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Adventure Monkey bio picture

Welcome to Adventure Monkey!

Feed your Adventure Monkey or die.

Life had become a commute to a cubicle farm, the production of meaningless media and a commute back home leaving me tired and disinterested. I felt like a walking dead man. My Adventure Monkey was starved.

I soon learned while cycling through the Kansas countryside for hours at a time that we all have inside of us an Adventure Monkey, the need for adventure in our lives. Click HERE for a full explanation of this monkey business.

I am a professional photographer that fell in love with cycling. At Adventure Monkey, I share my cycling adventures and photography in hopes that I may inspire you to remember your dreams and live the life you have always wanted to live, no excuses or regrets. It's time to live.

Feed Your Monkey!

-Eric

Visit my store HERE to order prints or other items (adventure Monkey shirts soon!?)

Click HERE to go to my portfolio website.

Click HERE to go to my Facebook page.

Remember to leave comments! Thanks!

Broken chain and other tests

March 9, 2010 at 5:00am Posted in Adventure Monkey, Spirit Monkey

I rode a quick eleven miles after I picked the bike up from the shop on Saturday just to make sure it was shifting well. It was making a little noise, but I thought the chain just needed to be cleaned. I took it home used my chain cleaner and made the chain sparkle again. A clean bike makes me happy. A personal bike cleaner would make me happier.

As I was pulling a rag across the chain to clean off the dirt, grime and cleaner, I noticed it getting caught at a certain point on the chain. Hmmm, time to investigate. Looked like one of the pins that holds the links together was coming out and the link looked a little out of place. While riding home (see last post) it was making a funny noise that seemed cyclic and I thought it may be a chain problem. No big deal, I used my chain tool and pushed the pin back into place. Good as new or so I thought.

I went riding with my friend Shawn the next day.  We left on a cool morning and rode to the Reading, Kansas area and back. I was riding hard trying to keep up with Shawn, and this makes for less pictures. We crested a hill and stopped at some rail road tracks. It was definitely a beautiful morning. I pulled out the camera to take a shot of the tracks that went on forever.

I looked the other way and wanted to zoom in on the curve to take a shot and noticed that my lens would not focus to infinity if it was zoomed out. I tried a number of things, but it wouldn’t focus. Weird. Looks like I will have to send it into Nikon for repair, bummer. I have been wanting to get a prime lens (fixed focal length, non zooming) or two anyway. They are smaller and sharper than zooms. This lens is the Nikon 18-200 AFS and is very convenient to take with me on rides (besides its weight). It’s like having a whole camera bag of lenses, but it is not the sharpest lens in the world and has some weird distortion. It is a good lens, but not fantastic on the professional level. I have been wanting a smaller camera altogether for the DK, but I want great picture detail and point and shoots aren’t there, although they are getting better. I may have to refer to Gnat on this one. He shoots great images with smaller cameras. I am not well versed in the small camera scene. It’s not the camera, though people, it’s the shooter. I just need all manual settings to make me happy. I did shoot an image, just focused on the closer tracks.

We continued on. All of the sudden, my chain began to act up again. Luckily I was riding with Shawn who used to own a bike shop. I told him about the problem I had “fixed” and he noticed right away that the pin was working its way out of the chain again. He told me I had a hyperglide chain and the pins are not reusable. Nice. I am used to old school equipment. My old bike was 19 years old when I upgraded. I never replaced a chain or gears on that beast. In fact I can still ride it today if I air up the tires. Having problems this early in life of my new bike isn’t the best feeling in the world. Anyway, Shawn replaced my messed up link with a masterlink and we were back in business. I had to make a few more adjustments on the way back to his house because the chain chattering a bit.

A busted lens and bike mechanical problems. Just as I want to feel sorry for myself and my bad luck, I remember something I have learned in life. Attacks always seem to happen when things are getting exciting, big things are happening, or plans are starting to come together. I don’t want to get all spiritual on you, but I see this as a test. Sometimes doors are closed in our path and we need to stop, regroup and find a new way in life. Other times, we are required to show how much we want something and tests and attacks are thrown our way. It takes a little wisdom and experience to tell the difference between a test and a closed door.

When I closed the studio in 2004, I knew I was staring a closed door in the face. It didn’t matter how hard I worked or how much money I spent, If I would have continued in that same direction it would have been a long, hard road to nowhere. I don’t feel that these days. In fact it is quite the opposite. I don’t feel like I am doing this on my own. I have combined two things I love to do and the Adventure Monkey found me. The magazine was not even an intention, but now it is gaining momentum and more people than me are excited about it.

When we want something in life we have to go get it. There will always be trials, and overcoming those makes us stronger. I see that on the individual, social and corporate levels. We learn from our mistakes and trials and become better, stronger, faster and more efficient. Just beware of the hard work that comes before the success. Look up and listen to discover the direction you should take. Sometimes it is as easy as just seeing the path of least resistance and taking it. For example, Adventure Monkey is easy and people are beginning to follow without me having to do a whole lot of earth moving activities. I am doing it on a shoestring budget and seeing were it leads. On the other hand, I love bikes and cameras. I could open a store selling those or I could try to make a bike camera (hmm, good idea). Those may be great ideas but would take some earth moving activities and a lot of cash for them to happen and I just don’t want to do that. I am just going with the flow these days and seeing where it leads me. Don’t get me wrong, Adventure Monkey takes a lot of my time and the magazine took some doing, but the support I got from everyone sure did make it easy for me.

OK, for you cyclists, I dropped Shawn off about 38 miles into the ride, refilled my water and kept going. I ended up riding  just over 60 miles. I put nuun tablets in all my water. It is an electrolyte supplement without calories. It is for electrolytes only,  not fuel. My legs did get pretty tired, but never came close to cramping up even at the end of the ride pedaling up hills. I used their berry flavor. It tasted refreshing and it did not make me feel thirsty at all, like other sport drinks. The other thing I noticed (turn your head if you’re squeamish) is my urine never turned the bright yellow it does after I sweat a lot on a ride, even when drinking a lot of water. Now, it wasn’t 90 degrees out, so I need to try them again, but overall, they seemed to do what they are supposed to do – keep me hydrated. I also tried some accel gels for energy. I didn’t feel any sort of boost from them, but I never came close to a bonk or feeling hungry. I did add a banana and a PB and honey sandwich in the middle too, so I can’t be completely sure on these. The good thing is they didn’t hurt my stomach and seemed to keep hunger away for quite awhile. Again, once it gets hotter out, I think it will test these supplements better. I am going to try a lot of different things before the DK, to figure out my nutritional needs on the 200 mile race.

I got in 53 miles on Friday, 11 miles on Saturday, and 60 miles on Sunday. I was pretty tired on the end of Sunday’s ride and believe me, I was having doubts about the Dirty Kanza. Finishing is bigger than me right now though.

Feed Your Monkey!
-Eric

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by Eric

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Bike Karma?

