How to Survive 75 Miles, Or the Miller Lite Ride 2010

Cross-posted from Daily Mile/Facebook/Twitter:

My body hates me right now. I can't post much as I am possibly going to keel over at any moment. But I have to just give a huge THANK YOU to everyone who donated money to my ride (over $1500 raised) or even just gave me encouragement in person, on Twitter or on Facebook. My friends and family totally rule. Honestly, there were some re...ally hard moments today. This is the longest I've ever cycled in my LIFE. But the thought of all the people that believed in me kept me focused and motivated. I have to thank add a special shout out to the #fitmke crew without whom there's NO WAY I could've done this. Without you guys I would not be MUCH lighter than last year, when 50 miles was the maximum I could push. I would not be in the best physical shape of my life without having connected with all of you. I have to thank my FUEL Milwaukee team this year: Maggie, Randy, Robin, Gary, Jeff & Lynn. And especially the latter two who waited at the finish line to cheer me on as I crossed. I may feel beat physically, but I'm just so grateful for the support and encouragement I want to give the world a hug. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

It took five and half hours.

Also, with running mixed in, my Daily Mile summary for the week is 89 MILES. You don't even know how incredible this is for me. I don't think I've ever done anything that physical in my LIFE.

Mileage Monday

I'm using Mondays to keep you all posted on how my training is going. I'll be reposting some stuff from Daily Mile so if you follow me there, you can probably skip these posts.

As I mentioned last week, I'm trying to really intently train for the ride this year, so no skimping on workouts. Here's two of my biggest accomplishments from last week:

Sunday - 54.1 miles (biking) - Well I didn't really mean to end up in Cedarburg...

Picked up my road bike yesterday and had planned to take it for a 25 mile spin today. I was especially nervous as I got pedal clips for the first time and am terrified of falling. The guy at the shop yesterday said to take 2-3 days to get used to them, but that wasn't going to jive with my schedule. I practiced quite a bit in Juneau Park, going from tree to tree yesterday, and felt fairly confident when I started this morning.

To my surprise, I think I have the move down! And wow, it really does make a difference in your ride.

I was also a little nervous going back out there after so many months of running and just casually biking. But really, this was like going back to an old friend. We picked right back up again where we left off. And this time I had the strength to keep pushing and explore whole new territory.

My goal last year was to find the Interurban Trail, and today I finally did. I couldn't stop then and pushed myself about 11 miles up it until I hit downtown Grafton and thought that I should probably turn around and head back (all I was running on was a strawberry rhubarb muffin). The weather, the sights, the smells, they all were just too nice to NOT be out there all day.

Honestly, one of my favorite parts of biking is watching the scenery change. On nice days, I love watching people in different areas of the region take it all in. I especially love that the people in the poorest neighborhoods always seem to be having the most fun and enjoying life, while in the richest area there's nary a soul to be seen. I love watching the cultural shifts from perfectly coiffed white children playing soccer on their manicured facility in Cedarburg to Latino families playing a pickup game of the same sport in a Milwaukee County Park to African-American kids playing hoops on school court in Riverwest. Just getting to be a silent passerby whizzing through the socioeconomic fabric of Milwaukee, well it's one of the coolest parts of being on two wheels.

That and the very cool part of the ominous clouds holding off for my entire ride. I look forward to my next adventure!

Saturday - Rock N Run - Mile Pace of 8:53

Not my best run mentally, even though I did fine physically. Really confusing set up and apparently the organizers were unaware of the lacrosse game going on at Hart Park, so the whole route had to be changed and we lost .7 of the 3k. It was hot, I have blisters and my allergies were in full effect. At least I had a group of great friends to go with and we had a super fun day afterward. Plus the proceeds all went to United Way & UPAF.

Total mileage for last week: 60.04
Total workouts: 6

You can continue to push me by clicking the link to donate online here.

Or make me hustle more and attend this event on Friday, May 7, 2010 • 5:30 PM to 9 PM - Guest Bartending for the Arts @ AJ Bombers

It's On: $38/day in 38 Days

The recent failed (for now) battle for transit may have distracted me, but never fail, even though I'm disheartened, I can't eschew my fundraising committment to the Miller Lite Ride for the Arts. While transit is a passion, so is biking and the arts, and funding for them is important to this community as well.

