Well, we are back from Minnesota.  We had a great time, but it is always good to get back to Northern California after some time away.  The shop has been hopping, at least when the sun comes out.  It is great to see everyone busy here.  A1 has his hands full trying to unpack and merchandise Claire’s huge orders, Andre has been working his poor fingers to the bone repairing bikes, Paul has been trying to get as many new bikes built as possible, Jim has been trying to balance his last semester of school and work, and I have been just kicking back keeping them busy.

Well, it is our third day in Minnesota, and we are really enjoying our stay.  We have been visiting one of our favorite bicycle parts supplier, Quality Bicycle Products.  QBP is probably the biggest supplier in the US for the bicycle business, and they have flown us out and put us up in a hotel so that we can visit their warehouses and visit with other bike shop owners.  There are probably a 1000 dealers here or so, almost a small Interbike, which is our industry trade show.  This has been much more satisfying than some of the Interbikes we have been to because of the fewer people, and the real concentration on the bike industry.

Here is a photo of their warehouse and a photo of Claire with the Michelin Man.  We are heading back over today for a couple more seminars and then they are having a big giveaway of stuff at the end of the show.  We will be flying back to CA on Monday.

 It has been a whirlwind adventure.

Well, we are back to work tomorrow, but not before I had a chance to get out on a couple of bike rides.  Yesterday Claire and I went out on a 40 miler to Healdsburg and back.  We stopped in Healdsburg for a cup of coffee and a sticky bun, which fueled me for the way home.  I had just put some new fenders on the Burley tandem, and it was fun to see them doing there job as we cruised through a few puddles here and there.  On the way back Eastside Road, we decided to head up Windsor River Road to get away from the narrow sections.  It was a great detour that added about 2 or 3 miles to the loop.  We went down Starr Road and over to Mark West Station Road.  That is such an awesome area to ride.

Today I met Eric the Fireman in Graton for a little loop out to the coast.  We headed up Harrison Grade and made our way into Occidental before heading up Coleman Valley.  We are very, very lucky to have these roads in our backyard.  After hitting the coast, we turned South and headed over Bay Hill Road before stopping in the town of Bodega for some Gatorade and Cheese-Its.  From there we headed up JOY Road, which is such a beast from that side.  After dropping back into Occidental, we headed over Graton and then split up from there.  It was great to ride with Eric, but I felt a little guilty for making him pull me down the coast before Bay Hill.  Not too guilty.

Well, I am down in San Jose for the second day of the Park Tool Summit.  Yesterday consisted of leaving the house at five in the morning, checking into the hotel, and then eight hours of classes.  Yesterday was Rock Shox, Campagnolo, and Fox.  Today will be Hayes, Shimano, and SRAM/Avid.  These classes are VERY hands on.  We rebuilt a couple of shocks and also some Campy Ergo levers and hubs.  It was a good time, but I was exhausted by the end of the day.  I will write more about this later.

Last Saturday was the Grasshopper.  Since I was doubling my miles for the year in that one ride, I was not expecting to be very competitive.  This worked good since I was able to try and take it easy on some of the climbs.  I still suffered miserably on the way up Willow Creek.  Here is a link to my Garmin data.  What could be worrisome here is the fact that my average heart rate was 179, and that was “taking it easy” on the climbs.  A1, Jimmy Neutron, and Engin, our Cannondale rep were all there also.  I will try to post a picture later, I need to get down for breakfast and some coffee.

Well, the first Grasshopper race is this weekend.  It is earlier than usual this year, and has caught me off-guard.  I’m never in too good of shape for this race, but this year is worse than usual.  I was telling Claire this morning on the way into the shop that I thought it was better than to be totally out of shape for a race like this instead of being just a little out of shape.  In years past I have made the mistake of thinking I was in better shape and falling apart by the time I reached Willow Creek.  I would get caught up with the “racing” at the front, and then by the time my body figured out what was going on, I would be in way over my head.  This year I plan on taking it easy for at least the first half of the race, and then hopefully have something left for the final climb up Willow Creek.   The conditions should be ideal.  I am a little bummed that the weather report does not predict heavy rain.  As A1 and I agree, the first Grasshopper should take place in pouring rain.  It should be quite sloppy on Old Caz though.  I am looking forward to that off camber corner towards the bottom that always has about 8 inches of mud to sink into.

Yesterday I went out and ran for EXACTLY 5 miles while Claire walked.  That is the thing about having a Garmin GPS on your wrist.  Here is a link to the loop. 

When we got home I put some sourdough bread and pizza dough together.  Claire put feta cheese and some other tasty stuff on it, including anchovies.

Oh, yea, on Saturday night W, C, and S are coming over for dinner.  W and I will be opening our first bottle of homebrew.  It is a “potentially dangerous” IPA.  We also have a lager in the basement right now bubbling away.

Well, I finally got out on a couple of bike rides.  It has been a long time, much to my dismay.  I got a new Cannondale cross frame, which I built up with Campy Record stuff off of one of my old road bikes.  It is a gorgeous bike that is a pleasure to ride.  I haven’t had a chance to weigh it yet, but I am sure that I dropped at least a couple of pounds from my old C-dale cross bike.

