RIP Mugsey Abraham

1992-2006

What a day

Hello all. Today I took the Madone on its maiden voyage in the hills surrounding the town of Waterloo. Rode with one of my co-workers. It was a cold, cloudy day, made even colder by the wind. But it was a fun ride anyway...we headed out not knowing how long we were going to ride for...and ended up going for a 3.5 hour jaunt. We were flying on the way out, but crawling on the way back, as the winds picked up and it started to lightly rain/sleet. I was impressed with the amount of rolling hills in the area, made for a very good ride.

I love the frame. Handles very well. It is a little bit longer than my Giant was, but it still felt very comfortable in the hoods and drops. It feels stiffer in the BB area than the Giant. Not that the Giant flexed much anyway, but I didn't feel any movement at all in the BB on the Madone while sprinting/climbing.
We followed up the ride with some excellent burritos at a restuarant in Marshall. :)

Tonight the Sioux took on Holy Cross in the NCAA west regional at the Ralph. HC beat the Gophers in OT last night, and they played very well again tonight, but the Sioux were too much for them, winning 5-2. So the Sioux are heading to the Frozen Four for the second year in a row! And even better is that it is in Milwaukee this year, and I have my tickets already.

Looks like Simmons and I got into the Chequamegon 40 race as well, since I noticed today that they cashed my check. Good day all around. :)

Sweet victory

Just got back from the Final Five tourney in St Paul. It was a great time. The Sioux won their semifinal with Wisconsin, 4-3, after being behind 2-0 at one point in the first period. They ended up tying it up by the end of the first with 2 goals in the final 2min of the period. So they moved on to the championship game against SCSU. They got behind 1-0 in the first after a PP goal by St Cloud, but they responded with a goal 10 seconds later, and then scored again 15 seconds later to take the 2-1 lead. They ended up winning 5-3. Good times. We had awesome seats; first row, right on the glass in the corner behind one of the nets.

Next up is the NCAA tourney. The Sioux are hosting a regional this year in GF. Wish I could make it home for that, but it would have been hard to get days off for the Final Five, Regional, and the Frozen Four (in Milwaukee this year) all within a month. Oh well. The Sioux take on Michigan on Fri. Go Sioux.

Heather and Vontoux are still in Port Huron. They return home on Tues. So, it's just me and stupid Birdie until then.

The weather is starting to warm up again. All of the snow that we got last week is already gone. I have a long ride planned for Sat morning with a guy from work in the hills to the southwest of Madison (the same roads from the Horribly Hilly 100s ride). Looking forward to testing the legs on some inclined pavement. :)

SPIRKO

Just when all the snow melts and it starts to get warm...here comes another snow storm. Oh well. Looks like trainer workouts will continue for a little bit. Starting to increase intensity in preparation for the first race of the season on April 9th. Speaking of bikes, I sold my Giant frame on eBay this week. I was hoping to get at least $400 for it, but somehow it got bid up to $911! With shipping, it more than paid for my Madone frame. Have to like that!

This weekend Birdie and Cat Stevens will be watching the house, as Heather and Vontoux are going to Michigan to visit her family, and I am heading back to Minneapolis for the WCHA Final Five hockey tourney. A big group of us rented some ice on Sun afternoon there as well. Good times. I'm sure the snow will make the travels more interesting.

Vino needs to post pics of his new Poprad. :)

The Time Has Come

Quick recap here: Heather's friend, Heather, is here visiting for the weekend. Good quality girl time is in store for the Heather duo. :) Tomorrow we are going to an IMAX movie and out to dinner. The WCHA playoffs begin this weekend with the Sioux hosting the Mavericks from Mankato. Go Sioux. Looks like Dave Simmons finally selected a cross bike; and he makes a great choice going with the Poprad. We can now include him in on Team OBF, Brooks. ;) On Sat morning I am going to Minneapolis to celebrate birthdays with the family. We will be celebrating my dad and aunt's 60th (!!!) bday (March 7th), and Tonia's bday (March 30th). Good times will be had by all.

In other news, the Madone is finally finished!:

It turned out very well. I used all the parts from the Giant, aside from the King headset, the new Look Keo pedals, and cables/housing. Now the weather just needs to get warmer so that I can take it out for its maiden voyage!

Machinery Row

Not too much new here. This post title is dedicated to the cool bike shop in downtown Madison, right on the lake. I believe it is the same shop where you bought your helmet, Andy. Project One bikes all over, the Trek Track bike, cool wood floors (like SBS Store #2), etc. We sized out some new bike gloves so that I can purchase them through Trek. Cool bike shop, but horrible website: Machinery Row Bicycles

Heather is just getting over her sickness. But according to her, she was never sick. ;)

Fri night Heather and I scored some free tickets to the Wisco/St Cloud hockey game at the Kohl Center. It was a good time, even if I hate both teams. I had to root for Wisco though because SCSU was right behind the Sioux in the standings. The Kohl Center is nice; bigger than the Ralph, but not nearly as extravagent. No leather seats or marble floors there. :)

The Madone is nearly finished! Just have to cut the cables and put on the computer, and its done. But we got snow last night, so it may be awhile before I can ride it. And a thumbs down to Trek for not having the 9.9 frames available yet. ;)

Yesterday Heather and I took Vontoux to AniMart so that we could get him more Greenie Treats (his absolute favorite) and so that he could pick out a new toy. He picked out a hardened mini-football that weighs like 10lbs. He loves it, of course.