IowaGriz

First day of school - 8th grade

2011-08-19T08:38:00.003-05:00

The girls started 8th grade this past Wednesday. Top of the middle school heap.

Iowa State Fair

2011-08-18T22:03:00.002-05:00

The girls on the Crazy Mouse rollercoaster

The Butter Cow

A mini butter cow

My ladies

Holly and her mom

Moab/Fruita pics

2011-07-01T09:00:00.002-05:00

I finally got around to uploading the pics that Jacob took during the trip. Lots of good stuff. I've organized by day. Click here

Day one - just north of Moab at Baby Steps and Klondike
Day two - a new trail, Magnificent 7. Goes from Gemini Bridges area to Poison Spider
Day three - the Porcupine Rim downhill
Day four - Road 18 or Bookcliffs just north of Fruita, CO
Day five - (morning) Loma exit (Mary's Loop, Horsetheif, etc), west of Fruita
Day five - (afternoon) Ribbon and Lunch Loops near Grand Junction, CO
Day six - we hit Centennial Cone trail on Hwy 6, just west of Golden, CO

Spring Break Photos

2011-03-23T18:46:00.002-05:00

Lots of new photos on Flickr, click the link to the right.

Steamboat Spring Break

2011-03-16T20:17:00.001-05:00

A pic from day two of skiing with the family at Steamboat. Spring weather both days with slushy conditions each afternoon. Day off today, two more days of skiing left.

CIRREM Race/Training(?) report

2011-03-02T20:28:00.003-06:00

The third annual CIRREM gravel race was this past weekend. I had handy excuses the first two years, but thought that as long as the roads weren't muddy, I'd use this years race as a good long training session.

Kent and Jed put on a really good race and despite temps in the low teens a little over 100 people toed the line for 100k of gravelly goodness.

I lined up with some of my Rassy teammates and discussed riding together at a reasonable pace. However, once the group started I had this urge to push to the front. My hesitation in the first mile had me watching a lead group of over 30 pull away. I quickly thought of the benefits of drafting with a large group and put my head down hoping to catch them. However, after we made it to about mile 3 or 4, I realize it wasn't going to happen without blowing myself up.
I joined up with Jason Alread and Jacob Naumann (Rassy's riders) and we set a reasonable pace over the next 25miles of rolling hills. I could usually keep my heart rate at or below 140 and it was turning into a great early season training session.

The only issues that I was having was with my glasses freezing over and with my camelback freezing. I had the winter hydration tube, but after one drink it froze solid.

We stayed together until the check point that was near mile 30.

At this point, my pack was carrying 3lbs of water that I couldn't use (unless I stopped and drank from the screw top). I drank a quick glass of water and had two fantastic tasting cookies at the checkpoint. Jacob and I jumped back on the bikes under 5 minutes later and hit the road with the assumption that Jason would catch back up.

Jacob and I rode together for 20-30 minutes and were catching others often. Eventually, I found myself pulling away. I decided to put my head down and jump from rider to rider in front of me. I made a game of it and was enjoying it. A few of the hills were difficult, but mostly within a reasonably hard effort.

According to the stats, I passed somewhere around 17 people in the last half of the race, but around mile 54 (of 64), I started losing energy (no water and no food since the checkpoint). I maintained my pace and pulled a few more racers in. The final hills were the hardest as my gearing was tall and you couldn't stand without spinning your rear tire on the snow.

I ended up finishing right at 5hours which was right at my goal time. My average heart rate for the 5 hours was 142, so the first half was nice and low and the second half was a solid tempo pace.

The finish party at the Cumming Tap was a blast. Lots of good company with the riders and everyone else that came out to join in the fun. Thanks to Bob for hosting us out there.

New bike to start the season

2011-02-20T16:18:00.003-06:00

I guess it's time to start blogging again. I'll start off with my purchase for the 2011 race season. Thanks to Rassy's for the sponsorship. They really get behind the sport.

2011 Salsa El Mariachi Ti
Reba fork with remote lockout
Salsa carbon bar
Salsa stem
Roval wheels
Fifteen G 34t crankset
Sram 990 11-34t cassette

Elixir brakes with carbon levers

I need to get it on a scale, but it appears to be near 22.5lbs with pedals. I'm looking at upgrading the seat and post and maybe lighter pedals.

20-30 new Flickr photos

2010-11-28T15:47:00.001-06:00

Orlando Vacation, Oakley night cap cyclocross race, girls concert and my Movember stashe.

Click here.

Mullet Classic (Ahquabi) Race Report

2010-10-17T20:52:00.005-05:00

The final race of the IORCA mountain bike series was held at Lake Ahquabi near Indianola. We were treated to a beautiful fall day and the bikers came out in force. 155 riders showed up for the race and I have to think that this is a record turnout for an IORCA race. To top it off, we were going to have a mass start and run all categories together.

Ahquabi is a fast course and Bruce B. worked his butt off to add a mile or two of singletrack to get it up closer to a 8 mile course.

Rasmussen Team BS'ing before the start.

After the initial instructions, the entire group moved down the road for the start. I don't usually line up on the front row and didn't plan on it today, but I found myself between Cam and Tony with Jed next to Cam. To top it off, Jay Chesterman from Omaha, Basso, Vandelune, Alread and Blackford where on the second row. I briefly thought about swapping places with someone, but then thought "screw it". I figured that I'd go as hard as possible and ride a good line. In most of my races, I seem to start near 10th and then pick a few off at the end of the race. I wanted to see if I could hold the harder pace as long as possible. It was a 40 mile race, but even if I won my class, I couldn't win the overall series. I might as well try.