Time has flown though, and today I realized that there's just 38 days left until the big ride and I need to ramp up both my fundraising and my physical training.

In case you forgot, you can donate online here.

I'm still a huge believer in quantity over quality for fundraising because I think that everyone should feel good about donating, even if it's just $5. Of course, I'll be creatively adding incentives to entice those larger donations over the next 38 days.

So here's what's on the horizon:

FUN-draising Events & Challenges

Friday, May 7, 2010 • 5:30 PM to 9 PM
Guest Bartending for the Arts @ AJ Bombers
Belly up to the bar during happy hour and get served by yours truly. Make me earn my tips toward the United Performing Arts Fund. The universe has actually conspired to make this a truly awesome night. Here's three reasons why the night will rock:

1.  AJ Bombers will be visited by the film crew of Food Wars on the Travel Channel next week. They probably won't be there while I am, but the aura of basic cable fame will still be lingering.
2. My dear old dad will be flying in from Portland for the occasion (well actually he was just going to be in the neighborhood for work, so he'll be stopping by).
3. The Milwaukee County Transit System kicks off its 150th Anniversary Celebration that day with free rides on the Route 15...which...you guessed it...goes right by AJ Bombers!

Week of May 16
Kisses for the Arts - More info coming soon, but the plan is for every $1 I get this week I will either eat a Hershey's Kiss (will be working them off in training) or kiss the donor. This could get interesting. Mark your calendars kiddos.

Week of May 23
To Be Announced - I'm "cooking" up a pretty cool idea on Twitter. I'll keep you posted as to what develops.

Week of May 30
Rocking for the Arts - Need to flesh this out, but Verge Music Festival is that weekend, so there will be some sort of challenge!

Training Plans:
I'm going to ramp up some intensive cross-training so my body will be ready to take on these 75 miles. I'm also doing both the Rock N' Run (Proceeds going to UPAF) and the Block Melanoma 5k before the ride as well. I am going to start the Bridge to 10k running program and get a lengthy bike training ride in every weekend between now and the ride.

Care to join me on a training ride? Mark your calendars for May 2 (25 miles), May 9 (35 miles), May 15 (45 miles), May 22 (55 miles) or (possibly) May 29 (65 miles).

Sound like fun? Keep watching the blog for more updates. And don't forget, you can donate online here.

milwaukee props: milwaukee a top biking city!

OnMilwaukee.com reported today that our very own Milwaukee was ranked in the top 25 bike-friendly cities by Bicycling magazine.

This warms my heart on this dreary day (of course my perma-gray hometown of Portland is #2 on the list), as it shows that there really is a growing biking community out there on the roads of Milwaukee.

It also has inspired me to BYOB (bring your own bike) to the FUEL Milwaukee Healthy & Green Team's meet up tomorrow at the Urban Ecology Center. We're going to learn about this great sustainability-focused non-profit, which is one of the many puzzle pieces to getting people active and biking in the community.

And as always, don't forget I've begun my fundraising quest for the Miller Lite Ride for the Arts. Want to get a headstart on supporting me? You can do so by donating online here.

girl on film: gay politicians, not really gay hipsters, and korean serial killers

Day three of the Milwaukee Film Festival for me, and day two of my movie viewing experience.

After a shift of theatre managing at the Oriental Theatre, I caught the documentary Outrage, which I've been looking forward to for quite some time. The film focuses on hypocritical closeted politicians and the reason gay media outlets publicly out them. It thoughtfully explored the reasons politicians are and/or have been closeted (kudos to the "out" politicians who shared very personal stories in the film). It painted many of these politicians not just as despicable, but really, people who should be pitied for not being able to truly be their real selves. It expressed hope though that this may not be a problem as younger generations accept the LGBT community as part of the general community.

I ended up bailing on my fellow FUEL leaders for the Kings of Leon concert in favor of a much needed nap and the desire to catch the much-hyped Humpday instead. As I "status messaged" earlier, by age 29 I should've known I'd pick an indie film over a mainstream concert, and I should've saved my $25.

