Friday night throw down with the CITA gang at Denman's Woods. First the final Quarter Rage, nighttime version, then the Spooky Woods ride. I'll be attending in my Monte costume.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Hiding out lately
Not much going on with the family lately. I haven't been on the bike since the hundy, so I'm feeling lazy. It is the late fall/early winter doldrums. Not much light out to keep me motivated.
However, I might try Spookycross this weekend, and then lace up some shoes to see if I'm in any shape for a solo run at the Dirty Du. Of course, I'll be present at this years Spooky Woods ride. How could a person miss this years....Friday night 10/31....should be a good time.
Madison will have her final soccer game this weekend. Her team plays well, but is still winless. They have fun and I know that is suppose to be the goal (no pun intended), but I get really worked up over their lack of caring (about losing). As Holly and I recently discussed, if they were boys, wouldn't the parents be more up in arms over their effort (we disagree on this topic btw)?
I remember being 10 and playing baseball. It was competitive with yelling coaches and players getting pissed at each other. Why isn't it expected of the girls? Double standard? Maybe I expect too much at 10yrs old? Perhaps my memory has skewed what I remember of little league.
Of well, no need to push her in soccer. Her and Hannah will be the 2018 version of Phil and Steve Mahre anyway (you youngsters will have to google that one).
Ski season is just around the corner. I've changed my online reading from Velonews to Skiracing.com and have found myself checking the webcams daily to see how much snow is falling in the Rockies. I can't wait to get on snow this year. I even checked out Masters racing, but that got expensive in the past 15yrs. National license, local license, race fees and then I have to drive 4hrs to the closest race. Maybe 7-oaks will let me set some couses up and bash gates.
However, I might try Spookycross this weekend, and then lace up some shoes to see if I'm in any shape for a solo run at the Dirty Du. Of course, I'll be present at this years Spooky Woods ride. How could a person miss this years....Friday night 10/31....should be a good time.
Madison will have her final soccer game this weekend. Her team plays well, but is still winless. They have fun and I know that is suppose to be the goal (no pun intended), but I get really worked up over their lack of caring (about losing). As Holly and I recently discussed, if they were boys, wouldn't the parents be more up in arms over their effort (we disagree on this topic btw)?
I remember being 10 and playing baseball. It was competitive with yelling coaches and players getting pissed at each other. Why isn't it expected of the girls? Double standard? Maybe I expect too much at 10yrs old? Perhaps my memory has skewed what I remember of little league.
Of well, no need to push her in soccer. Her and Hannah will be the 2018 version of Phil and Steve Mahre anyway (you youngsters will have to google that one).
Ski season is just around the corner. I've changed my online reading from Velonews to Skiracing.com and have found myself checking the webcams daily to see how much snow is falling in the Rockies. I can't wait to get on snow this year. I even checked out Masters racing, but that got expensive in the past 15yrs. National license, local license, race fees and then I have to drive 4hrs to the closest race. Maybe 7-oaks will let me set some couses up and bash gates.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Center Hundy thoughts.....
Thanks for all the well wishes on the blog and via email.
Yes it actually was fun.
Yes I did get dizzy after 14 times through Denmans.
Yes I now have it memorized (middle ring, 3rd gear, 45 revolutions, slight left, 15 rev, hard right, 5 then root, etc.)
Do it again? Maybe.....
I did take a few hours off work on Monday afternoon to let my body catch-up. That was a 1st in my quest for the centuries.
Other interesting tidbit of info. Many of you might know how anal I am about tracking stuff like mileage, times, etc. It keeps my mind active during the ride. I wrote down lap times each stop at the car.
1- 1:28 (lights and dark for most of it)
2- 1:14 (met the fast guys halfway through denmans)
3- 1:18 (Rick kept the pace up)
4- 1:18 (I thought I had backed down the pace)
5- 1:20
6- 1:21
7- 1:19 (rode the loop backwards to see if it was faster, didn't feel faster)
I find it good (but odd) that I was soo consistent. Maybe it was the familiarity of Denmans by the end of the day. I would have thought my climbs in hillside would have slowed me down, but I was trying to push the short climbs in that section.
Lastly, a few have asked why?????