Cam leads the group over the slight bump to start the first lap. Tony is behind him and Jed is hidden behind Tony and to my left.

Jed goes rabbit on me over the hump.

After we started, I sprinted as hard as possible to the entrance of the narrow double track. I was fourth wheel going into it behind Cam, Jed and Tony. They were pushing hard, but I was holding on. We hit the first steep hill, which is maybe 200 feet and possibly 10% grade. I stood and pushed a higher gear and although I didn't get passed, I did lose some ground to the first three. On the fast section after the descent, Chesterman came around me. I kept him in sight for a bit and stayed 5th wheel up the second tricky and steep climb. At this point, Basso was screaming at me to keep it up. We were pushing hard and I think breaking away from those behind us. However, Pete destroyed the sidewall of his wheel and all I heard was the sound of a deflating tire and the end of his race.

Not too long after that I was caught by several and decided to hold a medium pace so I could recover a little. I certainly felt like I went out too hard and that I had paid the price. I think that I came through the start finish in 13th place or so. I had to remind myself that many of those that passed me were the faster sport class racers and were racing fewer laps.

Lap 2 was more recovery and somewhere in here, Squirrel passed me. He left me with encouraging words and reminded me that it was a long race and that everyone was hurting. I took that to heart and waited until lap 3 to push hard again.

At the start of lap 3, I was down in 17th place and could see about 8 riders in front of me. I began to pick them off one at a time and midway through lap 4 could finally see Jason Alread and another rider on the backside of the course. I pulled onto their wheel and recovered for awhile. It was Jason pulling the 2nd riders along and #2 looked at me and asked if I wanted by. I loudly announced my presence to get into Jason's head and told them I was happy sucking their wheels (probably 18mph through this section). I even gave Jason a hard time about his being too small to create a large enough draft for us. It was all in good fun.

It was all that I could do in not passing, but I wanted to be smart and save it for a pass that would stick. I waited until after the levy and north end bridge and jumped on the short hill afterwards. They couldn't respond and I was now in 8th or 9th place. That had to be one of the best moments of my racing season as I rarely have the opportunity to make a tactical decision and then to have it work.

I might have caught one or two others, but don't remember. I ended up 8th overall and 1st in the 35+ category. I was happy with the race and the overall season, but in the end Jason had a better season and pulled out the overall series win in 35+. Glad that it was a teammate and he's a good guy on top of that. I will be gunning for the title next year.

Take a Kid MTBing - V4

2010-10-17T19:26:00.004-05:00

After two years of poor weather (V2 and V3) Take a Kid MTBing was finally given a perfect fall day. Central Iowa Trails Association (CITA) got the word out and the kids and parents showed up in force. This was, by far, our best turnout yet. We had 38 kids and 25 adults show up at Greenwood Park.

While sign up continued, the kids took to the mini-obstacle course like ducks to water. We didn't get the time to explain what they were working on, but it didn't matter, they had a blast on the "miniature skinnies".
We had a brief meeting and the group of older kids took off to J11 and Denmans. It is a short ride on the paved trail and then the dirt gets progressively harder. It is probably the best trail around to allow the kids to work on growing their skills.

While the bigger kids were out, the littler kids took their Striders out on roller coaster (yikes!). Don't worry, their dads were with them.

After an hour of riding the trails, we gathered back at the pond for the raffles. We first drew for the Schwinn MTB given to CITA by IMBA. Ingrid Collet was the lucky winner.

Little Callie Gibson had been trying out the demo Stider (donated by Strider) earlier in the day. The look on her face when she understood that she won, was priceless.

The day went by rather quick, but it was very satisfying for all involved.

Each of the kids went home with a water bottle from one of our sponsoring bike shops. Thanks again to:

Barr Bike and Fitness

Bike Country

Bike World

Boulevard Sports

Irwin's Bike and Sports

Kyle's Bikes

Rasmussen Bike Shop

Also thanks to Steve Fuller for his great photos of the event.

Chequamegon Fat Tire 40 - race report

2010-10-11T21:24:00.005-05:00

Long overdue for this race report, but the memories still linger. I can't believe that when I lived in MN (94-98) that I never did this race (although we discussed it). Also can't believe that I've lived in Iowa for seven years and only been up there twice. That will be corrected from here on. The race, the weekend and the company all made it a memorable experience.

Jed G. and I left town on Thursday for the uneventful 7hr drive up north. I had secured a place to stay with a group of Rassy's guys and gals that have done this event for 10 years or more. They have a house that they rent in the start town of Hayward. It is a great location, on a lake and near a good restaurant. The start is less than a mile away as well.

We did a short pre-ride on Friday morning and the gang took me under their collective wings to show me the course and to point out the various items to watch out for in the first 5 miles. Our alarms were set for 4:30am in order to secure a good place on the start line. The majority of us did not have "preferred starts", so John N. made sure that we all got our bikes down to the line. Front row for John and I!

The sunrise over the lake on race morning.

After eating some breakfast and then lounging around, we finally kitted up and walked to the start line. When we had placed our bikes upside down on the start line we were the first row of maybe 200 bikes. However, this race had over 1800 starters and now the majority were lined up behind us.

The view of the bikes from the front row.

Shortly after 10am, we slowly rode away. The start line was a narrow two-lane street, but within one block we were on main street and it was four-lanes wide. John pushed forward, but I quickly got swallowed from the sides. Lesson learned for next year.

The main street roll out is controlled by two four wheelers. The mayhem wasn't as bad as I expected, but you had to keep your eyes and ears open to your surroundings.

1800 strong rolling down main street (parade speed).