March 8, 2010 at 5:00am Posted in Adventure Monkey

It was the most beautiful day of the year so far and I had the day off. Looks like karma has fallen in my favor these days. It was supposed to get into the high 50’s, be typically windy and a day full of sunshine. Nothing was going to stop me from riding in the Flint Hills today that’s for sure. I didn’t map a ride, I just figured I would go far on the Fargo today. I made PB and honey sandwiches, brought my Summertime amount of water, and put my summer gear on under the cold weather stuff.

I had to dig out my leg warmers (before cycling, leg warmers and tights were not for boys, but as I’ve stated before, riding a bike changes your priorities, clothes and your general outlook on life.) instead of the super-warm bibtights. I couldn’t believe warm weather was here again. Once again, patience pays off. Although I have no patience and wined all winter as I do every winter. But this year I did ride through Winter instead of joining a Spin class or some other crazy thing. Although I could actually finish a ride with Seagato that way.

I hit the road about 9:00 a.m. and the wind was blowing. I knew it would be blowing really hard in the hills. As I passed the Flint Hills Technical College sign it read  40ºF. Wow, it may get warmer than the internet weather promised. I was hoping I’d be able to strip down to my shorts and short sleeves before the day was over.

As I pedaled my legs were feeling weak. Sometimes it takes me a good ten to twenty miles to start feeling good. Is that normal? I pedaled as hard as I could and finally made it to gravel outside of town. I was headed southwest of town and into the hills you pass when on the turnpike to Wichita.

I thought karma was on my side, but things didn’t work out the way I was hoping. First off, I hit the big hill heading to the Flint Hills (going south on Rd D) and was slowed down to 5mph. I just wasn’t feeling energized. That’s OK, I just needed to get some miles in and wanted to work on keeping my average up. 5mph is not what I was thinking, but I always warm up and start to feel good late into a ride.

I hit a low maintenance road and came upon monstrous ruts. These ruts were so deep, my pedals scraped the side of them and it was difficult to find a good line to ride between the deep ruts and the mud. Having the extra 10 pounds on the back of my bike makes the rig a bit squirrelly and since I have the balance of a drunk ballerina, it didn’t take long for me to go down. It was getting frustrating and I was not able to get any speed going and I started to cuss at those stupid ruts. Then it hit me. All that road riding had turned me into a nancy boy. I was getting mad at a few ruts and mud. I was on a Fargo for crying out loud. People do this for fun. It’s called mountain biking. Jeez, time to suck it up and have fun.

The first set of ruts

It was a tough ride. I had the wind, hills, terrible ruts and patches of mud to ride through. Not the day to worry about average speed. I hit a downhill, started gaining speed and was approaching another patch of big ruts. I probably would have done better to just ride through it fast, but the nancy boy in me slowed a bit in an attempt to find a good line to ride through the ruts. Didn’t work. I am not sure what happened except to say the drunk ballerina endo’d and landed on her head. I saw it coming. It was like Matrix motion except I had none of Neo’s cool powers. I prepared as I went down and landed on my side, hit my head and banged up my knee pretty bad. Yes, explitives were yelled until I realized I was cussing at ruts in the road and I was near a house. Instead of talking about them, here they are:

ruts and mud - minimum maintenance sign made me chuckle

in a rut

I decided this was going to make a good story and laughed it off. My knee was sore and each time I stopped it was hard to get it moving again. It hurts now, but just feels bruised, so don’t worry. I have a nice bruise on my butt too, but not worth bragging about.

Soon after that, the road turned into a crushed gravel road and I was able to get some speed going. I creseted a hill and saw a vista of miles and miles of prairie before me. This is why I love riding out here. Total freedom and solitude. I started to feel good, energized and warm. I took off the balaclava and felt even more free. I was cresting hills and flying through small streams and loving life. I soon made it to the Cattle Pens and headed south. I was hoping to get 80 to 100 miles in today and things were looking good, for now.

Abandoned house

The wide open Flint Hills that I longed for all winter long.

Climbing a Kansas hill and feeling good

The roads go on forever and disappear into the plains

Out of the blue, my rear derailer started acting up –  bad. I tightened up the cable because it looked pretty loose, but something was amiss. It would jump gears and wouldn’t shift right. It didn’t matter if I was riding on a flat or a hill or where on the rear cog I was, the derailer had a mind of its own. I tried to adjust it with the barrel adjuster, but that didn’t help. I think they put that there just to make me feel like I had some control, but it didn’t do anything. This happened 22 miles away from home and began to ruin my day. I know we make choices and are in control of how we feel, and I gave in to the mechanical problem. I was not happy. I got off the bike and stripped down to my shorts and short sleeve jersey and ate a sandwich. I looked at the derailer.

The derailer. It seems like a very simple device. It should be. All it does is move the chain from one gear to the next, and yet mine mystifies me. It wasn’t full of mud and looked Ok to me, but it acted as if it was straight up broken. It jumped gears, rubbed and skipped for no reason. Adusting didn’t help. I could be riding without much pedal power on a flat stretch and the people in the next county could probably here its noise making as it skipped gears, sometimes up, somtimes down. I was in a area with sweet hills, curves, streams and vistas and I couldn’t do much real riding. So much for “Ride and smile” Salsa, I was riding and pissed off to be honest. I started thinking about my Giant that I road for 19 years without any trouble at all, with the original components including a 19 year old chain. I would take it in for a Spring tune up and that’s about it. I didn’t clean it very well and it continued to share the miles with me.

I started hating my beloved Fargo. I hated that I hated my Fargo. I hated that I saved up to buy the Fargo. I hated that I was a nancy boy that couldn’t figure out a derailer. You can see where this is going right. Thirty-one miles of miserable to get home. I wanted to shove the bike off a cliff, sit down, put my head on my knees and cry. Instead, I got mad and pedaled harder. Then I pedaled harder. I didn’t care if it broke anymore. It’s a Fargo for crying out loud, this is where it excels! I pushed on. All I wanted to do is get it to High Gear and let Matt work his magic on it. I wish I were more manly sometimes. I take pictures and make people laugh. I can’t build a porch or fix a derailer. Cripes!

The photographer in me was done too. I have to be in the moment when I shoot. I was mad and just wanted to get home. It’s too bad too because I was in a very scenic area.

Even with all this trouble, I got a good ride in. I rode to the point of muscle soreness and then went a little harder. Being mad worked for me in the end, but that’s not how I like to ride. I’m a nonviolent cyclist.

I definitely need more gravel time to ready up for the DK 200. Gravel is much more of a workout than road riding and without those pesky cars. I need to get my average up though or I will DNF at the first checkpoint.

I made it into town and the temperature read 67ºF! Wow! I got my first tan of the year started too. As everybody knows, the biker’s tan is pretty sweet.

I took my bike to the shop. I’ll let you know what’s up with the bike in the next post.

