On Tour with Harris

Harris carried all of his gear, including stuffed animals, down the trail.

We traveled just under 20 miles each day.

Of course we chose the stud route. I did have to explain what a stud was to the boy.

Jiffy Pop mastered.

We enjoyed camping, swimming and hanging out before heading home.

Somali Goat Starts Anderson Tour

Harris and I arrived in Wilmar needing food before we headed out on the trail. Knowing that Wilmar has a large Somali immigrant population, we decided to try Somali food. Asking a group of Somali men on the street brought us t0 Bihi's Shop of African Food. As we walked in the door the place was almost empty. Every seat seemed to have the same tear running through the middle of the aged vinyl cover. It was old, run-down, and not very clean. We learned that the bathroom was out of order, so we were invited to the kitchen to wash our hands with an empty soap dispenser. We ordered without the aid of a menu. I had no idea what we were getting or how much it was costing.

This photo is a close approximation of what showed up. The goat and rice were incredible. Harris and I dug in, but couldn't eat all of what we were given. I asked a woman coming out of the kitchen if she was the cook, and complimented her on her goat especially. She perked up and said that goat was only as good as the cook. She proceeded to bring us a freshly cooked piece of chicken that was equally tasty. Our bill including food, bottled water and a banana was $8.

I learned that business was slow because of an event at the mosque. The kitchen was busy preparing a buffet for when everyone showed up a bit later. I'm glad I didn't judge this place too quickly. I'm also proud to have a son who thinks it's cool to load up on goat before a long ride.

Small Victories Fire Me UP

I feel like a champion today. My 98 Camry's ignition lock cylinder has been slowly dying for a year. It finally got to the point where I would have to try turning the key 50 time or more before the mechanism would rotate and fire the engine.

I purchased the Chilton Repair manual and saw internet sites saying that I had to take off the steering wheel and other complex procedures. Other web pages said that you just pull of some panels turn the key to ACC and push a magic button.

I decided to buy the part and try. I figured the worst I would do is start the job for the qualified mechanic. 15 minutes later, I had the old cylinder out and the new one in. But, the car wouldn't start because the new keys didn't have the transponder chip in them. A call to a local locksmith solved the problem. he told me to bring the new lock cylinder over, and he would key it to my old keys. A little over an hour later that included a bike ride to to the locksmith, his work time and re-installation my cars done.

$130 in parts and $20 for the not useful repair manual saved me at least $200. More importantly, it's good to fix things myself.

My Bike

Girls' Bike Trip III

We left the on the Girls' Bike Trip III Saturday morning after a slow start. Gear organization, family obligations and work had us leaving after 9am instead of our targeted 8am. No worries, we rolled with it heading from St. Paul to the Wilmar, MN trail head of the Glacial Lakes State Trail. We rode on the trail north through Spicer and New London where we headed west to Sibley State Park. Temperature forecasts were for 90 plus with high humidity and a 70% chance of thunderstorms including predicted severe weather.

The trip was full of unexpected good luck. Starting with the purchase of fresh, hot tortillas from a grocery store in Wilmar. Sat. was warm and humid, but clouds and a firm tail-wind kept us moving in comfort. We were able to get to camp, be set up and go for a swim before bad weather hit. We moved out of the lake because of lightning and waited out the storm by the park gift shop. We watched a wall cloud and the storm come across the lake whipping up rain, waves and 60mph winds, way more cool than scary.

After the storm past we swam again then headed to camp for Jiffypop. We had a bit more rain during our smore course, but were undaunted because of good rain gear. By the time we went to sleep we were able to point out the big and little dipper along with the North star to the girls.

Sunday morning we broke camp with only a few leftover rain drops falling from the trees. Breakfast was corned beef hash and eggs eaten in our tortillas. We used John's Aeropress for and outstanding cup of camp coffee.

Sunday we benefited from a tailwind on the cool side of the weather front. We rolled along to Spicer where we found the local fire department was having an open house along with pancake and sausage fundraiser. We climbed on firetrucks and ate more than we needed to.

We finished our ride and headed for home after a side trip for more tortillas. The girls', and dads too, did a great job on this fun outing.