The first three miles are on pavement and the speed ramps up quickly after the first mile or so. With my high gear of 34x11, I quickly ran out of gears to keep up. I would jump on a wheel and then slowly lose them, look for another group and jump on their wheel. At the time I wasn't happy about the perception of losing ground, but in hindsight, it was probably for the best that I wasn't able to go 110% yet.

At three miles, we turn into Rosies field and the rest of the race is on dirt. The pics from Skinny Ski and others don't do it justice. I know that I was near the front of the field, but it sure didn't look like it at the time. If you look closely in the pic below, I'm on the right side and just in front of the guys painted like Kiss.

I started to pick groups of people off and tried to use my head on when to draft. We would have a good pack of guys together for 2-3 minutes and then a few of us would jump ahead to the next group. It went like this for the first 8-10 miles. Somewhere in there, we hit a gravel road and it felt like I went backwards. Several people would pass me and I just couldn't hold their wheel.

I tried to recover for a 10 minutes and figured that my race would come around to me later.

At the mid-race checkpoint (actually 16miles), I was already 5minutes behind my goal pace. I knew that due to the wet course that the pace would be slower, but I was already disappointed. I figured that I'd have to have a strong second half to salvage a good result.

The middle of the race is fuzzy, but I found 2-3 guys that all held the same pace and we worked well together. We kept the pace high and kept on reeling in others. By the time that I hit the Seeley Fire Tower climb, I was feeling much better. The guy in front of me firmly, but politely told the walkers to get out of our way. Surprisingly, they parted and frequently apologized for being in our way (love that about MTB racing), the two of us rode all three sections to the top and got a good applause for our efforts.

The rest of the way to the finish was an all out effort that never seemed to end. I did hate the last three or four climbs in the last mile, but now I know what to expect.

I ended up finishing at 2:43.39, which was off my goal of 2:30. I suppose that part of that is because of the wetness of the course, but my time was still too slow. I believe that course knowledge would cut almost 5min of that result, the rest will come from better and more specific training.

My goal time was based on last year and I was shooting for top 200 men. I ended up 221st in men and 248th overall (singlespeed, tandem and women make up the difference). If I shave that 5min off, then I would have been in the 170s overall and 150s in men. That's my goal for next year.

Funny stats: plate number 248, finished 248th overall.......I was 224th fastest in the first split and 224th fastest in the last split.

I can't wait until next year and am already thinking of ways to get faster for this type of racing.

24 Hours of Seven Oaks - Race Report

2010-09-12T21:19:00.004-05:00

I don't get to go into a race as one of the favorites very often (not in the past 15 yrs), so it's a fun challenge to see if you can hold up to the expectations. Last year, I was part of the 4-man winning team from Rassy's. This year, we hoped to hold onto the title. The team that took second last year was back (PAMBA team, from Peoria) and we found out, loaded for bear.

Rick did an excellent job in setting up our site for the weekend and we started at noon. After one round of 4 laps, we were neck and neck. After the second round of laps, they were up by a maybe five minutes (6 hours of racing). We weren't panicking as we had a few small mechanicals and they hadn't. Certainly, they would have problems in the coming 18 hours.

Ryan VanH's version of Farmville (beer hand-ups from the barn).

As we went into the night laps, we seemed to be running very smooth. Still running quick laps, but they were slightly quicker. I did my last single lap at midnight and settled into the car for 2-3 hours of sleep.

I woke up at 3am and got ready for my 4am laps. Overnight, we run two laps each in order to get some rest. Bill handed off to me and it appeared that we were now about 30min down (45 min laps on average). I decided to go as hard as possible for these night laps and see what I could get back. Although the mind was willing, the body was not able. I pulled a 55min and 59min night lap. I just could not get my heart rate up. By the time that I handed off to Rick, they were close to lapping us.

Entering the dismount area at the scorers table.

PAMBA lapped us around 6am and we put it into cruise control to ensure that third place couldn't make up time. In a way, it made the laps more enjoyable, but it wasn't fun coming in second place. Congats to the guys from Peoria, they pushed it hard for 24hrs and didn't let up. Stronger team this year and gives us something to push for in 2012.

Our setup for the weekend.

A taste of the trails (from a late fall pic). Not easy riding for 8miles.

The final result. Three 4-man teams at the bottom, Three 3-man teams above us. I think we finished with 28 laps. 7 laps each, around 8 miles and 800 vert a lap.

Also: Congrats to Jason Dal for winning the 12 hour solo. Great effort and something he was gunning for all summer.

Thanks for the pics Courtney.

Sugar Bottom Scramble Race Report

2010-09-02T21:03:00.002-05:00

Trying to get all of my thoughts together for a full post, but am having difficulty with time and thoughts.

Short story is that I thought I could get to the singletrack in 6th or 7th place. Pack of 17 took off and I found myself in 17th place. I guess "plan B" was in order....

I scrambled into 16th before the singletrack and then caught the pack with the inevitable crash that slowed places 10+. I passed a few and worked my way into 10th or so by the end of lap 1.

I passed a few more and a few others must have dropped. I had hoped to catch up to Jason Alread that I could see about a minute ahead of me. Alas, he was too fast and we finished in the same order. I ended up in 7th out of 17 and in 2nd out of the 35+ (to Jason).

Looking at a pic of the starting line, it all makes sense now. I see a team Radio Shack rider, last years 1 and 2nd place series riders, the top 35+ rider from NE, a top regional roadie and a genetic freak (in a good way) that crushes all in any riding or xc skiing contest. No wonder that they took off at a speedy pace. The fact that I'm a slow starter probably saved me and allowed me to pic off others and finish.

