Pilgrimage to the Beer Silos

The unofficial curtain on the 2012 mtn biking season lifted Jan 29 with tHD's annual trip to the beer silos. (Michigan Brewing Co.)

Sure, there was a small stop at the MSU Pavilion for the MMBA Expo and Annual Meeting. That thing went over like a fart in church. Shaun started his timer the second we waltzed in. It was great to see the usual accumulation of crappy bike parts, and the same congregation of dorks who post all over the MMBA forum. Tack on an additional 20 mins for some dude to decide if he wanted to buy Jrad's wheels, and we were back in the car headed for Webberville.

Once at the silos, we all ordered up a few of our favorite brews, ate some bar food, and started to do what we do best, talk shit while slightly intoxicated. Topics included: 2012 cycling goals, Barry-Roubaix, Jrad's new paint scheme, marriage and fatherhood, our trip to Northern Georgia, how to sneak an empty pint glass into a jacket without getting caught, and what broken blood vessels in one's face look like after yacking.

Finally, we drank all our beer and called it a day. Before taking off, it was time to assemble for our 2012 photo with the silos. I've included the last 3 photos to see how far we've come. We should all be very proud. I especially enjoyed the snow ball fight before getting back in the car. EPIC!



What's up next you ask? Well, Pactimo says our new kits will ship the week of 2/10! If everyone is down, I can once again open up my place for the release party. That's right! Coors Lights, 151 Rum, grilled hot dogs, spandex, and enough remote control copters to make one's head spin. Hope to see you all there.

In closing, I leave you with some art work I left on Coach's car as I left Shaun's house yesterday...

NOBS!

Happy Birthday, Hot Dog!

You just never know what you're going to find when you type in "Happy Birthday Hot Dog" into Google Image Search...This pretty much sums it up, though! Happy Birthday, HD.

Newest Edition

Hi... My name is Caden and I am the newest member of tHD. Here is a picture of me sporting some of my new gear thanks to Mr and Mrs Hot Dog!

My goals for the year are as follows.

-Eat
-Sleep
-Poop
-Maybe start walking at some point.
-Hopefully Mom and dad will get a trailer to pull me around in on bike rides!

Tree Farm Video #2

Take it easy on me, this is my first attempt at this video stuff on the interwebs. Didn't really accomplish what I wanted to with this, but, I'll get there one day. Anyways, enjoy the slow pace I muster throughout this thing. I figured it would be a good contrast to Steve moving at warp speed in his:

Team Hot Dog Tree Farm Winter Ride from HotDogHimself on Vimeo.

Tree Farm Video #1

There were three Helmet Cams out there today....This is what 30 minutes of editing while using Winblows Movie Maker can do for ya....I think #1 a rigid fork is a bad place to mount a cam and #2 the slower but larger MicroSD card I used struggled at times....going to make some changes for the next ride!



- "Coach"

Tree Farm Extravaganza

It all happened on a Sunday, the 15th of January, 2012, to be precise, and Team Hot Dog was ready to conquer the cold. I rolled into the parking lot around 12:30. Hot Dog was there a minute later. After a handshake and a nice to see you, Jeff Cooper, Jeff Cooper, Jeff Cooper, came flying through the parking lot on his baby blue Bianchi, "The Cuss". Yep he's out of retirement and had been there since sunrise training for the Dirty Kanza 200. Soon after James, Steve, G-Mudd, and the man of the hour and new father, Jrad, rolled on in.







After we donned our base layers, toe warmers and shoe covers we hit the trail. I started off slow. That is purely from my perspective mind you. I was bringing up the rear and having trouble negotiating the tire ruts. Things were a little sketchy. That and my hands and feet lost their blood supply. It was a struggle, but eventually I caught up to the rest of the pack.



No sooner did I catch up, I began having equipment problems. No, not my legs. I'm refering to the combination of my face mask and my sun glasses. My face was a hot mess and my glasses were fogging up something fierce. I had to stop after nearly going ass-over-apple-cart into the creek while crossing a bridge and remove the mask. It's a good thing no ladies were present, they wouldn't have been able to contain themselves. Yep, I'm gorgeous.



Again I catch up to the pack. G-Mudd gives me a tip on how to resolve the foggy glasses issue. It involves dish soap. I'll definitly give it a whirl next time out. Thanks Gary! We venture forth and make our way to the crater. I'm feeling good at this point. Blood has returned to my hands and feet and it's game on! Well, before that game on, I decided to take some pictures of the rest of the crew taking return trips to the crater. Steve approved.









Now it's game on! Things were functioning fairly well. I'm warm, more confident in the snow, and handling the ruts fairly well. We continue our ride at a pretty decent pace for the 15th of January. Yep, Team Hot Dog is in full affect. Before you know it, we're at the pump track. There was a crowd gathered around watching us dominate. Actually, it was just one guy in a blue snow suit. But he was definitly a fan. Steve signed his water bottle and G-Mudd busted out some crazy hip hop dance moves.







After we said goodbye to our super fan, the last two miles of the ride were uneventful. Except for my epic crash...which John has on film...I might have said bad words...We all survived and made it back to the parking lot in one piece. After breaking down our cold gear and loading up our bikes we made our way to the Bayside Grill for some beer. Except for Cooper. He went out for another loop. He's unstopable!

Anyway, it was an awesome day and a great ride. For those that missed out. See you next time.

Kanza!

Dirty Kanza 200

Presented by

Dirty Kanza Promotions

Emporia, KS

Saturday, June 02, 2012

Online Registration Closes
Sunday, May 13, 2012 at 11:59 PM ET

Dirty Kanza 200 Confirmed Participants

Veteran Men (40-49)

Jeffrey Cooper Team Hot Dog

More details to follow!

Happy Birthday, Landry!

On behalf of the fine members of Team Hot Dog, I would like to wish Tom a Happy Birthday! Hope this special surprise was close enough to what you wished for when you blew out those candles! ;)

- tHD

Operator Error

If you live in Michigan, it's January and 45 Degrees outside, you find a way to get on your bike! So David and I agreed to meet at Proud Lake for an easy bike ride. This nice 15 mile backroad ride was the perfect opportunity for me to try some new camera angles, test out the new helmet mount and see what this thing could really do.


So off we go and everything is progressing nicely. The mount is placed on the fork and it's recording...All of a sudden, this A-Hole in an Audi comes ripping around the corner and almost clocks us. I thought to myself "phew, well at least I got that on tape!"

We make our way to the Milford trails and decide to test out the Singletrack and see how muddy it is. I let David get in front of me for some video goodness, he finds the first mud-hole and goes down hard. He's ok, so then I think "Awesome, I got that on tape!" We continue down the paved trail, since the singletrack was sloppy and when we're getting closer to the famous Milford Burger Joint, I decide to do an on-the-bike interview with David and he throws out an Epic one-liner. Got that on tape as well!


We roll back towards Proud Lake and somehow manage to actually get STUCK IN A GRAVEYARD. We literally could not find out how to get out of this place and I am thinking to myself..."Yeah this is going to be EPIC film!"

As we get closer to the end of our ride, I decide to toss the camera on the helmet mount and fire it up...Some older Nobs in Kayaks are hitting on David and myself...Oh yeah, all caught on Camera!


...Or So I Thought :(

First 8 Minutes is about all I got. Somehow the battery must have died or something went terribly wrong. David, you are one lucky S.O.B. because that might have gone down as one of the funniest rides ever caught on camera!

- Coach

2012 tHD preview

Found this on the interwebs..

Peepz Movie
by: gearswhatgears

YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!

You have got to be kidding me!