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Toledo Free Ride Jersey

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With permission and approval from the founders of the Toledo Free Ride group, I have designed and produced a cycling kit for the group.

There’s a lot of energy in the Toledo area mountain biking community and we’ve made significant progress in our trail building efforts. I wanted to capture that energy and give everyone a way to show their enthusiasm and support for the community.  I put a lot of thought and consideration into the design of the inaugural Toledo Free Ride jersey design.

Buy a jersey; help your trails!

CogMonsterGear will donate 25% of the profits from the sale of these jerseys to the parks. This money will go directly back into the trail building/maintenance effort.

The Design

Jersey Back

The back of the jersey pays homage to “The Spot” at Oak Openings.  The Spot is a favorite photography location at Oak Openings. Here are just a couple of articles about The Spot – Huffington Post, Toledo Blade Gallery & Toledo Blade story. The Spot brings visitors from all over to enjoy one of our finest metroparks.

At the center of the back is a star-shape with the letters TFR in the center which is a hat-tip to the Blazing Star Loop also found at “The Oaks”. The Blazing Star Loop is one of the finest examples of what an all volunteer trail building crew can do when the community is as strong as ours.

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On the left shoulder, the letters OAKS are written in blue snake-skin lettering.  There are two trails at The Oaks that are named after snakes. The Hognose Loop and the Blue Racer Loop are recognized with this snakeskin lettering.

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On the right shoulder, the lightning bolt emblazoned lettering J/OP pay recognition to the Ohio electric chair, Old Sparky, on display at the Toledo Police Museum at Ottawa Park.

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On the front, I’ve designed the “Toledo Free Ride” in graffiti font to recognize all the hard work that went into painting the Monroe St. bridge which is regularly painted with some amazing graffiti.  There is also a muddy-splash with a mountain bike tire track representing the swampy conditions that can exist at both trail systems when we get rainy weather.  Remember, though… if it’s wet, wait. Don’t ride muddy trails!

I’ve extended the snake skin and the lightning bolt down onto the bibs/trail-shorts to complete the kit.

There are 2 different versions of the trail-shorts and bib-shorts.  Black with lightning and blue snake-skin…

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…and orange with orange lightning and snake-skin.

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Same thing on the bibs.

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Click here to get yours! Order before Friday, November 23 to guarantee a Christmas delivery.

Adventures, Bike Handling, Black Swamp Cog Monsters, DJI Phantom 3 Footage, Fat Tire Bike, Mountain Bike, Sprinter, YouTube

Pontiac Lake & Highland Rec Area Mountain Biking

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Such an amazing day in Pontiac Lake and Highland Rec areas on Saturday. I was joined by Phil and Kendra Carroll, Suzanne Peats, Oomer Jiwa, Trisan Hill, and Bruce Hicks for an epic day in the saddle. Pontiac Lake is really tough for the first couple of miles, but then it really flows nicely. We had a lot of fun there. After packing up and driving over to Highland Recreation area, we mounted our steeds and pedaled some more. Highland is much more technical and has less flow. That is to say, you can’t really use the down hills to work on the up-hills. There’s almost always an abrupt turn at the bottom which kills your speed.

In any case, it was a great day in the saddle and we’ll be back. That, you can count on!

Keep Making Circles!

The CogMonsterGear.com web site is now accepting orders through 7/29/2017. Get your order in today! New and exciting changes to the jersey line-up… go check out the new materials and awesome new cuts. And… LOWER PRICES!

 

 

Check out my other web content here: http://www.cogmonster.com
And, buy some of my cool cycling clothing here: http://www.cogmonstergear.com

More Cog Monster!
https://twitter.com/cogmonster
https://www.facebook.com/CogMonster/
https://instagram.com/cogmonster

Adventures, Kuota, Lifestyle, Rails To Trails, Wabash Cannonball Trail

Here’s How You Handle a Broken Cleat Mid Ride

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I was going to ride out on the South Fork of the Wabash Cannonball Trail anyway, but I was going to turn left and head to Waterville… until I broke my cleat. Then, things changed! Check out how I handled this unfortunate event.

The CogMonsterGear.com site will be opening on Sunday, July 16th for new orders. My jerseys have been upgraded in a big way and I can’t wait to see you wearing one.

Keep Making Circles!