I'd like to say this was "plan C" and I executed it well, but I think it somehow just happened.

24hours of Seven Oaks coming up this weekend. I hope that the trails are dry.

Seven Oaks Race Report

2010-08-03T19:21:00.004-05:00

The Seven Oaks race course is one of the hardest of the Iowa MTB race series. 7-8 mile loop with 800 feet (I think) of climbing a lap. With the rainy summer we have been experiencing, I was doubtful on if the race could be run. However, the organizers did a fantastic job of getting a shortened course ready for us to race.
We were going to use the Cat3/Beginners loop, which has you climb the front side of the ski slope and then along the back side ridge and back to the bottom. Since the lap was only 3miles long, the Cat1/Expert group would be doing 6 laps. I heard estimates of 300 feet of climbing a lap. I did a quick recon lap before the race and knew it would be a fast race. Add that there were no slow people on the starting line, I knew we would have quick laps.

Thirteen of us started and quickly rode towards the opening climb. I took my place near midpack and thought that I would see what happened. Nate Cline had a frustrating start and I got past him at the top of the climb, so I was in 7th. With the knowledge that I am not even in the same riding zip code as Cam, Kevin, Michael, Jay and Kent, I was happy with my start. Ryan Feagan had been training hard for several longer races, so he was the unknown in front of me.

The first lap went by in a quick 15:30 and I had to back off for lap 2. Somewhere in there, Nate C got by and Josh Stamper (Omaha?) went around as well. I tried to recover with two 16:30 laps before getting the times back down closer to 16min. I thought that I was reeling Josh in, but ended up losing my chain on the last lap. The 10 second repair and remount was all that I needed to lose sight of him. I back it off for the last lap and rode home in 9th place overall, 1min behind Josh and 3min behind Nate.

I ended up 2nd in the 35+ category and was very happy with that. Jay Chesterman is definitely faster and I have a lot of work to catch him. My goal was to beat Jason Alread (my teammate) in order to make up some points on him in the series. I didn't get a chance to talk to Jason to see how his race went, but on the drive home I saw him and Jim Logan (?) riding their bikes home. They probably rode out to the race, races, then home as training for Leadville. If that's the case, then it's a hollow victory.

Heart rate was slightly better for this race. I was much more consistent with avg heart rates within 2 beat per lap. Max was 179, I think averages were in the 167 range.

Pics from Angy Snoop. Thanks!

RAGBRAI 2010

2010-07-31T13:31:00.004-05:00

This past week was my (to be) annual trip with the girls on RAGBRAI. Last year, they each did one day. This year, they graduated to two days each. Since I raced on Sunday, we missed the first day and instead had Holly drive us to the start of day 2. Hannah and I woke up to a beautiful day in Storm Lake. We were on the tandem and rolled out of town to our first town and a breakfast stop. The pic below is of Hannah enjoying her "breakfast on a bun". Funny how she probably wouldn't eat this at home, but cheesy eggs and ham on a bun was just "delicious" on this morning. I guess riding 16 miles to breakfast on only a donut will do that.
This day had the option for the Karas Loop century. RAGBRAI loops you around a short section of the course to add enough miles to equal a 100. This is a pretty big deal for cyclists and I asked Hannah if she wanted to attempt it. I didn't push it, so I was surprised when she said we should do it. The loop was about 50 miles into the route, so we had already been pushing a decent pace. She was a trooper and probably had less whining than me, but we completed the loop and moved on. We completed a little over 100 miles on this day.

Above photo is of Hannah at the Grotto of the Redemption(?), I think in West Bend on day 1.

Day two for Hannah was from Algona to Clear Lake, the maps had it as a flat 60 miles. For some reason I had it as 50 (in my head). However, the maps mileage was off and we ended up with close to 66 miles on a very, very hot day (heat index over 100). We didn't eat or drink enough on this day and by the time Holly met us in Clear Lake, we were hot, hungry and thirsty.

Holly drove up to transfer/swap the girls for the next two days. She went to a laundromat to wash shorts for us while I setup the tent. Hannah apparently ate a Subway sandwich during this time and then slept from Clear Lake to home (two hour drive).

Maddie and I suffered in the tent that night as the heat index kept it nearly unbearable in the tent. We finally fell asleep near 1am and were woken up by campground noise at 5:30. Maddie is below with our tent (small quarters, but ok until they get bigger).

Maddie and I had an uneventful 55 mile ride to Charles City on this day. Only four pass through towns, so we didn't spend too much time off the bike. We did have a blast at Charles City. A great small town with cool old buildings. We went to the water park and lounged around, getting to bed and asleep by 10pm.

Maddie's second day was to Waterloo. We ended up with 87.6 miles (should have ridden a few more for her century, but Holly was waiting). This was a fun day with some great pass through towns. Parkersburg had a neat sculpture (pic above) of a bike tornado. This is the town that was nearly wiped off the map in 2008 and then had their iconic football coach shot last year (lots of ESPN coverage).

Overall, it was another great ride and time spent with the girls. They seem to really enjoy the 1 on 1 time with me and I enjoy the time and riding with them. We totalled 309 miles in the four days, about 22.5 hours of riding time and around 6000 feet of climbing (very flat route this year). Next year, Maddie gets to ride the century loop to earn her patch. Outside chance that they could do 3 days each, but that might be too much for dad.

More pics on Flickr.

BTW - Special thanks to Rasmussen Bike Shop for the support during the week. Greg and the gang took us in as family and the girls enjoyed the special treatment. Thanks Greg!

Class is in session

2010-07-23T21:19:00.001-05:00

We raided the leftover's pile at a nearby construction site and created some skinnies for the girls to play on. They are all excited to add more and more of them.