It all started with a Bicycling magazine article many years ago (10?). I remember reading the motivational last page, and the author talked about riding a road century each month of the year. I remember thinking how cool that he picked a challenge and stuck to his goal even through adversity. Flash forward to 2007 and Dave Mable creates the Cup O'Dirt challenge. I monitored from afar but didn't give it a try. For 2008 he upped the challenge to include a century or metric century for each calendar month. It triggered the old Bicycling mag article in my brain and I thought "Why not?". I probably wouldn't have started it if it wasn't for four other guys taking me under their wing on the 1st ride in January. I wanted to quite at 50 miles and they wouldn't let me.
So many thanks to Scott (Mr. BikeIowa), Brian, Dennis and Steve. If it wasn't for these guys, I'd be 30 pounds heavier and probably not as satisfied with life.
Tom
Yes it actually was fun.
Yes I did get dizzy after 14 times through Denmans.
Yes I now have it memorized (middle ring, 3rd gear, 45 revolutions, slight left, 15 rev, hard right, 5 then root, etc.)
Do it again? Maybe.....
I did take a few hours off work on Monday afternoon to let my body catch-up. That was a 1st in my quest for the centuries.
Other interesting tidbit of info. Many of you might know how anal I am about tracking stuff like mileage, times, etc. It keeps my mind active during the ride. I wrote down lap times each stop at the car.
1- 1:28 (lights and dark for most of it)
2- 1:14 (met the fast guys halfway through denmans)
3- 1:18 (Rick kept the pace up)
4- 1:18 (I thought I had backed down the pace)
5- 1:20
6- 1:21
7- 1:19 (rode the loop backwards to see if it was faster, didn't feel faster)
I find it good (but odd) that I was soo consistent. Maybe it was the familiarity of Denmans by the end of the day. I would have thought my climbs in hillside would have slowed me down, but I was trying to push the short climbs in that section.
Lastly, a few have asked why?????
It all started with a Bicycling magazine article many years ago (10?). I remember reading the motivational last page, and the author talked about riding a road century each month of the year. I remember thinking how cool that he picked a challenge and stuck to his goal even through adversity. Flash forward to 2007 and Dave Mable creates the Cup O'Dirt challenge. I monitored from afar but didn't give it a try. For 2008 he upped the challenge to include a century or metric century for each calendar month. It triggered the old Bicycling mag article in my brain and I thought "Why not?". I probably wouldn't have started it if it wasn't for four other guys taking me under their wing on the 1st ride in January. I wanted to quite at 50 miles and they wouldn't let me.
So many thanks to Scott (Mr. BikeIowa), Brian, Dennis and Steve. If it wasn't for these guys, I'd be 30 pounds heavier and probably not as satisfied with life.
Tom
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Center Hundy Completed
The pic is from my 1st lap. Started at 5:45am and did a lap of Coaster / Trestle / Connecter / Denmans reverse / Denmans forward / Connecter / then most of the time trial course on Hillside. 14 mile laps.
1st lap in the dark by myself then 1/2way through lap 2 I found Basso, Pig, Blackford and Jim(?). Did most thru most of lap3 w/them or Rick. Young Ryan and Dal joined me for lap 4.Everyone was out today so I assumed that I'd find another to keep me company for laps 5-7. It was not in the cards and I rode those by myself. Probably a good thing as I could take it at my own pace. 7 laps = 98 miles so I added another coaster to hillside loop. My legs were screaming on the last lap uphills but I never gave in to the granny (all day).
A nice fall day on Hillside. Sometimes it seemed like it was snowing leaves.
Summary is 100.4 miles 9:38 ride time (lots of trail BSing) total time of 11:30.
A very long day and I'm now feeling it in my back. It's all worth it for what I think has got to be a first......100 miles all on the center trails in a day.
A pic at the end. I look like I aged a few years today. The car was my pitstop for each lap. Water, pop, clif bars, Hammer Gel and Sugar Cookie dough (yum).
BTW - thanks to all that I rode with, saw out there (Terri, Andy and others), and even those that called or sent a test during the day. Your positive comments and friendship really helped make the miles easier.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
CITA - Take a Kid MTBing day
The 2nd annual CITA - Take a Kid MTBing day was held this past Saturday at Lake Ahquabi State Park which is south of Des Moines by about 20 minutes. The day was fantastic and despite the sparse turnout, those that were there thoroughly enjoyed their day.
I want to say thanks to Al and Jeff for helping mark the trail and all of the general support. Also thanks to Bruce Brown for allowing me to use some of his race materials to mark the course. It made a big difference and made me feel a lot better about making sure that no one got lost.
