Monday....

Brother of Jackal....

Red blinkie....

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!

Gravel....

Black Hawk Park is under water....
North on Ford Road....

Target practice....

The Megan farm....

The green Surly....

Lots of water in the Cedar....

The black Surly....

Chris King headset....

Team Stoopid....

20 teeth...

4130 "Natch"....

I did a nice little solo gravel grinder today. The weather was nice with a stiff breeze out of the south at about 13 mph. Not bad at all. I rode about 31 miles total with a bit over half of it on gravel. Went north to Janesville then east on Marquis Road for about 4 miles then south back to Cedar Falls. No dog attacks today. Woohoo! That is definitely a plus. A good ride, all said and done.

One more week till Seven Oaks. Should be good! It looks like the weather my hold with no more rain. That would be a good thing!

That's it for now.

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!

Black Surly....

Mojo Bag....

The black Surly is up and running. I finished it this afternoon and took it for a short test ride with the 20 tooth freewheel. 17 or18 will definitely go on it until the race at Boone next weekend. Whoa! About 10 mph was my top speed tonight. It should climb alright though, and that's what will be happening at Boone. I can hardly wait! Go Team Stoopid, go! Pics tomorrow.

Jackal went and raced in the State Criterium Championships today at Pella. He finished 10th, I think. Not too shabby! He claims to actually enjoy crits. Hmmmm.... Took Brother of Jackal with him. He liked it too. Good stuff!

I hope to do a gravel grinder of some sort tomorrow. Getting around via the bike trails is impossible right now with a couple of feet of water covering them in many places. I'm not taking the bikes in that stuff again. The last trip through the water cost me a bottom bracket and a freewheel on the Surly. Not cool!

I received a Mojo Bag from Jeff and Kristy out in Nevada Thursday. Hand made with some naturals on the inside. Stones and leaves and such. It's very nice and should maintain an aura of good karma around me while I'm on the bike! Thanks guys!

That's it for now. I'm pooped.

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!

Where's Shona????

Where's Shona? Haven't heard from her in months.... Alive and well in Canada, I hope. Probably off on some adventure!!!! :) Email me here and let me know how you're doing, please.

3 crazies showed up for the group ride on mountain bikes last night. (Jackal, Kerkove, and Fat Albert) Them, and the other fast guys.... It was hot and they were gone. Adam and I followed out to the end of 27th and then came back. The rest went south to Hudson. Crazy.

Team Stoopid is alive and well. 1 1/2 weeks till Boone. Oh yeah. The new Surly arrived yesterday. Cash Black. Kinda sweet. Should be built up by the weekend. It was a deal that I couldn't pass up. Any more bikes coming into my house anytime in the near future will surely result in my untimely demise. Perhaps even bike parts could cause her to snap. I'm going to be very careful for awhile.... :) I can't even bring a grocery bag into the house without having it searched for headsets and bottom brackets.... I've gone to the edge... My toes are hanging over....

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!

Team meeting....

Keeping our secret place secret....
Brother of Jackal, Me, G-Ted....

G-Ted's Inbred....

We had our team meeting this afternoon in a secret place in a nearby town. Brent couldn't make it because he was doing a triathlon today. G-Ted showed up on his Inbred 29er sporting the new Ergon BD2 pack. Sweet! We decided that he is going to bring a bottle of Dave Nice's whiskey to the race so that we can all "see what it looks like". Stranahan's finest. I'm down for that....

We had lunch and a couple of pops then headed out. It's all good.

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!

The street in front of my house....

ROAD CLOSED
They are lowering my section about a foot

Yeah. My driveway

Nice

My yard and drive

Looking west on Rainbow

This is beginning to be a pain in the ass. They closed our street about the 4th of April. They didn't start any work on it until the first of May. They said that the entire one mile section between Greenhill Road in Waterloo and the Cedar Falls city limits would be done by November. They have just recently completed the first section. 1 1/2 blocks. It's pathetic. They are putting in new water mains, storm sewer, and curb and gutter. They closed off the 1 1/2 block section directly in front of my house a couple days ago. How much ya' wanna bet that they don't finish it this year? I'd bet that there hasn't been more than 3 weeks worth of work done all summer. The weather has been good for construction. Until today. Today it's raining. Sweet. They hired the biggest asphalt contractor n the area as the general contractor. The subs have been working but no one else. I would hope that a fire could be started beneath their collective asses and get something going. Oh well. At least there isn't any traffic other than the lazy idiots who can't read the Road Closed signs. It's all good!

Team Stoopid meeting at the secret location at 2 today. It should be good!

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!

Test Ride....

Judy and I ate at Arby's tonight and then stopped at the shop to see Jackal for a minute. He and Bottke were working and we took pot shots at the breeze for awhile and then I asked to test ride the Raleigh XXIX single speed. First time I've ridden a 29er. Kinda cool. Can't tell much from riding over a few curbs at slow speed in the parking lot. The saddle was too low and the tires were HARD but it was still kinda cool. The only word that Judy spoke was a very definitive "NO". If looks could kill, I'd be attending my own funeral real soon. I guess that settles that. For now.



Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!

Mini Group Ride....