ScoCoPa Race Report

2010-07-22T20:27:00.002-05:00

(typical view on the race course - stolen from Brad Keyes)

This past Saturday, Nate C. and I drove over to Scott County Park, just north of Davenport for the ScoCoPa Chase. As we drove over we talked about how hot the race conditions would be (mid 90s plus humidity) and how to race smart. I usually embrace the tough conditions because I know that others hate them. I figure that a positive attitude will help and we are all in the same boat, so any advantage (mental or otherwise) will help.

We arrived a good 90 minutes prior to the start and I only did a short 10 minute warm-up prior to lining up at the start. We were expecting a large field (being so close to Iowa City), but only had 18 or so at the start. Nate pointed out a few people to watch for and I initially lined up in the second row. But, then I had second thoughts on my fitness and the competition and moved back to make room for others. When no one stepped up, I figured what the hell and moved back into the second row. I was more concerned on if my training over the past month, and more importantly my week of rest, had been properly completed. I was hoping for a good race, but trying to be realistic in that my fitness may not be there yet.

When the whistle blew, I took it easy for the first 10 seconds. I was probably in 12th spot, but felt stronger and no one was coming around. A quick glance to the the others and they seemed to be working pretty hard (and I wasn't). Knowing that the course was full of tight sidetrack and passing would be hard, I decided to punch it on the last bit of the opening climb and hit the singletrack in about 10th position. It was hot and dusty, but the front group was moving well. The front runners were pulling a way when the guy if front of me washed out his front wheel and fell. I almost ran him over, but a quick trackstand gave him time to get out of the way. I was able to get close to the front group as the tougher section of the course came at us.

I caught up to a Bikes to You rider and he seemed to ride an OK pace, but after 5min I thought that I could go faster. However, was determined to keep me behind him. Since I didn't know the trail, he had the advantage from the front. When I tried to pass him, he would get a jump on the sprint and close down the passing lane. After a few minutes of this, Ryan Neipart had joined us. I let him buy hoping he could get around. At the time I didn't know who it was, but when the FORC jersey passed, I knew he would know the trails and be a good wheel to follow. Ryan tried hard, but couldn't get around either. However, the pace was taking it's toll on the leader of us three and he pulled to the side of the trail and stopped just after the start/finish. I hate to say it, but it was a boost of confidence to push someone to crack.

Ryan kept ahead of me by 100+ feet and I slowly reeled him in over the course of lap two. We also passed two other riders and I reeled Ryan in towards the end of lap 2. At this point, Nate and I had stashed a cooler in the woods. I grabbed my second bottle and used a tip from Nate and stuffed a handful of ice cubes in my jersey pocket. The race was using timing chips and as you crossed the start/finish line, the system beeped loudly. I heard his beep and started counting. Ryan had 15 seconds on me.

I decided to give it all on lap 3 and knew that I had to catch him in the first 1/3 of the course as that is where the most passing opportunities would be. I did catch him in the right spot and he let me by without any issues. I asked if he had seen anyone in front of him and the answer was no. I still pushed as hard as possible in hopes of seeing someone. Towards the end, I could hear someone, but couldn't find them. I did push it too hard around a corner and took a short side trip into the woods and over three smaller trees. As I stepped down, my calf cramped. It hurt, but it also told me that I was pushing my body in a good way.

In the end, I crossed the line in 2:07.48. Nate C. had finished just in front of me with a 2:07.10. I had finished 6th overall and 1st in the 40+ (2nd in 35+). I was really, really pumped at the end of this race. My heart rate average was 168 for the 2 hours and held consistent on each lap. It should be closer to 174, so I know that I have more in me. This was probably my best race ever at the cat 1 level, I raced smart, had to use strategy and rode hard. As a result I was actually racing and passing with others and not riding by myself. I will find out if this was a fluke on my next race this coming weekend.

Old school racing photos

2010-07-11T18:49:00.002-05:00

I was rummaging around in our photo box and found a bunch of old biking photos. I thought that others might like to see these. I hope to add a new set every couple of days, but it all depends on other work.

This is the start of the beginner race at Farragut State Park, just north of Couer D'Alene, ID. I think this is fall of 1994. This was my first season racing and needed to win this race to win the WIM (WA, ID, MT) point series.
I'm on the orange and yellow GT Karakorum with the red t-shirt and white helmet. Notice the guy in front of me with the Tioga disc rear wheel (or more likely the plastic inserts that made it look like a disc).

Coming through at the end of lap 1, I was in 2nd place and had 1st within my sights. That is a Schwinn Paramount helmet. I did have SPDs (1st generation).

Coming through for the win! 2nd was behind me and I was dying. If it would have been a couple hundred yards longer, he would have passed me.

This was my 95 or 96 race bike. It was the 1st year of the GT RTS. I think this pic was after the 1st or 2nd race of the season and the mud was leftover after the car ride home. No V-brakes yet and I think this might have been 1st generation XTR

This guy is Steve Cook. He raced expert out of Missoula and was always in the top three. Notice that he was a lower leg amputee. Very fast rider and amazing technical skills. I lost track of Steve after he moved to Salt Lake City. Two years ago I read an article about him retiring from competing for the US Adaptive Ski Team. I believe he was the most decorated adaptive athlete for the US. It doesn't surprise me.

This last fall, at one of the cyclocross races, on of the promoters didn't believe that my racing license was below #2000. Everyone else's had five digits. Apparently, the old NORBA license system carried over from 1994.

Not sure what to title this one.

2010-06-25T13:52:00.002-05:00

First, read this , then this. For more info on this event, go here.

