a midway bikelog

via Outside magazine:

The World’s Toughest Bike Race Is Not in France

This is good writing, kids. I might need about 5 weeks off of work next year.

Thus the hero of the Odyssey is a great fighter, wily schemer, a ready speaker, a man of stout heart and broad wisdom who knows that he must endure without too much complaining what the gods send; and he can both build and sail a boat, drive a furrow as straight as anyone, beat a young braggart at throwing the discus, challenge the Pheacian youth at boxing, wrestling or running; flay, skin, cut up and cook an ox, and be moved to tears by a song. He is in fact an excellent all-rounder; he has surpassing aretê.

Aretê implies a respect for the wholeness or oneness of life, and a consequent dislike of specialization. It implies a contempt for efficiency—or rather a much higher idea of efficiency, an efficiency which exists not in one department of life but in life itself.

This past weekend started with a delightfully sleepy and lazy morning. I don’t often get to lounge in bed, and i took full advantage of the opportunity. Mid-morning, my brother visited to deliver a birthday present from my family: a dishwasher. I’ve never owned a dishwasher, nor lived in a house with once since leaving for college, so it’s quite a treat to have a machine to wash up for me.

That afternoon while at a friend’s birthday party, i was recounting a week of bad luck, starting with my broken laundry washing machine when another friend said, “i have one in the garage, do you want it?”. They had bought a higher-efficiency model a couple of months ago, and the older, working machine was still there, so of course i accepted it. We got that installed Sunday night, and it’s done 3 loads already.

Continuing with my bad luck story, the main one on my mind was my lost bike, but thus far there had been no solid leads, and i had resolved to just call the insurance company with the claim on Monday. After all, it was taken twice, they seemed to come back specifically for that bike this time, the only one taken. I made a list of the parts required to rebuild it, hoping to get it done in time for cyclocross season 5 weeks away and mentally letting the bike go. Little did i know at the time that two different people were praying (separately) for the bike’s return on my behalf.

Now I’m not the most religious person around, but it sure seems like something was nudging fate with the bike. The first time that bike was taken this spring, it was found by a neighbor of my friends down the block, Mike and Benita. This past weekend, late Sunday morning, i got a call from Mike saying that they had my bike again. This time it showed up next door to the shop space they just opened this year about 1.5 miles from where we live. The bike wasn’t meant for them though, someone had given it to one of the people at their neighboring store space in the same building. Mike had just seen it propped in the doorway and recognized it right away. Their story was that a friend had gotten it somehow over on Rice street, but that if it was stolen he didn’t want it anyway, so Mike put it in their shop and called me. Twice the bike found its way to two of the few people who know me, AND know the bike AND in situations where they could easily reclaim it.

The bike is fine, nothing broken. It’s missing the saddlebag and its contents, so i’ll be buying my 3rd u-lock of the year, but that stuff is relatively peanuts. I’m so happy to have it back. For the record, the bikes now live in the house, and there’s a new deadbolt on the garage service door.

So, many thanks to (brother) Mike for bringing the dishwasher (and the rest of the family for pitching in), to (good friend) Mike for keeping an old washing machine around and offering it the moment i mentioned the need, and to (neighbor and friend) Mike and (ditto) Benita for again returning a loved lost bike.

A quick plug for Minneapoliscast, a podcast covering local Twin Cities music. I don’t know how i’ve missed this over the last couple of years they’ve been doing it, but they’re showcasing some incredibly great music that i hadn’t heard before. Hosted by old friend Tony Thomas, who i met many years and many bands ago, before i lost my bass callouses and sold the last amp. Listening to this makes me want to start playing again.

velocipete tagged me, i choose the fives.

What were you doing 5 years ago?
I was just getting back into daily bike commuting 5 years ago, and I bought my first road bike in probably 20 years, so i then had 2 bikes. It was a used, not-yet-reconditioned generic japanese road bike from Sibley and the first of many to go through the garage since. My younger daughter was still incubating, 7 weeks away from meeting us and the older one was just 2.

What are five things on your to-do list for today?
1. Call the police about my stolen bike
2. Fix the broken washing machine
3. Vacuum all the dog hair in the house
4. Work my part-time bike wrench job
5. A nice easy bike ride in to loosen up the post-race muscles

What are five snacks you enjoy?
1. chips and salsa
2. homemade guacamole
3. fancy potato chips
4. cheese Pringles
5. apples

What are five things you would do if you were a billionaire?
1. Pay off all debts
2. Take a lot more trips with the family
3. Buy some land and create a combination japanese garden/singletrack trail
4. Become a framebuilder
5. Endow a school

What are five of your bad habits?
1. Excessive multitasking
2. Not keeping up enough with friends
3. Staying up too late
4. Underachieving
5. Too much computer time

What are five places where you have lived?
1. Twin Cities, MN
2. Rockford, IL
3. Lafayette, IN
4. Vineland, NJ
5. Le Sueur, MN

What are five jobs you’ve had?
1. turkey leg seller
2. newspaper photographer
3. lab chemical deliverer
4. bike mechanic
5. web geek

tagging Scott, Scott, Jim, Tim, and Kevin.

Apparently while i was out of town racing some fucking knuckle dragger with a knowledge of garage security got into my garage and took my Surly Crosscheck. If you’re counting, this is the second time the same bike has been taken from my garage. Yes, i’ve moved all my other bikes into the house now. Assholes.

You can’t miss the bike: black 62cm frame, a singlespeed with 3 cogs, black/red woven bar tape, red flames on the fork, and a “on my way to hell” sticker on the downtube. I built it from scratch, i know every part, there isn’t another bike just like it anywhere. I’ve gone almost 4,000 miles with that bike, over 1,000 miles so far this year.

If you have any info on it, handcuff the guy to an iron rail then call or email me, bconnell at gmail dot com.

Here’s a picture where you can see the newest “fugly” bar tape job, distinctive stem and fork flames:

The drivetrain looks like this, but with different pedals:

Rider: Bill Connell
Class: 12 Hour Solo Man

Fastest lap: 1:21:28
Laps completed: 6
Total Elevation Gain: 3480 ft
Total Distance Travelled: 85.2 miles

the start line

This was my first mountain bike race in about 10 years (I’d done the 24 hours of Afton twice on teams in the late ’90s). As it turns out, our neighbor in the pit area was doing the 24-hour duo team with a friend as his first race ever, of any kind. If you’re going to tilt at windmills, might as well pick a big target.

This is going to be a long one… those interested can click Read the rest of this entry »

via KM

Cycling Back Around at the Washington Post.

Not only does it not look down at cyclists, it zeros in on the core of the upsurge in recent cycling: the very basic idea of a bicycle as transportation rather than pure sport. The article celebrates the people doing this, the bikes they’re riding, and the accessories that make a bike practical for daily use. Way to go, WP.