Ride around town

Just a few shots of my recovery ride around Utica this afternoon. Amazingly it was close to 50 degrees here today and it was just too nice not to get out at least a little bit. The last two days I have done two long cold rides, especially Saturday, when I rode 60 miles with my team. Yesterday I rode back from my in-laws house. After both of these rides, I was so cold that I had to curl up in bed to get warm.

Anyway, today was just a easy ride in the neighborhood (really a quick loop around town and then out to the end of the road and back a couple of times.

The first picture is of one of the old lime kilns that were the main industry in Utica for a long time, but those days ended close to a hundred years ago. The other two are just filler.

Cross photos from a few years ago

Here is photo of me after a cross race here in Louisville from 4 years ago that an old teammate posted on the Velonews website.

http://www.velonews.com/photo/html/photo2019.html

Merry Christmas - Feliz Navidad

We wish you a Merry Christmas, we wish you a Merry Christmas, we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Dan, Tomo, and everyone else:
Happy Holidays and we hope the best for everyone in the coming year.
Cheers!
Luke, Kate, and the dogs.

Merry Christmas!

To all the Lug Brothers and Company around the world we send warm Christmas greetings from Japan.

Here's a poem for Christmas day, borrowed with deep gratitude (and without permission, I confess) from The Writer's Almanac and the author, Gary Short.

Brothers Playing Catch on Christmas Day

Only a little light remains.
The new football feels heavy
and our throws are awkward
like the conversation of brothers
who see each other occasionally.
After a few exchanges,
confidence grows,
the passing and catching
feels natural and good.
Gradually, we move farther apart,
out in the field,
the space between us
filling with darkness.

He leads me,
lofting perfect spirals
into the night. My eyes
find the clean white laces of the ball.
I let fly a deep pass
to his silhouette.
The return throw
cannot be seen,
yet the ball
falls into my hands, as if
we have established a code
that only brothers know.

Da Jerseys are Here, Da Jerseys are Here

Sorry about the model, but here are the official, limited edition Lug Bros & Co. Worldwide Inc. wool jerseys.
Wear them proudly.

Stuff besides bikes (yes, I really did write that)

Here are some random pictures from the last couple of days. As it has gotten colder here in the Ohio valley, the dogs have taken to curling up inside and not really wanting to go outside much. They have also discovered the joys of nesting in blankets.

Here is Ben being shy after working really hard to get the blanket to cover him the way he wants after Kate just put the blanket on top of him because he wouldn't get off the couch.

And then, there is Molly who constructed this lovely nest out another blanket to sleep in yesterday after they had been forced to spend the afternoon outside since Kate was baking cookies all day and did not want dogs stealing the cooling cookies off the dining room table.




We have been having some serious rains here in the last week or so, and so the river is up, not close to threatening to flood the town, but still up probably about 10 feet from normal.

Thankfully the last few days have been dry, so it might start to go down a little.

Frozen Toes

Today marked the first day this winter that the daytime temprature was below freezing. So, smart guy that I am I decided to go out for a ride, yet again proving my idiocy. But I have an excuse, as I don't get to ride outside much during the week, and lately it has been so rainy and nasty on the weekends. This Saturday was no exception as it rained and sleeted all day. Parts of Utica were looking like they might start to flood last night.

I was going to do an organized ride, but when I got there no one else had shown up so I just ended up riding by myself. My ride totaled 32 miles and by the end my toes were nearly completely frozen, but it still felt good to be out on the road instead of sitting on my trainer just spinning.

Jerseys

I emailed Chad from Portland Cyclewear to see if he had sent out our jersey order yet, and he said that it had been sent on Dec. 10, so it should be here by the 17th.

Also, Dan, the old bikes are cool. I thought about taking some photos of the old bikes around Utica that people have in their backyards, but then I figured that if I did that, I would end up getting shot at.

Classics

A couple more Tokyo bikes...

New Team Kit

Here are a few pictures of my new team uniform for Bolla. We had our team party last night at the house of one of my teammates.

This weekend was also the last cyclocross race of the season and I skipped it. The weather was just terrible today and I did not feel like getting soaked and needing to clean my bike again, so that meant a hour and half ride on my trainer, but at least I got a lot of reading done.

With such bad weather, Kate and I did little more than veg out all day, though we did get our christmas letter done.

It should be interesting being on this new team next year, as it has been quite awhile since I did a road race, and now I am committed to doing at-least 10 next year.

I raced last weekend, but had to withdraw due to mechanical problems, and while my cross bike was still a 2 speed then, it is back to being geared. I am just not a strong enough rider to race on 2 speeds.

That bar!

 

old skool

 
 
 
 


Every once in a while you find a treasure of a bike on the streets of Tokyo, usually outside a noodle shop or a sushi shop. There must be something about the geometry--long lines, low seat, wide handlebars--that makes the bikes stable for deliveries. Now most deliveries are done by motorbike (and there are some old school scooters around town too) so you don't see these bikes being ridden all that often, but I sometimes see this one parked along the street during my walk to school. I love the double seat. Think I could do that with my Bianchi?