Iceman 2010

We made it! Shelby & I completed the 2010 Iceman together! It was 20 Degrees when we left and muddy when we finished. A huge thank you to Mellisa & Paul for helping get Shelby properly outfitted with gear. Bikes seem to have been crashing all around us including one tandem that passed us and not 500ft further up we passed them off the trail in a wreck. The ice was particularly unnerving for me and Shelby was not a big fan of the downhills. At the end Shelby was saying "come on Dad, we can do it, let's not walk up this hill". She is an amazing young Lady and inspiring to me. It was very challenging both mentally and physically and to experience it with my Daughter was truly a blessing. Got to hang out with my buddy John and we were 3 for 3 on the food stops on the trip. Riverfront for a burger in Glen Arbor Friday. Tim was kind enough to let us eat in a closed section of the restaurant as they are carry out only that time of year. It was John's first Riverfront burger and not his last I suspect. Went to Cherry Street Market in Kalkaska for fresh made to order Deli sandwiches and fixings after the race Saturday. If you haven't tried it you need to. We topped it off with breakfast Sunday at the Omelette Shoppe in TC. no chain food the whole weekend, YEA. Back to the race: The other racers were SO encouraging to us. Almost everyone that passed shared words of encouragement. On one hill a rider pushed us that last little bit, that was so cool! We went to the party at the school house again and enjoyed the great food put on by the Jeff and Christina. Shelby love the soup! Can't wait till next year whatever that may bring! Here is a link to the GPS of our race - dave

YTD Miles Update

Behind last years pace at this point for sure but enjoying the season

Progress Summary Report for dfsmith2

Count:	89 Activities
Distance:	1,764.90 mi
Time:	129:03:25 h:m:s
Elevation Gain:	64,245 ft
Avg Speed:	13.7 mph
Avg HR:	127 bpm
Avg Run Cadence:	--
Avg Bike Cadence:	--
Calories:	114,905 C

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Leelanau County Rides Update

Hey Everyone - Just got back into town from up north and could not wait to download the GPS data from the rides. Picture at left is Shelby & I at one of the look outs on the Scenic drive. Biking featured a pretty big role in our recent family vacation both for me and for Shelby & I. It was worth hauling both the tri-cross and the tandem up their. The roads are fantastic up in Leelanau County and the scenery is world class. I did various routes from the condo in an around M22. Shelby & I hit the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive in the National Park, this is a must ride ladies and gentleman. Below are the GPS posts, I hope we can organize a ride up here sometime where all us gear heads can pound out some miles in the most beautiful area in the state, in my opinion. See you after Kenya! - Dave

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/43296130

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/43296131

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/43296133

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/43296135

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First tandem trail ride GPS

We did a partial marathon loop @ stony riding from home via Bear Creek. It's taking some getting used to having a gears and front suspension with no lock out. We had a blast



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The Man Cave - Makeover

Much thanks to John S. We did a bunch of Man Cave maintenance last night. Got the bikes organized. Notice the empty spot for the tricross. You can see the attention to detail with the bike stand neatly tucked under the shelf, you can't see it in the picture but there are 2 Opps holes 2" above the current hook locations. The hooks are even color coated, fun time!

Thanks John, your the Ty Pennington of garage extreme makeovers!


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Ride Report - First BTT ride on the Tandem

Shelby & I got our first ride under our belts last Saturday. Picture at left of Shelby enjoying a snack along the Detroit River. Click here for the GPS loop. It was another magical BTT ride. I was a little off my game as it was the maiden voyage for loading the tandem that early in the morning. I've gotten automatic loading the tri-cross, the tandem is really a 2 person load regardless of what the rack advertising says. The roof mounted Yakama was still not optimally setup and the cross bars were too close. This bike weighs 46 lbs and its 8ft long. I was not super confidant that it was going to stay attached at the 9 mile curve on I-75 as we heading downtown. We picked up John S on the way down and we took turns looking out the sunroof to make sure our sail was still attached. We made it to fort wayne with no issues.

Shelby & I loaded up and made a few last minute adjustments. Thru Axel in place we were ready to go. We quickly realized that this thing will move and hit 32 mpg heading towards the train depot. Cobo roof was fun and got the heart rate up fast. Belle Isle was a blast and everyone seemed comfortable tucking in behind the giant sail for a rest. The gold cup hydroplane races were in town and they were practicing as we circled the Isle. The weather was amazing and Los Galanes came through as usual. All in all a great time. Looking forward to getting out on the trails and figuring this thing out some more. This bike is one that really needs a name. We are looking for suggestions on what to name her.

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New Tandem Arrived today

Well expectantly the tandem arrived today safe and sound. Much thanks to Alex at www.mtbtandems.com for his help in putting this together. You can tell it was assembled with care and thoughtfulness.

I ended up putting together the roof rack in the rain (not a fast process) but finally got it on the roof and bike attached. More pictures here.

By the time I picked up Lauren did a food stop and got home, installed pedals our test ride did not happen till 10:30 ish in the dark. We cruised around the sub and the bike felt great, very smooth, didn't feel all of it's 46 lbs. I think the 29er is going to be very helpful in this application. Shelby navigated the clip ins for the first time without a hitch. Were excited to do BTT this weekend and looking forward to some trail riding this weekend and maybe a ride into DQ via the trail. Thanks to Zack, Ryan & the team @ KLM Bike and Fitness for allowing me to ship this direct to them and doing the shipping assembly for us, you guys ROCK.

Were excited to have some fun together on our new rig. Planning on Iceman and Tree Farm Relay so far.

dave


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