I'd love to do this route as a tour, but this makes it much harder to think about attempting.

Ride safe out there. On the other hand, take risks and live your dreams as that is what makes life worth living.

Weekend in pictures

2010-06-13T21:35:00.004-05:00

Lots of rain in Iowa the past 4-5 days. We went for a family ride after Sunday dinner and tried to loop around the new trail near 142nd and Douglas. I knew the creek would be high, but didn't think that we would have this much trouble passing buy. Keep in mind that this has receded since this morning. I hope that the trail isn't under-cut and damaged.
I spent 4+ hours helping out the shop on Saturday night at the Hy-vee Triathlon. We were setup within the bike check-in and helped folks out with brake and gear adjustments as well as pumping up tires. I probably pumped up close to 100 and I'm sure that the other 5 guys had just as much. This first pic is from a viewing stand, looking south to the lake with the swim. I think there was a little over 1500 bikes.

This 2nd pic is also of the bike staging area, but from ground level. Lot of bike, lots of $$$.

This last pic is actually from earlier in the week. I was in Rassy's and saw a guy picking his bike up. It is exactly the same bike that Holly bought as her first MTB in college. I think that the originally price was $279. I took her onto the trails around Missoula on this and she was a trooper. Looking back, I realize that she probably hated it, but did it so we could be together. I guess you could say that I owe Specialized for the last 24 years or so. I almost offered to purchase the bike from the guy on the spot.

Long Way Home

2010-06-11T19:05:00.000-05:00

I'm taking the long way home tonight. Des Moines to Cumming (IA) back to Des Moines. Then meeting some guys from the shop for a drink before I finish the ride home. High humidity, so I'll sweat all this out. Total miles for todays commute will be near 50.

Ida Grove race report

2010-06-07T19:40:00.002-05:00

Ida Grove was one of my favorite courses of the series last year and I knew it would be fun again this year. It doesn't reward any one skill, but an all around rider can excel here. It has one or two longer climbs, a few power climbs, some technical swoopy singletrack and some high speed sections. Add in a few log jumps and roll overs and you have a real fun lap.

JD and I drove up early enough to get a recon lap in. I wasn't going to waste the energy, but in the end, it was probably a good idea as it helped me memorize a few sections that would help in the race. The bike rode nicely in the pre-ride, the parts were working fine and the gearing was spot on.

Six of us toed the line for the Cat1 mens race. Jed Gammel, Nate Cline, Jason Alread and myself from the Rassy team, Jesse Bergman (the race promoter) and a new face. After the sprint off the line, we headed into the singletrack. I took the last spot with this normally fast crew and just hoped to hang on. As luck would have it, my chain jumped off at the start of the singletrack. I quickly dismounted and put it back on and then began my sprint to catch-up to Alread. I was able to latch back on and on the first long climb, continued the push to get in front of him. Jason was a little tentative as he had not pre-ridden the course and he let me go. I was having hopes to getting a small gap on him, but by the end of the 1st lap he was back on my rear wheel.

I let him take the lead on lap 2. The 2nd place singlespeeder caught us before the long climb and he put the pressure on. Alread kept up with him and they got a 15 second gap on me. I had to recover a little on this lap, but was able to keep them in my sights. They slowly increased the gap to 30-40 seconds. At the end of lap 3, I started to push hard again and began to catch back up. The singlespeeder was done with 3 laps and Alread has stopped for another bottle so I was able to get within 10 seconds. I tried to make the last effort to bridge, but he kept the pace up. I never did close it down. By lap 5, I was probably close to 30 seconds and kept it about that pace until the final climb or two.

By the end, Alread beat me by a minute. I think that Jesse had him by a minute as well. New guy won it. Nate got 2nd, Jed came back for 3rd after cutting a tire and having to stop and replace or patch the sidewall.

Overall, I was very happy with my progress. I gauge myself from race to race against the names that I know and by how far they beat me in the previous race. I know that Alread wasn't at the top of his game (I could see him trying to stretch out his back), but he beat me by 6min two weeks ago. It was fun to finally have a race in which I was closer to someone and wasn't racing by myself. It added an entire element of strategy that was fun to play with. Nate had beat me by 9min at Banner and I think it was a similar time for this race. He said that he had one of his best races, and he is riding very strong. I hope to somehow close that gap a little over the coming months.

Refurbished Stumpy

2010-06-03T21:00:00.002-05:00

I just finished putting the final touches on the Stumpy. New tires, Roval wheelset, X0 cassette (11-34), X9 gripshift and e13 34-tooth crankset. Pulled off old shifters and front derailler. Weight dropped from 26.25 lbs to 23.5 lbs. Still have a possible .5lb available to drop in the seatpost, stem and bars. Need to tune and test before the race on Sunday. Not ideal to make all of these changes prior to a race, but they needed to be made sometime.

Thanks to Rasmussen Bike Shop for the race help this year. Great gang, great shop!

Memorial Day ride

2010-05-31T15:24:00.001-05:00

Happy Memorial Day to all of the veterans out there, both living and passed.

This pic of the family is from out Subway sandwich lunch at Greenwood park. We followed lunch with a paved trail ride around Grays lake, Principal park and back through Waterworks park. 10.25 miles on knobby mtb tires. The girls held up pretty good.

Summerset Shootout Report

2010-05-26T18:14:00.005-05:00

The Iowa MTB race series has 11 races and I've already missed three. I'll be missing another while we are on vacation in Montana, so that means that I need to hit the remaining seven to have any chance at retaining my Masters title. I'll need all the points that I can get. So, even though I haven't trained for racing yet, I knew that I needed to race at Summerset this past Sunday. All I was looking for was points, a good workout would be a bonus. I had hopes of having a good race, but wasn't planning on much.

