Tour of Wisconsin 2011

post in the works

Bird Attack!!

Attack twice by birds tonight. Twice!!
I was out for a ride along the fox river after dinner tonight.  It was real hot and humid so no one is out, heading to by LBS (local bike shop) to pick up the recumbent and drop off the LHT for some brake work before the tour. 
And out of nowhere, in a tight twisty section of the trail where what I felt was like a hand grabbing my head.  I knew it was a bird but WTH.   And of all things I had forgotten my helmet so it was in my hair.  Just Creepy! 
So on the way back, on the recumbent, I made the decision to pedal as fast as possible thru that section.... just in case.  Dive bombed again!! and I saw it out the corner of my eye this time.  A Blackbird attacking the back of my head!!  Just plain creepy to have that thing in your hair.

Yet another reason to always have a helmet on. 

The Tour of Wisconsin is coming...soon!

Less than a month away from the big week long Tour of Wisconsin.  From Freeport up to Monroe west thru Darlington and Mineral Point, North to Dodgeville to Blue Mound State Park, thru Madison to New Glarus and back to Freeport.  The route looks like a big lollipop but its not for suckers.  Its going to be hilly and a epic adventure. 
Final bits of gear to be purchased and training to amp up.
Can't wait!!

UltraLight Baitcaster Set-Up

IMG_1288, a photo by cklineUHC on Flickr.

This is a great set-up for bobber fishing, off a boat or pier.  No way you can cast a lure though, which is a huge downer but at an $8 price point it is a cool option for a certain type of fishing.  I have it strung with 2# mono at 100meters which is a shocking amount of line for this reel.  Next thing to change it that I am going to increase test line to 4 or 6 and much less.  Perfect for my trout -slip bobber set-up.

Utlra light maybe not ultra right (yet)

photo, a photo by cklineUHC on Flickr.

First time out on the water with the new ultralight fly rod set-up. I had a old 5wt line at home so I strung the reel with that. There are a few things wrong. The rod line guides are very small and a knot to connect the fly line to the backing can even go thru the largest guides. And the other thing is also a big deal, you can't get more then 15ft of fly line on the reel. So I must drop the line wt to a 1 or zero if I can find it.
The rod is a little difficult to cast but after a while I found that a roll cast and then a cast like I was casting into the wind work, but only up to 15 ft.

New Ultralight Fly-Fishing set-up

Here is my new ultra light weight fly fishing set-up.  The reel and rod were $18 !!

Total weight of the kit including reel, rod that opens to 36", nippers, and flys is less then 7 oz.  This is the new ultimate bike touring set-up.

9:ZERO:7

9:ZERO:7
Originally uploaded by cklineuhc

9:ZERO:7 Fat Tire

9:ZERO:7 Fat Tire
Originally uploaded by cklineuhc

First Ride out with the 9:ZERO:7 !!!

Snow Bike is Done!!!!!

The 9:ZERO:7 is ready and going to be picked up today!!!!!!!

YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Snow bike

Snow bike
Originally uploaded by cklineuhc

9:ZERO:7 is the stand getting all ready to be finished