Thanks to the Hanser family for coming down and giving their support as well as those kids and their parents/family that drove them all that way for a 5 mile loop :)
Next year, this event will be moved back into town and back onto the Center Trails. It couldn't be done there this year due to the J11 trail construct/destruction. I'm sure that it will be back on track and a much bigger success next year.
Enjoy the pics and video from the day.
Lake Ahquabi is a very scenic place. We based the event out of the beach picnic area.
Jeff and Al relaxing after some brats (the food, not the kids).
Andre and Rachael Rethman
Miranda and Mike Lipp, Sam and Matt Gumm
Sam sez "Cheese" with a Cheetos
I want to say thanks to Al and Jeff for helping mark the trail and all of the general support. Also thanks to Bruce Brown for allowing me to use some of his race materials to mark the course. It made a big difference and made me feel a lot better about making sure that no one got lost.
Thanks to the Hanser family for coming down and giving their support as well as those kids and their parents/family that drove them all that way for a 5 mile loop :)
Next year, this event will be moved back into town and back onto the Center Trails. It couldn't be done there this year due to the J11 trail construct/destruction. I'm sure that it will be back on track and a much bigger success next year.
Enjoy the pics and video from the day.
Lake Ahquabi is a very scenic place. We based the event out of the beach picnic area.
Jeff and Al relaxing after some brats (the food, not the kids).
Andre and Rachael Rethman
Miranda and Mike Lipp, Sam and Matt Gumm
Sam sez "Cheese" with a CheetosSome of the kids used their bikes to get closer to the lake and explore.
Madison and Libby picking some flowers (weeds) :)
Hannah pushes up the big hill to the Whitely Monument.
Madison pushing up the one other big hill.
This video of Hannah shows some of the beauty of the lake trail. It also shows how good of a trail this is for kids.
This video is of Maddie, notice how she doesn't allow me to pass.
She always has to be at the front.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Grade School XC Run
This past week the Waukee grade schools had a cross-country run (1 mile) for grades 3-6. Both of the girls decided to sign up and give it their best shot. Maddie was trying to improve upon her 4th grade performance of 7:56 and this was Hannah's first try. We were proud of Hannah to step out of her comfort zone and give this a try (she is our music and dance expert).
Both of the girls did well. Maddie got 12th overall and Hannah got 71st. I think there were around 125 starters for the girls. Maddie ran a 7:52 and we haven't seen Hannah's time yet, but I think she will be near or under 10mins (which would be a personal best)(UPDATE: a 9:45!). They both had a great time and Hannah even stated that she might want to do something similar in the future.
I was trying to emphasize with Hannah that you just need to do your best. "Look at Daddy, he never finished 1st and he still has fun". I also set personal goals for my racing or training and I tried to use that to motivate her. She had set a goal to run the mile faster than her school mile test (near 11mins). Once she met this goal, she seemed to realize that doing your best is all that is important.
Part of the girls starting line.
And their off!
Both of the girls did well. Maddie got 12th overall and Hannah got 71st. I think there were around 125 starters for the girls. Maddie ran a 7:52 and we haven't seen Hannah's time yet, but I think she will be near or under 10mins (which would be a personal best)(UPDATE: a 9:45!). They both had a great time and Hannah even stated that she might want to do something similar in the future.
I was trying to emphasize with Hannah that you just need to do your best. "Look at Daddy, he never finished 1st and he still has fun". I also set personal goals for my racing or training and I tried to use that to motivate her. She had set a goal to run the mile faster than her school mile test (near 11mins). Once she met this goal, she seemed to realize that doing your best is all that is important.
Part of the girls starting line.
And their off!
Madison's Fall Soccer
Madison is playing fall soccer again this year. I think this will be her 3rd full year of playing for the Waukee club. She plays in the U12 league, which means she is one of the younger ones out there. It doesn't phase her as she likes to get into the middle of the action and mix it up. Her team is having it's ups and downs. The 1st game they played to a 2-1 loss, which was against a club that usually beat them pretty good (they were tied until the last 2mins). The next game they got smoked.... The 3rd game they got smoked as well, then the 4th game was a tie. I guess it depends on their mood as much as it depends on who they are playing.
She does enjoy it, and she is pretty good because of her quickness and speed.
Just missed keeping this ball inbounds.
Playing through some pain.
Ready to pass up field.
She does enjoy it, and she is pretty good because of her quickness and speed.
Just missed keeping this ball inbounds.
Playing through some pain.
Ready to pass up field. Here is a link to a very short video of Maddie playing goalie.
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