Nine of us lined up and if I was trained, it would be hard to get 5th at best with this group. No problem, I lined up at the back and figured I'd give it my best. I felt tired from all of the trail work that I did to prep this course, but I also had semi-fresh riding legs. What would happen?

As the race started, I followed the group into the single-track and had no problem holding onto the back. The speed started lifting and knowing that it was over 85 degrees, I thought I should let them go. I could still see 8th place towards the end of the lap, so I figured that I would be giving up 1 minute on the first lap. We had seven laps to ride, so maybe some of these guys would blow up.

Lap 2 had my stomach churning a little bit, so I had to back off a little. Laps 3 and 4 were a little better. Each time that I came through the finish line, my split times were within 60 seconds of each other and my heart rate was steady between 162-165avg. I was actually riding pretty good, I just didn't have any high end power (normal race pace would have the heart rate averaging closer to 175 a lap).
During these first 5 laps, I had a few of the fast Cat2 riders and singlespeeders come around me and I would use them to pace me for awhile. At the end of lap 5, I could see another Rassy's rider in front of me and figured it was 8th place. I picked up the pace to try and chase him down and 1/3 of the way through the lap, I caught him. I was surprised to see that it was Rick. I tailed him for a bit and discovered that he had blown-up. Probably went too hard and with the heat, it had beat him down. He was toughing it out for points and after a few minutes, he let me by. I pushed it hard to see if anyone else was catch-able. In the end, I couldn't find the next guy, I had let them get too far out in front.

In the end, I placed 7th, as one person had a mechanical. I think this was 4th place in the 35+ category, so it should be worth some good points. Looking back, I'm happy with how the race went. My lap times and heart rates were consistent. I think that I ended up closer in time to a few guys that I marked (compared to last year). I need to work on the upper end heart rates and get some endurance rides in. On the positive, I think that the fact that I'm 4lbs lower than last years, end of season, race weight helped. I also rode the new wheelset and tires and they definitely spun faster. I'm glad that it appears that I haven't lost too much fitness, with proper training, it might be as if I hadn't missed a beat.

Stole the photos from Nick, thanks!

Best lunch ever

2010-05-21T12:02:00.000-05:00

Loving the flavors, but it hurts like hell when I open my mouth.

The home stretch

2010-05-19T21:10:00.002-05:00

Down to the home stretch of my latest injury ordeal. Holly's terms, not mine (but I understand). The pic above shows the hardware that I've been sporting for the last 40 days. I am now down to 34 hours. I'll be sitting in the dentist chair getting them unwired on Friday, then headed to breakfast. I hope that I don't gain the entire 13lbs that I've lost in one sitting. By the way, the scar from the cut is on the left side of this pic (my right), almost invisible. Great job by Dr. Cherny.

2010-05-18T12:52:00.001-05:00

The family at the zoo. Tim, Hiliary. Zoe, Holly, Hannah, Madison.

Trail Report

2010-05-14T08:00:00.001-05:00

Walnut Creek as of 5pm on Thursday night. It was expected to rise from this point.
Don't forget about the Cita workday tomorrow at Summerset/Banner State Park @9am.

Kitchen Upgrade

2010-05-10T19:06:00.001-05:00

We have never been totally satisfied with the original kitchen in the house, but being stubbornly frugal, I've never wanted to upgrade. On the other hand, I've upgraded a few bikes in the past six years, so the chance of adding another new bike before the kitchen was slim.

The original look. White appliances, white Corian counter tops.

The new granite counter tops, with the white appliances. Had hoped this would work, but still not the finished look. We did sell the appliances and counter top on Craigslist.

The finished product. The new appliances completed the look that we were going for.

Birthday Photos

2010-05-09T21:29:00.003-05:00

As stated in the past post, the girls had their birthday sleepover last weekend. Six friends and the two of them. Holly and I mostly left them alone and they had fun in the basement.

Sign of the times. Everyone checking their text messages. Probably just from each other.
The birthday girls.

Lots of gift cards for shopping. They went out with Holly to spend them on Sunday.

Then watched a movie before crashing for the night. All of them were well behaved and good memories were created.

Birthdays, Braces and Bikes

2010-05-03T07:21:00.004-05:00

It was a long week so sorry about the lack of updates.

Friday was the designated night for the girls birthday party and sleepover, so near 6pm we were invaded by 6 tween-agers and their high pitched voices. We feed them pizza and sugary drinks and sent them to the basement. They proceeded to gossip, dance, scream and play games. We brought down the cake and I tried not to embarrass them as I snapped several pics (they will be uploaded later). They had fun and all were well behaved. We can probably stand to do that once or twice a year.

Braces: I made it past week three (just barely). I can definitely say that week two-three is the hardest as the novelty of eating the same 8-9 items becomes old. Once I made it into the work week it got a little easier. I'm in the home stretch now and will get them cut off on the 21st. Officially down 10lbs as of this morning.
Bikes: Was able to commute to work two days last week and hope to continue that for the next two three weeks. I did ride another 30 miles today and too a nice tour of the city. I even stopped by the scene of the accident and took few pics. The bench was made by "Squirrel" with the tree that took me out. If you zoom in on the other photo, you can see the scar from where the tree I was standing on had rested against this tree. I was obviously higher than I had anticipated.

Still eating out for lunch

2010-04-24T13:01:00.001-05:00

Went to Subway with the girls today , but brought my own meal. People have apologized for eating in front of me, but it's no problem. It's not like I am on a diet and am going on will power. I have no choice so it's really quite easy. With that said, my first snack will be french fries.

