End of October....

Just rolling along....

The Surly, my baby....
System six....

I hurried home from work today to ride. Holy crap, it was 71F outside! I had to ride!

I left the house and was cruising up Rainbow when Jackal pulled out of his drive on the System six. I was wondering if I'd be able to keep up on the Surly. Not to worry, I knew she wouldn't let me down.

We rolled up to Lookout Park then shot down the hill to the bike trail. Crossed at Krieg's and went through Gateway and Big Woods and then out to Black Hawk. Only about 16 miles but it was a good leg workout for me. I had to spin pretty good to keep up with Jackal but it worked out quite well. He took it easy on me :)

State CX Championships in Altoona this weekend. It's gonna be fun. The Fat Cat is racing CX out east this weekend. Woohoo!!!! Go Fat Cat! Best of luck to ya!

That's it for now.

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!

From a different perspective......


This is an e-mail from Ireland to all of our Irish brethren living in the States. A point to ponder despite your political affiliation.

Over here in Ireland we can’t figure out why you people are fretting about who to elect for your president there in the United States. For a while you had a pants wearing female lawyer who was married to another lawyer who can’t keep his pants on, but she lost a long, heated and very expensive primary against a lawyer who is married to yet another lawyer who doesn’t like the country she thinks her husband ought to run and who goes to an anti-American church and hates your military.

Now on the other side you have a war hero whose last name starts with ‘Mc’ and who is married to a good looking, rich younger woman who owns a beer distributorship.

What in God’s name is the matter we’ ye lads over there in the colonies?


Pretty good, eh? :)

Enjoy the day.

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!

More Spooky Cross fun....

Scott chasing Steve up the run-up....
Brother of Jackal focusing....

Some craziness....

Rob V. on Saturday....

Scottie S.....

Just a quick post. More later.

I guess the wind gusts hit 60 mph at the CX race yesterday. It was good.

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!

Spooky Cross fun....

Jackal....
Sydney mixin' it up....

Andy....

Marc....

It was a bit muddy today....
....I think Steve will agree.

Jackal heading into the motel last night....

Squirrel. Dead sexy. What else can I say?

Spooky was a blast. Thanks to J.J. Bailey and the entire crew. Ya done good.

The 40 mph sustained winds and 50 mph gusts made it interesting today. All the mud that was ridden on and (kinda) dried out yesterday was replaced with new mud in different spots today. :) It was good. Rode with Scott D. and John A., as well as the Kat yesterday. That was good! I finished DFL both yesterday and today. That has to be some kind of record:)

To answer Steve Fuller's question: FSA Gossamer compact with a 36 tooth chainring. Works good for an old fat guy like me.

Petey, Andy, Rob V., Bruce.... Good seeing you guys! Rob, thanks! Squirrel, you da man!

Report and more pics to follow.

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!

Cold and wet....

Riding the dike....
East Lake....

It was a steady, light rain all day around here. It was drizzling during my ride tonight. 45F. Windy as hell. Not uncomfortable or dangerous. Just enough to keep the glasses wet and be annoying. I saw only one other rider, an old codger (like me?) out on his bike. He looked to be commuting and didn't seem too happy about the weather. Whatcha gonna do? I 'spose I could sit in the house and watch the tube. Re-read CX Magazine, again..... I'd rather ride.

Sounds like the weather could be crap this weekend in Des Moines for Spooky Cross. Whatever. I guess we'll ride anyway :)

It's all good!

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!

Things....

Ghost town....

I rode down to the Washington Park golf course tonight to check it out after this summer's flooding. It's totally destroyed, never to re-open. It looks like a ghost town. The only thing left of the clubhouse is the foundation. The whole place is either overgrown or totally bare. Lot's of good memories from that place. Yes, I may have had a beer or two in the clubhouse.... You could have a pretty decent cross race over there now. Hmmmm....

From there I headed out to ride around Big Woods Lake where I found a cyclist laying on the ground in the middle of the trail. He told me that he had a broken leg. Oh yes. It was definitely broken. The ambulance had been called to take him away to the hospital. After he was safely taken care of by the paramedics I waited for the Cedar Falls police to come get his recumbant. We soon discovered that it was too big for the trunk of the patrol car but about the time we were taking it back out of the trunk a gentleman rolled up in his pickup truck and offered to haul the bike to the cop shop. Hopefully all turns out well for the cyclist. It was a seriously nasty break!

