Guy Woodhouse

Some folks are curious what Guy Woodhouse looks like.  I'd say: the ugliest bike in our stable, Shannon says the greater metro.

I think it's worth five dollars.

The handsome Cannondale in the background is Shannon's winter bike.

What I like about Guy is the simplicity of his parts.  There is very little that can go wrong mechanically.  With the cube prism reflective tape on the fork and rack it glows like a christmas tree.  And with the patches of dirt and rust and overall crappy appearance an otherwise sound bike will never ever be stolen.  I hope.

Where are the rest of your pants?

It's Frenchie and Sir Walter relaxing by the Wisconsin boarder!

















Shannon put the fire wood on her bike and we rode around the park laden thus.




God dammit.

It has been a while since I updated.

The last time I posted the van was running perfectly. Since then we went to St Croix State Park. Which was awesome! We went fishing. We went biking. We went hiking. We played Frisbee.

here are some pictures

The tent worked perfectly. The old Boy Scout favorite proved easier to break down than I even remembered. Which made the nieghbors jealous—with their raspberry shaped dome tent and a dozen different sizes of poles.

What we aren’t prepared to go without is esspresso. If I haven’t mentioned how awesome the 9 cup Bialetti mocca pot is, here I am saying an aluminum espresso pot that works on a camp stove or the kitchen burner has infinte utility. Every camping trip we’ve been on has had espresso. Which boggles other’s.

Frenchie didn’t like the washboard of the gravel roads in the park. My teeth didn’t fall out but my steel waterbottle did cartwheels. In fact, the water bottle worked pretty badly.

maybe...just maybe...old french road bikes are not mountain bikes. I know, it’s hard to believe but perhaps there is a difference.

So, as the weekend wrapped up it also got toasty out. We tried some of the Munger trail on our way out of Hinkley but Shannon’s tire started to seriously bulge. The three year old tires started to come apart in the middle of the tread. By the time we got back to the van the rubber was rubbing on the fender.

We were able to dodge a lot of traffic by taking 35w to the Cleveland exit and sneaking into St Paul through the U of M campus. We did stop at Fleet Farm in Blaine and finally picked up an axe. So we'll be able to chop our own tinder, which is awesome.

On our way back, the van was running a little hot, but, I figured that 90 degree heat would explain that away. It had been running a bit rough but I just figured that I was needing a bottle of seafoam.


Shannon had me pick up a kettle for canning. It sorta fit on the rack...



This past Saturday the engin temperature skyrocketed. So Shannon took it into the shop only to get bad news. antifreeze in the oil from the headgaskets. Crap.

what did the van get us at Upull?

300 bucks.

Monday I test rode a Crosscheck. On smooth surface it felt sorta like Frenchie, but without low speed squirrliness. On bumps it was a dream. Tonight I test rode a Big Dummy on my way home from work, which was also smooth on bumps, but the Crosscheck had more electricity.

Did I mention we are looking at buying a car?





The question they asked at work was :

"John, where are the rest of your pants???"

Run Away!

We didn't make it to Elysian. A thunderstorm chased us back to the car. But we did get twenty miles in on the Sakatah trail before fleeing.

Shannon has a really good post about our adventures.
http://adventuresinordinary.blogspot.com/

Things that we figured out on this ride were:
1. Weather.com cannot be trusted
2. Food is heavy
3. The thunderstorm is never going the other way

It was a beautiful day though thirty miles east. And we still had a nice day of riding though it was divided between trails.

Frenchie did just get out of the shop again. The new wheel works so much better than the old one it is like comparing apples to hermaphroditic sloths.

Also, our new camera can attach directly onto the handlebars, which is wicked cool. No having to dig out the Ammo box right now.





Here is us in Cannon Falls after our ride.

The long ride home.

Not actually that long...but after a days work, it was a bit of work.

Also, I forgot water.  Anyone surprised?

I made it home in about 45 minutes, but the ride to the Mendota Bridge only took about twenty minutes, and riding in Eagan is much crappier than the rest of the ride.  But without water, I started flagging on the bridge and by the time I was past the Fort I was in rough shape.

Around 54th I got a fresh wind, and kept it going for a bit.

On the bridge I had been damn near clipped by a mute.  So when I saw him coming up the trail from the river side of the Fort I put some heat under it and held the lead as best I could.  He turned off at the round about and I stopped for water and a dizzy spell.  It's one thing to keep up with someone, another to be the one lugging panniers too.  

I crept the rest of the way home and pretty red on arrival.

Tomorrow: Again! (hopefully people will have a sense of etiquette...)

de-militarized camera "bag"

A week ago we went to Stillwater and bought a new light meter.  

One of the many things we didn't buy was a small ammo box for 7.62 rounds.  But what it did do was make me remember the .50 caliber boxes that were so popular in boy scouts.

I mentioned this in passing at work, and one of my co-worker's ears perked up.  He's had one in his garage for ages.

I've been concerned about biking with the camera because I'm afraid of smushing the thing.  obviously a cinderblock  like the Mamiya is more rugged. BUT, I still don't want to have to worry.

What better way to stop worrying and love the camera, than to line a sturdy steel box with inch thick foam?

The box weighed 5 lb empty.

I figure if I am not going to obsess over 5 grams, why worry about 5 lb.  

Today I biked out to the Glen Lake golf course over off 62 and 4.  38 miles round trip from home according to Gmaps pedometer.  Somehow my lazy ass survived the burden. [/sarcasm]

pictures to follow.