Compass and Camera

Spent a lovely day trying to locate the Griswold family and came up quite successful.  After pouring over microfilm from the early 19th century - where vicars carefully recorded the births, marriages and deaths, we were able to piece together things to about 1793 which was pretty incredible.  The 1851 and 1841 census was quite helpful. Tomorrow we'll head to Little Horwood to see the church where they baptized the kids, several who will eventually end up in Ogle County Illinois.  We ended the day in Oxford and had dinner at The Bear pub near the university.  Some pints of Fullers and fish & chips for our Thanksgiving Day dinner.  I will post pictures along with yesterday's trip to the Tower of London and St Paul's as soon as I can.  Sorry for the delay on that. As ever, Kevin

The overnight flight to London was quite unremarkable. I slept for a large part of the flight and woke for breakfast.  After clearing customs, we waited for my parents to arrive on the AA flight.  We had arranged several fall-back plans in the case we could not find one another, but soon they emerged from customs and we took a cab to Cartref House.  Jack the dog greeted us warmly and we settled in.  Our only plan of the day was heading to Westminster Abbey for Evensong.  This is one of my favorite things to do.  Hearing the choir sing the service just steps from where nearly every monarch in English history has been crowned is just amazing.  After service, we headed to the Jugged Hare for dinner - appropriately, Hare Pie, chunks of juicy rabbit in puff pastry.  Finally, quite tired, we dropped Mom & Dad at the B&B then headed to the St. George for a final pint before bed.  Today will bring the Tower of London, St. Paul's, and at leas...

A few days have passed since my last update. Time to suck it up and write up Saturday's Fat Tire Festival . I woke at 5:50 AM with the alarm, nervous, but excited. I had readied my gear so that I wouldn't have to think ahead of our 7AM departure for Hayward. I ate a small breakfast, some Golden Grahams, a bit of coffee, some Cytomax, and a Clif Bar. I paced around, double checked my gear, my Camelback – my water supply and backpack that would hold my tube, tools, patches, and my nutrition: 5 Hammer Gels, a Clif Bar, some Gu Chomps for electrolytes and a packet of Gu drink powder in case things really went awry. My Jamis Dakota hard-tail was already tweaked and ready. Lee, John and I headed over to the cabin that Steve, Bob, Jim and Chris Hammer were sharing. They were readying their bikes and I snuck a piece of bacon off the pan, hoping nobody noticed. Bob loaded up with us as the others were grabbing road bikes for their warm-up. I'd planned on doing a road r...

I can't even begin to describe this. John and Kim got the tandem fixed and we saw bob and Kristina and the half acre gang. Wow.

I never liked bananas but will eat them racing for the potassium. Just sat on it. Wondered what was wet in my cargo shorts pocket. Oops. It is good. I am ready to get this baby rolling. +++ Kevin Butler

Had a nervous breakfast and now we are loading bikes. I know I will settle on once we get going but right now I feel the stomach flopping on some bacon. +++ Kevin Butler

Rode 20 miles. The last 10 miles of the course. It is going to be hard. Very very hard.

Hi Gang, What a perfectly lazy morning in Lake Owen. I woke about 8 AM after a wonderful 8.5 hours of sleep, comforted by the fresh air of the North Woods. Breakfast was yogurt, Golden Grahams and cinnamon donuts! Lee was up and so we just hung out enjoying a very lazy Friday morning, with no ability to receive calls and so "work". Not having cell coverage is a pretty wonderful thing. Today's plan is a 10:30ish ride, hopefully taking in the last 8 miles of the race course. It will be nice to preview the suffering that tomorrow will bring me. At least I'll know how bad it is going to hurt on a fresh legs! The sun is out here at Lake Owen. I'd say temps in the low 70's with a pleasant breeze. The air smells of wood and water and the thing is, save the breeze and the birds, there is no sound of modern urban life. It is fabulous. Last night outside is was utterly dark save a million stars I can't see at home. After 3 days hopefully C...

> We made it to Lake Owen. Now we're hanging out tearing bikes apart > with beers and Chris' electronica. There's an air compressor running > of all things. Pretty good night. We have no cell coverage but some > wifi so life is pretty good. Saw Mahr's tandem. Never seen the > front wheel tabs ground off a fork before. 70 mph off a roof rack > just isn't good. He's hoping for a new fork tomorrow and Chris is > going to try and true up the wheel. Hopefully this will come > together. Otherwise dinner was some pizza and Leinenkugels in > Hayward. >

Chris and I are underway and now in Wisconsin. Amazing how much gear two guys can take for a four day weekend. Leaves are starting to turn so we will see what the north woods bring. John M had his roof rack come off his truck last night. What a crummy way to kick off the weekend. Hoping he can get things fixed in time.

