It's a girl, my Lord....


Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!

Stopped for the night....

Scary handlebars....
Big Chief....

Weather station....

Old Route 66....

New Mexico....

Somewhere....

....over the rainbow.

We're at a Holiday Inn Express in Kansas tonight. The town we had planned to stay in is hosting a girl's softball tournament and there isn't a room available anywhere. None, ZIPP, nada. Reserve a room ahead of time? Ha! You don't know me very well. LOL.

This town is 24 miles down the road from the last one and they have some overflow from the tournament, plus 3 tour busses. Only two rooms available. King suites. Nice. I told the girl at the desk that it was more than I wanted to pay. She used my AARP discount and then discounted it even more to something more reasonable. (I would have taken it at the original asking price. I'm tired. Had to try.) It's the second time I've done that this trip. Santa Fe, New Mexico on the way south. Fairfield Inn. Pretty cool. It's always nice to save a few bucks. Judy won't go in with me when I ask for a room. LOL.

The first pic is outside the Veterans Hospital in Phoenix. One of the employee's bikes.

Second and third pics are somewhere in northern Arizona. The rest are in New Mexico. It's been fun. (The 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 6th, and 7th pics were taken by Judy.)

I discovered on this trip that Texans are still polite and that Oklahomans still love their excessivley large pick up trucks with ungodly loud exhausts. (It's been awhile since I've been to either state)

I haven't been on a bike since the 16th. I wonder if I'll remember how to ride?

Beddy bye time for me. Judy's already sleeping, though she isn't snoring yet.... :)

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!

Plans....

We actually left Phoenix yesterday but came back last night. We're leaving in the morning, for sure. It's all good! :)

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!

Time to go....

Cute, eh....?
The bar at Tortilla Flat....

Canyon Lake from above....

Judy and I drove out through Tortilla Flat yesterday, then up to the end of the paved road. It was 111F out there in the desert but it was fun. Stopped at an old mining town outside Apache Junction on the way back. Very enjoyable time. I rarely act like a tourist when we travel, but I did yesterday. It was kinda fun. (I know it's hard to imagine me acting stoopid...)

Spent yesterday evening at my Dad's visiting with him and Jean and my sister Susi and my niece, Coila, and her two boys. We grilled out and had a very good time. (lot's of veggies for me....) After dinner dad and I watched the Diamond Backs on the tube. It was great!

We're going to head back up north starting this morning after we visit my dad and Jean for awhile). I hate to leave, to be honest. Can't say I really enjoy Phoenix, but I do like visiting. Long story....

Anyway, that's it for now.

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!

Warm....

Bicycles, too....
Brother of Jackal and me with The Red Baron....

If I could fly any plane, the F4 would be it....

Flipping me off as a term of endearment....

It hit 112 about an hour after I took this pic....

It's been good down here in sunny Arizona. Judy and I did some sight-seeing around town after dark tonight. (Tom-Tom told me to go left when he really meant right) It was interesting. Washed the car down in the hood. That was interesting too.

We're going to run out to Tortilla Flats tomorrow morning, then go back over to visit my dad for awhile. Just had a message from my sis saying she was bringing steaks over to Dad's tomorrow and we'll grill. Mmmmmm..... I'm good with that.

I was worried about Fatty. I hadn't heard from him since last Thursday. I kept texting him on a regular basis but he didn't respond until today. All is well.... I'll be able to sleep tonight.

The heat is amazing down here. My mom always said "it's hot, yes, but it's a dry heat". I always responded to that with "yeah, like sticking your head in an oven". Well, I've learned that if you have a breeze it's even worse. It's like a blast furnace. Wow!

That's about it.

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!

Arizona....

Purple cactus....
Jackal and Moo with The Queen on the carousel....

Movie star....?

Pancho's Authentic Mexican Buffet....

Supposed to get up to 106F today. Nice! Getting ready to drive up to Scottsdale to pick up Brother of Jackal. The traffic is unbelievable.... You have to leave early to get where you're going on time. I'm not sure I could get used to this lifestyle. To each his or her own, I guess. :)

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!

Santa Fe....

