So, let us review. Rule number one, No complaining about the weather. I have done really well with that one. Rule number two, No more complaining about race logistics.  And since that rule has been instated I have done well.  New rule number three.  I am not allowed, under any condition, to jump my bicycles off of, on to, over or across anything.

That is pretty embarrassing, but I am completely okay, minus some little scrapes on my right leg. The Gatto's, The Mountain Goat, a few MARS junior riders, Tim, Beth, a few other people and myself all went out this morning to do some spring trail maintenance in the south suburbs. It was a few hard hours behind the rake and building some log piles. I am super excited to ride out there with them once things dry up. There was this set of doubles, and the first try went okay, but I hit it the second time way too fast, threw a dead sailor and went over the bars hard. About thirty seconds of having the wind knocked out of me and I was climbing up the hill pretty dirty. We were able to enjoy the fruits of our labor on a lap through some of the trail. Like I said, it is going to be amazing in a few weeks and I can not wait to ride out there.

Amy mentioned that she is going to try to get to the CAMBR meeting tonight where they are going to be showing the new MTB film by the collective called Seasons.  Click that link and watch the trailer, I am so excited to get it and see the whole thing.  Did you see that ramp mounted to the SIDE of the huge bolder? Holy crap! My shoulder is at the point where it hurts the most right after I wake up.  During the rest of the day, I just about do not notice it at all.  Looking forward to some trail this weekend.

There are eight different builders represented up there and they are all making amazing bicycles. It seems like not long ago if you wanted a custom bike that was just as much art as bike you had only a few choices.  It was not long before those builders had extremely long waiting lists and their prices inflated dramatically.  Personally, I felt that what was starting to be charged for a custom frame and fork was out of hand and way too high.  But even more recently it seems like there are more and more builders focusing on the fine details of frame building.  The creativity these builders have when it comes to the joining tubes and then following through with finishing touches is incredible.  It is these details, ATMO, that make the frames they are building personal both for the rider and the builder themselves.  If I could afford it I'd buy a bike from each of these folks and ride each of them one day a week.  Signal, Goodtimes, Courage, Moyer, Sweetpea, Fast Boy, Bici Frances and Pereira. It is funny to me because many of these builders are relatively new to frame building, some of them showing their first builds at the North American Hand Made Show this year, yet they are building frames that set them apart from any other builder.  If you are in the market, now would be a good time to get on any one of their lists.  I am sure there are plenty more builders I do not know of.  I am just enjoying my flickr stream from my contacts a lot lately, especially with each of these builders posting pictures multiple times a week with some really pretty pieces of bikes.

In other news, my shoulder is badly bruised.  Hurts to touch, but the full range of movement does not hurt really at all now.  I can put on and take off my own t-shirts now!

Kevin and I set out early Saturday morning into a light rain.  We drove out onto the western edge of Elgin.  The amount of suburban sprawl amazes me sometimes and the speed at which it spreads is mind boggling.  I forgot the cue sheet at home, but since I had made it up that morning I felt confident that I could lead us around in somewhat of a respectable fashion.  The rain stopped just before we set off from the parking lot and the ride and roads were perfect.  We made about three turns before I realized we were way off course.  Not that bad though, we were able to ride a couple miles of dirt road, another couple miles of the smoothest and straightest dirt rails-to-trails trail that I have ever seen and got to see the Sycamore Speedway.  Put in about 43 miles at a good pace.  Got to see a large number of smashed furry critters.  We only made one wrong turn that required a phone call to Julie to help us navigate back to the car.  We avoided the rain up until this point near the very end where we sped through a brand new sub-division, carving through the round-a-bouts and my mind quickly placed me at the front of the pelaton in some race in France.   We could have just ridden the path for a while and not needed to drive, but these weekend rides out in the sticks allow my mind to escape.  The ride seems more pure and uninhibited.  Coupled with the great guys I have been riding with and the friendships that are resulting, I do not think there is any better of a way to ride.  There are not any pictures because I was afraid of the rain and my camera. Oh and I had a short conversation with Paul at Rock Lobster and I am so freaking excited, things just keep getting better.  As a bonus he is also swinging through town next month, so i will get to meet my team manager / frame builder, which is going to be pretty sweet!