories and tall tales, guys with caliper looking for the “Exact” size part, buying more than selling, but most importantly …. and my favorite part ….

I got to see and talk to many of the people I like to see and talk to. I know that more of this to come is right around the corner. We are scattered all over the state. A simple event like this brings us together again and starts the cycle again. Each of us picks our own beginning point.
This, is mine.

That’s it, what can I say? I got busy with life, bikes, work, family. I guess the site and blog were the easiest parts to set aside.

I picked up my skirts and raced at 24/9. I am now tired, here’s how it went …

	Got all my poop in a group - lights, shoes, beer, clothes, tools, beer, bike stand, clothes, beer, toiletries, bucket o’crap.  I’m all set.
Then we got us a bunch of hot babes to come support us and pretend they liked us. Couldn’t do this race without ‘em. They helped keep us fed, woke us on time, tucked us in and generally cheered like they meant it! OK, so I didn’t get pictures of all the ladies/S.O.s but they were without a doubt, the best damn support crew any team(s) could want! Thanks!
What can I say? Dano was here. He cheered. Drank our beer. Ate our food. What a sweet job! Happy trails!	Elwood Blues - “You see, we’re on a mission from God.” So is Dano …
	Erich (fore) and Neil (running like the wind) High Five at the start of 24 hours of insanity, suffering and indisputable fun.
Zack G puts on a little show in the start chute … 10 style points plus bonus for riding wheelie entire length of the chute.
	C’mon! I want my chair back! I thought they named him “Dozer” cuz he’s so big. Where does a 200 pound dog sleep? Wherever the hell he wants.
	I am waiting to go out at 2:30 in the morning … Rick W is telling me, “Yes, you really  have to go out in the dark.” I enjoy riding at night and got to pull two legs of the race with the lights on and the stars out. Thanks to Dan S and Rick W, I got to finish what I started as I nearly taco’d a front wheel on the Ho Chi Minh at about 3 am … Limped it and the loaner wheel got me thru my next lap. Thanks guys!!!
	Beer is now officially a recovery drink. I had just come in from my last lap (0950 am) and was rooting thru the cooler going, “hmmm, Gatorade? nah. Water? nah. Milk? nah. Beer? hmmmm. Beer? hmmmm.” I chose the beer. I am glad I did. There is a reason I have always done 12 hour solo or duo in the past. I can race for 12 hours, then make an effort to party for 12 hours. That sounds like a damn sight more fun. This was my first 24 hour 4 person race … probably not my last. Beer. It isn’t just for breakfast anymore.
Red Bud Road - Tim Pinnow puts on all the music, brings beer and attitude. This race wouldn’t be the same without him and his enthusiastic support. Only shot I got this year, was from my wife when she met me there to cheer me on at about 4 in the morning.
	Kudos to Erich and Neil for winning the Men’s 24 hour duo!  You guys rocked!
Thanks to Jeff, Brett, and Mark for being great partners and to the ladies (I do use that term loosely) for all the cheering and support. Dano gets included with the ladies this year.

Also Our team (Beer Gutz and Chafed Nutz) did pretty well for a last-minute-throw-together and finished 5th. Not bad for a buncha old guys. Overall it was a great weekend with near perfect weather, good neighbors and lotsa friends hanging out or racing and saying Hey!

peace

Programming today, is a race between software engineers striving to build bigger and better ‘idiot-proof’ programs, and the Universe, trying to produce bigger and better idiots….So far, the Universe seems to be winning.

    I went for a nice little ride this morning before work that was … well, mostly uneventful. I say mostly because I was about 3/4 of the way back to the station, when I was approached by another early morning rider giving me a heads-up warning of a dog being a nuisance in the road just beyond the crest of the hill I was riding over. I think to myself, ”How bad could this be? This is River Hills. People keep their dogs behaved and proper.”
     I came over the hill, and there he sits. Waiting. For lunch …. errr …. me. He decides to run at me all teeth and growl, and I react. I stick my foot out and catch the dog square on the side of his head. He starts yiping and spins a couple donuts in the road and basically decides his head hurts enough to ignore me. I stopped a few yards away partly because it scared the crap out of me and partly because I nearly went down. Now, his owner comes out. He is PISSED. Somehow it is my fault that his dog chased me into the road and chased after me growling and baring teeth. I guess bike riders in spandex and fancy pants shoes have no right to defend themselves. We have a *aherm* moderately heated discussion at this point and we agree to disagree. I told him how to reach me if he really felt the need of continuing this line of thought. Actually, the telling takes longer than the actual event. It was mostly just a lash of epithets and a threat to sue (from him) followed by a response intended to let him know how to go have sex with himself. I hope he calls, I gave him my number.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I feel bad for the dog, cuz he was only doing what dogs do.
Poop, Eat, Poop, Chase stuff, Poop, Eat some more, Sleep.
All in a day’s work.
I have no respect for this a$$clown cuz he doesn’t get it.
If this had happened in Milwaukee (and it has), the owner woulda come out, yelled at the dog and said, “Hey! Duck next time, dummy!”
Now that, I can respect.

