…Faster than Last
“Bones heal, pain is temporary, and chicks dig scars…”
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about Jason Kayzar:
Unprofessional Cyclist
Tag: bike
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Every great story needs a demon; an anti-hero. In 2011, ours showed up in full force: flat tires, wrong turns, racing the setting sun with no lights, aching legs, no Plan B, and the kind of grit that only emerges when everything goes sideways. That was the very first Windy 500, it was chaos wrapped…
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Endless miles of rollers, Olympics, bikes, and brothers from another mother. “Mountains should be climbed with as little effort as possible and without desire. The reality of your own nature should determine the speed. If you become restless, speed up. If you become winded, slow down. You climb the mountain in an equilibrium between restlessness…
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“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.” ~ Aristotle Well here we are – Year 13 of this thing we call “the Windy”. After Year One I lost count of how many different riders have participated in one way, shape or form, but I’m guessing that it’s 70+. Most go the full distance, a…
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“The best thing one can do when it’s raining is to let it rain.” – Henry Longfellow I ran into Lex at Colectivo a few weeks ago, and he gently reminded me that this wrap-up has been sitting in my to-do box for way too long. He’s right, but I needed time to think through my…
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Yeah, that just happened. The Windy 500 just became the most spectacular thing ever. And you weren’t there. It was Sofa King awesome, that it may never eclipse itself. Like Leo Sayer singing with Barry Gibb AND Justin Timberlake. Or donut wrapped hot dogs. It was that good. We may as well all put on…
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What turned out to the be the best Windy 500 ever fell short in only one category: mileage. This year’s route left us 4 miles short: 496 miles with an 18mph average speed. In all the years past we were always over, so at this point I’m using my rollover miles to call it an…
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We are nowhere near as cool or sexy as these long-maned Swedish man-whores, but we’re not opposed to letting a Glam Metal staple like Europe explain the Windy 500 v4.0: “We’re leaving together, But still it’s farewell And maybe we’ll come back, To earth, who can tell?” I don’t even know if they speaks the English…
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Here we go… The kinder, gentler version of the Windy rolled out on July 25th and ended up also being the easiest, shortest, best attended and record # of flat tires (20ish?) so far. No 160+ mile days at 20mph this year. Riding through the urban jungle (Racine is beautiful in July…) means riding through…
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164 days until the 2013 edition of the Windy 500 rolls… This year, we’ve added a new twist: those in the know will know. Why should you ride your bike 500 miles in 4 days? Here are 9 reasons:
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Next year’s 2nd Windy 500 will take place from August 3rd to August 6th. 500 miles in 4 days. Nothing but bikes and beers. This year’s adventure left us all with some great stories as well as something to brag to our grand-kids about someday. The goal this year will be to (at least)…
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7,437 miles and counting… In the past 2 calendar years, the longest I’ve been off the bike was 9 days: November 30 to December 8, 2010. Before that, I wasn’t keeping track. I’ve enjoyed every mile – every adventure, every race, every crash, every one of the 316 rides so far. But it’s time for…
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I’m a little edgy today. I set my alarm last night for 4:45am to ride to my first-ever CX practice, and then I forgot to turn the alarm on. No CX practice. Then as I was driving to my office from a meeting, I heard someone discussing the Bike Fed on the radio. I turned…
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AKA – the continuing evolution of a fat dude… Here I am in summer of 2006. Riding an old mountain bike on the road with my other fat old friends – Bob Roll and Greg LeMond. OK, we’re not really friends – just fat. I had taken many years off of the bike, and was…
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Q: “Where are you guys from? A: “Milwaukee” Q: “Where you headed?” A: (depended on what day it was) “Shawano” “Iron Mountain, Michigan” “Shawano” “Milwaukee” Q: “What are you doing this for?” A: “For fun” …long pause… “I can think of a lot more fun things to do than this…” And so it went for…
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I’ve been riding a lot in the dark, snowy mornings lately, so I figured why not show up to the Networking Ride on my single-speed mountain bike? The roads looked a little sketchy, and I wasn’t sure who’d be showing up (if anyone) for the 20-something degree ride yesterday. Thankfully, someone DID show up –…
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Taught SPIN this morning, 13 hill repeats. Ended with this tune – pretty sure it was the only SPIN class in America to do so today, maybe ever: Hell yea!
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Leach and I braved the cold, windy morning to ride our bikes down to the Lake for my inaugural ride of the new year. Took me a few more days than many others, but I finally got one in. It will probably take the rest of the year to get all of the salt off…
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Nowhere near the 500km goal of the Festive 500, but I didn’t plan on it. For me, this was a reminder to get out and ride every day (that I could). A little sloppy this morning, but 40+ degrees was a lot nicer than the 4 degree wind-chill on Tuesday. Had a great time, put…
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24 miles with 3 fellow Spokesmen at 5:45am. 12 degrees, but 4 to 6 degrees with the West wind-chill. Dark and chilly, but a nice pace and great company. Put the single speed through a little workout in the dark to keep things toasty. Helping Peter hit his mileage goal for the year, it was…
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So, today was Day 1 of the Rapha “Festive 500” … I hit the road at 5:45am with a nice sized crew of Spokesmen to get a few miles in. In all honesty, I do not plan to ride 500 kilometers in the next 8 days, but it was a good idea to have rattling…
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If I had a dime for every time I heard that, let’s just say I’d have a lot of dimes. The roads were in relatively good shape yesterday and 4 of us were game for a slightly shortened Networking ride. 20 degrees, sunny and very light winds made for surprisingly good conditions. As we pulled…
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The 3 foot rule is a law in Florida, but someone forgot to tell all of the motorists here. Man, I thought the rednecks in pickups were bad in Wisconsin. The fact is, 99.999% of motorists I encounter in WI are cyclist friendly, sometimes too much so. Like when you’re attempting a track stand at…
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About 17 or so riders braved the chilly November weather… no wait, that was last year. Today, about 17 riders enjoyed the beautiful mid-60 degree afternoon in November on a 36 mile ride through Lake Country, West of Pewaukee. Awesome day, awesome weather and a great group of riders who were comfortable riding in a…
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A slow leak in my rear tire this morning along with a glance at the rain outside at 5:00am convinced me to skip the outdoor ride and head to the WAC to ride the SPIN bike. LAME. I don’t mind riding inside once in a while in crappy weather, in fact I teach SPIN every…
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It’s a sickness. If this doesn’t motivate you, nothing can… http://bicycledreamsmovie.com/ (Thanks Nate Andrews for the link)
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293rd day of the year, I have 148 rides in so far An average of 1 ride every other day since January 1. Taking a week off, then back at it. Or maybe I’ll sneak out to the trails on Saturday…
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“All Weather is Good Weather” If you have ever been on a group ride or some charity ride in Southeastern Wisconsin, you’ve probably seen one of these jerseys: The Spokesmen are a loosely organized group of riders from (wait for it…) Wauwatosa who get together just about every day, 365 days a year, to ride…
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If you like riding your bike in 66 degree sunny weather, this was the ride for you. About 16 (?) riders started, but we lost one early on to a broken spoke. Those with intact wheels enjoyed about a 36 mile stroll through Lake Country, probably within a week of peak Fall colors. Just a…
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A very long weekend. Went to Jeff Littmann’s service on Saturday, and skipped the last WORS race to take part in the Littmann Loop memorial ride on Sunday. I rode to the ride from my house, and I was a little overwhelmed by emotion on the way there. The church service the day before was…
...Faster than Last 