Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!

Enjoy the day.

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!

Middle Park Madness....

Kat chasing! Awesome job, Girl!!!
The reward is in sight....

Ahhhhhhh.........

I got passed by Jackal while I was taking refreshment....

Damned chain!

Sunday was definitely an interesting day. It was warm. Really warm, considering it's the end of November. I went out to do a couple of warm up laps and realized that I was going to have to shed the gloves and ear warmers. I thought of removing the base layer too, but decided against it. There were a couple of spots on the high areas of the course that were catching a pretty good breeze and making things cool. Had I been a bit faster, perhaps I would have taken it off. Oh well.

The course was another great one. All 4 of the venues that DICE laid out this year were excellent. Challenging. Fun. They have great CX fans over there by the river, too.

This course was about 50% hilly and 50% flat. About 1/3 of the course was soft ground. Soft like a barn yard. And damp. It was good.

Anyway....

The run-up was great. A barrier near the bottom that forced you off the bike. If you were a fast guy there was one good line. If you were more like me you could push your bike up any line you chose. The hecklers at the top with the beer determined my line for me from the second lap on. Left side of the climb. Closer to the beer. Hey! These guys and gals were at every race in the Quad Cities this year yelling and screaming and encouraging! I can't tell you how much I appreciated it! Also, some of the ICCC folks joined them and really made some noise. A big call out to Brian Abbott too. The man is a slide trombone virtuoso!

Let's see, I guess I can skip most of the boring details. There were a couple of times that I was so far behind, I was ahead. Brian Eppen followed me up the run-up on about the second lap. (ummm, yeah. he was lapping me... the first of many times) I had to quick get out of the way to avoid getting run over. I think it was on about my third lap that I was taking refreshment and someone yelled out "here comes your son". Crap! Getting passed by him again? Drink more beer! I trudged along until the hour was nearly over and had about a half lap to go and didn't really want to suffer through another one. My "friends" at the top of the run-up had come down to see the finish by then, so there wasn't much point of "suffering" through another lap. I started a tactical race at this point, slowing down just a bit and waiting for Eppen, who was leading by about 3 minutes, to catch me so I could suck his wheel across the finish line. Worked perfectly. I have to say that I had a blast. The weather was perfect and there were a lot of supporters with cowbells and lungs and even Brian with his trombone. It was great! (He still had lungs after tearing it up in the 3/4 race. Wow!)

The Bike Tech crew did well and had a great showing at all 4 of the races. A big Thank You to Kathleen for all of her encouragement yesterday and always! You 'da bomb!

I also won a nice set of Geax Cross Blades CX tires. Who can argue with that?

Ahhh well. Jingle Cross next weekend in Iowa City, then it's over for the year. It's been fun!

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!

Healthy eatin'....

Woke up to this....
Rock Island Brewing Company....

Blue Cat Brew Pub....

Off The Rail Pale Ale....

The Queen of Cross....

Today's brews....

YUMMMMM.......

Peace out, yo!

Serious business....

We took off to Bettendorf about 10 this morning for Psychlofest. Holy Crap! I think it was the toughest course we've been on this year. Hilly and fast. A lot of grass with some gravel and pavement thrown in for good measure. The downhill sections were wicked fast and the uphill sections were wicked steep. The run-up was killer. Tough. Had it been warmer today the run-up would have been muddy and it would have been 10 times tougher. That's saying something because I already rate it as a 15 on a scale of 1 to 10. Wow. Brootal.

Anyway, it was pretty chilly outside today and just a touch windy. The girls stayed near the car and I have no pics. There may be some someplace else and if I happen to see them I'll link or borrow some.

Fat Cat had "highly" recommended the Rock Island Brewing Company for lunch so we rolled on over to Rock Island, Illinois after the race. Unfortunately, they didn't open till 5 in the afternoon and it was 3:30 when we got there so we strolled across the parking lot to the Blue Cat Brew Pub. As the name suggests, they are a micro-brewery and I must say, their Off The Rail Pale Ale is mighty tasty. Yes, I had a couple. Mmmmmmm....... GOOD!

The food was excellent and the service was super. Our waiter definitely knew his business. I had an Italian sausage sandwich with black beans and rice and a bit of pasta salad. The salad oil tasted like olive oil with just a touch of oregano and black pepper. I could make a meal of just that! I'm thinking that I should have ditched the bun and just had the sausage and peppers with lightly sauteed onions. Oh well, what's done is done.... ;)

The racing? Well, there were a couple of surprises. Brian Eppen must've had a bit of trouble at some point because for most of the race he was neck and neck with another rider, way off the front, but at the end of the race he had fallen back to a fairly distant 2nd.