Simple post today. Iola is in the books.

Shane and Maja both raced, Shane getting a 3rd and his Maja getting a 4th place finish. I finished well and felt good. A little tightness in the shoulder, but otherwise good. Gonna pre-ride Geneva to see how I take a more technical course. My other arm hurts worse now .. I think due to my left having to do the bulk of the things the right can’t or couldn’t. Oh well, someday. Jeff S did well as did John K. Randy A made an appearance, while not his best, he has been off the bike for a quite a while. He wasn’t DFL so that is a good thing for him  

Now I am off to do the lawn work and other crap that goes with spring. Will try to catch a ride later.

Finally got it all put together and will take it out for maiden voyage tomorrow. Gotta get the kinx out cuz it is gonna race on Sunday at Iola. Wooooot!
Salsa Dos Niner frame
Reba Race with poploc
Disc-0-flea wheelset (thanks Russell)
Hayes Trail Carbon brakes (Thanks Lenny and the Hayes group!)
Answer Pro Taper OS bars (Hayes strikes again!)
Easton EA70 Stem
Salsa Shaft seatpost
Xt cranks, Shifters
Xtr Derrailleurs
Aztec Powerlines shift cable set
Salsa Pepperjack Grips
WTB SLT saddle (test ride, but hey! I’m cheap at heart!)

See ya at Iola!

LOL, I had too much fun today. I decided (while my wife told me I was nutz) that I would go for a ride this morning and get it done before the heavy weatyher got here. Ya know, the weather guessers were calling for T-Storms, but not til later in the morning. Against my wife’s lofty opinion of the merits of my ride, I left. I made it about 3 miles in and … rain. I thought, “hey! This isn’t so bad. I’ll keep going.”

It started to rain a little harder. hmmm. I am now about half way to nowhere. Kinda where I wanted to be, minus the now increasing rain. I decide maybe I should turn for home, but then I somehow get my tire turned towards, and proceed to get stuck on sto0pid. I just thought a quick trip around the Kettles wouldn’t be so bad. LOL. This is about the time the thunder started. Well, that and me cussing the weather idjits. I did find that the rumble of closing thunder really helped me pick up my pace. I pretended it was Bubba and Hauser chasing me down. It didn’t work too well after a few cuz a.) I like them and b.) I wasn’t liking how insistent the thunder was getting. I put on a good pace, got my a** home and took off about 18.5 pounds of clothes (2 gallons water = 16.6 lbs and about 2 lbs for the kit dry weight)

I then went and checked radar cuz it was crack-a-lackin reaaallll goood by now.

hmmm, mebbe I wasn’t too bryte going fer a ryde?

I live by the tip of the arrow … made it just in time

Off I go again today. 11 of us from around SE Wisconsin have begged and borrowed our way into a ton of medical supplies, packed our bags and are now ready to head back to Haiti to try to help and ease some of the suffering occurring there daily.
     Tomorrow, we will land in Port au Prince where our first stop will be at an orphanage. We will do a mini clinic there … each kid will get dewormed, then flouride treatment and new toothbrushes/toothpaste and taught how to use them. They will all be treated for scabies, malaria and a host of other parasitic crap that infects these people constantly. Then we are off for a 6 hour ride into the nether regions of the southwest peninsula to Basin Cayma. It is a small remote village in an area that rarely receives medical attention and has minimal services within 2 hours travel. That is 2 hours travel for us … for them it can easily mean a 2 day walk to get out for a Dr or Hospital. We will be setting up a temp clinic there to work out of for the next 6 days. I will post some pics and stories on our return. This year, we are going to try “flying” in country on their local air service when we come back out. That should be interesting       (last year’s trip posts)

peace