Its been a very long time since I've posted anything. It was a very busy time for me.

There has been 3 jobs, my father's passing, two boys in collage (Kevin is graduating in 4 days), I moved 3 times and I got divorced. The only constant through all this has been cycling.

Oh and I went to Tokyo

That was fantastic!

Like I said the only constant was cycling. The 2 previous jobs I had and my current job, have a cycling responsibility. The first was Security at the Missouri Botanical Garden

That was awesome, being able to ride a bike around the Garden grounds kept me in shape.

and I got to see some cool stuff...

  I turned 50 while working at the Garden and rode in 6 Centuries that summer. One every month starting in May. I might have hurt myself doing that but I can now say I was in good enough shape to do it. The next job was for The Partnership for Downtown St Louis as a Bike Guide. We were required to ride around downtown St Louis assisting people with finding places of interest and semi security. In two ways it was a great training ground for my next job. For two years I rode about 5 thousand miles a year. That got me in shape for the 6 months of physical training in the Police Academy. I was 53 when I entered the Academy. The person closest to my age was 20 years younger. I really believe that all the cycling helped me get through it.

After a year and half of riding in a radio car in the 2nd District a position came open on the Bike Unit in Downtown. I applied and got a position. I've been there for the World Series in 2011, Occupy St Louis, and the opening of Ballpark Village. I get to ride a bike for work. I get paid for it. How awesome is that?

There has also been some changes in my bikes. My favorite bike, the bike I've ridden since first purchasing it as a replacement for my Kabuki that was bent in half by a van. My 1981 Trek 710 frame repainted three times, stolen once, is finally finished.

Its built as a 719 with mostly Dura Ace components. This is the bike I rode all my centuries on. Its geared really high (52-42 chain rings and 12-21 freewheel) I think thats why I hurt myself, pushing too high a gear. This is my baby, a very sweet ride. I taped my bars with cloth tape and shellac'd them. They look great. Love this bike.

My Trek 750 is my commuter bike.

Its a little changed from this and I'm thinking of using it as a touring bike so it will change from what it is now. I think drop bars better fenders possibly a dyno hub with lights a front rack and real bags are in it future. I'm contemplating a self-supported three week tour when I turn 60. We'll see.

I have a 1979 Panasonic entry level track bike. It's drilled for brakes, has track forks and its handmade in the factory that made the Schwinn Paramount when they were made in Japan. This is the closest I will be to actually owning a Paramount I think.

I learned how to build wheels for this bike. They are Formula hubs with Sun 27" rims, black spokes and nipples. This bike has a 50 tooth chain ring and 18 tooth free wheel. I was going to use it at the velodrome but haven's yet. Maybe soon.

I also have a  Nashbar Single Speed bar hopper bike.

 Aluminum frame, carbon fork and seat post, Formula hubs with Mavic 700c rims. 46 tooth chain ring with 16 tooth free wheel. Selle San Marcos Regal saddle with brass rivets, Stem Captain clock, and a few other goodies. Most of this build was purchased through Bicycle Works.

I'll keep riding as long as I can.

This is from last nights Wheels of Glory III. In the first round I rode 1.24 miles in 2.5 minutes. It was the overall high but I lost in the second round by about .01 of a mile.

It was a lot of fun...

2009
Time to resume my blog.
Last year was busy but I wasn't very inspired to keep up with this.
Most of my bike miles last year were at work but I did get some recreational riding in. I didn't keep accurate records but it was over 4,000 miles total. The recreational rides were not organized rides by Trailnet or Hostelling International but maybe this year I'll be able to ride some of those. There was a couple of fund raising rides. One started out as a 220 mile ride that we were going to complete in 36 hours, without sleep. Mother nature, goodyear, a vampire butterfly, some suicidal frogs and a killer turtle had other plans for us. We only got 120 miles in 24 hours.
My first Moonlight Fiasco was last year in November.
Oh one more big event, the Ride 64 ride. December 14th we rode on the newly finished highway 64 the day before it opened. It turned out to be a great event!