The Bike Tech Masters appeared to do well with John, Landon, and Richard tearing it up out there. We arrived sorta late so I don't know how Kat did in the women's open race. She was cheering pretty strong during our race! Steve Bullerman appeared to be tearing it up in the open race! Good job to all of you! SWEET!

Jackal likes his new C-Dale! He has been a little under the weather all week but still put in a solid effort on a tough course with some really fast guys today. The bike worked well in it's first race and he definitely looks "right" on the Cannondale! Good on ya, buddy!

That's about it for now. I need to get out for a walk to stretch these poor old tired muscles. Also have to decide if I want to drive back over tomorrow for Middle Park Madness. I want to race, for sure, but I'm not sure about the 2 1/2 hour drive. We'll see....

Thanks once again to our friends from DICE Racing in the Quad Cities. Another great race at another sweet venue. Great job, guys and gals!

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!

COLD....


The weatherman says 8F outside right now. I stopped to get gas ($1.72 per gallon at Kwik Star) because I'm driving to Cedar Rapids this morning. It is definitely cold out there. NWS says to expect a mild winter in the midwest this year. I'm good with that!

Psychlofest in Bettendorf tomorrow. Expect snow flurries, then a high of 43F. Middle Park Madness on Sunday. Expect a high of 50F. Yeah, Baby.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!

Sunday....

Met Jackal on his new C-Dale....

Doug E.....

Jackal and Doug....

I put the "so cars can see me" lights on the CX bike and took off for a ride about 3:30 this afternoon. It was hovering around the freezing point and a bit windy but not terrible. Yes, I wore tights today. It is after the 15th of November now, so I can do that. :) I went north on Hackett to Shirey Way then through Hartman North to the South Riverside bike trail where I met up with Doug. Shirey Way is a mud bog right now. Sweet!

Doug and I rolled into Cedar Falls then out to Big Woods for a couple of laps around the lake. We were heading back into George Wyth Park when we met Jackal at the base of Krieg's Crossing. He joined us on our trip through Wyth and then out around East Lake. It was a good ride. Jackal was riding his new CAAD 9 Cannondale CX bike. Whoa! Sweet ride! Doug was on his sweet red Fetish CX bike and I felt just a bit under-dressed for this party! It was good!

Highs in the mid to upper 30s predicted for this week. Mid 40s for Wednesday. Should be good!

I heard a rumor that Fat Albert is riding the rollers already.... What's up with that?

I hope everyone was able to get out and do something fun this weekend!

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!

BRRRRRRR.....

32F when I left for my ride this morning. It isn't much warmer now. I took the long route (out around East Lake and through Wyth) to Big Woods Lake this morning and did a few laps out there. Overcast skies and wind out of the north at 20 - 25 mph along with a little snow. It isn't too bad when you're sheltered but the open areas of the bike trail are BROOTAL! It is the 15th of November so it's permissable to start wearing tights tomorrow. Still knickers with knee warmers underneath, wool socks, and gators today.... :) I ended up with a touch over 22 miles today. That's enough for now, unless Jackal gets the new C-Dale built up and wants to go for a test ride. I'd go out for that.

There is someone in Michigan with a new CX bike this morning. Oh yeah! I'd almost bet that he'll be addicted after his first race. Any takers?

Jill in Alaska has published a book that anyone interested in endurance cycling in brutal conditions might want to take a look at. A small portion of the proceeds from the sale of this book will go toward supporting Jill as she does the Iditabike again this year. You can order it directly from her blog, if you are interested. Check it out! If you enjoy her blog, I'm sure you'll like the book. You can also order it here....

2 CX races in Bettendorf again next weekend put on by our friends at DICE. They've hosted 2 most excellent CX races already this year and have these two coming up before Jingle Cross. I'm going to do at least one of them, for sure. They do a great job and provide sweet courses!

I think that's about it for now. I'm going to start putting some pics up on Flickr and will link to it when I figure out how to do it. I'm no computer whiz and it may take some time!

Have a great weekend!

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!

All is right with the world again....

I received a call that there was a box on the dock....
What's inside?

Ohhhhh, it's a Cannondale!!!!

NICE!

I think Jackal likes it....

Carbon fork....

Handmade in the USA.....

Buchanandale is back! That makes me happy!