Anyway, on Monday, A1, Jimmy Neutron, and Bill came out for a wet, wet ride.  We had decided that we were going rain or shine, and I think that all of us were hoping for rain, and we got it.  We took off to do my favorite loop through Occidental and Willow Creek State Park.  It has been a while since I had been out with Bill on our single bikes.  It brought back plenty of memories as every time we regrouped, he would give a little “Wahoo!”  By the time we got to Duncan Road, Bill had worn all the way through his brake pads, so he had metal on metal when he braked.  It was a horrible sound, and I don’t think it slowed him down too much.  We had called Claire before Duncan, and she drove the Hub Bus out and met us for Mexican food at La Tapitia in Guerneville.  We were plenty wet and cold at that point, but still in great spirits.

Yesterday, Claire and I loaded up the Ibis tandem and drove out to Duncans Mills for a ride up Willow Creek road from Hwy. 1.  It was not raining.  We had attempted the same ride last week, but had been turned around by the lightning and pouring rain.  Actually the pouring rain hadn’t bothered us, but the lightning out on Hwy. 116 was a little frightening.  On the way up Willow Creek Road yesterday, I was trying my best to dodge puddles to keep our feet as dry as possible.  At one point we came around a corner, and encountered a little flooding.  We had to ride about 200 yards through water that was about 2 feet deep.  It was pretty funny.  I couldn’t see the road, but I could see the road markers on the side, so we just stayed in the middle.  At one point we hit some cattle grates, which took us both a little by surprise.  I wish we had had the camera.  It was entertaining to look down at the front wheel and not be able to see the hub.  We hit a couple of other patches just like that before we finally made it to the climb.  Our feet were not dry anymore.  We had thought about heading through Willow Creek State Park, but decided instead to drop down into Occidental and then ride down Bohemian Hwy. back out to our car.

On Saturday I will be doing the first Grasshopper race with A1, Jimmy Neutron, and hopefully Eric the Fireman and Bill.  I am hoping for rain.

Well, Jimmy Neutron and Claire arranged to get together yesterday for a little mountain bike ride in Annadel.  I was invited also.  Ever since JN got his new mountain bike, he has been quite gung-ho about getting out there and riding the trails.  Claire was also on her new mountain bike, which she still needs convincing to buy.  JN was on a Rize 3 and Claire was on a Rize 1.  We drove over to the bottom of Lawndale and started the ride from there.  Here is a link to the ride.  It was a little muddy in places, but otherwise perfect conditions.  I think we only saw two other people up there.  JN is getting quite fast on his mountain bike.

I figured I better put in an entry so that this doesn’t look neglected.  Claire and I went back to the shop today after a couple of weeks off.  Things are really hopping, which is very, very exciting.  A1 is back, and the enthusiasm in the shop has never been higher.  It was great to show up this morning and see that everything, and I mean everything, was running smoothly and the shop was looking GREAT.  It turns out that Jimmy Neutron has some hidden talents in the merchandising area that he has decided to finally show us.  He and Andre moved some stuff around while we were gone, and both Claire and I were very impressed.  Even Paul showed up wearing pants with no holes in them.  There was plenty of work to do and, of course, we weren’t able to finish it all.

I am really looking forward to 2010.  I think we have our best staff ever as well as some solid lines of bikes.  I apologize if this sounds self promoting, but I’m just JACKED (that is for Eric the Fireman).

On Monday, I made some sourdough bread.  I used just a bit of whole wheat to give it some color.  I tried using less starter than usual to give it a longer rising time.  This gave the bread a more sour taste, which is more like a San Francisco Sourdough.  We are taking a couple of loaves over to our friends house for use with some cheese fondu.

Yesterday, Claire and I went out on a great hike in Bothe-Napa Valley State Park.  There are over 10 miles of hiking trails in this park along with a campground and a swimming pool.  It is worth checking out.  They actually run a half marathon thru the park, which I assume must be a loop you do twice.  The trails aren’t flat, but there is nothing too strenuous in there.  This was our second time there.   The first time I ran back and forth while Claire hiked, and this time we stuck together, which is much more enjoyable.

We are away from the shop until next Wednesday.  A1 is back at the shop, and alas, A2 has left us for some adventures in Southern CA.  We will miss A2’s enthusiasm, and physical humor.  We are excited about having A1 back.  Oh, yea, we did have A0 over for dinner last week as he was visiting from CO.

Yesterday I went out on a great, hilly run around a neighborhood near our house.  Claire walked while I ran. There are some interesting single lane roads running up through the hills around Forestville that are just perfect for exploring.  Here is a link to my loop.  My goal was 5 miles.  I felt really good and didn’t have any pains during or after the run.

This afternoon I went down into the basement and rode the rollers for a little over an hour.  I did my favorite workout.  This workout consists of a 15 minute warm-up (with a couple of 1 minute efforts), this is followed by 5 on, 3 off, 5 on, 3 off, 4 on, 2 off, 4 on, 2 off, 3 on,… all the way down to 1 minute efforts at the end.  Here is a picture of the graph of my heart rate.  I got it up to 192 on the last interval.  I was pretty worked over by the end.