Fruita....

A picture of me climbing on Mary's Loop at Fruita, Colorado. Photo courtesy of Jackal....

Have a great day!

Ride safe....

Peace out, yo!

Sunday....

Baby Rhea shares her "binky" with Jackal....

Moab....

(click on the pics to enlarge)

Driving across Nebraska....
Along Highway 128 near Moab....

Jackal getting ready to ride Mary's Loop on Kokopelli's Trail near Fruita, Colorado

"Where the hell are we?"

The view was beautiful....

The Colorado River....

Jackal rippin' the trail....

100 F....

We went rafting Saturday morning....

107 F....

The sign says it all.... Awesome!

You wouldn't believe that you could ride a bike out here....

Trailhead at Slickrock....

Jackal thought he was in heaven....

The heat gets ya....

Jackal on the rocks....

Jackal down below....

Yup, that's me acting normal at the Buchanan Family Reunion....

Porcupine Rim....

This trail was amazing.... It's a jeep trail along the rim of a very deep canyon which turns into singletrack at the 11.2 mile point. I didn't go as far as Jackal did.

The Yellow Bike taking a break....

It's a long way down if you fall....

Jackal returning from Porcupine Rim....

Leaving the cockpit of a B-52 at the SAC museum near Omaha....

Jackal and I flew the simulator. Wicked quick controls!

We left Waterloo last Thursday with the understanding that we weren't going to hurry. Carl and I both have to be back to work on the 25th and Judy and Amy had to be back on the 21st.... Plenty of time!

The trip to Utah was uneventful other than a little "two way" traffic in Glenwood Canyon in the Rockies. We stopped when we felt like it or when we wanted to see something interesting.

We made it to Denver in 12 hours and got a room for the night before heading on to Moab on Friday morning. Friday was clear and bright and the Rockies were beautiful! We made good time on I-70 all the way to Fruita, Colorado, where we stopped so the ladies could do some shopping and Jackal and I could ride a little bit of Kokopelli's Trail. The trail actually starts here and goes all the way to Moab. I think it would be a very long 140 or so miles if one were to try to ride or drive it. Anyway, we took off over the hill to go down in a valley and right back up the other side to Mary's Loop. It was breathtaking! We rode for an hour and a half or so in the 100 degree temps then went back and met Amy and Judy at the trailhead and set off for Moab. We took I-70 to Highway 128, which takes you the last 45 or so miles into Moab. Straight across the desert. Sweet! All I could think of was this would be a great place for a road bike! Lots of twists and turns and a lot of rollers alongside the Colorado River. A lot of it seemed so familiar because a lot of movies are filmed in this area. I had also been there with my Grandfather when I was a kid.

We got into Moab and met up with the rest of the family..... It was a family reunion, afer all. We spent Friday evening chatting with my dad and the rest of the family and showing Baby Rhea off. It was nice.

Saturday morning found Carl and Amy and me heading downtown to hook up with our guide for some rafting on the Colorado. That was a great time! After the rafting we all went downtown for some shopping and then had dinner at Eddie McStiff's. If you're ever in Moab, this is a good place to eat! Smothered burrito in a dried tomato tortilla! Yummmmmm....... Jackal and I got the bikes out after dinner and rode them out to Slickrock. It was only about 3 miles from the motel but the last mile and a half was a climb of about 700 feet. I gotta tell you, while Jackal was climbing like a freakin' mountain goat, that hill was kicking my old, tired ass! I couldn't shift to the small chainring so I had to stop about a third of the way up and do it manually. I didn't know if I'd get started again but I did and climbed the rest of the way without incident. It was a heck of a workout! We hung out at the top for awhile and then headed back down that monster to try to get back to the motel before dark.

On Sunday morning we went back out to Slickrock to do some riding. That place is unbelievable! You wouldn't think you'd be able to ride a bike there but you can! Jackal rode the entire Slickrock loop. I rode what I coud of it then went off and rode a bunch more in the park. I had a blast!

When we were finished there we went and took a shower then headed over to the Moab City Park for the family reunion. Later in the day we went out past Slickrock to find the Porcupine Rim Trail. Whoaaaaaaaa!!!!!! This is a jeep trail that is so rugged it's hard to believe that a vehicle can drive on it. On the one side it's about 500 feet straight up and on the other it's about 700 feet straight down. Wicked. I rode on the trail for awhile while Jackal went on ahead. I went back and rode some of the gravel roads and then hit Porcupine again. Jackal got back to the car about 5 minutes after I did. Great fun! I want to go back someday in the spring or fall. It was 107 F when we hit Porcupine. Hot. Of course it's a dry heat.... Kinda like sticking your head in the oven.

We headed back east on Monday morning and decided to stay the night in Eastern Colorado before heading home on Tuesday. Well, we got closer to Omaha and decided we'd spend another night and go see the SAC Museum on Wednesday morning. That was a good time. I got out and rode for a couple of hours on Tuesday night on some gravel and a few miles on Highway 6 near our motel. It was good! Jackal and I flew a simulator at the museum. Fighter jets are a little more "touchy" than the Pipers that I used to fly! Crashed it a couple of times, but other than that it was a blast. Actually, crashing in the simulator was fun too!

Made it home early Wednesday evening and slept like a rock that night. I wanna go back!

That's it for now.

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!

Group ride....

Got my ass handed to me again last night but I'll keep coming back for more.....

Off to Moab in the morning. I'm sooooo looking forward to that! It'll be good!

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!

Rant on....

It was a great weekend for bicycling around here. I rode with Jackal Saturday morning then I went out alone Sunday morning. Went out on the Surly Sunday night and got home after dark. It was good!

