Michael Fransen's Blog

Route Tracker in place for RRR 2009

mjfransen — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 00:27:43 +0000

In about a week and a half I will be doing a 300 mile bike ride through southeastern Minnesota. I created a page that will allow people to track where I am on my journey. You can visit the page here. I am using an iPhone application that will update it at every pit stop. Because it won’t be running the whole time while I am riding it may appear that I am going off-roading, but trust me, I am not.

1 Hour Bike Cleaning

mjfransen — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 22:45:46 +0000

After 140 miles of riding this weekend and getting rained on, my bike was in desperate need of a cleaning. I spent about an hour cleaning it this afternoon and got it looking like new. I also bought a new tool called the Chain Gang Cleaning System. It is a tool that is used to clean chains. It works AWESOME. My chain looks brand new again. If you are one of those riders that constantly gets black grease on your right leg after riding, I highly recommend this tool. I took a picture of my drive train so you could see how clean it got it. I also posted a couple of pictures from the site so you could see the tool and how it works.

Cornrows

mjfransen — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 02:02:05 +0000

After ride cravings!

mjfransen — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 01:55:39 +0000

Day on the Ride

mjfransen — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 00:08:33 +0000

This weekend I did the “Day on the Ride” training event that the Red Ribbon Ride has every year. It is a fully supported one day training ride to prepare riders for the actual ride in less than a month. We had for pit-stops and one of those was for lunch. At lunch we had grilled burgers and brats. Overall we did 62 miles through South Minneapolis, Eagan, Rosemount and Inver Grove Heights. I did get a little scarred a few times riding through Eagan because there was some heavy traffic, no shoulders, and crazy people, but I made it. I also got to use my new iPhone 3G S to take some video. I made a really short clip of the pit stops on the ride. I hope to get better taking video as time goes on.

If you would like to donate to this wonderful cause and support me in my riding, please visit the following link.

Rules of the Road

mjfransen — Sun, 10 May 2009 20:01:38 +0000

What bicyclists and motorists need to know:
1. Bicyclists may ride on all Minnesota roads, except where restricted. Bicycles are not required to ride on shoulders, sidewalks or even on adjacent bike paths or trails.
2. Bicyclists must ride in the same direction as traffic.
3. Motorists must maintain a three-foot clearance when passing a bicyclist.
4. Bicyclists must obey all traffic signs and signals, just like motorists.
5. Motorists and bicyclists must yield the right of way to each other.
6. Bicyclists must signal their turns and should ride in a predictable manner.
7. Bicyclists must use a headlight and rear reflectors when it’s dark.
8. Bicyclists should always wear helmets and bright, reflective gear.

On the Net
For information, go to www.sharetheroadmn.org.
Source: Minnesota Department of Public Safety

Red Ribbon Ride 2009

mjfransen — Mon, 04 May 2009 03:12:02 +0000

Dear Friends & Family,

I am very excited to inform you that I will be doing my fifth Red Ribbon Ride this year. Half a decade sure does go by fast. With my cycling and your financial contributions, together we have raised almost $7,000 for organizations that assist people living with HIV/AIDS in Minnesota. I could not continue to ride these 300 miles every July if I did not have the continued support of my friends and family. I ask for your support again in 2009.

I fully understand the economic condition that we currently are in; this is all the more reason that we need to raise the critical funds that the seven beneficiaries rely on to keep their doors open. The seven beneficiaries include: The African American AIDS Task Force, The Aliveness Project, Clare Housing, Hope House of St. Croix Valley, The Minnesota AIDS Project, Park House and the Rural AIDS Action Network. These organizations offer a variety of services from housing to prevention and education to stop the transmission of HIV/AIDS. I invite you to check out the beneficiary page on the Red Ribbon Ride’s website by clicking here.

This ride is very challenging in both training and fund raising. Training for a 300 mile bike ride is not easy and even harder is raising the minimum $1,500 to be able to do the ride. I hope I can count on your continued support this year. If you haven’t donated in the past, I hope that you will join in the fight against HIV/AIDS and make a tax-deductible donation to my ride. To donate please click here for my page or copy the link below and paste it in your browser’s address bar.

http://www.redribbonride.org/site/TR/Events/General?px=1233403&pg=personal&fr_id=1080

As always, please email me if you have any questions about donating or participating in the Red Ribbon Ride.

Thank you,

Michael

Bike Racing?

mjfransen — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 03:05:09 +0000

I have a racing clinic tomorrow. For some reason I felt compelled to watch some videos of crits, and ended up watching videos of crashes. Now I am not sure if I want to do this.

House of Pizza Fit Club

mjfransen — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 02:47:53 +0000

This year I decided to join the House of Pizza Fit club. My friend Joel got me to join. He also did their new website. This group does group rides/runs together. It is a social and exercise club. It is such a great deal to join, I almost felt bad like I was ripping someone off. You can either pay $50 for membership and you get a jersey with that or you can pay $150 for membership and you get jersey, bib shorts (everyone recommends these), a vest and to top it off a sweet jacket. If you were to walk into a bike store and purchase all that it would cost you probably around 250.

ZoomIt Application

mjfransen — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 14:29:00 +0000

This week I am down in MPLS attending SQL Server Analysis Server training at New Horizons. The instructor is using a sweet application that allows you to draw on the screen, zoom in on part of your screen and also has a break timer for meetings. The drawing part is probably the best. It is very similar to what they use when watching sports on TV. The break timer will work very well for our planning meetings at W3i. Here is the link for the download.