Feed Your Monkey!
-Eric

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by Eric

4 comments

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March 8, 2010 - 8:55 am Jed - Dang that sucks man!

March 8, 2010 - 8:56 pm gnat - Eric, amazing photos. My fav is from the rut with the small diamond shaped road sign in the distance. The others are beautiful too. I am betting that those guys can take care of you and get you fixed up. Shoot me an email when you get a chance to let me know you and the bike are OK. For what it is worth, I had a derailleur issue on Saturday. I rode only 2 miles of muck and it managed to muck my shifting out. I eventually got it sorted out, but mud, grit and sand are no friends of bike drivetrains.

March 8, 2010 - 10:34 pm High Gear - Let me know if the derail is working better. Ruts that size are known to take derails. clean off. Sorry didn't have much time to talk on Saturday...my shop life is a mess. Will be better soon.

March 9, 2010 - 6:52 am Eric - Gnat - I like that one too - that little sign is the low maintenance road sign, so that is very cool to me. Yeah, we are getting the derailer issue worked out. Matt, the new shop will be open soon! I will come in and see you on Friday morning for bike repairs.

Training Notes…and Release Party Announcement!

March 4, 2010 at 3:29pm Posted in Adventure Monkey

I was sent to training at work this week. It was a break from the norm in my daily schedule. I tend to get bored when things are, well, boring. In a classroom environment boredom leads to sleep. Instead of sleeping, I decided I better doodle. I picked up one of the papers in my packet, turned it over and began to take notes, or doodle. This was a nice two hour break of doodling. I just let my mind unwind and that is what you see below. It’s quite relaxing.

Don’t know what it means or anything. I thought I would share my insanity with you today. Kinda cool though, I thought maybe one of you art therapy majors could figure it out or tell me my future or maybe it was just because I was listening to a class about disseminating information, not sure. Let’s try to figure it out and give it a name. Let me know what you come up with.

So yeah, I took the time to scan it and post it for you in case you were wondering.

On another note, Jen and I decided that, yes, we should have a magazine release party. I wasn’t sure if I could have everything printed and ready by the 13th, so you are going to have to wait just a bit longer.

If you are reading this, you are invited to Adventure Monkey – the magazine’s release party. It will happen on Saturday the 20th the first day of Spring which seems very appropriate. There will be food, magazines, and a really big cover enlarged for all to see and admire. The time will be in the evening and I will let you know that soon. Where? This is the exciting part and it’s still a secret. I will let you know soon, and it will be cool. So what I can tell you for sure is this:

Adventure Monkey release party on the evening of March 20.
at a secret location to be announced
There will be food, magazines and announcements.
Hopefully all the writers will be there to sign autographs.
High Gear will be giving away a bicycle!

OK, all that’s true except the free bicycle part. Remember the shoestring budget? I will treat you to some cake instead.

Afterwards, I imagine we would go to an Emporia establishment to tell stories and consume beverages and then for anyone that lives in E-town or stays over (maybe you can crash at my house):

SUNDAY FLINT HILLS BIKE RIDE! 

Tomorrow is going to be a warm and windy day. I plan to get lost in the Flint Hills for as many miles as I can handle. Should be a great day for pictures and cycling.

Feed Your Monkey!
-Eric

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by Eric

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March 4, 2010 - 8:08 pm Jed - Don't forget about the free Bananas!

March 4, 2010 - 8:52 pm gnat - Sweet little sketch. I love all the little detail. Eric, congrats on the mag. I sure wish I could make it down there. Can't wait to see it.

March 5, 2010 - 9:53 am LeLan Dains - Hmm....too bad. I will be flying into Kansas on the 21st. A day late and a dollar short. Well, at least a day late.

Release Party for Adventure Monkey – the magazine?

March 3, 2010 at 8:49am Posted in Adventure Monkey, News

Having a ten hour workday (plus a 90 minute daily commute), wife and kids, putting a magazine together and trying to train for an endurance event  can take its toll. I have not been able to wake up at 4 a. m. this week to ride the rollers. The alarm sounds and I cannot comprehend the rollers as a good idea, so I go back to sleep for another short hour. I realize I feel better when I ride in the morning, but 4 a. m. is like the middle of the night. I am looking forward to “springing forward” and gaining an hour of sunlight after work. That should help with the training.

I mentioned having a release party for the magazine. Jen thought that would be a great idea. We (she) is planning. That gives me a deadline to have everything done and get copies printed. Probably would need stickers too and shirts would be nice, but I don’t think the shoestring will stretch that far. Would anyone be able to make it to an Adventure Monkey release party in Emporia maybe on the 13th of this month? What if I offered free food? Trying to get a feel if this would be a good idea or not. I like to think that everyone reads the blog and wants a t-shirt, so sitting in an empty room with food and a stack of magazines would not be good for my fragile ego.

Now on to pictures.

Last Friday I did a road ride and concentrated on speed (shutup) more than taking pictures. I stopped once to take the camera out. I have completed this route three other times within a month or so, and I was getting a little bored of the same scenery and concentrated on pedaling. If I would have had some nice clouds I would have shot more, but I thankfully just had a nice sunny day to ride. This image shows the beautiful winter day we had.

 

From HWY 177, the “scenic byway”

 

On another note, we have surpassed 10,000 page loads at the Adventure Monkey site and have grown every month! That’s pretty good. I realize some blogs get this many visitors a day, but this isn’t bad for our upstart little business. We have also had a record day this week in new visitors! I would like to thank bikeblogs.com for listing me in their daily blog list. That helped Adventure Monkey gain some new readership. I hope we can get some excitement generated when the magazine comes out too. I plan on asking a lot of adventurers to write for the upcoming issues. Contact me if you have any ideas for what should go in the next issue.

 

 

That blip last June was from a wedding I shot and put on the blog. Adventure Monkey was born in August. Thanks to all of you, we are growing at a steady pace! I hope Adventure Monkey will continue to catch on and more than that I hope people get inspired to Feed their Monkey!

One last, but quite humorous note, I was checking to see what people searched for to get to my site, just out of curiosity. Here’s what I found:

As you can see, Segato is so popular, people Google him daily. I know his Spin class, nice quads and thick flowing hair get him a lot of play and I will take the one new reader from his overflow of fans. Thanks Seagato, if I only could catch up to you on a bike ride, I would thank you properly.

Of course, someone Googled for the “worst bicycles ever made” and they got to Adventure Monkey. Not the kind of thing that I was hoping to attract, but hopefully we set them straight and they went to Salsa’s website for one of the best bicycles ever made (yeah, I am still hoping for a free bike or maybe some socks or something).

And I like that the person searching for “what new things are coming on training” will soon be doing interval training in the Flint Hills in the snow. But hey, I am just a “monkey photographer” what do I know about training?

Thanks for reading! Go and Feed Your Monkey!

-Eric

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by Eric

6 comments

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March 3, 2010 - 10:51 am Beth Yount - Well I'd come if I was still in Emporia, lol. Good luck with the planning!! Can't wait for the release!