Now that you’ve watched the video and know how to handle a broken cleat, go buy some cycling kit from my web store: Cog Monster Gear

IN STOCK NOW… I currently have 2 Cog Monster Green kits for sale – Men’s Large including…

    • Jersey (!! BOTH SOLD !!)
    • Bibs x2
    • Bandanna x3
    • Gloves x2
    • Socks x2

But, don’t you worry! The CogMonsterGear store will open on Sunday 7/16/2017 for another huge order!
See me in the next week if you’d like to check out the quality of the NEW Cog Monster Kit.

More Cog Monster!
https://twitter.com/cogmonster
https://www.facebook.com/CogMonster/
https://instagram.com/cogmonster
https://www.strava.com/athletes/565574

Adventures, Kiteboarding, Lake Erie, Maumee Bay State Park, MS Bike to the Bay, Sprinter, YouTube

Pretty Clouds but Bad Kite Day

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After yesterday’s awesome finish to the day, we really hoped that today’s wind would deliver. After all, it was a predicted to be a west wind and it is the second day of Bike To The Bay. So, I figured mother nature would punish my cycling friends. When we went to bed last night, it showed that it would blow 17+ for most of the afternoon. When we woke up this morning, that hadn’t changed. I made my way to Maumee Bay State Park at around 11:30 after stopping at Kroger where I picked up some hot dogs and buns, and fueled the Cog Monster Machine. I was hoping that I’d feed the troops when we took a break from kiting. And, really, that’s how it worked in the end.

The wind just didn’t deliver, though. We had fun and I did some new video edits, so check it out anyway.

And, go buy some cycling kit from my web store: Cog Monster Gear

I currently have 2 Cog Monster Green kits for sale – Men’s Large including…

  • Jersey

    • (!! BOTH SOLD !!)

  • Bibs
  • Bandanna
  • Gloves
  • Socks
Adventures, Black Swamp Cog Monsters, Kiteboarding, Lifestyle, Rails To Trails, Road Bike, Vacation, YouTube

Vacation 2017 Version 1.2

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I had an awesome first two days of vacation – that didn’t involve driving. Early in the day, I rode out to Fort Island Park which was very busy because it was a holiday weekend. There wasn’t a single empty parking space. That made me reconsider my plans to go kiting later in the day when the wind was predicted to increase. The ride was super safe and I can’t remember any bad passes. Of course, I’m writing this 3 weeks later, so the bad memories have faded since they weren’t truly traumatic.

After I got back to my parents’ house and got something to eat, I decided to give kiting a shot. The wind was steady and full enough for my 13 meter kite. When I left the house, I told myself I would stop and kite if I could find a parking place. If not, I’d turn tail and head home. I made one pass through the parking lot and just as I was about to give up, I spotted a parking place right at the edge of the field where I’d set up my kite.

Just before the video starts, I was walking through a grassy spot at the edge of the beach just into the water where a couple of mangroves were starting to grow. I don’t know what I stepped on, but it sliced the bottom of my foot. It wasn’t bleeding much, but it hurt the entire time I was kiting and I didn’t want to attract sharks so I cut my session short. I still got in a great ride with some really good jumps.

Monday, I rode out the county bike path along Rt 486 which is an east/west path with a LOT of driveway cuts. I got so tired of endless curb-cuts and road crossings on that trail and eventually cut a block south for a bit just to get away from them. There are actually good opportunities to climb hills in central Florida if you go east/west. I got a lot of climbing on this part of the ride. Then, I went south on the Withlacoochee Trail – a great rails to trails project that runs for dozens of miles. There’s plenty of tree cover as you’ll see in the video below. It is one of my favorite rides in that area of the state.

Hit that subscribe button on the YouTube channel to get notified when I’ve uploaded a new video!

And, go buy some cycling kit from my web store: Cog Monster Gear

I currently have 2 full Cog Monster Green kits for sale – Men’s Large including…

  • Jersey
  • Bibs
  • Bandanna
  • Gloves
  • Socks
Adventures, Sprinter, Vacation

Vacation 2017 Version 1.1 :: It Begins

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The start of my vacation with 2 days of driving, a visit with my best, and longest tenure friend and some gorgeous drone footage. I managed to make it to my parents’ house in good time with little stress. I was concerned that the max speed of the Sprinter is 74 mph. However, as you’ll see, I was still moving with or faster than traffic despite the 70 mph speed limit.