Definitely glad I caught Humpday. It was pretty darn hilarious, in that mumblecore Gen-Yish kinda way. At the same time, it quite genuinely portrayed relationships of best friends and (what I imagine) married couples. To sum it up, this movie's alternate title could have been "Zack & Marty Make a Porno" -- about two best friends (this time of the same gender) who consider making an adult film. Hilarity and self-reflection ensues. I also got my share of beard (thanks to actor Joshua Leonard) in this movie, since I'll be missing Built to Spill at Turner Hall tomorrow night. I had to giggle at the fact that the protaganist in the film was a transit planner because I can't imagine anyone that hipster-y attractive and adorably angsty working in my office. Perhaps I need to transfer to Seattle. I was glad to see this after Outrage, because films like this give me hope that the more open society is about issues of sexuality (and not treating sexual feelings like they're dirty, disgusting things to repress and NEVER, EVER, EVER share with ANYONE), the better we all will be toward addressing the real issues in this world (aren't things like climate change, terrorism, collapse of global economic systems just a WEE bit more important than gay marriage? Just a wee?).

I ended up meeting up with my old pal Howard via Twitter, as well as his friend Tonia, for the midnight movie. The Chaser was probably the best serial killer thriller I've seen since Silence of the Lambs. It was funny, it was touching, it was violent, it was gutwrenching, it was DRAINING. But, whoa. I don't know if I could ever watch it again, but I would highly recommend it. I really hope they don't bastardize it if Hollywood remakes it for the American market. After all, the glory of indie and foreign films is you just KNOW they're not going to end well. No matter how much they tease you that it might.

Unfortunately, on the bike ride home, I encountered something that is much more sinister than Korean serial killers -- American drunk driving culture. Of course it also didn't help that some drunk idiot stole the front light off my bike (there goes another $12 down the drain). I had two assholes speed by me (one had to be going over 90 mph down Farwell Avenue, which I believe is a 30 zone), but the scariest of all was this shithead that lurched through a red light at Farwell/Brady/Cambridge nearly taking me and a pedestrian out in the process. Thank God my primordial scream (it's amazing what vocal capacity you have as headlights move directly toward your side) stopped the guy enough for him to slow down, swerve around me and yell "BITCH!" Of course, instead of getting his license plate like a sane person, I spouted off a string of obscenities that would make a sailor blush as he sped away. The pedestrian was like "YES! Thank you!", but as soon as I'd pedaled into safety I burst into sobs.

In some aspects I guess I can thank these drunk idiots -- the adrenaline gave me enough energy to write this blog entry. Off to bed before a full slate of flicks tomorrow.

45% there for the Performing Arts!

First, I'd like to thank everyone who has donated so far to my Milller Lite Ride for the Arts personal fundraising campaign.

Kudos to:

• Mom
  
• Rachael J.
  
• Heather C.
  
• Michael C.
• Becky L.
  
• Jason L.
• Yesh P.
• Kristen G.
• Brooke B. & Craig F.
• Sarah S.
  
• Nicole E.
  
• @Bananza - seriously this is a Twitter friend who felt compelled to give $5! She rules!
• Grandma!
• My grandma's friend, Ardene, in Tacoma who thought this was such a cool thing that she sent me a check for UPAF for $35!
  
• Monica D.
• Greg & Angela Q.
• Julie B.
• Jackie V.
• Timmi C.
  
• Chris M.
• Kaycee W.
• Paul C.

Whether its been $5 or $50, you are making a difference. I'm so blessed to know you guys from literally SO MANY areas of my life.

I also want to thank the folks over at Spreenkler, who are putting the TweetUp funds from last month toward the ride.

BUT there's still lots of work to be done! My goal is $1,000 and I have $555 to go in 23 days. Crunch time to find $25/day. Or 55 people to give just $10 each.