March 3, 2010 - 5:55 pm Seagato - I cant stop laughing over here! Count me in for the release party as well(free food is all I need to hear, I am a college student after all)! Congrats on all the great blogging success also!

March 3, 2010 - 6:17 pm Jim C - Did someone say "Party"... I'm in.

March 3, 2010 - 6:47 pm Mike Wise - Sounds like a good time. I could make an appearance. It sounds like your magazine is going to be really cool!

March 4, 2010 - 6:08 am Jay - The magazine and party sound good - looking forward to reading the mag. Can't make the 12 hour drive to KS though. Hope to see you in June at DK.

March 6, 2010 - 8:07 am Adventure Money - Glad you all are laughing! You're all invited. "Too far" is really not a valid excuse. If you got on a bike now, you'd be here in time. You can crash at my place.

Riding with the racers…

March 1, 2010 at 8:11pm Posted in Adventure Monkey

Sunday was finally here and I had a full day planned. I woke up early to work on the Adventure Monkey magazine and I was going to ride with a group from High Gear in the afternoon. We had been having mild weather with some sunshine and the gravel roads had finally dried up enough to ride.

Seagato told me the route we were taking. It would be 55 to 60 miles and I had ridden it before. I figured it would be a great ride, but underestimated my nutritional needs. I thought a Cliff bar and two bottles of energy drink would be fine. At the pace of the Adventure Monkey photographer, I would have been, but I was riding with the racers. Seagato, for example, teaches Spin class every day and then rides centuries for a change of pace. Matt was able to get away from the shop and he is almost super human on the bike. I have never seen these guys get tired. I could go on about the others, but I don’t want them to feel too good about whipping a non sponsored guy on a Fargo with ten pounds of camera strapped to the trunk. Of course it takes me so long to finish the route that I have no idea how they look at the end of a ride.

One of the fun things about riding in a pack is being able to socialize with other cyclists. I was finally able to meet Jim Cummings, Mike Wise and got to ride with Scott, another “normal” rider I hadn’t ridden with yet. The thing is, if I want to talk with the guys while I ride, I have to keep up with them. I did quite well for a little while. I knew the route we were on and at one point I realized I was pushing it pretty hard and we had a long way to go. I wonder if they saw the humor when I was breathing heavy while trying to maintain a conversation. I sure did. It seemed as if they were not in need of the extra oxygen as I was.

Jim Cummings is one of the founders of the Dirty Kanza. He slowed a bit to talk with me. I had been looking forward to meeting him. I was pedaling hard to keep up and I am not sure if he was pedaling or even breathing for that matter. I think he finally got tired of listening to me consume oxygen. He started pedaling and left me in the dust. I got in a good 30 or 45 minutes of socializing in before I was by myself again. I am in pretty good shape, but these guys are in a league or five above me by far.

Don’t feel sorry for me, I am happy I rode with the guys for two main reasons.

  • I push myself much harder when I ride with them. Well, if you call riding a couple miles behind a pack of cyclists riding “with” them. I can still feel yesterday’s ride in my legs today. It was an intense workout for me, just what I needed.
  • Riding with a pack of cyclists that are a lot stronger than me gives me humorous things to think about. There is nothing quite as funny as self deprecation.

I started talking with Scott. He also entered the DK 200 this year and talked about maybe using the buddy system since he doesn’t ride as fast as our racer friends. “Sure,” I said through long hard breaths. I noticed he wasn’t breathing hard. At some point I noticed I was getting low on energy drink and said something under my breath about not wanting, but needing a banana. Scott came prepared and let me eat the one he brought with him. I devoured it without skipping a pedal stroke. That saved me. Bananas keep me from cramping up. Thanks Scott, you have become my favorite fan this week. I wish I could offer you a prize, but how about a mention in the super popular Adventure Monkey blog?

We road together for a while until I had to shift and slow down. I found myself at the tail of the pack again, but I didn’t get too far behind them. That is until we hit mud and the Rails to Trails trail for a few miles. Kansas mud is like wet cement. It slowed me down immediately and I looked ahead and saw a few of the racers carrying their bikes. I rode through it. I am tough like that.

Hill of mud

I passed Tim Mohn and Chris Wiggins, supermen on bikes. No, it wasn’t because of the burst of speed from the banana, they were tending to mechanical issues as I rode by. I kept going, started to feel bad, but realized I had nothing to offer the situation except to look at the derailer and shake my head as if I understood how to fix it. The group stopped and I took a few pictures.

See, Matt even stands like a superhero; the stop before rails to trails

Chris and Tim catch up on the muddy road

Kansas Hills

Matt making sure everything is OK

The Rails to Trails portion of the ride was brutal. The ground was wet and the trail is covered in loose rock. It took a lot of energy to get any speed. That must be why I didn’t have any. It wiped one of our riders out. He got up quick and I am sure he was happy I don’t carry a small camera ready to shoot while on the bike. I was using up a lot of energy on this portion of the ride, but it is quite a scenic trip.

A little roll in the mud

A stop on the rails to trails

We finally got off that trail and hit a gravel road again.

The Dirty Fargo; the guys were watching me shoot this sweet shot and then...

...they looked down at their rigs wishing they were as cool as the Fargo

I felt pretty good and rode hard, although most of the pack disappeared ahead, there were two riders that dissappeared behind me. I was feeling good and had a good cruising pace going so I continued ahead while I was feeling good. We had a ways to go. I turned to head east towards Americus and had to ride into a slight headwind. After awhile my legs began to feel tired. I was still pedaling, but the wind was enough to make me feel like I was losing steam. I had to stop because the temperature was dropping and I was cold. I put my jacket and my thicker gloves on and turned on my rear blinky light. As I looked back I saw the other two riders and was glad to see them. I had been wondering if something was wrong, but was simply too tired to go back. Sounds mean, but I was starting to feel hungry and with the tiredness in my legs, I didn’t want to bonk. The Casey’s store in Americus was all I could think about.

As I was purchasing healthy energy snacks, Snickers and a Red Bull, Randy and Jed pulled up. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t happy that I wasn’t last. These two aren’t shabby cyclists, so I was in good company. We decided to stay on gravel to get back to Emporia to keep away from traffic. We rode pretty hard all the way back to Emporia. Sorry I didn’t talk much on the way home guys, but I was concentrating on keeping the pedals moving. I was tired but had something left in the tank and I wanted to empty it. Ever been at that stage of a ride where you just want to pedal hard and stay focused? I was there. As I split off, Jed said, “Four of these and you’d have one Dirty Kanza.” Thanks Jed. Yeah, I have some work to do, but I am planning on riding at a comfortable speed for the DK and not burning out. If I do that, maybe I’ll beat Seagato and Brown (ouch).

I split off to ride the hills of 30th street to get home. That did it. I was spent. All in all it was my best workout of the year and just what I needed. Once again, I finished off a ride by cleaning the Fargo before bringing her inside. That’s right, she’s too good for the garage.