I have to admit that the Ridley X-Fire is a very nice CX bike, but Jackal belongs on a Cannondale. Something just didn't seem right with him on the Ridley. Like a BLT without mayo. Like a PB&J without the J. Like a glass of Guinness without the Guinness.... It wasn't the same. He loves Cannondale. Cannondale has been good to him and he has been loyal to them. Well, the world is good again because he's back on a C-Dale. Sweet!

Welcome back, Buchanandale!!!!

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!

Vande Cross....

Brother of Jackal....
The run-up....

Kat....

Yes, John's wearing a winter coat....

The Dice Cycling Team put on another great race yesterday, this time in the Olde Towne section of Moline, Illinois at Stevens Park. It was a sweet course with a bit of everything CX. Plus it was colder than a well digger's ass yesterday. Perfect!

Jackal rode over with Judy and me since Amy and The Queen of Cross were doing "girl things' yesterday. We wanted to get there early enough to help Adam out before his race. Well, they say that I drive like an "old lady" so we showed up at the venue about 10 minutes before the start of his race. Consequently the poor (tough) guy had to race in his shorts without knee or leg warmers. I swear his legs were turning blue before it was over! He did post a good result though, finishing 6th out of 12 starters. Good job!

The womens race was pretty wild to watch with Robin Williams of Mercy/ICCC taking off from the start and holding the lead all the way to the finish. Our own Kat Porter rode an awesome race and tore it up out there. Kat and Robin both came back to race in the 1/2/3 open/ master's race just a short while later and finished very respectably! They both kicked my ass! Great turn out representing Bike Tech yesterday with Kathleen Porter, Mike Johnson, Steve Bullerman, John Adamson, Landon Beachy, Richard Gilmore, and myself racing. We had almost as many racers as the sponsoring team! Way to show, boys and girl!!!

Me? Well, I was accused by Jackal of always finishing last on purpose. I'd tell him that he has no idea how hard it is but that wouldn't be true. He recently upgraded to Cat 3 and he finished 5th overall in the open race yesterday right behind Chris Hansen of Bikes to You and just ahead of Steve Bullerman of Bike Tech. Both of those guys are strong racers. He knows how hard it is, but I digress.... He also said that if someone had a mechanical out on the course that he's sure I'd stop and help them get going again so that I could maintain my coveted position of DFL. Hey, I'm old and slow and having fun and I now have a reputation to maintain! :)

I had a great time yesterday and I certainly appreciate the support that my friends from the Bike Tech team give me and from the cheering section that seems to show up wherever I go. Yeah, Ive seen and heard you guys and gals at a lot of the races this year. You can't hide!

Seriously though, I do appreciate the support. I'm having a blast and trying to stay out of the way of the serious racers who are taking the race seriously.

We had pizza at the Sports Fans Bar and Grille in Bettendorf on our way home. We ate there the last time we were over in the Quad Cities for CX back in October. Excellent pizza and great "people watching" opportunities. It's fairly safe to take the entire family in there, even during a football game....

That's it for now.

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!

:)

Honk, Honk....
It's not fog. It's light snow....
Very f 'n wet....
Cold, too....

It isn't cold enough for the snow (mixed with sleet) to stick but it's cold enough for the snow (mixed with sleet) that hits your face and your head through your helmet vents to feel like needles. Sweet! Even my legs, between my knickers and my socks, felt like they were being shot a million times with little sharp bullets.

I had to go down to see The Thin Man this morning so I decided to make a ride out of it and go out to Big Woods Lake for a few more tempo laps afterwards. John and Kat were at the shop when I got there so we chatted about the State CX race for a bit then Brent looked at my bike for me. It was shifting funny a week or so ago so he put a new chain and rear derailleur cable on it and, after some miles, it needed to be adjusted a bit. Thanks, Brent! Working good again.

After talking to Brent for awhile I headed out to the lake for a few more laps like yesterday. I saw two people out walking over their lunch hour, but no bikes. I wonder why that is? LOL. It started snowing about the time I got there and the wind picked up again. I think it was blowing harder than it was last night. Anyway, it was wet and cold and absolutely glorious riding! I came home and threw all of my layers into the washer and I've now stopped shivering enough that I can type. I'm sitting at my desk with a space heater going and I have on a long sleeved tee and pajama bottoms trying to warm up. Happens every year. I remember riding up to Readlyn on Thanksgiving Day with Jackal last year and stripping out of our cycling duds and standing by the woodburner in Eric's garage trying to warm up. Why do I do this to myself? Ha! Crazy, I guess. Gotta love it!

Time for some coffee and a sandwich.

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!