Anyway, that's about it for now.

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!

Update:

I talked to John L's wife this afternoon. He broke both the tibia and fibula in his left leg. After a 2 1/2 hour surgery and 5 screws in his lower leg, he is doing fine. He has a cast from the tips of his toes to his groin area and the doc says he won't be riding a bike or xc skiing anytime soon. I don't know him at all but I can tell you that I wouldn't bet on that....

Where's Jackal?

Devil's Cross, continued....

Yeah baby. Pain!
Steve Bullerman suffering....

That's what shoulders are for....

Andy pushing....

He's not a smart ass.... ;)

Brother of Jackal on the run-up....

Over the barrier....

Getting his race face on....

Landon leading....

Adam and Jackal....

Jackal and Adam....

Richard's pre-race prep....

The Kid....

It's been said before.... Those DICE people know how to put on a race. Wow! Great venue, well organized, fast! It was sweet!

Brother of Jackal started in the Beginner 4s and finished 10th of 14. Pretty good seein's how work has kept him off the bike for the last two weeks. Steady improvement, Buddy! Lookin' good!

Landon finished 2nd in a fairly large Masters 50+ field. The man is a machine!

Jackal and Adam Price fought from the start until the finish on the 3/4 combined race. It was some of the most exciting CX racing I've ever witnessed. They were seriously side by side the entire race. Wow!

Brian Eppen won the Open race with Andy Leuck from Rassy's and Steve Bullerman from Bike Tech finishing 3rd and 4th, respectively. Good job, guys! Great racing.

The course had some really fast sections and some gooey peanut butter sections. In my opinion it was the best course we'd been on this year. There was an extremely fast downhill section which was a transition from grass to asphalt to grass then to the difficult (ass kicking) run-up. Amazing! Plenty of suffering to go around, for sure.

Me? I finished in my traditional position. DFL. But I had fun. Beau Coup fun. It was good!

Thanks to the people from DICE who made it all happen. Y'all done good!

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!

The Devil's Cross....

Jackal and Adam Price fought it out from start to finish. Great race!

I'm pooped. More later.

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!

Saturday in the parks....

1 X 10....
Chain guard and keeper....

From the rear....

Downtown Cedar Falls from Gateway Park....

Rolling through Black Hawk Park....

It's a nice day. 45F....

I put the compact single ring crankset on the CX bike today. 36 tooth chainring with a guard and a chain keeper to keep it from falling off onto the BB housing. I went out and rode through the parks for an easy 25 miles to spin the legs out and check the single ring setup. Both seem to be in good shape for The Devil's Cross tomorrow.

There was a little frost on the cars this morning and thick fog in the air. I hope it isn't foggy tomorrow morning for the early drive to Bettendorf. I'm sure it will be fine.

Went out for a nice 20 miler after dark last night. I didn't meet any other riders but saw lots of critter's eyes shining out in the woods. Always interesting riding at night around here.

Time to do some laundry and get something to eat.

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!

It gets dark early....

Sunset over Big Woods....
Full moon....

I can tell that it's fall when I get up in the morning and it's 34F outside! Yup, it's now definitely fall. It was chilly when I left for work this morning and chilly when I went riding tonight.

Last night was the full moon and it was awesome! It was pretty cool then also, but not as cool as tonight. Wow! I'm sitting here shivering! :) Long sleeved Under Armour beneath a long sleeved jersey and knickers. If it's this cool tomorrow evening I'll wear winter a weight base layer and a wind jacket. I LOVE THIS WEATHER!!!!! It's just a matter of figuring out what you need to wear.

Riding through the parks this time of year is always interesting. The Cateye Doubleshot really lights things up and you get to see all the critters out in the woods. Sweet! There are a lot of them!

My rear derailleur has been acting up for a couple of days so I threw the bike on top of the car when I went to work this morning and then dropped it off with The Thin Man at lunch time. He and Jason were holding down the fort today and they worked on it while I went back to the plant. I stopped by after work and they had it shifting like new again. It had a slightly bent derailleur hanger but after straightening that it still didn't work quite right so they replaced the chain and rear cable housing. Sweet! Thanks guys!!!!

