Mmmmmmmmmmm.......

Guinness at Waxy O'Shea's....

Queen of Cross....

Irresistable....

Jackal calls her The Devil Child. She's sooooooo sweet, just like her Grandpa Paul! No way is she a Devil child :)

30 miles tonight. Out to the end of 27th then north to the Stout blacktop and west for a mile. Turn around and come back. Met Tom Hartson on the way back into town and rode with him to the University, where we went our seperate ways across campus. He made me keep the average speed and heart rate up. It was good! I had a narrow band of pain across my right knee cap after I turned around tonight. It felt like a hot iron was pressed against it. It seems fine now. I told Tom that it's my old fat body talking to me.... He didn't laugh too hard. Probably because he's just 6 months younger than I am.

Tomorrow, July 1st, is my brother Brian's birthday. Happy Birthday, Brownie! Do trees live that long, Brother?

Tomorrow is also Canada Day. Happy Canada Day to Lily, Paddy, Shona, and all of our friends in the Great White North, eh!

No more tonight.

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!

Who is this....?



This picture was in my mailbox yesterday. It's someone local, I think.... Who is it? Does anyone know?

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!

The "L" ride....

I got home from work at 5:30 tonight and changed clothes as quick as I could to try to catch the guys before they left on the group ride. I made it to the shop with 5 minutes to spare and was immediately invited to go on the "L" ride by Kat. I had never been on an "L" ride before, didn't even know what it was. I asked Kat and she smiled and said it's "the ladies ride". Hey, you know I'm all about that, so Kat, Kim, Amy, and I headed out right behind the main group for some serious ass-kicking fun. We had a good time and I learned lot. Well, I heard bits and pieces about some guys "six pack" and kinda heard about a recipe for gluton free something or other and a couple of other recipes including one that uses corn flakes without milk or sugar as a binder to hold some Italian meatballs together. (For a second there I thought they were talking about my bike.) All I could offer up was the recipe that I'd recently read about for Scotch Eggs and another for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Kat talked about some day-glo knickers that she used to wear and then she said she used to have a wide bottom. Uh huh, sure :) Like I said, I learned a lot. I hope I get invited back sometime.

Of course they all wanted to know what the guys talk about on "their" group rides.... Oh my, I had to tell them that the guys are too busy trying to blow each other up to talk.

My biggest fear was that I'd get spit out the back and that I'd have to watch them cruise off over the next hill while I was maxing my heart rate trying to keep up. They were good to me and never let me fall too far behind. That was petty cool!

Amy was working on her "Farmer's Blow", which, as everyone knows, is when you cover one nostril and blow through the other to, um, clear your sinuses. She was getting pretty good at it by the end of the ride and even warned those behind her that she was "going to blow". A group ride with manners! Sweet! Oh yeah! I heard the comment at least twice that we should stop for ice cream and baked goods. My kinda group ride!

I have to say that I had a GREAT time tonight! Thanks, ladies. Oh! Does anyone know where we passed the "guys"? I see we beat them back to town! We must have been so intent on exchanging recipes that I didn't even notice that we passed them.

It was good.

That's it for now.

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!

Ummmmm.....

Ride safe....

Peace out, yo!

Things....

I went out and did the Orange Loop tonight after work. The wind is dead out of the south at 15-20 and this trip consisted of 10 miles into the wind, about 8 miles with a cross wind and then 11 miles back with a glorious tailwind. Still, I averaged only 15 mph over the trip. More work is needed....

It's a bit over 80 degrees but the humidity doesn't seem bad today. It was a good ride! As I was heading east about 4 miles out of Hudson on the Eagle Center blacktop I met late 80's Mustang with a couple of kids in it. The driver was apparently waving at me so I figured he knew me. As I raised my hand to wave back at him I realized that the little shit was giving me the bird. What's up with that? LOL. Oh well, I just waved and continued on my merry way.

Someone had been riding a horse on the paved bicycle trail on the north side of Hudson. Horses not allowed! How do I know there was a horse on the trail? There was horse poop for about a mile out of town. Sweet! Dog people (usually) clean up after their pets when they take them on the trail. Apparently horse people don't. Hmmmm..... Well, some horse people don't. I don't want to put all horse riders in the "inconsiderate" category because I know that most of them are courteous, conscientious people. You expect that stuff on the dirt trails that are shared with horses and on county roads but not on the paved trails. Oh well....