A few weeks ago I shared why I'm riding. Tonight, I thought I'd share the following from the United Performing Arts Fund on where your pledge will go:

The Many Reasons to Pledge

• $25 will provide a classroom with either a pre-show or post-show workshop through First Stage Children's Theater.
• $75 will provide a classroom with both a pre-show or post-show workshop through First Stage Children's Theater.
• $85 allows one student to participate in the Mad Hot Ballroom program with Danceworks.
• $115 allows one student to be part of the Classroom Connections Program with First Stage Children's Theater. This program instructs teachers on how to use drama as a teaching tool.
• $120 provides a classroom with a core theater workshop. In these one-hour workshops First Stage teaching artists work with teachers to design a workshop based on current curriculum being studied.
• $120 provides up to 8 lessons to a motivated but financially needy student through Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra (MYSO).
• $120 provides 24 students the chance to attend The King Who Danced. This is a Milwaukee Ballet in-school assembly program starring the entire class of Milwaukee Ballet II dancers. It tells the history of ballet from King Louis XIV through to today's Milwaukee Ballet.
• $150 allows ten students to attend a Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestrain-school ensemble. One of the most positive and unique corollary benefits to this program is for students to have opportunities to see and hear their peers as role models, with additional opportunities for peer mentoring.
• $250 provides a classroom with a Teaching Through Theater (T3) workshop at First Stage Children's Theater. These innovative week-long workshops utilize dramatic techniques in the classroom to teach lessons throughout existing curricula.
• $250 helps put a violin of the proper size in the hands of a beginning student in Progressions, through Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra (MYSO).
• $500 sponsors two classrooms in a City of Milwaukee school to participate in all aspects of the Connections Program through First Stage Children's Theater.
• $500 pays for The King Who Danced at a school assembly presented by the Milwaukee Ballet.
• $500 allows an ensemble of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra to visit a classroom.

Remember, you can donate online very easily at https://www.firstgiving.com/mcarnold

thankful tuesdays: hitting goals

A quick thanks to all that have donated so far to my Milller Lite Ride campaign.

I know times are hard, but every $5 or $10 helps.

You can donate at https://www.firstgiving.com/mcarnold

thankful tuesdays: time to breathe

Honestly tonight I'm just thankful that I could come home from work, take my new baby out for a ride (and have a friend I could call to check out my stuck gears), go to the grocery store (FINALLY), make a delicious dinner of pan-seared tilapia coated in Spice House Moroccan Spice over a bed of mixed veggies and orzo, and then prepare a batch of soup to cook in the Crock Pot overnight.

I also exercised my right to vote. That ruled.

Oh and in the meantime jam out to a bunch of new (to me) songs on my iPod thanks to Brooke and Craig on my bike ride. And jam out to WMSE during my kitchen fest.

sunday catch up: because my mom told me too

I'm completely exhausted but I got an email from my mom giving me crap about not blogging lately. Excuse me for having a life.

There are actually a TON of issues I want to write about, but I haven't had a freaking ounce of time.

This weekend was packed from start to finish. Began it at 5:15 p.m. on Friday meeting Becky and Maribeth at Lakefront Brewery for the tour and FINALLY a proper fish fry. Had to cut out to bike over to Turner Hall Ballroom to catch the Los Campesinos! show. SO worth the two years I've been waiting to see this band. I was a bit disappointed there weren't more folks there, but the band seemed to still brink the energy to their infectious, joyous indie rock. The encore involved the lead singer and two guitarists jumping into the crowd. Total awesomeness. Flying solo at the show, I indulged in a couple Fatty Boombalatty bottles. I somehow thought it was a good idea to stop at Buckley's for one more afterward. Gotta love the neighborhood bar.

On Saturday I somehow managed to wake up, head spinning, and head out to State Fair Park by 9 a.m. for the Wheel & Sprocket Bike Expo. Luckily I was "car-sitting" for Larissa this weekend, and cheated a bit and drove--instead of biking or busing out there with the oncoming hangover. Why so early? I'd signed up to volunteer with the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin. I was really impressed that as a member I got this cool opportunity to volunteer, get a free t-shirt, and a coupon for the expo (which I totally just realized I forgot to use -- d'oh!). But the volunteer opportunity did make me more familiar with the organization I just joined and even more excited about the bike community in this state. [Shameless plug: Don't forget about my upcoming 50 mile ride...please sponsor me here!]

After 3 hours of greeting people at the entrance and handing out Bike Fed flyers, it was time to shop. I've been contemplating getting a road bike for awhile, and well, just looking, okay well testing, wouldn't hurt....
Meet the new member of my family!! Isn't she a beaut?

We took an 11-mile spin yesterday, despite my desperate need for a nap. Rode to Whitefish Bay on the Oak Leaf Trail and back. All in about 50 minutes, with commercial interruptions (phone calls, passing up running friends). My sexy new bike is FREAKING FAST!

