i stopped posting for a few days. it’s not that i wanted to stop or that i didn’t have the ability to do it, i just felt like there were other things that i could be attending to. during that time i completed my fundraising video and am currently in the process of encoding it. the video was more difficult than i had anticipated. i shot video five separate times, but most of it was unusable. once i had the video, i had to learn basic adobe premier. then suddenly i thought about the sound. no idea what i was going to do with that. as it turns out garageband is pretty simple. record that, clip a little, throw it in premier, edit speeds on clips and sound to make sure everything is matching and *poof* you’ve got a new video that isn’t half bad. i’ll put it up here tomorrow. in the mean time, check out this fancy link:

jaik on a bike – cancer research funraising

i’m almost done with my fundraising video. it’s been a bunch of fun and i’m excited to share both this and that with everyone. there’s only a few people that know about this site right now, but it’s kind of amazing to see how many people are sharing it even before i’ve announced it. this is going to be great.

those new tires are rolling smooth. it felt like i was a bit faster this morning on the commute. later today i’m going to reposition the hooks on my front panniers so that i can hang them lower on the front. maybe a quick wipe down too. i should work on my checklist and inventory. that skateboard i was waiting on from marbel has yet to arrive. i guess they didn’t understand the logistics of high powered lithium ion batteries being shipped air vs ground. their one day shipping is turning out to be more like two weeks. done complaining.

this evening i put the new tires on the bike. i was pleased to find the stock tires have a kevlar bead rather than a wire bead(like the schwalbe tires). that means i won’t have to go out searching for another folding tire to take with me on the trip. i started thinking about taking a trailer today as well. it’s not that i need one, and i really think it would be more hassle than anything. i don’t know why it’s still in my head.

i had a great weekend in ohio. sometimes not doing anything is more than enough. i would have liked to ride my bike around more, but i feel that way everyday. lindsey’s family was kind enough to host us for a few days and feed us a ton of food. sunday we rode bikes with sasha & jimmy from killbuck to millersburg. the trail was nice, but the beer at the end was a well deserved treat.

i did great on the soldier field 10 mile. better than i expected, which is always a good feeling. i beat my time from last year by about seven minutes. that’s insane to me considering the amount of training i did(none). i rode in my awol x poler to the run this morning. i was going to ride the flite 100…but i don’t have a seat on it right now. if i ride the fixed gear a few times a week, i’m good. if i ride it once a month or so like i have been lately, i forget that i can’t relax my legs and coast. i quickly remember within the first block.

i’ll be in a car for the next who knows how long. i’m going to ohio with the lady. she’s had a bit of trouble trying to plan everything out and keep those plans, but i’m sure it will be fun.

i ran the j.p.morgan chase challenge last night(3.5 miles) and realized how out of shape i am(not really). right now i’m considering that as training for the soldier field 10 mile that i am doing tomorrow. i was surprised how difficult it was to stay awake last night. i made an unofficial announcement to some of my co-workers about this ride and they were all pretty excited for me.

i have no idea what’s happening after the run tomorrow. the plans all keep changing. all i want to do is ride my bike and drink a few drinks. maybe see some stuff i’ve never seen before. this weekend, i’ll take some more photos of the bike in the wild.

it’s a 2015 specialized awol x poler.

one of one hundred around the globe. it’s assembled. it’s beautiful and rides steady. like it could go across the country in only a matter of days. with me. i love my new bike. the photo of it shows the bike a block away from the shop after i picked it up. the front rack and panniers were included with it. those 700x47s make for a comfy ride and they look pretty good too. i’ll change out the tires after the weekend, going over some trails(maybe?). also, i don’t want to put too many miles on the touring tires before i go.

tonight is the j.p.morgan chase challenge. i feel like i should have trained, but at the same time this could be my training for the soldier field 10 mile on saturday.

today i received the new bunch of wheel parts. velo orange security skewers, michelin airstop tubes, and schwalbe marathon plus 700×32 tires. these wheels are going to last forever! i had the velo orange security skewers on my long haul trucker and they made everything seem a little more secure. they come with a security wrench that also happens to be the same size as some other hex screws on your bicycle(i believe it’s 5mm). rather than carry that around separate though, i used a small drill bit and put a hole in my trixie wrench. i love tools that can do more than they were originally designed for.

today also marks the calendar at nine weeks remaining until start. i feel like i need to do more.