I rode out 27th to tee intersection yesterday and as I was on my way out on Grand I saw that there were 3 cycling jerseys hanging on a rod in the front yard of one of the houses there. I made a mental note to check them out when I returned since one of them was a 7-Eleven jersey and one was a Colnago Del Tonga jersey. I did my ride and then stopped on the way back to check sizes.... Hmmmm.... a bit small for me. They would have fit fine when I was racing back in the 80's, but not today. As I rolled up Grand toward home the notion hit me that they would fit Jackal and his bartop dancing brother so I called the number that I'd memorized when I looked at them. A pleasant sounding woman answered the phone and I told her who I was and what I wanted and asked if she would grab them from in front of her house and hold them for me until I went home and got the car. She said "Your name came up on my caller ID and gave me quite a start". I asked why that would be? She said "my husband recently passed away and his name was Paul Buchanan too". I didn't know what to say at that point. Wow. Anyway, it turned out that she handled it quite well and we had a nice chat. The third jersey was a LaVie Claire from about 1985 so I bought that one too and gave it to Jackal since he grew up on Greg LeMond and the boys. The other two fit Brother of Jackal just fine. If you happen to see a couple of 7-Eleven kitted guys rollin' around here, it isn't Bob Roll and Andy Hampsten....

That's it for now. Need food!

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!

This just in....

Pay no attention to the date stamp on the picture.... It's June 7th, 2008, not 2007. Yup, that's my youngest son, Brother of Jackal, all liquored up and dancing on a bar in the thriving metropolis of Plymouth, Wisconsin. They went over for the motorcycle races and stayed for the beer. Way to do your old man proud, buddy! (They got free shots for his performance. Can't argue with that!) : ) God! I wish I would have gone this year!

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!

Friday....

Jackal pulls over in the rest area to give me a much needed break....

Top of the world....

1.3 million sandbags in Waterloo and Cedar Falls....
The water was within 2 inches of the top of these sandbags.

Rollin'.... (get it?)

Passed by a crop sprayer....

Free kittens.... No thanks.

Repairing the tracks in New Hartford after the flood....

Downtown New Hartford....

Unbelievable wreckage....

Cemetary Corner on Beaver Valley Road north of town....

What's left of the Deer Run addition....

Just a foundation. The pile at the left is what's left of the house that stood here....

Leaves an empty feeling in your stomach....

Total devestation....

Going to lunch with Fat Albert. Back later. :)

Fat Albert says "Mmmmmmm...... Good! Where are the Fudge Rounds?"

Back from lunch. Thanks, Jeremy! It was good! (especially the Guinness!!!)

We made it back from Branson late Monday evening without incident. It was a good trip and everyone appeared to have fun while we were down there.

The little bit of riding that I was able to do was most excellent. We left the hotel and rode through town on Sunday morning with almost no traffic. (that would soon change...) The climbs start at the edge of town with about a mile or so at 10 to 12%. Jackal was off the front in no time and climbing like a mountain goat while I was just trying to keep him in sight. It was super! The thought going through my mind while I was climbing was "what would the Fat Cat's commentary be if he were along on this ride". I'm sure he would have been brootaly honest. I wonder if he would have been laughing at the flatlander?

We rode along the ridge above Branson then down the "steep hill" that goes back into town. It was an awesome ride with a lot of climbs that vary in length from a measley quarter mile to some that are perhaps a mile and a quarter. They are in the 10 to 15% grade range with a few short bursts of 18 to 20% thrown in every once in awhile just to keep you honest. I survived, which was pretty good, for a flatlander.... Jackal, of course, didn't merely survive, he thrived! (you may want to check his blog for a "doctored up" version of the pic from my previous post. Hillarious!)

I haven't ridden a road bike on climbs like that since Judy and I went to Colorado for Worlds back in the mid 80's. Northeast Iowa and southwest Wisconsin have some serious hills but they aren't quite like the Ozarks or the Rockies! I'm sure all you folks out east have your own stories to tell about the "hills" out there. I have to get out there one of these days!

I rode out to New Hartford yesterday to check out the damage from the May 25th tornado and last week's floods. As soon as you roll into the downtown area you are overcome with the stench of the flood. I think that about 95% of the homes and businesses in town were directly affected with the flood waters. The entire town is in "clean up" mode. I was told that the hardware store and the Kwik Star are not going to re-open. Sad.

As soon as you cross Beaver Creek on the north edge of town you begin to see the damage inflicted by the tornado. The edge of the tornado followed the north bank of the creek and the trees there are knocked over and splintered. That is only a couple hundred yards north of the school and the ball diamond. As you climb out of the valley to Cemetary Corner you realize that all the big trees and most of the homes are gone. There are no trees left in the cemetary and Deer Run Addition, on the north side of Beaver Valley, now consists of a small handful of damaged homes. Most are just foundations. The ditches on Beaver Valley Road are full of the cast off wreckage brought on by the storm, including a couple of cars or trucks that are twisted to the extent that they are hard to identify as vehicles. Unbelievable. Words can't describe what it feels like to go through there. A few miles west in Parkersburg the damage is even greater.

That's it for now. I need to mow the lawn and ride the bike.

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!

Branson....