Following the bike ride, I had to head out to Waukesha to celebrate my friend Maggie's birthday retro-style at Skateland. Skateland may be as retro looking as can be (grainy cell phone pics may or may not be posted soon), but unfortunately they play modern pop music (I guess in the '80s they were playing modern pop music too, weird realization). One of my friends brought some "liquid enhancement" with her, so we invented the "Slushibu," which consists of Blue Slushie and, well, guess. The highlight of the adventure was requesting a shoutout to Maggie, complete with Tiffany's "I Think We're Alone Now." A full recap will hopefully come this week. Trust me, after initial apprehension, it was an amazing experience.

I got back downtown in time to meet the March Madness gang at Hooligan's to not watch the rest of UNC's annihilation of Villanova.

Was in bed before midnight and it was nice to wake up refreshed and unhungover, although terribly sore from my ride and skating. Copped out on the stalled Milwaukee Challenge: Church Edition and just hopped over to the Cathedral for Palm Sunday Mass. I mean, what's the point of having a church across the street if you can't roll out of bed and into your Holy Day of Obligation?

After Mass, I packed up my laundry and headed to the 'mat. Sheets, towels and comforters succesfully cleaned. Grabbed cheese for the evening at Beans & Barley and a bagel and Minty Green tea for sustenance at Alterra on Prospect (didn't realize they didn't have a full menu).

Laundry complete I jotted down to Brooke & Craig's to join Becky for a music geeking/dinner party/rock band awesomeness get-together. I have a cold/allergy thing going on, so I rocked R.E.M., Oasis and Nirvana fairly well.

Hope mom and any other fans of The Accidental Wisconsinite are now satiated. Good night!

call to action: miller lite ride for the arts

If you know me, you know I love my bicycle. Once I made the conscious decision to not have a car, my bicycle became one of my best friends. Every spring, as the snow begins to melt I start daydreaming of peddling aimlessly for hours on a sunny day through Milwaukee's beautiful parks and bike trails. I even rode late into the season this year, participating in one of the most fun bike events of my life.

Why such growing enthusiasm for pedal pushing?

Last June I did something I doubted I would be able to do so early in the season: I rode 50 miles for the Miller Lite Ride for the Arts. Some people say that their butt hurts just thinking about doing that -- luckily I have padded shorts. Why did I "torture" myself before a full summer of riding? Because living in Wisconsin I can only bike part of the year, but I can enjoy the performing arts year 'round thanks to the generosity of the United Performing Arts Fund.

I am a proud season ticket holder for the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and I try to catch a Milwaukee Rep production at least one or two times a year. I am always open to checking out any performance around town by the many innovative arts groups UPAF funds.

As an adult I enjoy the performing arts, but I would not have this love for them if it had not been instilled in me as a child. Granted I came from an art-friendly home, but I also had the opportunity to experience arts groups in the many communities I lived in as a child. I did not grow up in Milwaukee, but I believe increased exposure the arts is one of the critical solutions to the educational crises we face in this city.

We all know it's a bad economy and unfortunately it does not look like another WPA is in the cards to solve this. Arts funding is being cut and even UPAF itself has reduced its fundraising goal this year. That's why I am committing myself to INCREASING my personal fundraising goal this year. I am shooting to raise $1000 for the performing arts in Milwaukee (I find this appropriate as well, because I am riding with the FUEL Milwaukee team, a group that in its several incarnations, has exposed me not only to arts groups, but some of my best friends who are also arts-minded people). At first the number seems daunting, but when I realize that I have nearly 350 Facebook friends, asking less than a third of them, 100 people at $10 each, puts the goal in perspective.

Will you fund my $20/mile goal?

Donating through the First Giving site is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to support my fundraising efforts.

Many thanks for your support -- and don't forget to forward the site to anyone who you think might want to donate too!

I just got my bike back today from Cory the Bike Fixer. I look forward to posting ride AND fundraising updates here.

TONIGHT: Car-Free LoveFest!

It begins with the final public meeting on the Milwaukee Connector Study from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the Harbor Lights Room. "Transit corridors throughout Milwaukee County will be evaluated, focusing on bus rapid transit and streetcar vehicles. You are invited to attend an open-house public information scoping meeting to review and comment on the project scope, schedule, study area, routes and more."