LATE UPDATE!!!! You gotta check out the videos and pics of a cx race that went on in West Virginia last weekend on Fat Cat's blog. CX'ers definitely know how to have fun!

It's coming....

This is what I woke up to this morning. 34F right now. I'm going riding!

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!

Thursday....

The Queen of Cross in her swing yesterday....

Plenty of rain this morning kept me in the house. After it stopped I went outside and raked the leaves that had fallen onto the driveway into the back yard and picked up the branches and sticks and tossed them on the "rot" pile across the creek.

The afternoon wasn't bad, the sun came out for awhile, but it was cold. Kinda. And windy. I emailed Jackal and asked if he was riding this afternoon. We made arrangements for G'ma to keep an eye on the Queen of Cross and then headed out under a threatening looking sky to Big Woods Lake for some time in the Hurt Locker. It was windy and cold by the time we got out there so we got right down to business. My plan for tonight was tempo, Jackal's plan was intervals.

Once out at the lake the wind made it interesting. I spent much more time on the drops than I usually do, which isn't all bad, and Jackal did his intervals. There was a certain spot on the north end of the lake that seemed prone to gale force cross winds everytime I came around and it was push, burn, push, burn around the north end of the lake, then into a slightly sheltered headwind. It also seemed like the wind changed direction while we were lapping the lake. My thighs were on fire!

Funny how I work harder when I ride with Jackal than I do when I'm alone, eh? It was good.

About halfway through our workout it started to drizzle. One of those light rains that stings your face and gets the pavement nice and wet. Oh yeah! It was good. We did about 10 miles worth of laps around the lake then headed home. It was starting to get dark so i hung my red blinkie from my rear jacket pocket and turned the itty bitty Cateye headlight on in "flash" mode. I don't like getting caught out in the dark without lights.

The forecast for the rest of the week sucks. Rain mixed with snow tomorrow and Saturday with a high of 39 both days and lows in the mid 20's. Cloudy on Sunday with a high of 39. Gotta love it! Probably oughta break out the rain jacket....

Sounds like great weather for Vande Cross on Sunday :) Should be interesting. Kat may have called it correctly when she predicted frozen mud ruts for the race. Sweet!

That's it for now.

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!

So, there I was....

Truck on bike path....
Not snow. Rain....

Dirty....

Anyway, as I was saying.... I waited for it to quit raining this morning before taking off on the CX bike for a ride through the parks. I got into the woods by the yard waste dump in Cedar Falls and was scootin' pretty good around the corner when I came upon the dump truck. It appeared that they were just cruising the bike paths but I'm sure they were doing something a bit more useful. I followed him for about a half mile before he moved over and let me by. I also saw the lady with the trail sweeper down by Krieg's Crossing as I was coming up through Wyth. Pretty sweet. Looks kinda like a dixon mower with a snow blower on the front. Except it has a big brush on it. She'd already made a pass through the entire park and was going back the other way to finish clearing leaves off the trail. Pretty sweet if you ask me.

I made my way around behind the Cattle Congress grounds, through Riverview, along the dike to East Lake, up through Wyth, and out to Big Woods Lake then out to Black Hawk before it started raining. I was at my turn around point. The end of the road in Black Hawk Park. I made my way to the picnic shelter by the rifle ranges and got inside before all hell broke loose. Man, it came down! Under the tin roof of the shelter it sounded like a firefight. Whoa! Then it was done. Just like that. I started to get on my bike to leave when it opened up again. Another 5 minutes of downpour and it quit again. Weird. It's the kind of weather you expect in the spring around here. Oh well. It was about 60 degrees and the roads were definitely wet. By the time I got home I was covered in water, mud, and leaf crumbs. (Is that a word? More of a description, I guess) Anyway, I was a mess. Brother of Jackal had stopped by for lunch so I got to chat with him for awhile. Hadn't seen him since the CX races on Sunday. He and Carlie had gone to Monona for a couple of days to attend the funeral of a friend who had been killed in a motorcycle accident last week. Sucks, eh? Anyway, they're back home now.

Snow in the forecast, along with much cooler temps. Vande Cross in Moline this weekend. It'll be fun. Woohoo! I predict mud and cold temps. :)

That's about it for now. Get out and ride!

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!

Wednesday....

Be careful what you wish for. It could come true.

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!

It was over 70F today....

Bird poop and Frogglegs....
"And that's all I have to say about that...."

Leaves on the trail. Sweet!

A clear section....

Cedar Falls dam. If you look closely you can see the geese....

The old Rapp service station....

One room schoolhouse....

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!