We're in the largest tourist trap of the midwest, a.k.a. Branson, Missouri. Mid 80s and sunshine. It's definitely a bit different from Iowa right now. Jackal and I went out and rode some hills this morning. If you actually lived here, your fitness levels would be naturally high. Wow. I've done some mountain biking down here in years past but this is the first time I've brought the road bike. It's SWEET! I think Jackal loves it.

Ok.... People want my pic. This is a family reunion, after all. More later.

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!

Pictures later....

The floods of '08 are the worst on record here in Waterloo/Cedar Falls. Record high waters in '99 were measured at 96.2 feet in Cedar Falls. It was devastating. The Cedar crested in Cedar Falls early this morning at 102.13 feet. The waters were literally within a couple of inches of going over the levees and flooding downtown CF. Downtown Waterloo is pretty much under water on the west side right now, all caused by water backing through the storm sewers from the river. The levees in Waterloo will handle 27 feet. It just crested at a touch over 26. It's raining to the north of us and we'll be getting some of that here too....

Like my buddy Brian Hunt said... "all you can do is drink beer and watch". He lost everything. Fortunately, he has his family here and they'll take care of each other. Jackal's mother in law has lost everything. There are and will be many others who will have to start over.... It could have been worse, I guess.

There are 11 bridges across the Cedar here, 3 in Cedar Falls and 8 in Waterloo. One of them is open. The oldest one. Amazing. Houses almost totally submerged, highways closed. Wow.

Anyway....

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!

It's wet. Very wet....

Everything around here is wet. La Porte City is Flooded. New Hartford is being evacuated. I suspect that parts of Hudson are under water.

While driving in this morning I noticed that the boat ramp and parking lot at the East Lake are under about 4 feet of water. The Porta-Potty was floating. I had a little water in my basement over the weekend, as did Jackal. I went for a walk yesterday and had to take my shoes and socks off and then wade through up to a foot of water on North Hacket to get to the trail. I met a young lady who was running on the trail who said "That was a new experience. I've never had a carp beside my foot while I was running." It's supposed to be nice today but rain is in the forecast for the rest of the week through next Sunday. I hope it's nice in Branson!

Rain, rain go away....

Ride safe, if you can ride at all.

Peace out, yo!

Whoa....

Fat Albert and Super Saul at Dirty Kanza....

photo courtesy of Fat Albert's mom.

They look pretty good, eh? Congrats, guys!!!! Good job!

Congrats to the Red Wings fans out there in the world. Both of you. The Wings won Lord Stanley's Cup in a 3-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins in Pittsburgh.

It's raining again here in Iowa. Gotta love it.

Next Friday will find Jackal and I traveling with our family to Way South Missouri for a family reunion in the Ozark Mountains at that tourist trap known as Branson. Road bikes on some of the double digit grades down there! I hope it doesn't make me look too foolish.

That's it for now.

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!

It warmed up today....

Jackal....
Ditch Tiger....

Rolling through Finchford....

Up the hill in Finchford....

By Beaver Creek....

Jackal and his baby brother....

The Giro is over and Alberto Contador was able to dig deep and win it. What a race! Liquigas rider Franco Pellizotti took 4th overall and Daniele Bennati, also of Team Liquigas, won the sprinters competition. Woohoo!

Jackal and I went riding this morning and were able to enjoy the beautiful weather and very little auto traffic. We went up by the new bridge between Janesville and Finchford to check on the progress of the construction crew.... It's been out for two years now and it looks like they are getting close to completing it. Perhaps later this summer or early fall. That'll be nice to have back! After we'd looked at it for awhle I told Jackal that he could tackle the east side of 3 tier hill and not worry about me. I'd catch up in Finchford. He suggested that I take off first and that he'd catch me. Ok.... He waited till I got to Union Road, giving me a half mile headstart, and then took off after me. I figured he'd catch me before I crested the hill but that didn't happen. Probably a quarter mile after I got over the top he flew by. Maybe 3/8 of a mile, but he blew by me none the less. We rolled into Finchford then up the hill, around the corner, and back to Union Road then south to Cedar Falls. It was a good ride. Probably not much of a workout for him but plenty good for me.

There were quite a few people out on bikes today. It was 70 degrees when we left at 9:30 and probably close to 80 by the time we got back. Quite a change from the last few weeks.

Fat Albert finished Dirty Kanza this weekend in 6th place with a time of just over 14 hours. Super Saul finished it in 19 hours. 206 miles of torturous gravel. Good job, guys!

We had a terrible tragedy occur in the Bike Tech family on Friday afternoon. Kim Pierce, official Bike Tech Racing photographer and energetic doer of whatever needs to be done, lost her husband, David, in a work related accident. Kim and I were co-workers for a number of years and she is a super lady. She is the sister of Kat Porter, also of Bike Tech Racing. Please keep Kim and her family in your thoughts and prayers.

That's it for now.

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!