The Bauer Family

On Friday, February 10, 2012 my mom turned 85.  After talking with her earlier in the week it was decided that we would meet them at Bob Evan's in Birch Run and then come to our house for cake and ice cream.  Well things didn't work out that way.  We got around 4 inches of snow from Friday afternoon into Saturday morning and cold temperatures.  We decided that we would go to there house and go from there.  We arrived around 3:30pm and it was decided that we would order LaPizza.  This is a little pizza place in Auburn that is very good.  I also shoveled their driveway as there person that does it was sick in bed.  So that worked out pretty good.  Mom was not really happy with the day as it was, however she did perk up as things moved along.  The grandkids really make her happy! The Birthday Girl! Happy Birthday from Lou and Sherry! Michelle and Mom. All in all it was a really fun day.  Happy Birthday Mom! 

Today was a beautiful day and we did some organizing in the garage and moved the last of our wood into the garage.  I vacuumed out the van and then went down stairs to prep one of the bikes for a ride.  Our road looked pretty sloppy so I decided to use one of the single speeds.  Earlier this morning I had started to work on the Zion.  I had bought some Problem Solvers cable guides so that I could run the rear hydraulic brake hose on the underside of the top tube.  Bike before the ride.  You can see the cable run in this photo. This frame had odd cable guides on the top tube that would have required the brake lines to be removed and threaded through the guides.  Did not want to do that and don't really care for top tube routed cabling.  Drive side of the Zion.  Bike Spec: Zion Single Speed frame with EBB White Brothers Carbon Rigid Fork Truvativ Sylo Seatpost Fuji Seat with Ti rails Specialized 90mm Stem Easton EA30 low rise bar 680mm ...

 Monocog Flight in 2x8  Since the first post on this bike I have converted it to a 2x8.  This was the initial plan this winter, however I did not have a front derailleur that would work.  At the expo I came across a brand new Shimano SLX derailleur for $5.00.  This was perfect.  I purchased a couple feet of cable housing and 2 days later completed the conversion.  Only thing left is a test ride.  Looks like Saturday is going to be nice so I will be able to test the bike and the new Garmin!  I will post up on the test and another upcoming post will be Project Tandem. 

  Garmin Edge 205  While checking the MMBA classified adds last week I came across this lightly used GPS.  After a couple of e-mails and a paypal payment it was mine.  The deal was to good to pass up and I had one of these on my wish list for a while.  I received it in the mail on Saturday and set it up Sunday.  Can't believe all the things it can do.  It is truly a bike computer.  I downloaded the training software from the Garmin website and am ready to go.  Hope to try it out on Saturday and Sunday.  Special thanks to Steve (the previous owner/seller), he was great to work with.  

On Friday I got a call from Pastor Reuben and he informed me that on Sunday at Church he would be proposing to Dawn (Michelle's sister).  Due to the aforementioned expo I was not at church.  So following are photos of the event that were taken by Michelle (my beautiful wife). The proposal. The Happy Couple. Congratulations!  May you have many years of happiness together.  God Bless You! 

Today was the Michigan Mountain Biking Association annual Expo and Swap Meet.  JJ went with me for his first time at the expo.  We met Raymond and Alexander in Clio and rode down with them.  The expo was on the campus of Michigan State University in the MSU Pavilion.  We arrived with plenty of time to spare.  We hauled in all of our goods and set up our tables.  Our first encounter was with Don Stange and his son Cory.  Later Kyle showed up, he goes to college at Grand Valley State University and had not planned to attend this year. Don, Kyle and Cory  Don came to the event prepared this year as he had his own bag to carry his goods.  Don always seems to find the things he needs at this event. It was slow with little traffic until about 10:00am and then things picked up until about 11:30am.  Did not seem as busy as years past and did not sell much.  JJ really seemed to enjoy himself and earned some commision as he sold a few items ...

It has been a while since an update and the common cold has been working its way through the family.  Michelle and the boys have got the worst of it so far.  It has slowed me down but has not put me down.  Hopefully it won't get me completely.  It did cause Michelle to miss 2 days of work and I missed one.  We both missed Financial Peace University last night, we will have to watch the video.  It has caused me to miss some training. However, I did manage to get on the trainer 2 days this week and hopefully again tomorrow. Dad had a procedure today and all was well.  Had to get up early and pick him up.  He had the procedure at Covenant so I was able to work for a while when he was in.  We went out to lunch afterwards and then had a good visit with him and mom. This winter continues to be mild as we again are having above normal temperatures.  We had snow last night and most of it melted today.  They are call...