Milwaukee's Tall Bike Projects

On Hold it seems...
UW to the M has done me one right. The full class I needed to get on track as been opened up for yours truly. I repay them by giving up my Saturday Prime Time Ride Time. Saturday class from 9-noon. How do I make it right?

Get on that fixie and get to class. After, hit up the town for a few extra miles on the way home. Should be nice. Really. It should be nice - 35degrees.

Retina Burn

Tight or Rough?

Chill'n @ Fuel before class.

Some new Oakleys came in the mail two days back. Oakley Ambush - Retina Burn Snow goggles with the Fire Iridium lens. I went with the Ambush frames for their low-profile design towards the top. So many of the newer goggles out on the market have that upward arching frame design to enable a larger viewing angle. However, me being the safer cyclist, I wear a helmet w/my goggles, and It would suck for my helmet to be propped up from my goggles. So the Ambush seemed like the perfect choice.

After two days with these babies I am properly pleased. I love the fit of them. The foam padding has like three different densities to make them super comfortable. No more pressure on the bridge of my nose either. On yesterday's morning commute I ran into only one slight problem. The venting is almost too good. Fogging will now be a thing of the past, but with that comes breezy inners. On the single digit days you can really feel the cooler air circulating throughout the goggles.

This has become a "what-can-you-actually-handle" type issue. Me? I can handle it. the air never get as cold as the actual outside, nor do you ever feel the affects of the "wind chill". Add in the fact that most peeps are actually exerting effort when riding, so your body heat counters the cooler breeze giving you a "comfortable" temp without "overheating".

Nuf said. Goggles Rock.

WEMS 2008

Got a little treat from the wonderful folks at WEMS. Last year's was almost as nice as this's. Now, looks wise, I'll take last year's(that clean one-color etching). Quality wise, I'll take the below mug(this one has some nice nice mass to it). So I guess you can say it is a tie(Why I love WEMS). Wait a minute. This year's takes the victory for the words actually printed on this here mug.



Their timing is just right. Nothing like a little hardware to get you motivated.

What was even more exciting than the mug itself was the little piece of paper also enclosed in the perfectly packaged box. I can't spit out the specifics at the moment, you'll have to check that out for yourself. What I can tell you is that there is a race scheduled for this year that I am extremely excited for...A 12hr Night Race!!!!!!! http://www.wemseries.com/

Residing at UWM

Ahh yes. The single digit commute went as expected. I was perfectly dressed(goggles, lobster, thin wool socks, Shimano w/booties). My toes almost fell off by the end, but that was ok, cause I made it - little detour through town had me to my UWM/Trixie destination in just under 60min. The classes have yet to officially start as of 3pm. I showed up early for the walk-in advising appointments. As it turns out, I need to score up one more extra class to be "officially" on track. The class, however, is full. So I play the show-up-anyways-and-have-the-instructor-hopefully-add-you card. We will see.

Still can't get the upcoming season off my mind. I've known about our 2009 squad for a few months now. Waiting and waiting to spread the word. The little post to introduce them got me all fired up. I don't know about you, but it is going to be really slick watching the EXPO juniors come this spring.

Aris
Brandon
Gage
Jordan
Kyle
Kodi
Mitch
Myles
Nate
Theo
Vince

Not a bad junior roster at all.

Cold Day on the Last Day of Break

Today bees the last day of my wonderful winter break. What does this entail you ask? Trixie works on grad work(eh, its gotta be done), while I hit up the trainer with a little run next to Buckwheat afterwards. We will see how long the cold keeps Buckwheat winterable...

School Start Monday.

EXPO EXpands

I can't tell you enough how excited we are to kick of the 2009 season. We are quickly becoming the team to possibly take the cake. Over the off season EXPO Racing was able to sign some of the most talented Juniors residing within the Midwest. These kids got skill. Not to mention, they know how to simply have fun. The parents and powers that be banged their heads together to find a way to get all these good peoples together on the same squad. We did. Who you see below will be sporting the EXPO vibe on the racing scene. Look out.

***Insert favorite pump-up song here***

Just a few notable accomplishments:

2008 WORS Citizen U14 Series Champion
2008 WCA CX Junior 18 Series Champion
2008 WCA Series Junior 14 - 3rd
2008 WORS Sport U14 Series - 3rd
2008 WORS Sport U14 Series Champion

2008 WORS Sport U14 Series - 2nd
2007 WORS Sport U14 Series Champion

2007 WCA CX Junior 14 Series Champion
2007 WORS Sport U14 Series - 2nd

Kodi Gissibl

Myles Beach

Gage Rodriguez

Mitchell Bogardus

Nathan Labecki

Get like-minded people together and watch what happens.

Kodi, Myles, Gage, Mitch and Nate, welcome! Training starts - Last Week.

Double Dip

Got out for a run and a ride today. Don't ask for how long though. Let us just say Buckwheat still had some gas left in the tank...

Tomorrow you will be introduced to the new faces of EXPO Racing. For those of you that are the actual new faces, get me your mug, or else I'll be using editor's choice. Let's just say I am SUPER excited for these additions. EXPO will be a force to be reckoned with, no joke.

Till tomorrow.

Not Much

Spent the weekend up in Green Bay for Bbones's Bday. He had a wrestling meet - he is so new to this sport. He got to give two exhibition matches a try. He pinned the other dude in the first round both times, not bad.