On another note, I found that we have a professional bike fitter in E-town named Gina. She her site HERE.  I am all over that. I will soon give a detailed report as I can’t wait to get properly fitted to my Fargo. Thanks Randy for the tip!

Magazine news?
It is done. Well except for a few pictures I am waiting on. I had one late article entry, but it was so good I wanted to squeeze it in. All in all it will be 44 pages of deliciousness. I can’t wait to release it. If I had more than a shoestring budget, I’d have a release party and invite you all!

Feed Your Monkey!
-Eric

by Eric

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March 1, 2010 - 9:56 pm Beth Yount - Hey now, if Snickers and Red Bull can fuel a cyclist, I'm definitely buying a bike!! I loveee the photo of the "roll in the mud." Its phenomenal! All these pictures tell the perfect story of what you wrote...a picture really is worth a thousand words!! Glad you got to push yourself, kudos for keeping up AND getting some great shots!! ~Beth ----------------------------------------------------Thanks Beth!, and when you ride long distance, you get to eat a lot, and I mean a lot!

March 2, 2010 - 8:55 am LeLan Dains - Man, you have no idea how jealous I am. I got to do a great ride yesterday myself. But, I would trade every mountainous climb and descent to be riding with all you fools. In due time I suppose. Can't wait to see the magazine!----------------------look forward to riding with you!

March 2, 2010 - 12:33 pm Roger - http://www.mapmyride.com/route/us/wi/de%20soto/593126686285258072 Click on the fly by wire and watch a nice gravel ride from the air. 35 miles of lovely SWWIS gravel. It's about 9 minutes long. I'm new to this gravel stuff but I think I have about a 100 mile route ready to go. Have to check all the roads yet. Enjoy.-------------------------------------------When are we going on that ride?

March 2, 2010 - 6:03 pm Roger - Roads are becoming sketchy now with the warm weather. With a cold weekend, any time. Or when the frost is out and dried up it'll be killer. It's a beautiful ride. Ridgetops and valleys. Come on UP! There are a few gravel nuts-errr-enthusiasts in the area. Fire and camping- at the farm- or local motels- available.

March 2, 2010 - 6:04 pm Roger - ps....love that last caption. ------------------------------I love to ride in WI someday! Sounds like an Adventure Monkey business trip to me. Ha ha, I love that last caption too. I noticed all the guys were looking down at their bikes, obviously sad. ;)

Good ride today…

February 26, 2010 at 8:34pm Posted in Adventure Monkey

I rode hard today for 70 miles, faster than I ever have. I wouldn’t have caught up with any racers, but I averaged 16 mph throughout the ride and shaved about 1/2 hour off my usual time on this loop. Pretty good.

I thought about riding gravel today and I am glad I didn’t. The gravel roads I passed by were muddy and gross, like sink in the mud muddy.

I am happy to be riding outside again. I need to get some serious time in the saddle. I am still tweaking the Fargo to fit me perfectly. I adjusted the seat and handle bars today. This bike fit thing is pretty much a pain. It would be OK if I only rode a few hours at a time, but I want to be able to ride 205 miles. It could take me 20 hours. I need to be as comfortable as possible. I’m not there yet. Have any bike fit secrets? Let me know.

So this road riding is just a bit less boring than the rollers. Riding gravel rules over pavement big time. Here’s why:

  1. Road scenery is not breathtaking like on gravel. If I had to get mathematic about it, I’d say it’s about 1/8 as good as gravel. From the road I can see the hills and prairies. On gravel I’m in those hills and prairies.
  2. Paved roads are made level for fast moving cars. Gravel roads follow the lay of the land.
  3. Cars. On gravel rides I see very few if any cars and they are moving slow. On the paved roads I am passed by big semi trucks, and many cars that are all in a hurry and don’t like a cyclist slowing them down. People in cars can be mean and that will be discussed in a future post. It’s not relaxing worrying about getting run over.
  4. Bone jarring gravel is awesome. It’s not only more scenic and adventurous but its awesome. Pavement is flat and boring and not as challenging.
  5. The Fargo rides like a dream on bumpy gravel. Flat pavement is flat and I can’t feel the awesomeness of the 29er wheels.
  6. My Adventure Monkey loves gravel. It’s easy to get lost, find new routes, and see things never seen from the paved highway.
  7. Picture taking opportunities are aplenty on gravel roads.

I could go on, but basically, I love gravel and low maintenance roads. I love the challenge, scenery and feeling of getting away from civilization. If you haven’t ridden in the Flint Hills it is my favorite place to ride. I can ride miles without seeing even the hint of civilization. It’s a rough ride with a barrage of hills that never stop. I won’t even mention the high winds, heat, wildflowers, cows in the road, ruts, wild animals, jagged rocks, razor sharp flint, steep hills and lack of service stations. You crazy Dirty Kanza riders, you are in trouble. It’s going to be great.

The ride tired me out. I shot like 2 or 3 images and haven’t downloaded yet. I save them for later. I was concentrating more on turning the pedals today.

Feed Your Monkey!

-Eric

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    by Eric

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    February 27, 2010 - 10:35 am Dale - While I unfortunately can't speak to riding gravel in the Flint Hills of KS, I do feel the need Eric to point out that riding pavement is not so bad. Maybe I'm just getting sentimental about my SoCals rides now that I'll soon be moving to NorCal. I've had hours and hours of enjoyment from pavement--watching surfers and crashing waves along the coastline while being comforted from a cool ocean breeze, loops through horse farms with the wonderfully pleasant aroma of blooming citrus trees, heart-pounding and leg-aching climbs up Torrey Pines and other step grades which offered amazing ocean views once at the vista--and I hope to have many more in the future in the Bay Area and wine country. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Dale I would love THAT road ride, but last time I did a road ride in Kansas I passed no surfers or crashing waves along a coastline, although I was made uncomfortable by the blistering Kansas winds (either freezing cold or oven baked), I have seen horses and feedlots full of cows with a very unpleasant aroma of manure, can't say I've seen or smelled any citrus trees, but I have climbed a few small rolling hills to a vista of more of the same. Ha ha - I hope to join you someday on one of those beautiful road rides - that's for sure. In Kansas - it's just gotta be gravel.

    February 27, 2010 - 9:32 pm Roger - http://www.bikedynamics.co.uk/guidelines.html These guys are the best I've found in 35+ years reading about and trying various ideas about fit. Also I think it's Competitive Cyclist in Colorado that gives you a good idea about how to measure yourself to determine what frame size you need. Enjoy.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Thanks for the link! I am going to check it out!

    February 28, 2010 - 4:32 pm Randy - Another option for fit issues is Gina @ Life Balance Sports & Wellness (http://www.lifebalancesports.com/). She's right there in Emporia. Thinking about going that route myself...