No, not really. Just Adam and I on the single speeds for a 15 mile jaunt through the parks tonight. Stopped for a minute to see Brent and confirm one last time that he plans to be at 7 Oaks with us on Labor Day weekend as an official member of the illustrious Team Stoopid. He will be there. G-Ted, Brent, Brother of Jackal, and myself. 3 Surlys and an Inbred. Single speedin'. IT WILL BE GOOD! My race coach, er, I mean advisor, is recommending 34 x 20 gearing since there is only one section that is flat and it's about a half mile of grass. The rest is climbing (walking?) and coasting. I said "what the hell...?" He said "It's a damned ski area, Bozo. Duh! Suck it up and stop whining...." He's brutal. I figure that I'll get about 10 mph out of that gearing on the flats at about 120 rpm. Ted, you can do the math and correct me. (I only spin at about 90 rpm, BTW) Probably about 4 mph on the climbs and coasting down the hills at about 35 or 40. That's gonna be where my fat ass has the advantage! "LOOK OUT BELOW.....!!!!"

Anyway, the real group ride is tomorrow, if it doesn't rain. It's a twice a week social event for me. Mostly I get pretty good at talking to myself because after a couple of miles there is no one to listen to me anyway. I can usually see the group off in the distance by then. Ahead of me. It's all good! ;)

That's it for now. Time for bed.

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!

Catching up....

The boys with their "new do's" Jacob
Kyle

Baby Jake
Baby Rhea
Jackal prepares mentally

Fat Albert

Pre-race meeting

End of lap 1

Baby Rhea entertains Brother of Jackal

"I dig this racin' buisness"

End of lap 3

Jackal

The end of the race

Kathleen Porter finishes lap 1

It was a busy week. The State Championship Road Race was last Sunday in Sherrill, Iowa. It was hot!!!

Jacob and Kyle came home from 6 weeks of visiting their mother in Indiana. Whoa! They were definitely excited and happy to be back home!!! Baby Jake was happy to see them! Awesome!

Last night was the trail ride through the parks. Huge turn-out for that event. It was fun riding in the crowd after dark. Slow, but safe. They line the 10 miles of trail through Gateway, George Wyth, and the South Riverside Trail with candles in white paper bags to light the way. A lot of work to get it done but it's quite impressive. I met Reggie at the start area about 9:30 last night. Good to meet you! You guys did a great job!

I rode the Colnago up Wagner Road to C50 and on over to Janesville this morning in the wind and the heat. 85F with the wind out of the north at 15. 95% humidity. It was brutal. 31 miles of suffering. I think I'll go out later with Jackal and Brother of Jackal for another ride.

I will be building a new "Cash Black" Surly 1x1 for Brother of Jackal to ride at the 12 hour race with Team Stoopid on Labor Day weekend. I got a deal on a new frame and fork that I just couldn't pass up. The drivetrain will be coming off of the Trek 850 single speed to build this one up exactly like the green one. Pics later.

I wonder how the Weak and Feeble guys are doing out east this weekend? All good, I hope!!!

That's it for now.

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!

Thursday Group Ride....

Brother of Jackal in the draft....

Smaller group tonight.... 10 people. Adam and I rode together after we got out of town on 27th. We caught Bottke in New Hartford and rode back together. Adam and Brian worked pretty well together. One old guy and 2 kids! It was good!

Beach Party at work tomorrow.... I have the Hawaiian shirt and the shorts all ready to go! 3 weeks and 2 days until Team Stoopid debuts at 7 Oaks. THAT is going to be GOOD! Remember.... any team member who takes it seriously has to get beer for the rest of the team after midnite. Plus 3 demerits. And no gold star. :)

That's it for now.

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!

Group ride....

Getting together....

Almost ready, need a few more....

Up the hill....

Fat Albert and Super Saul....

14 people showed up for the group ride tonight. Great group! Beau coup fast! Jackal attacked on the first hill out of town. Umm, yeah. That was about 30 seconds after saying he was tired and planning to take it easy. Brother of Jackal did his first road ride tonight and he did way good! He's a natural. 3 or 4 weeks and he'll be the bomb! The group that rode tonight has a lot of experienced riders and he was getting good pointers from everyone. :)

Congrats to Kathleen Porter on her 2nd place finish at the State Roadrace Championships on Sunday. She 's spending a lot of time up there on the podium! Oh yeah!

John Adamson and Mike Johnson are having a blast out in Colorado preparing for the Leadville 100. Good luck guys!

Eduardo has decided that other comittments will keep him from joining Team Stoopid at Seven Oaks on Labor Day Weekend but we've found a 4th rider in Brent Johnson. It will be good. Guinness at midnight, or before!

It sounds like the Team Weak and Feeble guys are going to be ready for the 24 Hours of Great Glenn out in New Hampshire. Well, JJ won't make it due to a busted up shoulder, but he's going to pit for DEA. That's the spirit!

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!

State Road Race....

Yesterday was the Iowa State Road Race Championships over in the Mississippi Mountains near Dubuque. Killer course. It was hot and the air was still. Suffocating. The guys worked hard. Pics later....

Tony Kisch and Fat Albert were trying to talk Brother of Jackal into coming out for the Tuesday night group ride. We'll see....

Team Stoopid is coming together nicely. Brother of Jackal, Guitar Ted, and myself are committed to the 12 Hours of Boone at Seven Oaks Park on Labor Day weekend. Waiting on a response yet from Eduardo. He said something about having to train for it and not sure he had the time. Hmmmmm...... Rigid singlespeeds. Killer. That and Guinness. Should be good. Jackal is doing the 24 hour solo event.

I understand that the 2nd annual Guitar Ted Death Ride went off without a hitch on Saturday. Owwwwww........

That's it for now.

Ride safe!

Peace out, yo!