Jay T's Thanksgiving Ski Camp '09 Sunday

Another highly successful Jay T's Thanksgiving Ski Camp is in the books. Today, I cleaned out the garage...

Jay T's Thanksgiving Ski Camp '09 Saturday

We had another successful day at Jay T's Thanksgiving Ski Camp. The plan was to do some highly specific ski training so we rode the bikes on the Greenway, Cedar and Kenilworth Trails for a total of 30.75 miles. Tommy Bengel, Bill Stuber and my neighbor, Steve Prast joined me on the ride. Earlier, I dropped off some furniture at Bridging when a guy leaving some stuff off asked if they take bikes. They don't but I told him I did... I got a sweet Schwinn Continental from the guy. It's in great shape! The size is about a 25" which is way too big for me but I'll convert it to a single speed and sell it...

Jay T's Thanksgiving Ski Camp '09 Friday

Jay T's Thanksgiving Ski Camp started off today with a couple of bike rides. Some Thanksgiving Ski Camps are on snow but not this year... The nice weather is great though and it could last a while longer as far as I'm concerned... The first ride of the day was a 2 mile round trip to Now Bikes and back. I had to show Ambrose (the mechanic) my Bottecchia fixed gear bike that I built. The second ride was 16 miles down Summit, River Blvd, West River Road and the Greenway and back. I sandwiched the rides around working on my next fixed gear project involving the Tunturi frame pictured to the left. The finished bike will be for sale.

All Things Italian

Got a mixture of biking and roller skiing in over the last week. Sunday and Tuesday were roller ski workout days. I got on the Schwinn Peloton on Wednesday and Friday for a some cruising on the Greenway, Cedar and Kenileworth Trails. Today, I rode the Niner on the Lake Elmo Park Reserve trails woth Jerry Engen, Lori Belz, Tina soon to be Olson, Ron Belz, Barry Torgerson and Rob Belz. The three rides totaled 55 miles. Plus, I finished the 1960s Bottechia Frame build. I found it in a basement and built it up with black components. It's a single speed/fixed gear with a flip-flop hub.

3rd

I got out rollerskiing for the 3rd time this season on Sunday. The arms aren't in shape but the snow isn't here yet... Jerry Engen and Barry Torgerson joined me as we cruised the hills of Afton. The group of loyal and devoted followers were rollerskiing Afton as well.

Missed Again

The weather has been great this month so I've just been riding. Usually, I rollerski about ten times before the ski season to get in shape. The two times I've rollerskied so far were two months ago and two weeks ago. I rode the bike for 22 miles on Tuesday taking the Greenway, Cedar and Kenilworth Trails. Yesterday, I rode 18 miles through parts of Saint Paul and Minneapolis along the river. Anyway, I did go pheasant hunting on Monday in the east metro with Jerry Engen. We only jumped one rooster but I missed again. He was pretty far away but I had to take a shot...

Sunday Drive

My neighbor Steve joined me on the shakedown cruise of the Schwinn Peloton. We rode the Greenway west and then took the light rail path to downtown. After getting through there, we hooked up with the Kenilworth Trail and then took the Cedar and Greenway Trails back home. We got in 22 miles. The frame pictured to the left is a Bottechia from the 1960s. Made in Italy, it's my next bike project. I already cleaned up the frame. The plan is to make it into a fixed gear single speed.

Biking, Building, Riding, Racing

It's been a busy few days building, riding and racing bikes lately. I finally got the Shimano 105 black crankset to finish the build of my 1998 Reynolds 853 steel Schwinn Peloton frame. The theme is all black components for the blue frame. I used Shimano 105 black brakes, shifters, front and rear derailleurs and crankset plus Ritchey WCS handlebars, stem and seatpost. I've got a bid in on a set of WCS wheels which I'd like to add to the bike. I cobbled the headset together out of Cane Creek and Aheadset parts. Anyway, check out the picture to the left. As for riding, I got in a 22 mile cruise on the Greenway, Cedar and Kenilworth Trails on Thursday. I would have gone longer but the sun sets pretty early now. Friday, I spent more time working on the Peloton and only had time for an 11 mile ride on Summit and River Blvd. Yesterday, I did the Velocross cyclocross race at the Velodrome in Blaine. I got 18th out of 30 in the M45+ race. Those placing in front of me included the usual suspects Paul McKinney, Greg Goblirsch, Dave Ludwigson, Rob Belz and Dan Meyer. John Stamm and Todd Trembley got me this time too. I stayed in front of Mike Lyner, Stu Benson, Mike Brumbaugh and Mark Rathbun. I got in 15 miles with the warm-up, race and cool-down.

Storm Front

My neighbor Steve and I got out for an after work cyclocross ride on the roads, trails and single track of Roseville and Saint Paul's North End. Steve has lived in Minnesota for one year and it was his first time riding those trails. He used to race bikes in high school and college back in Indiana. Anyway, he's into classic, mountain, road and cylocross bikes so he's a good neighbor to have. His cyclocross bike is a Felt. He also has a Motobecane single speed 29er. We got in 16 miles with the storm front on our western flank the whole ride. When we turned on to our street for the half block ride home, the rain started...

Cold Weekend

I stayed away from the cyclocross races this weekend due to a cold. It's pretty much a head cold right now. I probably could have done the race today but instead, I went for an easy 1:20 rollerski with Jerry Engen and Barry Torgerson. We cruised the roads of West Lakeland and Bayport Township.