    February 28, 2010 - 11:18 pm SFuller - I'm convinced that if you are spending any amount of time on your bike, the money spent to get a proper bike fit performed is well worth it. I've had fits performed on my road and mountain bikes and they both eliminated issues I had with hand numbness and sore back issues that I've had. A good fit will likely take a couple of hours, but it's time well spent. Reminds me that I need to get some adjustments done to the fit of my gravel grinder rig before the big events hit in April - June too. :)

    March 1, 2010 - 7:19 am Eric - Randy I did not know about Gina! I am contacting her IMMEDIATELY! I will let you all know how it goes. Steve I think you are completely correct. Now if I can just hit the weights a little more too!

    I have you all fooled…

    February 24, 2010 at 2:55pm Posted in Adventure Monkey, Creative Monkey

    Funny thing, seems like a lot of you think I am pretty tough or maybe a bit crazy simply because I have ridden my bike in a little bit of cold weather this winter. That’s a first for sure.

    I am just a little guy, the youngest of three kids, and I can’t say that anyone has ever called me tough or crazy, I don’t think (except for that one time…). Growing up, I was a moma’s boy and would rather hang out with her than do manly stuff with my dad. Wrestling? I lasted two weeks before I decided rolling around on a mat in tights in the clutches of another sweaty male of my species was out of the question. Fixing the car, building a shed, or working in the garage with Dad and my big brother? Nope, I was most likely playing house or school with my sister or taking a long walk exploring the countryside with my dog and a big stick. I loved those long walks.

    I am normally pretty low key and don’t take big physical risks. I never could do big jumps on my BMX bike or any cool tricks on my mountain bike either. Competitive? We are all competitive to a certain extent, but when it comes to riding through extreme pain to catch Matt on his bike, I just can’t do it. I don’t have that animal instinct. But the one thing I am is a dreamer.

    When I was young, I would read, draw and dream of things bigger than myself. I loved music and I loved to be outside.

    All that said, how does a dreamer find himself enjoying a bicycle ride in a -5 degree snowstorm? It is because I said earlier this is the year to do something great. This is the year to, “believe in the beauty of my dreams.” It is time to quit talking and start doing. It is time to “let my yes be yes and my no be no.” It is time to quit saying,

    “I should”

    “I need to”

    “I wish I could”

    “I can’t wait until…”

    It’s time to just do it (Oh crap, I just quoted Nike.) It is time to make a list and do the things we were put here to do.

    Have you ever thought about it? I have. I only have one life with an infinite amount of time to live it. Am I living it, or just walking in a daze following the crowd and doing nothing?

    This year I am doing something. But why the cold weather rides when I absolutely hate the cold?

    I have to make goals so that I have something to shoot for. (Putting them on the internet for the world to read makes it tougher to slack off too.) Hopefully you didn’t make goals for 2010 and then forget about them. Write them down and put them in a prominent place. Look at them every month to see how you are doing and make adjustments if needed.

    Goals are worthless if you don’t have an action plan made to meet those goals. All an action plan does is break those big goals into small baby steps that are easy to take. If all the steps are taken, the goal is met. Every journey begins, continues and ends one step at a time.

    February 24, it’s a good time to look at the goals I made for 2010 and evaluate my progress and make changes instead of ending the year failing to do anything I set out to do the year before.

    I decided along with others out there that 2010 was the time to do something great. In order to prove to myself that I can do something great, I decided to skip the small stuff and go for the gusto – finish the Dirty Kanza 200 in 2010. That is why I am riding all winter long. I need to stay in shape and build endurance to ride 205 miles of mind pounding gravel through the Flint Hills. No excuses, no regrets. I have a goal to meet. That is why you may see me riding in the snow or in the basement on the rollers instead of watching TV. I am tired of letting life pass me by. It is my turn to get some!

    I’d be lying if I said I was meeting all my goals for 2010. I need to work on the family goals, that’s for sure.

    Adventure Monkey is also flying to places I hadn’t dreamed of just one month ago. A magazine is being created by my readers and myself about Adventure cycling in Kansas! That’s what happens when you listen to that small voice and put yourself out there. Things begin to happen that are bigger than yourself. This magazine will be worth the wait my faithful readers! I am finishing up just a few things to have it ready in a week or so!

    It’s time to quit wasting time on the computer or in front of the TV and look at the goals you’ve made for yourself this year. This is a great time to evaluate and adjust. Let’s make this year one to remember!

    I’m riding Friday snow or no snow. Let me know if you want to go!

    Feed Your Monkey!

    -Eric

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    February 25, 2010 - 7:34 am Jenni in KS - You might say you're a dreamer, but you're not the only one. Oops, I just misquoted John Lennon. Yet another inspiring post here. Hey, I received the canvas the other day. It is beautiful! I haven't been home much during the day with this new job, but tomorrow I'm taking the day off to clean the house and get things in order around here. I'll take some photos and send them to you as well as write a post then. Thank you again for the lovely print. It's going to look great up on our wall, I've just got to find the best spot for it. Yeah! Glad you got the canvas. I meant to email you about that.

    February 25, 2010 - 8:28 am James Goering - I doesn't matter if you were a "wimp" when you were younger. What matters is that you are pursuing your dreams no matter what it takes. That is pretty tough in my book, winter riding or no. Thanks James!

    February 25, 2010 - 10:08 pm gnat - Eric, it's always good to revisit your goals. You've set some good ones and I am so thankful we've got at least one common goal, the DK. I can't wait to meet you ride with you. Take care and keep pushing. I can't wait to see your mag. I bet it has some sweet pics! The mag is looking sweet. Looking farward to finally meeting in person for the DK!

    Just when things are going well…

    February 22, 2010 at 5:00am Posted in Adventure Monkey

    Seems like when everything is flowing and things are going really well, I have a bad day to keep me in check.

    My Friday ride was off due to rain and ice. Looking at the forecast, I thought I might be able to squeeze some saddle time in on Saturday. There was a small chance of precipitation, but it looked like it may be clear most of the day. I was wanting to get a long ride in and I mapped out a 90+ mile ride.

    About five miles into the great ride I planned, little ice pellets began falling from the sky. Nothing to worry about I thought. It will probably end soon. But it got worse. And then it got worse than that. I started thinking about shortening the ride just a tad. Then I looked down at myself and noticed I was covered in snow and road grime. Dang it. The road was getting pretty messy. The snow was falling so heavily now, it was difficult to see. I was about 12.5 miles into the ride and I finally gave up, cold and wet and getting pelted in the face with ice and snow. So much for a small chance of precipitation! I figured I should take a few pictures for you. I really wish one of you was there to take a picture of me. It would have been a sweet shot – the Fargo and I riding through a blizzard on an endless Kansas road. Too bad Gnat didn’t come along!

    The snow started coming down a little heavier

    Maybe I should give in and turn around for home...