After that's got your juices flowing, head over to the Bike Federation of Wisconsin's Love Your Bike Party at Lakefront Brewery from 7-11 p.m. "A party for anyone who loves bicycles! Join the Bike Fed for a night of socializing and celebration!" There is a bike-themed silent auction, including a bike art auction. Plus food, and FREE BEER. The party costs $15 or $5 if you contribute Bike-Art (must be framed if picture) OR it's FREE if you are a first-time Bike Fed Member ($25).

Yes, it should be a fun night and you should leave being completely enthralled with alternate forms of transportation. Forget that day two days later, February 12 is when you can love yourself and the environment.

Will I see you there?

thankful tuesdays: snowy gratitude pt II

Seriously, must it snow every Tuesday?

And the thanks this week go to...

• The mysterious forces who organize the Santa Cycle Rampage, because it may have been my most fun day of 2008. Special thanks to Monica and Joe P. for riding with me, my co-worker Dan for filling me on the details before I went, and @Teecycle_Tim's Beer Runner blog about last year's event that inspired me to both go to the ride and blog about it later.
• The good folks over at Urban Milwaukee who featured my Santa cycle post on their blog. The kind reader who recommended said post on Reddit.com. All the nice people who have commented on the post, especially the guy who said we made his kids' day!
• My friends who hosted wonderful gatherings this weekend. Jane & Ralf, Liz, and Abby -- your parties were all fabulous!
• The members of the Young Non-Profit Professionals Network (YNPN)-Milwaukee Chapter Board for allowing me the honor to join their ranks next year.
• My mom for being my blog bellwether. I realize we have to set some Facebook ground rules, but knowing that my mom reads this blog has made me a better writer. By not including details I wouldn't want my mother to know, I've made this blog palatable to a much wider audience than my friends and I. (Also, my mother helped add Maine, Rhode Island and New Hampshire to my 50 states challenge, so I can't be mad)
  
• All the generous people, including my co-worker Brittany, who donated to WMSE last week helping them surpass their goal by $2,000. They're still short though, so give online at www.wmse.org
• The person, who I thought never listened, who called after seeing the news last week in the paper.
  

wisconsin to-do: the shotski

In my coverage of santa cycling, I left out one important note -- I checked off a "Wisconsin To-Do" Saturday. Currently the "Wisconsin To-Do" list only exists in my head, but I have a feeling it could manifest itself in this blog very soon.

At any rate, I did a "shotski" this weekend. Yes, correct, a ski with shot glasses attached. I joined two fellow Santas in shotskiing with Jager at Kochanski's.

Now that it's off the list I don't know if it will be repeated.

What are some other Wisconsin To-Dos I should add?

milwaukee props: santa cycle rampage

Yesterday I had the most fun I've had in a really long time.

Because when you combine santa suits, bicycling, beer and polka, fun is pretty much inevitable.

We began the day at Fat Abbey Bier Café. I met up with my friends Monica and Joe P around 10:30 and caught up to the gang with a Bloody Mary. Unfortunately I lost my pickled bean when I turned around to meet my co-worker's family.

Shortly after 11, the orders were given to head out onto the streets. We grabbed our bikes and followed the pack of Santas.

Instead of heading directly to our next location, we had an impromptu Santa Cycle parade up Milwaukee's busiest streets. We looped around to Water Street and then headed south to Wisconsin Avenue, heading west up downtown's biggest artery. There were so many excited tourists, kids smiling and waving, homeless people shouting "Merry Christmas!"...it was pure holiday magic. Then we got pulled over. Yes, 150 santas pulled over on Wisconsin Avenue. We tried singing Christmas Carols to appease our captors, and perhaps it did work. The cops ordered us to ride "stop at red lights and ride two abreast." The latter order elicited a huge Santa giggle from the crowd. Seriously, who doesn't giggle at the word "abreast"?

Something to note here, on our run in with the law, is that no one is "in charge" of these indie bike rides. Obviously the liability would be ridiculous. These things just sort of "happen." There's an unwritten code to follow the group and not get out of control and the whole thing happens peacefully and without major incident. It's pretty amazing to witness and really does restore your faith in humanity.