Not to be confused with Santa Claus.

Drove for awhile Wednesday night and ran into some weather in western Iowa. BIG hail. Couple of small dents in the hood of the Passat. I hope the dry ice guys can fix them. We had a very long day of driving yesterday. Getting ready to take on the last leg of the trip.

I have no way to upload photos right now so you'll just have to take my word for it... There is a lot of beautiful scenery out this way. Along with some that is pretty boring.

It's all good.

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!

Fog....

On the way to work this morning....

Foggy this morning, 86F this afternoon. Sweet.

Judy and I are heading to Arizona tonight. Driving. 1500+ miles. Should be fun. We'll arrive there sometime Friday. I hope. :) We'll be back here sometime the 26th. I suspect that blog posts will be spotty, at best.

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!

State TTT Championships....

Part of the Bike Tech Crew....
Rassy's....

They did good....

(No) Mercy crew....

A good day of racing today. Judy and I had corner one again. No "remarkable" incidents this year. No one puts on a race quite like the Bike Tech crew does. And the food..... Oh my! Kat's pasta salad is OUT OF THIS WORLD! Yummmmm.....

Of course, I'm dealing with a little sunburn, again....

Commentary, pictures, and results HERE.

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!

Afternoon ride....

Mmmmmmm....
The Cedar in Waterloo....

Through a series of emails, text messages, and phone calls, Fatty and I were able to arrange for a ride this afternoon. He emailed me as I was walking out the door to go to lunch, which got him a text message from me in response about a half hour later. We made arrangements to meet at 6 but the caveat was that I had to call him before I left to make sure he was awake from his nap. I was worried that I wouldn't wake up from mine in time to call him and get to the meeting place at the prescribed time. Brother of Jackal came in to talk to his mother after he got off work and that woke me up at just the right time. I sent Fatty a text asking if he was still sleeping which got me a phone call back from him and we met out on the trail at 6, then headed south toward Hudson. When we got to Shaulis Road we took a slight detour and rolled back into the woods at the Greenbelt where he pulled two beers out of his jersey pocket. "Happy belated birthday"! Oh yeah! It went down soooooo smooth, like Guinness always does. Thanks, Buddy :) Those skeeters love you! Whoa!

We finished our beers and headed down to Hudson then took Ho Chi Minh back north toward Waterloo. We parted company at 63 and Ridgeway and I headed toward downtown then back along the Cedar on River Road and around behind Electric Park and home. Good ride! Barely a breeze, sunshine, and low 70's. What could be better?

Judy and I are going over to Littleton in the morning to work at the State TTT Championships. This will be our 3rd year doing this for the team. Always a good time and the weather looks like it will be good tomorrow.

That's about it for now.

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!

A few pics....

Birds watching....

Over the river and through the woods....

Home, sweet home....

Out at Big Woods.....

Abandoned....

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!

Happy Friday....


Rode the Surly for a couple hours last night. Work has been hectic, to say the least, for the last couple weeks, and I left the plant at about the time the group ride was leaving the shop, so I missed that. Darn! That led to a couple of hours on the Surly, which was good.

The picture? It's an old one of Kerkove doing what Kerkove does best.

That's about it for now.

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!

Good advice....

For some reason this picture reminds me of Fatty.... I don't know why. It just does.

Is it:

A) The sage advice?

B) The quizzical look on his face?

C) The big feet?

D) Something else?

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!

Today....

46F and sunny this morning. Sweet!

On this date 36 years ago, I made Judy the luckiest girl in the world! Sweet!

I know it's a little late, and I apologize for that, but, CONGRATS to Redg and his wife on the birth of their daughter! Woohoo! She needs a bike, Buddy! I'd suggest CX. Just sayin'....

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!

Curious....

Storm clouds....
Just riding along....

