Friday, December 31, 2010

Happy New Year!!!!

The Pink Flamingos....



Out with the old, in with the new....

Hope it's wonderful with lots of cycling!

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!


Friday, December 24, 2010

Merry Christmas!


Enjoy the day and the season. Consider the origin and the meaning.

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!

Monday, December 20, 2010

WOW!

30 degrees warmer than it was yesterday at this time! It's actually 19 above zero this morning! Heat wave! Woohoo!

Snow on the way.

Rode the trainer yesterday, it was actually good. Starting over. Perhaps I'll take it a little more seriously this year. :)

Had to put a new battery in the Passat yesterday.

New tires on the Jetta tonight.

It's all good. 3 work days this week. Just back to work from a week of vacation.

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!

Monday, November 08, 2010

Psychlofest....

Kevin and Nate. Pretty intense.
Ride safe.
Peace out, yo!

Wednesday, November 03, 2010

Spooky Cross....

Looks serious....

DFL...

Spooky was, as usual, a blast! Pajamas on Saturday, Jester on Sunday. I think that the Jester may make an appearance at Jingle this year :) Should be good!
Ride safe.
Peace out, yo!

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Sunday....

Spent the day up in Kensett, Iowa yesterday. It was GREAT seeing family that I hadn't seen in quite some time.

Rode to Hudson and back with Jackal this morning. I am soooooo out of shape. It was a good ride, though, and perhaps just what I needed to get me motivated to get back on the bike a bit more consistantly.

Lunch time....

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!

Monday, July 12, 2010

July already?

Holy crap!

Still alive and kickin'

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!

Monday, May 03, 2010

Happy Monday....

I got a little riding in on the CX bike this weekend. It hadn't been out of the basement since Jingle. The Yellow Bike and the single speeds have been ridden, but not the CX bike.

The trails were pretty busy yesterday, which made "the goin'" kinda slow. Lot's of people out enjoying the beautiful weather.

Should be able to get the kayaks out soon. I'm sure the water is still cold enough that a spill wouldn't be too much fun! The goal would be not to take a spill, I guess :)

Anyway.... Life is good :)

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!

Monday, April 26, 2010

T.I. v.VI....

Road to checkpoint 3....
He didn't make it....

Judy and I went to Grinnell this past weekend to help G-Ted and DP with Trans Iowa v. 6. Whoa! Our job was to man checkpoint 3 until the cut-off time of 1 a.m. 207 miles into a 314 mile race. The forecast called for showers with about 3/10ths of an inch of rain over the weekend. I believe that the Grinnell area received an inch and a half on Friday night alone. More on Saturday and Saturday night. The dirt and gravel roads sucked that moisture up like a sponge. Mud.
57 brave souls toed the line at 4 a.m. heading out for the 44 miles to checkpoint 1 in Monroe, Iowa. 27 of them made the cut-off time of 4 hours. Checkpoint 2 was 87 miles away from Monroe at What Cheer. Several made the 5 p.m. cut-off, but only 8 moved on toward checkpoint 3. None of them made it. The race was called and then ended in North English.
It was brootal.
And beautiful.
The fact that 57 started this 314 mile death march sends shivers up my spine. 314 miles of gravel and "B" maintenance roads. Rural, desolate, isolated Iowa farm country. Mud. Rain. Thunder. Lightning. Wind. 33 hours to complete it. Not one minute more. 57 people facing this huge challenge, willingly.
A test of oneself against Mother Nature and the backroads of Iowa. A test of one's physical conditioning and mental power. The ability to suffer and bear it. How do these folks keep going when the body and the mind say "stop"?
The physical effort required to make it to checkpoint 1 was superhuman. Those that went on from there were nothing short of amazing. To leave from checkpoint 2 and head toward checkpoint 3 in the prevailing conditions bordered on insanity. It would require another superhuman effort to travel those 76 miles. 1 a.m. cut-off. 107 miles to go after checkpoint 3 to the finish.
The dark loneliness of rural Iowa backroads. Wet, cold, and hungry. Riding a bicycle with only your own thoughts to keep you company....
But it wasn't to be. Not this year. Mother Nature had the final say in this version of Trans Iowa. The race was called at about 7 p.m. The halfway point. It wasn't the first time. It won't be the last. Mother Nature can throw a mean pitch. When she shows her full fury, she always wins.
Everyone who starts the race knows this outcome is a possibility. In the springtime. In Iowa. It happens. Yet, 57 people faced the challenge. They toed the line and started the race. They took off in the dark to find a convenience store in a small town 44 miles of "B" roads and gravel away.
Each racer hoped to make the checkpoint on time and move toward the next. Each knew that the physical and mental aspects of this undertaking were huge. Each knew that they may not make it. Yet they tried. They took up the challenge. They were willing to face whatever was on the road ahead of them.
They all have my respect. Each and every one of them. This race is, without a doubt, the most difficult adventure many of these people will ever face. Even if the roads were dry and the weather were perfect, it would be a huge challenge for even the best prepared racers.
I suspect that most of these 57 people will register for this race again next year. They will toe the line at 4 a.m. in some small, still sleeping, out of the way town in the countryside of Iowa, hoping for a good result in what will possibly be the most difficult challenge of their lives.
It sends shivers up my spine.
Ride safe.
Peace out, yo!

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Nice day....

East Lake Trail, couple of inches of water....

More water....

Like I said, 2-3" of water....

Flotsam....

The bridge....

Trail fell away....

Sand everywhere....

Some of it pretty deep....
Saw Super and Scottie Gall out on top of the dike. Were y'all havin' fun? :) The entire trail through the East Lake area and Wyth is ridable except for a section just west of the campground. It's under water that appeared deeper than I wanted to try to ride. You have to take the road to the other end of the park and get back on the trail. It looks like all of the dirt trails along the river are still under water.
Ride safe.
Peace out, yo!