As we rode away from our detour, I overheard one of the cops say "Wow, I really needed a laugh today so thanks for calling me out on this one." We continued down 4th Street, back to McKinley, to Water and on up to Brady. Unfortunately this meant tackling the Water to Brady Street hill. This hill is a pain in the butt when you can get up the speed to fly up it solo. Inching up it in a pack (two abreast no less--we were followed by the cops) was pretty brutal. We pulled up to The Nomad, I reunited with my gang, and Joe P bought us some Boddingtons in a can. It was warm enough (40 degrees!) to stand outside and drink with the santa pack.

This was a pretty quick oasis, so we slammed our beers and headed back with the pack on the short ride over to Lakefront Brewery. This was the off-road portion of the ride and although the Marsupial Bridge was fairly easy:

...the ride down the bike path to Commerce was more like a ski hill:

By the way, that plastic Santa attached to the back of a bike, had speakers and played Christmas music. (It also played Gary Glitter at some point too, which was a bit disturbing considering Santa's interaction with children.) There was also another guy with a "SantaCam" attached to his helmet.

The Lakefront folks were WONDERFUL to our group and gave us a free beer token when we walked in the door. They also accommodated us by taking a group photo (there was huge pile of cameras to get through). Add to their generosity the most delicious beer in Milwaukee and they top my list of favorite breweries. I enjoyed a few samples of their classic, Riverwest Stein, yesterday.

 

 

After the Lakefront stop things got a little hectic (and there is no longer photo evidence). Monica had to figure out if she was meeting up with her sister and her kids later, we were chatting with some elf, not paying attention, etc. and we realized all the Santas were gone. The next stop was four miles south, in Bay View. Monica and Joe P are way faster riders than me, so I left them and got a head start. I made it all the way to National Ave and realized how far behind I was, so I hopped a Route 15 and took my bike on the bus for the first time. Although we are not getting bike racks on our buses until next spring, if a bus isn't crowded you can ask the driver if you can bring your bike on board. I definitely was an instant celebrity on the bus, as most of the passengers, and the driver, had seen my comrades ride by about 10 minutes prior.

I hopped off at Lincoln and Kinnickinnic, to head into Café Centraal. On the way in I ran into my friend Liz, her husband, aunt and uncle, who I'd all seen the night before. They thought the whole thing was a riot. I got inside, ordered a Fat Abbey Strong Ale (Lakefront) and waited for my friends to arrive. I ended up running into another co-worker who was having lunch with his wife.

Question of the day: "Is this what you do in your spare time?"

Later I ran into my Santa co-worker and gave him the heads up to be alert. About that time, my friends walked in the door looking worse for wear. Apparently Joe P's crank fell off his pedal and they'd walked the last mile to Centraal. They just wanted to get some food and figure out how to get home, but I had my second wind and wanted to finish the ride.

When the Santa pack left, I headed out with them this time. This would be to the last stop, Kochanski's Concertina Beer Hall, where I hadn't been since it was Art's Concertina Hall. Another long ride, three miles from Centraal, I ended up meeting some of the Twitter folks that were doing the ride. That was interesting, as I'm not a huge "internet friend" person, but I do have plenty of real-life friends who are.

Kochanski's had free chili for Santas, but alas I could not enjoy the meaty treat. Instead I sat at the bar drinking a Fat Squirrel (New Glarus) watching A Christmas Story. Eventually I made some new Santa friends, did the polka, was treated to an accordion serenade and snagged a much-appreciated lift the five miles home for my bike and myself.

Needless to say I will definitely be rampaging again next year (even though my whole body aches today). I also hope to do some of the other silly bike rides before that time...if I'm cool enough to hear about them.

weekending: santa edition

I haven't really been in the holiday spirit, but I have a feeling I'll get there today. After yoga at the WAC, I'll be meeting up with Monica and heading to Fat Abbey Bier Cafe for the start of Santa Cycle Rampage.

Tonight I have a dinner party and a holiday party. And tomorrow's the Faint at Turner.

BUSY BUSY.

why i need to carry a camera at all times

Tonight was just another beautiful Milwaukee mid-summer eve.

After a YNPN Book Club meeting, for which I hadn't gotten around to reading the book, at Trocadero, I decided it was too nice to go home and biked toward the Lakefront.