    I give up

    I decided to ride back into town and stop by the bike shop and bother Matt and Stephanie. I was thinking of getting the Salsa Woddchipper for the Fargo and thought I’d ask about it. I am having a tough time getting comfortable on the drop bars that came with the Fargo Complete. I am having some wrist pain I haven’t experienced before. I rolled into the shop dripping with water, snow and mud. They probably won’t like that in the new shop with beautiful wood floors. Seems like the Woodchipper is a bit expensive, but I need something comfortable for the Dirty Kanza. There is no way I will last with the kind of wrist pain I am experiencing with the drop bars. New handlebars, tires, camera bag, and figuring out these new disc brakes and I think I will be ready for the DK 200. Well, the bike will be.

    The bike shop is always a good time. I met a guy named Paul that doesn’t own a car any more and rides his bike everywhere! A real live bike commuter in Emporia, KS – Sweet! I would love to do that. I pet the cat too. I have never seen a cat quite this friendly.

    The Shop Cat

    I came home and rinsed off the bike, put it on the stand and cleaned it up some more. That’s when I noticed the brakes rubbing again. I just can’t seem to get the brakes where I want them. The are Avid Disc Brakes. If you don’t know, disc brakes have a lot of stopping power compared to old school brakes. Finger tip pressure is enough to stop you. Mine aren’t there. I noticed the rotor hitting each pad as if it is bent a little. Definitely need to visit Matt again and get the brakes where they should be. Messing with them took awhile and was frustrating since this is my new bike.

    After that, I put in 24 solo I borrowed from Seagato and rode the rollers. That movie was intense and I rode hard for the enire movie. I thought I was getting really tired cause I couldn’t keep my speed up until I looked down and noticed I was losing air in the front tire. I ride in the Flint Hills all the time, hours away from home on low maintenace roads. I have had only one flat out there. Today I got a flat riding the rollers. They are evil. Riding inside is just going against everything that’s right in the world. I was payed back by somehow getting a flat riding on smooth cylindrical rollers. What?! When I checked the tire out, a tiny pebble with sharp edges had worked it’s way into the tire and into the tube until it hit paydirt and started letting air out of my tube. Maybe it’s a good thing I had to turn back on the 90+ mile ride I had planned. Man I can’t wait to put some real tread on and hit the gravel again. Spring why must you be so coy?

    As for the magazine. Things are still going well. I have a few changes to make, a story to lay out and I am waiting on two others. It is looking great and I plan to have it done to roll out next week! It is a beautiful magazine that’s for sure! I am already contacting people for issue two. The magazine is now called, Adventure Monkey – the magazine. That means I can showcase stories of adventure of any kind! If you have an adventure or know someone that should be featured, please contact me.

    Oh, and you may have noticed the logo has changed a bit. That has happened because I came up with a new logo to fit the magazine and the direction of Adventure Monkey. I am now in the process of obtaining the trademark for Adventure Monkey. Soon the magazine, t-shirts, and artwork will be released to the world, exciting huh?

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    February 23, 2010 - 7:11 am justanoldhobo - Eric, My Woodchippers should be in this week. I will let you know as soon as I get a ride but I have become much more comfortable with the Bell Laps lately. I haven't ridden over 70 miles on the Bell Laps at one time but am okay with them up to that mileage. Our weather was unbelievable for last weekend, 48 on Saturday and 61 on Sunday. That blizzard ride looked like it would be fun as long as you have a partner you can turned to and say, why are we doing this? - - - Therein lies the problem - I was by myself. I definitely want to hear what you think of the Woodchipper!

    February 23, 2010 - 6:26 pm Errin - @justanoldhobo and @ Eric--I'm interested in what you guys think of the Woodchippers too. Am I right that Salsa is spec'ing the new Fargos with these bars stock? I've been pretty comfortable on the Bell Laps, but I've only ridden the Fargo up to 25 miles or so. Not far enough to develop any problems I think. I just rode my Surly Long Haul Trucker on a 300K Brevet this past weekend. This bike is pretty comfortable, but after about 100 miles, one of my fingers went numb. Check out the story on my blog. Glad you got your flat while you were home and not out in that storm. That would've been it's own adventure. Thanks for taking the time to share the pictures.

    February 26, 2010 - 4:25 am justanoldhobo - The Woodchippers are elusive. I have had them ordered for a couple of months and the date keeps getting pushed back. Errin, I have become very comfortable with the Bell Laps and while riding yesterday wondered if I really want to change bars on the Fargo. I have a different bike the WC's may go on but it will be a bike close to the Fargo and I will let you folks know what I think about them. Eric, Good luck on the mag! I am thinking of a Spring Gravel trek through the midwest, you know like traveling to surf the best gravel. The Flint Hills have to be a stop so if it happens I will contact you to see if we can meet for a ride. -sounds great! The Flint HIlls are a must do!

    A good feeling of exhaustion

    February 18, 2010 at 10:23am Posted in Adventure Monkey, Love Monkey

    I was watching Melissa play softball at her indoor practice last night and it hit me. I was exhausted in the best of ways.

    I have been exhausted before but in the usual, dreadful way caused by going to work every day putting my all into meaningless crap and coming home feeling wasted by the end of the week. But this is a much different feeling.

    The great feelings of exhaustion that I have felt in my life have come in one of two flavors.

    One happens when new love is found. You spend every moment with this new person that you find yourself falling deeply in love with. Projects, homework, and friends suddenly take a back seat to spending time with this new love you have found. That means all the stuff you put off has to be done later and late nights of love and getting caught up on the other commitments you’ve slacked on lead to a feeling of blissful exhaustion. I remember going to my college classes exhausted but feeling absolutely great because I was in love. No one could tell me different. My Love Monkey was being fed, maybe overfed. This is the best feeling of exhaustion there is. I am an all or nothing kind of man and I married that sweet girl and we are still in love today. The exhaustion factor has been worn down by regular life, but still in love I am.

    The only other good feeling of exhaustion I have experienced comes from finding work that is inspiring, fulfilling and maybe even could be called “finding your calling.”

    I felt this back when I started the photo studio some of you might remember as “Benjamin Photography.” Things just seemed to work out to make it all happen. I was having fun and working a lot. Even though the studio was located in a basement suite without any storefront windows, we became the most popular photo studio in town. We even won the super prestigious “Best of Lyon County” in the Emporia Gazette. That was a great experience that gave me a taste of being a small business owner and taught me much. You may be wondering why I am now in a cubicle if the studio was so great. Business sense – I didn’t have any, and I ended up having to get a real job. That was hard, but now I realize it was just part of this delicious journey I am on.

    Yesterday, I was feeling that same feeling of exhaustion. The “finding your calling” exhaustion. Now I am not saying the Adventure Monkey is my calling, no wait, I am saying just that very thing. At this point in time, Adventure Monkey has become my calling. I have spent a lot of time contacting contributors for the upcoming magazine and I have spent even more time technically putting it together into a beautiful presentation of a magazine. To top it off, I have been getting up at 4:00 am to ride the rollers to get more miles in preparation for the DK 200. What’s that have to do with Adventure Monkey you ask? Everything.