This year I plan to keep track of my bicycling adventures and anything bike related. So far this year I've attended the 7th annual St. Louis Regional Bicycle Federation's Swap/expo, the North American Handmade Bike Show in Indianapolis and Bicycle Day at Jefferson City, MO. Patty, Kevin and Jackson are going to Washington D. C. for the Bicycle Summit.
Also, I participated in two of Will Cycle for Charity's, Wheels of Glory races at Atomic Cowboy. The last Wheels of Glory race is Wednesday March 11th at 7 pm. That also happens to be a Moonlight Fiasco night.

I'm considering trying to ride one century a month starting in March. It will be mainly self-supported rides. More on that later.

This year I've also decided to restore/rebuild my vintage 1981 Trek 710. The frame was purchased in March of 83 for $325.00. Its been painted a couple of times, stolen once and ridden for thousands of miles. So its time to restore it. The Stronglight roller bearing headset that was on it, is going to stay. Also the Dura Ace seatpost, I just like the way it looks. It was stripped and painted by a company in Fenton, a dark blue with metal flake. It looks great but its starting to chip. Not sure what to do about that. It didn't start chipping until the decals were placed on it.

This is what it looked like in 2006, after 6 centuries and 23 years of hard riding.


Most all Dura Ace, including Dura Ace Biopace chainrings!!? and of course a Brooks Saddle.

This is what arrived in the mail today;



and on the inside...


It has an adjustable chain line feature. Very cool.

These shifters were purchased at this year's StL Bike Fed Swap/Expo (thanks Tyler).


Sparkly paint job!

Oh and one more part,


The front Derailler.

This is going to be fun building. I've used the parts from this bike and some extras that were laying around and built a stand in to ride while I'm getting this one finished. It will take a while to do. Money is short and NOS Suntour parts aren't easy to find.

Happy New Year!

2007 was a recovery year for me. I did ride a lot. I started a new job in July with the St. Louis downtown Partnership as a Bicycle Guide. I average about 20 miles a day and I rode until the last week of December. I didn't really keep track of my milage last year, as i said it was a recovery year. December of 06 I started having problems with my right hip. I think it was a result of my fall while riding the Beer and Brat Century.

I am starting this blog again and I will probably add stories about work and post pictures of my bike projects. I have 6 new bikes. 4 Schwinns a Huffy and an AMC. Some of them will be projects and some I may just end up selling.

I have just finished a "fixie" for Kevin. It is an Austro Daimler. Its dark blue and looks really nice (pictures to follow).

The swap meet is three weeks away. I hope to pick up a few good sales...oh and pictures too.

Final Century for the year?

Camp Hihaska make-up ride
Saturday October 7th

Two century rides in two weeks. Not much down time in between. But I did it. I rode in 5 Centuries for the Gateway Council's 5 Star Century Challange. I actually did 6 centuries with the Ride the Rivers Century thrown in for good luck but I didn't get credit for it from the HI people.

It was a cold day for a ride. I wore my wool socks and all my cold weather gear. It warmed up enough so that I just wore tights and my Bad Dog Jersey in the afternoon. Its great country down South in Bourbon Missouri with rolling hills and alot of coountry roads. It also has alot more dogs as well. I was chased by more dogs this ride thatn all of my other rides put together. I also met a woman who rode in the Beer and Brat Century. She also fell on the gravel at the first rest stop. We had matching road rash scars (mine is bigger).

I did this by myself (I found out later that other Chain Gang riders were there) and there were about thirty others who missed the Sandy Creek ride who rode as well.

Stats; Dst: 100 miles, Avs: 14.6, Mx: 39.5, Tm: 6:30

My average went way down from the first century. I always thought it should get better but it didn't. I'm not sure why.

I don't know if I'll do another 5 ride year or not, we'll have to see what next year brings.

One thing I know is I'm going to be wearing my Chain Gang Jersey to all the Centuries I ride in.