It rained most of the day on Saturday, which meant the bicycle stayed in the basement. We had planned to ride down to the farmer's market in Cedar Falls so I got up and got ready but apparently was the only one willing to ride in the drizzle. Ah well. It's all good. Jackal and Moo drove down there with The Queen, and I received some excellent M&M cookies and some asparagus later in the day. Mmmmmm.... Thank you! (along with a new water bottle and a gift card to be used at the shop)

Jackal and I rode to Hudson on the bike path on Sunday afternoon and back on Ho Chi Minh. It was warm and mostly sunny with a fairly stiff breeze out of the SE. I had a tummy full of food from lunch and was a bit less than comfortable, though all in all, it was a good ride.

The conversation we had left me curious....

Why do drivers accept, or at least tolerate, the mail truck, UPS and FEDEX trucks, city busses, slow moving farm machinery, the Amish and their buggies, etc., but seem unable or unwilling to accept bicycles on the roads. Actually, bicycles are less of an impediment to the flow of traffic than the above mentioned conveyances. It just seems strange. I suspect that it has something to do with the fact that bicycles are smaller than cars and trucks and that we Americans want to crush anything smaller or slower than we are. I dunno.

I rode a lot of miles on the roads of Germany when I was stationed over there. I served two tours there, once in the flat area around Friedberg, Hesse and then 3 years in the mountains around Schwaebisch Gmuend. I commuted by bike quite a lot. The majority of those roads are much narrower and twistier (is that a word?) than the roads we ride here. I don't recall ever having the issues with motorized vehicles over there that we have here. Of course, a lot more people use the bicycle as transportation over there. There just seemed to be more respect for your fellow traveler....

It may have been because my time in Germany was pre-cell phone and computer. It was before everyone tried to squeeze 18 hours worth of activities into a 16 hour day.

Slow down a little bit and enjoy life.

Just my thoughts.

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!

Walking Tacos and bike rides....

Chris and Courtney....
Our group last night....

Baling hay at Janesville....

Jackal chowing down....

The line....

Mmmmmm....

Some of the fixins....

A little harassment from my boss....

Starting the day....

My birthday isn't until Saturday but the harassment at work was yesterday. I'm not sure why I get picked on so much, but it happens. Oh well....

I think we served walking tacos to about 100 people at lunch yesterday. Sunshine and 70! It's always a good time, since I get the opportunity to heckle the good folks that I work with as they come through the line to be served. So unlike me! I think Jackal had 8 of them to fuel up for the group ride last night. Good stuff!

I'm kicking myself in the butt this morning for not getting a good picture of The Thin Man's new bike last night. He built up a new titanium Moots with electronic Dura-Ace and Zipp 404's. Sweet ride. Very sweet. I'd love to roll a set of 404's some time just to see what they're like. They wouldn't make my old, tired ass any faster, but they'd look neat.

There were quite a few people at the group ride last night. We left in two groups with different goals within the groups. Our group ended up with 6 people going north at a pretty good clip. After the C57 intersection we became 5, as one rider went east on Cedar Wapsi and the rest of us continued north to Janesville. One of the local tri-athletes joined us for the ride last night. It was good meeting you, Janet!

Anyway, time to get to work.

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!

Get out....!!!

More stoopid birds....

The water level is going down....

I came home from work with the intention of riding the 1 x 1. I had a message to call Nikki so it was almost 7 when I got off the phone. That girl can talk! LOL.

Judy was getting ready to run up to the store to pick up some sliced black olives for the walking tacos that I'm serving for lunch at work tomorrow (The June birthday people do this every year. There are 4 or 5 of us that go in together to do it. It's fun. I get to heckle everyone coming through the line.) and told me to get out! Go ride! I said "I dunno. It's getting late". She said "ride for an hour. Just get out. Ok. I know when I'm not wanted. I took the Surly and rolled through Wyth and up through Gateway to Big Woods Lake. Saw Sweet Amy when I got out there, but I continued on around the lake. They were tearing down a house and she was still there watching when I'd completed the lap, so we talked for a few minutes. Told her I had to scoot. I only had an hour. LOL. She said I was going to be 5 minutes late. She was right.

Lots of walkers and skaters as well as quite a few people on bikes out there tonight. You know how that goes!

Anyway, my 'puter said I'd been gone for an hour and 3 minutes when I pulled in the drive. Judy had pizza ready when I got home. Yumm....

What more can you ask for?

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!