Looking Forward to the Anderson/Corey Tour III

2008 Tour Pictures.

Trek 930 bike for 2009.

More Pictures later.

Long Haul Trucker Decals.

My Long Haul Trucker's decals have been falling off lately. This sort of bummed me out, so I contacted Surly. Here's how they have handled the issue in less than 18 hours.

I sent:
Surly People, My 2009, Truckaccino, LHT makes me happy every time I ride it. While I value the no-frills quality of the bike, I was disappointed to see that my decals are falling off when I ride it in the rain. I've owned lots of bikes over the years; this is the first time I've had this issue. Any idea why this is happening? Any chance you can hook me up with another set of decals with better adherence?
Surly Replied:
Our decals are finicky to say the least, the reason they peel so easily on some frames is unknown to me. My Steamroller, for instance, is about 7 years old and the decals are incredibly tenacious. We put our decals over the powder coat and do not clear coat, for some this is choice because they wanted a bike with no decals in the first place, well to others like yourself it is a bummer. I will will gladly supply you with another set if you would kindly provide me with your address and decal color you need (black or white).
Cheerio,
I Replied:
Thanks for the quick response. My decals are black, and my mailing address is XXXXXXX
Surly Replied:

Decal set on the way. Please follow the attached instructions for step by step removal and installations.
Cheers,

I do like the idea of going sans decal. I'm thinking I will keep the new decal set for a later date. Way to go Surly; how refreshing to have a problem solved quickly and easily.

Bicycle Film Festival

Iplan on hitting the Thursday BFF festivities. Planning to go bike camping with Claire the other days. Anyone interested?

Lifted this from Capricorn Handmade Steel Bicycles Blog, "*Bike Night The Minneapolis Institute of Arts will have a Capricorn on display (albeit for only an evening) on July 15th as part of their annual "Bike Night." Having spent more than my fair share at the MIA in my days as an art student, I'm very much looking forward to the privilege of showing my work in this august public forum."

Thank Q

I'm back on line at home. Still ferreting out a few computer issues, but it's good to be connected again.

Blog Down!

My computer is down with a virus, thus, I would like to wish ill fortune on all virus writers, bike thieves, vandals and other criminals.

Chemistry Fun

Here's the result of my second annual attempt to make smoke bombs.



I say second annual because the score is currently chemicals one and Heath one. Last year's attempt did not work, and proved toxic. The formula for smoke bombs is quite simple. 3 parts potassium nitrate to 2 parts sugar. This mixture is heated in a pan until the sugar caramelizes. When it looks like peanut butter, drop 50 cent size dollops on to aluminum foil to cool. Better directions here.

Potassium nitrate( salt-peter) is the ingredient in stump remover. It's oxidizing properties help break down the wood. But, as I learned the hard way, not all stump removers use nontoxic potassium nitrate. I do not know what is in Bonide Stump Out but when I cooked it up I made a noxious cloud that I thought would lead to an embarrassing call to Poison Control.

DO NOT USE BONIDE!!!

USE DEXOL STUMP REMOVER

I found that the smoke bombs worked better when I crushed the the stump remover. Notice how there are spherical pellets of potassium nitrate in the caramelized sugar. These still lit and worked, but not as well as the the next photo where the sugar and potassium nitrate form smooth discs of fun.

Since potassium nitrate is nontoxic, used as a food and toothpaste additive, I use my coffee grinder easily to turn the pellets into powder. (potassium nitrate is gives hot dogs and corned beef its pink color. If you listen you hear my neighbor John make a joke about heartburn and hot dogs.)
Finally here is what one of the smoke bombs looks like at night.

Flowers and Food and Biking and Food with a Final Storm

The family and I woke up and headed to the St. Paul farmers market. We picked up some flowers and assorted locally grown veggies. The bouquet above was $6.

Next we finally found the Hmong Market. It's at the intersection of Marion and Como in St. Paul. The smells and thrown together buildings brought me back to markets in Asia. We had beef laab with tripe, cellophane noodle stuff cabbage rolls and round greasy meatball goodness.

More good food was to come. Our friends Mai and Mark invited us over for dinner. Mark is a Dane and Mai is Vietnamese. They always cook something wonderful.
I took the opportunity, as I often do, of biking the 26 miles to their home. Ling-Hui and the kids drive with the bike rack on. This way I can have a nice one way ride. The weather was hot and humid, but I enjoyed my route. (Click on it to view it.)