The March 1986 issue of Bicycling Magazine featured an article by Stuart Stevens titled "Don't it make you want to shout 'Mama!" That was my first taste of the Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival in Telemark Wisconsin. 23 years ago I was a small town kid bombing around gravel farm roads with my brother Stephen, dreaming of being anywhere but there. Each climb brought us dreams of Alpe d'Huez, each rutted muddy Spring road took us to Flanders or the cobbles of Northern France. Our bikes were our dreams, our freedom, and all these later, we still ride and race together, the gravel dust our bond. I still have that issue of Bicycling. I still have all of those old issues from my youth and a Bike Nashbar catalog from when it was mostly newsprint with sketches of the parts. I received my postcard in the mail letting me know I was in for the 2009 edition of the Fat Tire Festival. As I began packing my gear, I pulled out that issue of Bicycling and fondly re-read it. ...

Hi Gang, I have been lazy post-crash and Summer has been slipping away. Just because the race updates have not been posted, does not mean that I lost all of my courage and quit racing. I had originally planned on making my comeback at Sherman Park, a great crit a few weeks after Monsters. With rain pouring down, I played the role of DS, mechanic, photographer and general personal assistant for Stephen, who went out and gave a terrific ride, finishing about 8th in soaking wet yellow & blue. My comeback was a return to an old venue, Cobb Park in Kankakee. I remember racing here 15 years ago and the result was the same … the dreaded 3 letters all riders fear D N F. Ugh. Stephen and I headed down with Kim with the hopes of putting in a good ride in fairly hot weather at the SCW-run crit. My warmup felt ok and I was optimistic that I might be ok. All of us have hit the deck at some point in our racing careers. We know the risks involved in threading a bike around a tight course at bette...

I love the Monsters of the Midway crit that University of Chicago's cycling team hosts each year. For me, 15 years ago now, it was the first Cat IV crit I finished after I got my upgrade and I love the history of the course, racing up and down the Midway Plaisance , home to the fabulous amuesements of the Columbian Exposition 116 years ago. This is one of my favorite crits every year and despite the tight turns, I've escaped unscathed, each year. In fact, in 15 years of racing, I've only wrecked twice, both with little damage to my body. Yesterday, my luck ran out. About 100 riders lined up to contest the Cat IV race. Stephen and I rolled to the line after getting talked through the course by Ed from Tower Racing. It was good to know where the trouble spots would be. Also in the yellow & blue of Wheel Fast Racing was Cully, newly a Cat IV. We quickly moved up as we rolled out. We charged through the turns and then with a good headwind, battled the half mile tri...

After just having been in Belgium last month, I can say with certainty that Flatlandia's Leland Kermesse lived up to its goal. The rural course proved surprisingly similar to Flander's fields and the creek cuts bore a startling resemblance to the old trenches of the First World War. It was also relentlessly windy, with rain, and a sector of gravel. It was incredible. I met up with my brother Stephen and after check-in we warmed up for a bit on the trainers. The wind was blowing steady at about 20 mph and the skies were heavy. It had the promise of an epic day in the saddle, and strangely we welcomed it. Somewhere between 20 and 30 Cat IV's departed for a neutral roll-out with another good group of Cat V's behind. After we hit the S/F it was time to race and a rider in a burnt-orange jersey attacked. In a heavy crosswind it was suicide to imagine going 40 miles solo, but he gave it a go. Stephen and I sat in as the field rolled at 18 mph. I could do this all da...

From Bruges 2009 I know I'm not in college any longer, and even still I only had one great Spring Break (1992 in Ireland), but it is always nice to get a way for a week after a long winter. 2008/9 was a really long winter. We planned the trip in the cold of Door County at the Whistling Swan and after not settling on a warm destination, chose Amsterdam as it was easy to get to via United and decided to visit Bruges Belgium, too. I'll include 3 albums to browse of Bruges, Flanders and Amsterdam. Favorites were the Flanders Fields tour and Cambrinus where they had 400 beers of which we made it through 20. It was great to see new places and drink new beer! Photos Bruges Flanders Fields Amsterdam I do enjoy Heineken more now after touring their brewery and having a great experience! The Van Gogh museum was fascinating in its special exhibit of Starry Night and the artistic journey that led to that painting. We did visit the Anne Frank house, though I've not read the b...

With the Spring kick-off of racing on Sunday, Chris, Stephen, Trevor, John Mahr and I rode on Saturday on the frontage roads. None of us had functioning computers, but we spent a couple hours outside remembering how to draft and turn and generally just having a good time on our bikes on a great spring day. I'd guess we turned in somewhere between 25 and 30 miles just based on time, but who knows? who really cares? So on we go to Wisconsin .... It was a great day for racing. Only about 30 or so guys in this ABR race , though, which was weird. I don't recall seeing a USA Cycling event, but I never get those emails after having had a license for 15 years. Wheel Fast Racing had 5 guys flying the yellow & blue: perennial WFR stalwarts Chris Hammer & John Mahr, Stephen Butler back after 2 years away from the sport, WFR newcomer Derek Held, and your reporter, Kevin. The course was an industrial park just east of the Culvers in Pleasant Prairie Wisconsin, a new venue fo...