En route down Brady Street, I was rocking to the new Girl Talk album, but managed to hear someone cackle and yell "looooser." It was Jane and Ralf cruising down Brady. I'd seen them earlier in the evening, as they dropped off my Stevie Wonder tix when I was leaving for Troc. Proving that bikes are waaaay better than cars, I managed to beat them down Brady thanks to the traffic parade this evening. Of course this mission did make me forget to swing by Walgreen's and pick up my prescription, but eh well, I have until Sunday.

Biked down through Veteran's Park (I forgot that I wanted to go up and check out the new Bradford Beach, I'll have to try this weekend), and was amongst several Milwaukeeans enjoying our fair city this evening. As I rode closer to the lake, despite my iPod, began hearing a very loud bag pipe. Finally, turning the path past the kite shop, I spotted where the noise's origin. A bagpipe and drum circle comprised of about 15-20 musicians, some in kilts, some in jeans, some children, even a pregnant lady! All rockin' the pipes at sunset on the lakefront.

Yeah, really wish I had the camera. My cell phone doesn't do it justice. Plus I can't get picture mail until October, so there's no point anyway.

After watching the pipers for a few minutes--they appeared to be wrapping up practice--I hopped back on my bike and headed down by the art museum toward the lovely Lakeshore State Park. It looked like I'd just missed a jazz trio by the MAM, and my album ran out, so I switched over to the Hold Steady's new tracks. The park, which was barren last year, was overrun with prairie grasses and wildflowers, which were lovely lit by the setting sun. Again, no camera. The smells were also quite fantastic. My sensory overload was interrupted by my mom calling to check on my back (which has been ailing of late). I assured her I was fine, proof being that I was on a bike ride (it's sucked to be relatively immobile for the past couple of days).

After the park, I looped back around the Summerfest grounds watching them set everything up for the next couple of weeks. I rode through the industrial end of the Third Ward, and by the Italian Community Center. Approaching the ICC I heard more music overpowering my iPod, and hitting pause realized that it wasn't Italian. Instead, I spotted through the fence of the outdoor patio a Don Ho doppleganger singing in Hawaiian to a packed crowd.

Realizing that a camera wasn't going to sprout magically, I rode home in despair, realizing I'd merely have to blog about this and hope that my five readers believe me without photographic evidence.

$40 for 50 miles for the Arts

So I don't know if anyone reads this thing, but this is a final plea. I am just $40 for meeting my Miller Lite Ride fund raising goal. The big ride is tomorrow and pledges are due by noon. If you can help, please visit http://www.firstgiving.com/mcarnold.

Thanks for your support!

back to the gym

As my friend Lisa's wedding in Portland is a little over a month away, and since Oregonians don't really appreciate the random pouches added on to one's body by 10 years of cheese and beer, I returned to the Wisconsin Athletic Club in earnest after work with a resolution to go everyday until I fly home on June 4.

I was doing really well with going to the WAC, but the false Spring enticed me to start biking through Southeastern Wisconsin instead. Unfortunately with the weather back to chilly and my bike getting tweaked at Cory's, I need to get back in my routine. I cancelled my trainer in mid-April, but that doesn't mean I can't push myself.

And I actually ran three laps today! (Don't laugh, I'm a biker, not a runner).

The only event of note was some jackass lurking while I finished my lat pull. Dude, I get that you need to use this machine but don't stand six fucking inches from me while I yank these weights toward my chest. And if you were standing that close because the exercise causes my chest to stick out, well then you're not just annoying me, but you're a perv as well.

Random Photos from Last Week

Here's what I was up to last week:

4/23: Cool wall in Walker's Point on our trek to Transfer Pizzeria.

4/25: Christy and me at the Brewers Game Friday night, after the torrential downpour.


4/20: Fields in Grafton -- I've never ridden my bike to such a rural wilderness!


4/20: Pulling into home after the epic bike ride.

4/23: Terrible man crocs on our pizza pilgrimage.

death by bike ride

I just did a practice run for the Miller Lite Ride.

55 miles total.

I feel like my muscles are going to surge up and kill me in mutiny.

I will hopefully be alive to post more later.

I saw so much cool stuff. Wildlife and whatnot.

AND I saw a bunch of people playing cricket.

That was amazing.