Trixie just finished her 5th weekend day today. Tomorrow she gets a relaxed day as well while showing Barack get sworn in to her third graders.

Training has been an on and off affair with the weekends either serving as an increase in activity or the not so fun decrease in training. I get one more week of uninterrupted cycling focus before UWM classes start once again.

EXPO news has built up so much I honestly don't know where to start. A few posts this week are sure to catch you up.

Cold Day!

Trixie is off today cause schools called a Cold Day! Woohoo!

Not much goin' down round here. Maybe we'll check out a movie and some Breakfast. Our Puerto Rican Vacay pics have finally been uploaded to Trixie's Facebook, links to view are here and here. No need to be Facebook saavy to see. At least they look warm...

It's Coming, It's Coming, It's Coming

The deep freeze is coming, with it's gallant stroll. Opponents beware, opponents beware.

Today's ride was the last warmer one for a while. This is when it starts to get fun...


Paid Advertisement:

Just want to put out a little heads-up to all of you for my main man MC Raasch - He has gots many wintery items freshly posted on Expedition Supply's ebay store - exporides. Check it out.

Let it be Sunday

Great ride today! Wore a brimmed hat to cover the forehead which allowed me to go with the Oakleys the entire ride. A tad over 20miles towards Bikesafer's house this Sunday.

Training Buddy

Buckwheat sure puts me to work. We head over to the fire house across the street which has a soccer field behind it. Bring the football for a 40min workout. Chase, be chased, tackle, trick. He makes it super fun.

He wishes he could go every day, however I must do a little every other. The fixie needs to see some time too ya know.?. My legs are starting to like the routine.

The Snow was Snow Nice

I left the house during the tail end of the snow. Started with the Oakleys. Oops. Forehead was slightly exposed and got really cold one mile into the ride. So I stopped and swapped out the eyewear. After that, all the gear worked as advertised.
Skinnies get it done!

Ergon pack always amazes me. I will try to suprise the pack by randomly wiggling my shoulders. It always is ready.

Love these days! Nothing like riding with traffic. Legs feel a bit tight, which is good.

I think it was 97

I was hot into the soccer scene. One of my best buds Joe W. asked me to tryout for his soccer club(I think it was during 7th grade). I had been tough shit on the local - The Erin Soccer Club had been my home since I was 6. I loved the game cause I always was able to stay a step ahead of everyone. I even got cocky.

My parents said "eh", but Joe's dad offered to drive the 40min jaunt into Milwaukee. So, I was to try out for the Bavarian Soccer Club. Now this was a constant top 5 club in the state, and I was pretty nervous for this was going to be my first ever "try out" of any kind.


Lucky for me it wasn't going to be a one and done type of try. I was able to ease into their style for the week. Long story short I made the team, and I had to start over with the cockyness. One year later we win the State Championship(traveling everywhere in the process). Soccer treated me real real well! I still watch and play the sport as often as I can. I probably would still be playing somewhere semi-pro-like if my ACL hadn't gone out in HS.

No worries on that, I'm thanking my knee for getting me into racing bikes.


Anywho - The "O" put some thought into this year's Xmass gift: (Now the above mini should make a little sense)

It's strolling round Milwaukee with this cap on that is most fun, cause anyone who knows anything about the late 90's football world will sure throw me some respect.

Last night was a Bavarian Cap, Endura Strike Waterproof Gloves and Icebug Kicks. Oh, and Buckwheat too.

The shoes are awesome. Sucks for you though cause I don't see them offered on REI anymore. Total waterproofness and perfectly comfortable (when you do what you are supposed to do with them...Hiking-wise they might not keep you as warm.)

I stayed gripped even on pure ice.

Mr. Kerkove wrote exactly what I would have wrote in his Tuesday, January 6 post. My hands get pretty sweaty when the temps reach 40 degrees. Nothing worth complaining about though. Sub 30 and these are the bomb! Two separate snot wipes too. I have to give props to Endura. They really know how to make the best clothing for the most extreme conditions.

The run totaled almost four miles with some Buckwheat chasing mixed in between. It was a good night, the snow was falling and Buckwheat was pushing me hard. Side note, I don't run on pavement.

Two NICE Add-ons

Xmass treated Trixie and me really well. Sister hooked us up big time. Of course all for the greater good EXPO...These two toys are sure to increase our multi-media output. A new web is already in the works as well. Video's will no longer be edited with Windows Movie Maker!

Canon G10. 14.7 Mega Pixel. Very solid feel. Small enough for Vacay. Big enough for the racing season. We were able to test this baby out in Puerto Rico last week. So far, we are super happy with it.
Master Collection. Need I say more?

I honestly don't know what to do with my self. Adobe CS4 is completely over whelming me. The HD video editing has me looking to upgrade the graphics card and PSU, other than that, the program runs flawlessly on my current set-up.

For all of you Adobe junkies out there, you best make an appointment to stop on by. CS4 will knock you over.

I was able to get outside for 2 hours today on the fixie. Legs are sore from yesterday, however my spirits are high.

Roll Call

Vacation was(is) top notch. Holidays were super.

The 2009 training has begun. Today started with a short little 3 mile morning run to get the legs into shock mode. This afternoon will see some time on the trainer watching 30 Rock.

Sponsors are flying in.

I have lots to catch up on.

The blogging will be up to speed very soon. I don't want to pull my clicking finger muscles by over-blogging too quickly.