The Bauer Family

Today was the Rust Shaker XC race at Mid Michigan Community College in Harrison. They always put on a great event and they had a good turnout for an early season race. It felt more like Iceman weather!   I did not get much sleep Friday night.  Brendan was sick and it kept us up some.  I had got most all my race stuff together on Friday night so there was not much to do.  I got on the road and headed out for the hour and a half drive.  I arrived with plenty of time to get ready and attend the race meeting.   I did a brief warm up ride with Raymond and got up to the start line.   Farley was ready. Raymond was ready. The starting line.   I had signed up for Sport Clydesdale so I would be doing two laps.  Our starting wave was Sport Men 50+, Sport Clydesdale and Fat Bike Open.  I could have raced in any of those classes.  At the start line I was not sure if I was racing against anyone in Clydesdale? ...

Six years ago they started the Rust Shaker Mountain Bike Race at Mid Michigan Community College in Harrison Michigan.  It is the second mountain bike race of the year following the Yankee Springs Time Trial.  I did the first Rust Shaker and I think at least one other.  I will be returning this year to see how I can do.  They have added trail and I will be racing Sport Clydesdale on the Farley.  This will be a 20 mile race. I will be posting updates on Facebook tomorrow as the day progresses.

Farleys Ready! I worked for while on Monday evening and then Tuesday morning before work and I had Farley ready to ride.  Here are the changes I made: Forte Team handlebar 700mm Ergon grips with bar ends Bontrager Race X-Lite Stem Surly Blue Rim Strips Rear tube is Q-Tube Superlight (front to be changed) Vee Mission Command Tires-very good on pavement and gravel which is most of my training. Bontrager Blue Aluminum bottle cages So I left the house around 5:30pm this evening to give the bike a test.  I could immediately feel that the trail bike geometry of this bike compared to the other Fat Bikes I have.  The LBS thought this bike could be to big for me (19.5" frame, I measured it at 18.5").  The bike felt perfect for sizing.  I also could feel the weight difference.  I think I may be able to shave a little more weight off. I had the tires pumped up around 17 psi for riding pavement.  Don't want any bounce.  The ride was very good....

Today JJ and I took a road trip to Portland, Michigan.  We left church about 12:50pm and hustled to get to Portland.  It is on I-96 just west of Lansing.  I was meeting gentleman to pick up my new to me bike.  He only road it off road once and then just riding on rail trail.  I got a great price on a nice bike.       The bike is stock with the exception of the brakes.  The previous owner but Avid BB7' on the bike.  A very solid and reliable brake.  Crank Brothers Egg Beater pedals, Bontrager Race X-Lite stem and Forte Team handle bars.  Have to decide on a set of grips as the stock seem kind of small for me.  I will swap out the tires for training on gravel and pavement and save the Hodag's for trail riding.  After a few trail rides I will be able to determine if a Bluto upgrade is in the future?   Hopefully I can make my changes tomorrow and get a training ride in on Tuesday. 

This bike was displayed at Interbike. JJ and I went to the Endurance Sports Expo at the end of February.  Alexander rode with us and we met Raymond at the Expo.  It felt like the old Expo's at Springfield Oaks.  They had a full house of vendors and it was really busy for the first three hours of the show.  We had a good time! Did not sell a whole lot.  I ended up with about $50 after paying for my tables, gas and a couple of meals.  Raymond did not do well either.  He had some really nice stuff to sell. The brewery was nice and they had some good beer and pizza. Michelle and I spent our wedding anniversary in Houghton Lake.  We found a good deal on a hotel and spent the weekend there.  I had not been to Houghton Lake in around 25 years.   A lot has changed up there.  We did have a lot of fun!  It was a very nice celebration. We had a great view of the lake (it was frozen).   Houghton Lake   ...

We had two separate Easter Celebrations this year.  Mom was out on Saturday and today we spent the afternoon at Michelle's parents. I picked up mom around 12:00pm yesterday and we headed to our house.  We had brunch planned as well as coloring eggs.  Mom did not want to eat till later in the afternoon so we started the egg coloring.     Not sure who enjoys coloring the eggs more?  Mom or Brendan?   We had a great meal and a good visit with mom. Still hard for us not having Dad there.  This past Thursday was a year that he had passed.   After taking mom home Michelle and I did some shopping and got home late.  We got the kids to bed and then put together the Easter baskets.   Sunday morning we slept in a bit until Brendan woke us up.  He was really excited to get the day started.  The kids went through their Easter baskets and Michelle made biscuits and gravy.  After our breakfast we went...