Cherity headed down to Iowa City with her parents to visit her uncle in the hospital. I haven't had a chance to see if things are going well or not.
That left the boys and I alone here in Winona. I get kind of excited about that sort of thing. I don't know why but one of my co-workers had to work on Saturday which meant her husband was home alone with the kids so I called him up and we took our dogs (all 4 of them.. my 2 and his 2) and our kids (4 of them... same ratio of course) down to Prairie Island and let the dogs run as we hiked on the trails that meandered through the backwarters. We came across a bunch of abandoned canoes chained to trees that apparently are kept there all year by duck-hunters. It was a good time all around and once we were too cold we took the kids over to the McDonalds playland which is any easy thing to judge by most but was incredibly convenient.
I also got a new tire for my bike. The old tire AND tube blew out the side wall so I headed over to Brone's in Fountain city (great bike shop and website by the way) and I got a fancy new red and black Michelin Lithium tire to match my bike colors. After I got it on I wished I had gotten one for my front tire too for symmetry and asthetic purposes but 35 dollars for a bike tire is a lot to me so maybe in the future when I NEED one. So I'm excited to ride my bike again! It's a 25 minute walk to work otherwise which is therapeutic but I missed the bike and the ride is only about 5-7 minutes on clear roads.
With Cherity gone and bike-stuff on my mind I've been doing a little research on winter riding. I've always biked through winter but sometimes walk when the road are too slippery and I get worried about trashing a bike that is multi-purposed for work-out rides as well. Just another reason why the WWW is so great. I found a Finnish Tire making company that makes metal studded tires and all sorts of forums and websites on winter riding or ICE-biking as some call it. My preference right now would to get an old large, Schwinn, frame and fix it up as a single speed for cheep. For those of you who don't know a single speed is just a bike with one speed which in my opinion would be nice for winter riding because there wouldn't be a derailer to get all gunked up. I've seen some really beautiful one's on this page. And here is an example of an ideal all-around bike. I showed it to Cherity to give her an idea of what I was thinking I would like to do. She didn't see the beauty in the simplicity of it so I guess maybe it's some sort of mechanical mindset I have. I don't know.
Time to take the dogs for a walk.
Hasta la pasta.
7 comments:
Aaron
We were just at Tim's in Platteville this weekend and he is actually selling some really cool old used bikes for under 200 bucks. I don't know if you're more into the tinkering of it, but he would show them to you if you're in town some time. He's got some beautiful old Schwinn's and some others. Just thought I'd mention it.
P.S. We take our kids to the McDonald's playground quite frequently (we just try not to buy their food while we're there. I know, terrible:)
hmm... I wonder what size frames...?
For the record, I did see the beauty in the bike. I noted and appreciated it... then moved on. Aaron sat and stared at it, went to something else, then came back to sit and stare at it some more. Yes, my dear mechanically-minded hubby, that picture was definitely doing something more for you than me :) And that is why I find you such an interesting guy!
It might be possible that you could find one really cheap that your Uncle Paul has at his place. He has quite a few to make his apt. school building look authentic...that he has picked up at the thrift shop. Of course, I realize it would have to be a big tall one...but he may have one your size. I'll ask him when I see him again.
Then,if so, you would only need to get those fancy (no doubt expensive) spiked tires!
The spiked tire idea is probably one I would skip (after further research) because although they work pretty good on ice and snow but don't do well if you hit solid asphalt. At least that's what I read. That would be cool if Uncle Paul had a larger frame. Let me know. Thanks!
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