This week....

A little practice Wednesday evening....
Showing me how it's done. Not so easy....

The Thin Man on Thursday....

We had to pass farm equipment again....

I wonder why people don't get torqued at slow moving farm equipment the way they do at bicycles on the same roads? Funny, eh?

Monday and Tuesday nights found me riding the CX bike in the meadow at Hartman. Grass is a heck of a lot more difficult to ride on than pavement. Whoa! I met Jackal down there Wednesday night for some dismounts and re-mounts along with some barrier work. I suck at it. The barriers, especially. Oh well. The first time I rolled up he said "let off the brakes".... I'm thinking "geez, do you want me to run them over?" It got a little easier after he explained and walked me through it a few (dozen) times. I can get off ok, and back on, well, sorta ok, but the barriers? Holy crap. Tomorrow will be an interesting day at McRae Park in Des Moines.

I got an email at work on Thursday afternoon from The Thin Man saying they were having the last group ride of the year that evening. I worked late then hustled home to change and try to meet them before they left the shop. I met Sweet Amy on the trail by the golf course and she told me "they're still at the shop". I hustled a little harder over the dikes and didn't see anyone at the shop. Crap! I looked up 2nd Street and saw them passing the police station. It took me over a mile to catch up, but it was worth the effort. There were 5 of us heading out North Union Road to C57 and the pace was pretty good. We made it to C57 when Mike Johnson asked if we wanted to go to Janesville or head back to Cedar Falls. We only had about 40 minutes of light left and quite aways to go so we headed down C57 and back to Cedar Falls. 25 miles total before dark. Not bad, since we left the shop at 10 after 6.

I came home from work this afternoon and moved the bike rack from the Jetta to the Passat. I had to change the mounting feet and that was no small feat since the rack has been on the Jetta for over 2 years. Anyway, it's done and ready to roll to Des Moines tomorrow for some CX racing. Jackal and Brother of Jackal are both racing in the 4s, which is where I should probably be but that race will be starting about the time that I get there so I'm racing Masters 50+. John is sooooo going to kick my ass! It's about fun, right? I'm down with that!

That's it for now. I'll clean and lube the bike in the morning while Judy is at work then we'll head for Des Moines as soon as she gets home. It's gonna be good.

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!