Gnat Likes Bikes Blog

ImagineGnat - My new website

2012-02-25T05:56:43Z

That's right. I'm moving my shack from here to somewhere else. www.imaginegnat.com is now live! It's been a work in progress for a while and I finally got a full day to finish up moving over some content from the past several years. Hard to believe I've got several years of content here. The new site is clean, simple, has featured posts, is cheaper and gives me a better mobile platform.

To view my new website click here or on the picture above.

Thanks,

Gnat

Ps. I plan to keep my Gnatlikes.com site up for a bit while I find a home for all the content.

Fat tires through St.Paul, MN

2012-02-24T10:00:19Z

So...Yesterday I took the day off. It was a scheduled recovery day after my hectic two weeks and what turned out to be a very tiring week, both physically and mentally. Typically my recovery days consist of getting up, having coffee and riding my bike in the country. This time, I decided to do something different.

If you've followed this blog for any length of time, you likely have noticed I like to share pictures from "out there". I like the country. I like to be in big spaces and feel like I am small. But, today I decided to go to the city. After my wife got to the airport, my kids got on the bus, I headed toward St. Paul, MN on my Mukluk. I decided to cruise around this historic MN city and take some photographs. I just needed something different and I gotta say, I really, really enjoyed it.

I think one of these days I'll cruise around Minneapolis and do the same sort of thing. Until then, here are a few images from the day. I put a slight vintage tone and texture to these images using a custom split tone I created in Lightroom 3. Hope you enjoy.

Charles M. Shulz grew up here in St. Paul and you can see this throughout the city. Saint Paul also has a nice artist community and feel. I think it is a beautiful city.

Something old. Something new. The Cathedral is simply a stunning piece of history and architecture.

The Science museum is a must see and adds a modern look to an old downtown feel.

Mickey's, a Saint Paul icon.

Looking out over the mighty Missisippi.

That last image is probably my favorite of the day. Saint Paul and it's history is really tied to the river and scenic valley and bluffs. I also like the concrete overhang with the mystery man looking down the river.

In the end, I didn't really ride that long. In fact, I think I walked almost as much as I rode. I just had fun though. I needed something different. I got just what I needed.

Have a great Friday and weekend folks.

Ride your bike! Take some pictures!

Fun

2012-02-23T10:00:39Z

Yesterday something happened in a friend's life that really gave me a hard dose of reality. That being, life is short and don't take your wife, kids, family, friends or anything for granted. Anything could be gone tomorrow.Life can be short. Too short in fact. Have fun. Love your kids, family and friends. Choose fun. Laugh.

So, after school, I took my kids and a few neighborhood friends sledding in the park. These pics aren't great nor are they meant to be. They are 1 click conversions in lightroom and I spent zero time trying to make them look and feel the same. I could care less. We just had fun and I'm sharing them to hopefully inspire someone to do the same.

Go have some fun today!

Up North

2012-02-22T14:47:30Z

I just finally got some words and thoughts together about my recent trip up north to ride fatbikes. Check out my story today on the Salsa blog. Click Here to be redirected to Salsacycles.com. Thanks.

Break time

2012-02-20T10:00:55Z

Break time on the St. Louis river

Wow! What a week it's been. I expected to be back today with a bunch of words, deep thoughts and some great images. Instead, you get a short post with a single image. I am absolutely exhausted and the same time energized. This past week has been filled with great people and opportunity. I saw many old friends and made some new ones. All great folks with a shared passion for bikes.

Truthfully, I am in recovery mode. Much like after some kind of big ride, event or race when a body needs to recove, my mind needs to process all the conversations, events and details. While this past week hasn't been taxing on my body, it has been mentally very challenging. I came home last night after our big show and settled in with my family, a movie, some left over Thai food and Bell's Hopslam. It was all I had in me and it gave me great comfort and peace.

So, that's all I've got today. I'm headed to work. I hope to process some images today from my recent Mukluk ride up north. I think I got a couple of keepers. Until then, take a look here at my friend Hansi's blog. He got some great stuff.

Checking out and going North

2012-02-14T10:00:40Z

I'm checking out for the week. While I wish I was just going on a sweet bike trip and riding my bike in a beautiful and far away land, I sadly am not. Nope, this week is a busy week at my place of employment. We are essentially putting on a tradeshow and each year brings exciting challenges and new opportunities. This year is no exception. While it is technically work, some of it really is fun. In fact, most of it is fun other than the fact that the days are really long and I don't get to spend that much time with my awesome family. I'm really looking forward to seeing so many friends and colleagues from around the USA. There will also be an international contingent to the show.

In fact, I am headed north on Thursday with a few of my friends from Japan. Since we have essentially no snow here in MPLS, I'm taking them north to fatbike and give them a little MN North Shore experience. This trip will also serve as a scouting trip for another northern adventure I've got planned for early March.

Anyway, with that, I am headed out. I took this last picture because I've been getting comments that folks are tired of seeing my bike alone, leaning or lying down on it's side. This picture is proof that I do infact ride my bike and get out and about. It may not be happening often enough, but it is happening. I just often ride alone at the hours I most enjoy riding.

So....Enjoy your week. I'll be back next Monday. I'll likely be posting some candid random photography stuff this week on my tumblr site as well so make sure you check that out by clicking the image on the right sidebar.

Morning Rides with Ben

2012-02-13T10:00:29Z

Last Friday, Ben and I met up for a little U-More gravel. It was very, very cold and windy. Both of us were riding our new Fargos built for the coming season. I took a few photos, but none of them are that great. It was just too cold and windy to spend too much time trying to take pictures. That's OK though as it gave us more time to ride and chat.

My morning rides with Ben are much like Tuesdays with Morrie. It's time I very much look forward too and I always get something more out of them than I put into them. Truthfully these rides are just friends getting together to catch up and share a passion for 2 wheels. However, as I look back both in reflection and at the pictures I've snapped on my morning rides with Ben, I see they are a very important part of my past few years.

I am excited about adding some frequency to these rides in the coming year. I'm not out for training this year. I am looking for pure enjoyment on my bike and I can't think of a better way to spend and share some of my morning rides.

New Fargo Complete

2012-02-10T10:00:43Z

I got this finished late last night. Still have some finishing touches and I need to make a crankset spec change for the final build, but it's ready to roll! This bike is going to take me places this year. I can't wait.

Have a great Friday and a great weekend.

Ride your bike! Take some pictures!

Bring it

2012-02-09T10:00:38Z

So...a few weeks ago a friend of mine from down south (Texas) sent me a note saying some magazine named Minnesota/Minneapolis one of the top 5 places NOT to live. It cited weather as one of the main reasons. Well, I call BS. MN rocks. As proof, I'd like to submit the following piece of evidence.

This is on my commute home from work along the glorious and beautiful MN River Valley. I want to remind you that this is in a major metropolitan area filled with food, art, education and the most diverse and active bike culture in North America. In my mind, why wouldn't you want to live here? Oh...And this is just one of the 4 seasons we have here in MN. Bring it!

Looking Up

2012-02-07T10:00:25Z

I finished up a photo project last night. Ran across this image from Santa Cruz in 2010. Got me thinking and dreaming.