Mark and Mai created an incredible spread of Mexican cuisine. We had homemade tamales wrapped in banana leaves, salsas, guacamole, skirt steak, chicken, mole, beans and more. I'm glad I rode.
Here's a picture of a tamale from our care-package.

The storms hit on our way home. Frequent lightning flashes helped illuminate the highway hidden by torrential rain. A couple of plastic bags and a few wraps of duct-tape protected the Brooks saddle on the way home.

This was a Saturday well spent.

Traditional Archery Shoot 2010

I keep an eye out for this event every year. It was different without Q and Steve.

Only foam animals were hurt making this blog post.
Jared and I went for head shots on the Mandrill.

Hakuna Matata.

The green arrows in the first picture and this throwing hatchet are my Father's Day presents.
It was a great day.

.

Excited for the Traditional Archery Shoot

My little brother is going too. Which cloth to wear?

Dirt Burger Fun

Thanks to Sov and all of the Decorah people for hosting fun under their bridge. I felt a bit weird heading to a venue where I didn't know anyone and am appreciative of the hospitality. Special thanks to Chuey, not sure of the spelling, for playing trail guide. Enjoyed chatting with Scally, Captain and everyone else whose names I don't remember. Friday night we rode into T-Bocks for a tasty burger, sans dirt. Lightning bugs flashes lit up the trail on the way back to camp. Next, we chilled around a fire until the the police came and shut us down. Like an army of ants with messenger bags and a Big Dummy we moved the party wood, beer and all up the bluff into the woods. Shortly after 2am we headed down the long hill hills back to our tents. Best night sleep in a tent in a longtime.

Here's the view I woke-up to Saturday morning. I made coffee and oatmeal and read my book. Then it was time to ride. We headed out on these trails, which kicked my ass. I crashed 3 times to the amusement of a local. The rain had made the trail greasy. Logs and roots slid tires out making the ride more technical than I am good. Not complaining though; I was riding in the woods, tired, happy and dirty.

A little of Grandpa's Pine Tar soap and a swim in the river felt great after riding.

Below is a random photo of some campers. Surly bikes showed up in force. 1x1s, Karate Monkeys, LHTs, Pugsleys, and Big Dummys all were present. One guy had a Karate Monkey with couplers renamed a "Flying Money." Several people who worked for Surly were present as well.

I'm up for Dirt Burger 2011.

Call Me

Picked up a cell phone today. I'd be nice if some of you English would call.

LHT Fully Unloaded

Dirt Burger is is next weekend in Decorah, Iowa, and I need to get out of town and do something different. My dilemma is that I don't know what bike to ride. The full suspended Diamondback XR4 is riding well, after having Shockspital rebuild the front end. It is undoubtedly the most practical and fastest bike I own for riding real single-track, but the bike seems somehow wrong for the spirit of the event.
Thus, I stripped down the Long Haul(Dirt-Road)Trucker and put on my most off worthy tires, Ricthey Trailmix 700x35mm. A wider tire would be nice. The bike is specs say it will take a 45mm tire without fenders. I plan on taking both bikes; it'll be fun to compare them.

The Long Haul Trucker loaded for comparison.

Dirt Burger's flier:

I'm expecting a cool outing with great people.

Cattails taste like .......

While enjoying ourselves at the lake near Nevis, MN last weekend, we had a chance to sample cattails.

The kids had pulled some young stalks from the edge of the dock in order to do some weaving and to make a boat. Remembering that these stalks were edible, I pulled the Swiss Army knife out slicing a dime sized disc of the end. It tasted strangely familiar, but I didn't know what it reminded me of. I let the kids try some too. Harris said, "dad, it tastes like cucumbers."

He nailed it cucumbers with the slightest hint of leek. They were really good. I'd like to try them with onions in a creamy vinegar sauce, or as an addition to a salad.

This is not the sort of edible, but taste like crap, for survival only food; it is one I will seek out for its own culinary merit. The photo below shows what the tender shoot looks like. Next, I want to try stinging nettles.