    I am doing the DK 200 to “walk the walk” of the Adventure Monkey talk. Yes, I will be honest, I want to finish the DK200 for the selfish reason of desiring to do something great for myself. I am also doing the DK200 to show you all (and my kids) that when you put your mind and body into something great, great things will happen. I am putting it all on the line. In my mind, finishing the DK 200 will be the real beginning of bringing the Adventure Monkey to life for others.

    Back to the magazine. Do I think it will be my escape plan out of the daily grind of cubicle life? I can’t say that. I will quote music legend Ray Charles here. I’m just gonna just let it “do what it do.” Or maybe that’s Jamie Fox as Ray Charles, it doesn’t matter.

    Adventure Monkey the magazine has taken on a life of its own and things just seem to be lining up for it to work. That means more to me than me having my way with it. I have been racking my brain to try to come up with something big and I came up with nothing. Instead I ended up in a job with no promotion or advancement opportunities and just enough stupidness that I was frustrated into getting back on my bike. I rode. I rode far. Adventure Monkey popped in my head on a ride. I made a website. I wrote some stuff and posted pictures. Then I joked about how the cover of Bicycling Magazine ticked me off after a wintry Kansas ride. I joked about shooting a cover. I joked about a real magazine. People started encouraging me to do it. I committed and was met with much enthusiasm and contributions. Nobody’s getting paid, yet stories and articles havecome in. I am now pouring my heart into it and thinking of future stories, ideas, issues and legalities that need to be worked out. I can see how this magazine, website and products can serve to inspire others to do great things. I didn’t come up with it, it came to me. It’s answered prayers. It is fun and extremely satisfying, so I am going with it. I am gonna let it “do what it do.”

    It’s not even close to the extreme feeling of love exhaustion, but it is a good thing. Let just see where it leads. Issue number one should be complete within the next two weeks! Stay tuned.

    My valentine Monkey from Melissa. Oh what's that in the background? Looks like a sneak peak.

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    February 18, 2010 - 11:55 am mark giffin - cant wait to read the first issue.and like you my fellow biker i am doing the dk200 for one reason,because normal everyday life is free from any real challenge.and people like you and many others need adventure we need a reason to feel alive.rock the monkey. mg

    February 18, 2010 - 4:42 pm mom - I am proud of you my dear son! - - - -Thanks Mom! So what? I'm a mamma's boy.

    February 26, 2010 - 6:09 pm Beth Yount - Love the monkey, love the sneak peek even more!!!

    Adventure Monkey, the magazine?

    February 16, 2010 at 10:30am Posted in Adventure Monkey, Creative Monkey, News

    Hello my faithful 41 fans. As you may have noticed, there has been a lack of pictures as compared to last Summer and Fall. There’s a very good reason for that. It’s freaking cold outside that’s why. Stopping for too long leads too hypothermia and death, and although I do love you, I don’t love you that much. 

    The other reason is that Kansas looks like a frozen wasteland in the winter. It’s worth a picture or two and then it gets old. We’ve had so much snow and moisture, that it has kept me off the good gravel roads in the Flint HIlls – bummer. 

    I guess it’s a good thing I’m such a great writer and can keep you highly entertained. 

    New Magazine News

    Adventure Monkey the Magazine is now coming to life. As my faithful know, I was going to create the Kansas Bicycling magazine to make fun of the ultrapopular Bicycling magazine, but too many of my faithful commented on how the name Adventure Monkey would be, as one reader said, “a kick*ss magazine!” Here’s why: The vision for this blog was to show pictures and discuss the life of my Adventure Monkey to inspire others to get off the couch and do something great with their lives. I feed my Adventure Monkey on my bike and with my camera and hence the content of this blog. But not everyone, believe it or not, is a bicycle fanatic. Other people feed their Adventure Monkey in other ways. A magazine named the Adventure Monkey would be able to discuss “Feeding Your Monkey” in many ways. Yes, as long as I am a part of it, cycling and photography will be a major emphasis, but it is now opened up to writing stories about many great adventures. And come on, Kansas Bicycling? That will attract a huge following around the world I’m sure. 

    For example, I have a friend that hasn’t ridden a bike in years. He’s a quiet guy and fairly reserved and logical about things. On the other hand he leads short term mission trips to help the poor and needy in South Texas and Mexico. That is definitely an adventure worth writing about. 

    There’s also an ulterior motive in this scheme too. If we are writing about all these adventures it would mean the writers and I would have to travel and live out some of these adventures for the magazine right? Right. I can see it now…goodbye cubicle. 

    Please excuse my lack of updating in the next week or two, but I am working on the magazine layout. It is coming along quite nicely. It may be the coolest looking magazine you have ever seen. I am sure companies will be scrambling over each other to get into the next issue. 

    I will be posting it here as a pdf for your viewing pleasure. In the future maybe we will find a way to actually print some. A full color magazine is expensive to print. Let me know if you have connections or ideas! I will be doing research, because this first issue has been a great challenge to work on. 

    I hope this Friday is nice. I need a really long gravel ride! 

    Feed Your Monkey!
    -Eric

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    February 16, 2010 - 11:22 am James Goering - An Adventure Monkey magazine sounds like a great idea. Get me my subscription now!

    February 16, 2010 - 4:58 pm Errin - Sounds like a great idea. I'm looking forward to the first issue.

    February 17, 2010 - 6:23 am Jenni in KS - Okay, Kansas Bicycling is a magazine I'd be interested in perusing an issue or two of just because I've read your blog. But Adventure Monkey Magazine? I would totally subscribe to that! Not all of us would-be adventurers are into cycling, and I'm afraid there would be a limit to how much of that I could take, although the photography angle makes it much more appealing. Stay warm while you're feeding your monkey! I love your photos, but I wouldn't want you to freeze.

    February 17, 2010 - 7:47 am Sue - I like the concept even better...it inspires people to get out there and try or do things that maybe they weren't sure they should try or do. Life's too short not to experience amazing things and be the amazing being that each person is....:) Looking forward to seeing it. You may try to get some local sponsors (companies, banks, grocery stores, apparel, etc.) and see if they would advertise in your magazine to help build fundage to start. You might figure out a sponsorship/advertising scale per page and go from there. You could also check out larger companies too, once you get the concept set up in your pdf, and send it around to companies you would want to have as sponsors. There might be a top 50 that you would feel honored to have as sponsors and advertising in your magazine...:) Just some ideas. Stay warm!

    February 17, 2010 - 10:37 am Matt S. - Why make a print version? You should try to get a digital copy made for the new book store in iTunes, IMO.

    February 18, 2010 - 10:27 am Eric - Thanks so much everyone. You keep me going! Sue, I have been thinking about those concepts of advertising, just need to get this first issue done. Matt - I am looking into every medium possible - print and digital.