Keep Making Circles!

And, go buy some cycling kit from my web store: Cog Monster Gear

I currently have 2 full Cog Monster Green kits for sale – Men’s Large including…

  • Jersey
  • Bibs
  • Bandanna
  • Gloves
  • Socks
Adventures, Black Swamp Cog Monsters, Fat Tire Bike, Road Bike, TAB - Toledo Area Bicyclists, Van Build, YouTube

I know all the words to that song, just not in the right order

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This week’s update includes the Toledo Ride of Silence, a couple of great bike rides, and a how-to build a maintenance free fire. I spent a LOT of the week working on the van because it has to be ready for the first Cog Monster Machine Adventure which begins on Friday.

I believe I have good news on the drone. More to come on that this week.

And, go buy some cycling kit from my web store: Cog Monster Gear

I currently have 2 full Cog Monster Green kits for sale – Men’s Large including…

  • Jersey
  • Bibs
  • Bandanna
  • Gloves
  • Socks
Adventures, Black Swamp Cog Monsters, Fat Tire Bike, Kiteboarding, Lake Erie, Maumee Bay State Park, Mountain Bike, Road Bike, YouTube

Stealth drone retrieval from the swamp!

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This week’s video includes a couple of spectacular bike rides, a solo kiteboarding session at Maumee Bay State Park – with new camera angles (suggested by Mike Rule), and a kayak mission to retrieve the drone from the swamp where it still showed when I selected “Where’s my aircraft?” in the controller software.

I’m excited for my upcoming trip to Florida and the Outer Banks of North Carolina. I really need to concentrate on finishing the Cog Monster Machine before then! There’s no way I can survive in that beast in its current state.

Have a look; let me know what you think of the footage – good or bad. If you know me, you know I’m on a never ending quest for self improvement! I can’t do that in a vacuum.

And, go buy some cycling kit from my web store: Cog Monster Gear

I currently have 2 full Cog Monster Green kits for sale – Men’s Large including…

  • Jersey
  • Bibs
  • Bandanna
  • Gloves
  • Socks
Adventures, Black Swamp Cog Monsters, Kiteboarding, Lake Erie, Maumee Bay State Park, Photo Session, Road Bike, Uncategorized, Van Build, Wabash Cannonball Trail

DJI Phantom 3 in 30 MPH Winds and a Ride with Cog Monsters

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Saturday, I worked on the van some more before ditching work to go kiting. I arrived between the early and late shifts as Ryan had left about 30 minutes before I got there. Mark showed up about an 45 minutes before I bailed. Since I’d gotten 2 solid hours on the water and there were a few windsurfers out there, I decided to put the drone up and get some video. Watch below to see how that turned out.

Sunday, I probably could have gone kiting, but I needed some meditation time so I opted to go do the Black Swamp Cog Monsters’ Sunday Getaway ride. And, I’m glad I did. It’s always a smooth, fun, and safe ride with them.

Sunday evening, I went and took pictures of my newest granddaughter, Braelyn. She’s such a beauty.

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And, go buy some cycling kit from my web store: Cog Monster Gear

I currently have 2 full Cog Monster Green kits for sale – Men’s Large including…

  • Jersey
  • Bibs
  • Bandanna
  • Gloves
  • Socks
Lake Erie, Maumee Bay State Park, Photo Session

After the rains

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No video to represent the first part of this week. It rained. It rained a lot. Then, tonight, the rain finally stopped. When it did, I loaded up the Cog Monster Machine with all my camera gear and made my way to Maumee Bay State Park. I even launched the drone to get some footage from the air. Unfortunately, the wind 40 feet above the ground was way stronger than it was on the ground. I almost lost the drone.

If you’re longing for more video of my adventures, sit tight. Tomorrow and Sunday are supposed to be windy and I’m jonesing for a bike ride. Mixed in there, I’m hoping to work on the van some more. Only 3 weeks until her first test.

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And, go buy some cycling kit from my web store: Cog Monster Gear

I currently have 2 full Cog Monster Green kits for sale – Men’s Large including…

  • Jersey
  • Bibs
  • Bandanna
  • Gloves
  • Socks