The paved trails around here are becoming, for me, nothing more than a way to get out of town. They are full of rude people with no clue that others would like to safely use those same trails. People stopping in the middle of the trail to talk with their long lost buds. Dogs on leashes that go from one side to the other. People with multiple dogs on leashes.... It's always three women pushing strollers, shoulder to shoulder, wide as the trail. People with i-pods not paying attention to anything. Kids out of control, parents unconcerned. It's just plain dangerous out there. Are people really that ignorant, or are they just plain rude?

Has anyone rode the Big Woods Lake Trail lately? Wow! They bulldozed all the trees on the north end of the lake and over around the shelter house. It's ugly. It'll be uglier when they get the campground built in there. I don't know if you can really consider it a campground. More of a "rolling home" park. It makes me sad to see it like that. Why do I let myself get stressed over these things?

I suppose it's progress. What do I know?

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!

Long week.....

Baby Rhea. She's 8 months old now....
Jackal cruisin'....

Heading out of town....

Let's see.... Monday was a vacation day and I rode the Surly. Met up with John and rode through the park.

Tuesday was the group ride. Ungodly fast. Kicked my ass. 18 people showed up. All the fast guys. I got dropped but I made my goal. It was good!

Wednesday was my birthday. How old was I? Do trees live that long?

I called Jackal at the shop to see if they had a new chain for my Colnago. I told him I'd take the old one off and bring it up to compare lengths. He said "just bring your bike up, I'll change it for you". Not only did he change it for me, when I went to pay for it he said "Happy Birthday" and wouldn't let me pay for it. How 'bout that for a great son? Thanks Carl!

Thursday was the Ken Blanchard presentation at UNI. He's a great speaker.

Yesterday was Friday and I didn't do a whole lot other than catch my breath.

This morning Jackal and I rode down to Hudson on the paved trail and back through Cedar Falls via the "Intersections of Death Trail". He rode his Carbon Rush and I rode the Colnago. Nice ride! Judy and Moo went garage saling this morning while Jackal and I were out riding. I'm afraid to go upstairs to see if she bought anything. Antiquing scares me more....

Today is also our anniversary. 34 years. I told Judy last night that I made her the luckiest woman in the world 34 years ago. She laughed at me! :) She's a good girl and my best friend. Happy Anniversary, Baby.

That's it for now. I'm going to take her to lunch after I shower and then buy her a new Teddy Bear. I think we're going to cook out with Jackal and Moo this evening.

Last night's Courier had about 20 inches of ink telling the story of how Super Saul saved a little girl's life at a hotel in Indiana last weekend. He never said a word to any of us here. Ron, YOU are the MAN!!!! The world needs more people like you who are willing to "get involved". Good on ya'!

We leave for Moab on Thursday. Woohoo!

Have a great weekend.

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!

Vacation day....

Jet skiers chatting on East Lake....
The wind was blowing the prairie grass around....

Mostly blue skies, great temps....

Bug Juice and a brownie. Lunch of champions....

I met John Adamson on my way to Black Hawk Park....

Hartman North gravel....

Today's post is number 250!

I took a vacation day today and rode my Surly. The temps were in the mid 70s and the skies were mostly blue. The wind was out of the north at about 15-20, so it was tolerable on the trails through the parks.

I stopped at the convenience store on Center Street in North Cedar and grabbed some Bug Juice and a brownie. I'd had my heart set on an Oatmeal Cream Pie but they were out.... :( I ate my brownie and drank part of my juice then headed west on Lone Tree Road to Black Hawk Park. I ran into John Adamson shortly after that and he turned around and rode through the park and back into town with me. His pace on his geared Specialized mtb was a bit faster than I'd been riding on my singlespeed so it made me work just a bit harder, which was good. When we got back into CF he stopped for coffee at Cup o' Joe's and then to chat with Chris Congdon.... I headed through the grass behind the utilities and then over to Pfeiffer Springs Park before heading down the South Riverside Trail until I was able to get onto the gravel through Hartman North. Thanks for the company and conversation, John! It was good riding with you!

All in all a pretty good day and a pretty good ride. Now I need to mow the lawn before it rains again and then take a shower....

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!

Yeah, it rained. Again....

Black clouds in the distance. A few minutes later it was raining.

I had a bowl of Frosted Flakes for breakfast then headed out on the Surly for a spin through the parks. I made it to the trail on top of the dike at Cedar Bend Park when it started raining. I think that was a whoppin' 20 minutes into my ride. I continued on to the East Lake Trail and made it to the Highway 218 overpass at the entrance to Wyth Park and waited for the rain to stop. 15 minutes later the sun was back out and I headed into the park to continue my ride. Dragon boat races were going on in all their glory on Wyth Lake and there were plenty of people and cars on the road. I headed through on the road and caught the trail again at the shelter house by the turn-around. Rode the trail the rest of the way through Wyth and then up to Gateway Park and on into Cedar Falls. It got humid after the rain stopped and the sun came back out. Steam rolling off the asphalt eveywhere! Pretty cool!

Saturday....

The Cedar River from the 18th Street Bridge....
Old railroad bridge converted to bike path in Evansdale....

Llamas....

The end of the paved trail....

Brett Klima Wildlife Area....

Brett played hockey with my sons.

Rode down to La Porte City and beyond to the end of the paved trail Saturday. It was a beautiful day and not too many riders on the trail. 51 miles on the Colnago. Oh yeah!

Jackal is in the Quad Cities racing in his first criterium today. Kerkove is somewhere between here and Ohio after competing in the Mohican 100 yesterday. It's all good!

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!