I'll be ready to go for The Devil's Cross in Bettendorf this weekend. She should be a 1 x 10 by then. If I ever build a new CX bike it's gonna be a 9 speed for sure. 10 is fine on the road but this one has been a bit touchy since day one when riding off road. Maybe it's just me. 9 should be more than enough for me since I use the 5 largest cogs most of the time anyway and the wider spacing should stay in adjustment better.

I'm off to get my beauty sleep.

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!

Partaaaaayyyyyy......

The Birthday Girl....
All smiles....

She likes "Cars"....

Brother of Jackal and Carly make their entrance....

A little riding....

Rhea's birthday was actually on Tuesday but the party was on Saturday. Lots of kiddies and quite a few adults joined in the festivities honoring the 2 year old Queen of Cross. Cars. Lots of Cars and Pooh. That's my girl! She received a Pooh that blows bubbles. Freaked her out for a second but then she loved it. They didn't have things like that when I was a kid.

I got a little riding in today. A bit over 25 miles on the paved trails through the parks. The wind was out of the SE at about 25 and you really felt it out in the open areas but when you were in the woods it was pretty calm. Got home just after dark.

I need to do some work on the CX bike this week. The rear shifting is acting up and I need to check it out. Something minor, I'm sure. I have new Frogglegs brakes and BBS cartridge brake shoes to put on it one of these days and I found a compact crankset so I'll be putting a 36 tooth chainring and guard on it and running it as a 1 X 10 for the rest of the season. That will work fine for me....

That's really about it for now. I hope everyone got to ride this weekend!

Happy Thanksgiving to our Canadian friends.... Tomorrow is the day!

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!

Night ride....

This bike makes me smile....
Sunset over the Cedar....

Cedar Falls at night....

I came home from work this evening and told Judy I was going to ride the Surly for awhile. I took off at about 6, knowing it would be dark by 7 and that I'd be gone until at least 8. With 34 x 17 gearing, I can't make the Surly roll as fast as the cx bike or the road bike but I can make my thighs burn like no other! I love my Surly!!!!

I headed down behind the Cattle Congress Fairgrounds and across the river on the Sans Souci bridge then decided I'd take the brand new bike trail through Exchange Park and see where it goes. Well, now I know that it ends at Mullan Avenue. It is going to be connected to the new Riverwalk that they are building downtown. You'll be able to go all the way to Evansdale on a paved bike path when it's done. Sweet!

I crossed the river on the Mullan bridge and came back to Sans Souci on River Road then crossed again and headed out to George Wyth along the top of the dike. Came up behind Deerslayer and his family when I neared Krieg's Crossing, which is where they exited the trail for home and I continued on the trail to Gateway and points beyond. I have to say that it looked like Rob was slacking on the tandem and Mia was doing all the work..... :)

I rolled through Gateway and then out around Big Woods Lake and headed back home by the golf course and up Grand. Yes, the sewage treatment plant is ripe tonight. Super ripe. That place is, in my opinion, a lawsuit waiting to happen. Just sayin'.

I was a bit surprised to see the number of people out in the parks tonight either walking or riding bikes. I only met one that had lights on it. It was pretty dark until the moon came up then I was able to ride without a headlight. It is a beautiful night! Almost got 2 pedestrians on the trail just before you come out onto the road near Big Woods. I think I scared the crap out of them. OOPS!

I think there are 6 more cx races before Jingle Cross. Sooooo much fun! I'm planning to do all of them. We'll see. Judy has actually been looking them up on the internet and letting me know when and where they are. She's really starting to take a more active interest in it since Jackal, Brother of Jackal, and I are all racing this year. Well, that's something of a misnomer. The boys are racing, I'm mostly just riding to finish. That's good enough for me at this point.

That's pretty much all for now. We're going to The Queen of Cross' birthday party tomorrow. That'll be fun. Might try to get up to the scout camp in the a.m. to check out Flat Tire Festival for awhile. It's gonna be a busy day!

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!