Foamy Painting

Laid some paint this evening after cleaning the airbrush for too long......

Foamy Building Fun

Spent a lot of the fall working on two foamies, one of which is great, the other which has its own issues........

So, over the holidays I drafted out something new. We'll see if it flies well on Friday with a little luck. In a matter of 3 hours, I cut all the parts, drew and cut the milling templates, then milled all the parts.........

Bike Cleanup Day

Well, I've put in a few messy miles over the last couple weeks, so when my daughter decided to nap, I got out the work stand and polished and waxed up my bikes. Each is shined to a 't' and will resist the rest of the winter gunk out there on the roads and the trails.

Finally got a picture of the QA with the new Toupe Ti on it. Crappy name for a seat, but I like the seat.

While I was at it, I pulled all the cables and wiped them down. I then coated the portion of each that goes inside the cable housing and greased it with Boeing grease. Everything shifts/brakes very nicely now.

Awesome MSTA New Years Day Ride

To start the new year, I met up with approx 16 other MSTA members and rode the Wolf River Trails. Was a great morning out even though it was cold!!!!

I launched myself over the handlebars for the first time in a lot of years, but otherwise had a smooth fast ride. Was a great time to meet all the other MSTA guys I've not yet met. They really are some good riders and very capable of putting the burn on a rider!

Wolf River Cycling

Went out today to pre-ride the Blue trail down on the Wolf River. The lower part of the red trail was an absolute slog fest...... Sucked big time and managed to get my feet extremely wet.

After getting past the red trail and back up onto the white and the blue, things moved really fast. The high sections are smooth and roll fast. I was on the SSCX bike, so having fast sections I could roll on through was definitely an advantage!


This is really what a cyclocross bike oughtta look like!

Green Timber Mallard Shooting

Dad and I managed to get out to Stuttgart for 3 days of green timber hunting.

First day was hampered by some pretty serious equipment problems. The Mojo decoy broke, Dad's gun jammed and the boat was missing the trim setting pin. Not having the pin was a pain in the butt and made it so we could not raise the motor while running in shallow water. I drug that WarEagle through approximately 3/4 of a mile of flooded forest....... At least it was a good workout.

Second day, Dad's gun was fixed and we figured out how to get back a bit deeper in the woods. That was the ticket too. Doing so got us away from the other skybusting hunters and into a really good spot. We had shot our limits by 10am and had a great hunt. After leaving the woods, we headed back to Stuttgart and the boat shop there. The pin we needed cost a whopping $10 but it sure made life easier.

The third day with all gear problems resolved, we really hit it well. We were into the woods faster than before and got to the honeyhole quickly. Very few groups were near us as well. Maybe thats because the holiday was over, or maybe it was because we could drive further back than the others. We limited out on greenheads by 7:00am!!!!!!!! Towards the end of the shooting, we were working them to the water and picking the largest ducks from the groups. It was simply an awesome hunt!

Jesse did great on the trip as well. He's out of practice, but figured things out again pretty quickly.

After getting home, I managed to get out to Herb's for a lap around the lake on the SSCX bike... : )

Merry Christmas Ya'll!

Today was a good reminder of some of the more important things about the holidays......

I spent the whole day with my family. Like everyone else in the world, I spend all my time running around like a chicken with his head cut off. Too much to do, too little time.

Today, I spent time with my little girl and just 'played'. We plinked on her new guitar, she showed me around her dollhouse. Thats the kind of stuff that good times are really made of....

When my daughter and my wife took a nap, I snuck out and got in 15 miles on the road bike. That was nice as well. I even cruised up the toughest hill in my area on the roadbike in the 4th cog. Normally I'd ride half way in Granny and walk nearly the rest. Today was different though. I guess all that SingleSpeed time is paying off.....