1/3 done

2010-04-23T11:56:00.001-05:00

Two weeks down, four weeks to go. I'm down about 7lbs now but feeling good and strong. I rode to work on Monday and Tuesday for 60 miles total. It wasn't bad, but it felt like working out at 15000 feet. Plenty of strengh but no oxygen. I did get my wires tightened yesterday and double checked with the doctor. Riding and working out is ok. Just nothing to strain the jaw like weightlifting. Face is closer to normal and the scar has healed nicely.

Back in the Saddle

2010-04-19T12:24:00.001-05:00

Couldn't resist the urge. Did a test ride of 3.5 miles with Hannah last night and felt good enough that I rode into work today. No speed records as I averaged 13.9mph for the hou commute. I felt the restricted air intake but it was nice to feel the breeze on the face.

1 week down 5 to go

2010-04-16T07:48:00.001-05:00

I had an appt with the oral surgeon this morning. Good news is that everything is still aligned and healing well. Bad news is that I have 5 weeks to go. No way to cut the wires early. I also got my lip stiches out last night, so despite the slightly green face I'm getting back to normal.
Week one is done. Net loss of 5lbs.

Gift from Co-workers

2010-04-15T13:43:00.001-05:00

Funny and yet so functional. Thanks gang I needed those!

Getting back to half-ugly

2010-04-13T19:47:00.001-05:00

Photo from tonight. Scabs are going away and puffyness is going down. I went to work today for 6hrs, but then my body started shutting down and I called it a day.

Soup! It's what's for dinner.

2010-04-12T18:13:00.001-05:00

Tomato to be exact. I need to get my lip to heal before I can really suck down on a straw and maybe eat blended foods. So far, lots of Ensure and Slimfast along with Naked Juice Protien drinks. Only about 1600 cal each day so far.

I am not a monkey, I am not a monkey, I am not...

2010-04-11T11:25:00.005-05:00

I'll try to make this as quick as possible with enough details and yet not too gross.

I had just finished riding close to 400 miles in the past 20 days and was needed a few days off before the 1st MTB race of the year. The rain made the decision a little easier, so I planned on taking Wed-Fri off. On Thursday night, I was bored and decided to check out the local trails to see how dry they were and to do a little maintenance.

I put on my winter boots and marched about a mile to the newest, biggest downfall on our trails. I wasn't going to attack the hard spots, but figured that I could clean up the smaller, outer limbs to make it easier for Brian with the chainsaw.

I eventually found myself on the downfall and approximately 6-8feet off the ground. I was using both hands to hang onto a large branch above me and using one foot to push a cut branch off the ground. I remember slipping a few times and readjusting my grip. The next thing I remember is waking up on the ground and lots of blood spilling out of my mouth.

I don't know how long I was knocked out, but I've deduced that I must have slipped again and fell over backwards doing a full flip and landing on my face on the dirt. To make it worse, I think that I fell on my handsaw as that is the only thing that I can thing of that would have done the damage.

Net result: The lip was cut all the way through, including the muscle and is about an inch long. I also broke my upper jaw, just above the teeth on the same side. Lastly, I have a few small fractures on the cheekbone area between the cut and my eye (thus the black eye).

This first picture is after arriving home from the ER and the plastic surgeon. A little puffy, but not too bad. I have a before pic, but I'll spare the public (just imagine a Walrus' split lip).

The second picture is after visiting more docs on Friday and getting my jaw wired shut. This will fix the teeth displacement (I didn't lose any), and will also stabilize the jaw/cheekbone to help the cheekbone fractures heal. I am all puffed up here due to the wiring procedure. They must have really been pulling on my bottom lip (I had some cuts inside of it).

This last picture is from Saturday night. As you can see, the swelling is going down and the cuts are starting to heal.

Thanks to everyone that has emailed, texted and tried to call (I can't really talk on a phone now). I appreciate all of your well wishes and will keep you posted via the blog.

Tom

Rejected !

2010-04-05T20:08:00.003-05:00

I've been anxiously waiting for the check to be cashed for the Cheguamegon Fat Tire Festival. I had opted for the 40 mile race and was really planning on training to be in the top 250-300 (1700 starters). However, Saturday's mail had my rejection notice. They get somewhere near 2500 entries and hold a lottery for the 1700 starting positions.
First I was pissed, then just bummed. Now I need to find a good event for the last half of the year.

Faulty Scales

2010-04-03T12:59:00.002-05:00

Been working on the bike this morning. Taking off the old parts and weighing them to see what should be replaced at the best part per $$ and gram per $$. Apparantly the kitchen scale that I got is off by a good 30%.

My new rims are not in the 1300 range, but are in the 1750 range as advertised (don't know where I had 1500 from). Regardless, they are still much, much lighter than what I am currently running.

Off to the shop to finish the wheelbuild and then I can compare apples to apples with weights. Stay tuned.

BTW - Craigslist rocks! Just sold the old kitchen appliances in less than 12hours for what I wanted. I have never failed to sell what I needed to via Craigslist.

Bike Diet - drive train

2010-03-31T21:18:00.005-05:00

Tonight was the 1st "Taco Ride" of the season and everyone was out in force. I rode down to the trails from home and then did a little over an hour of riding. Round trip was 30 miles, so 37 for the day with the commute. The miles are starting to add up.

The main objective of tonight's ride was paying attention to my current gear ratios. I currently run a standard 22-32-42 in the front, and the rear is a cheap 11-34 cassette. The final three gears on the rear are 26, 30, 34. I rode multiple laps on hillside and could climb everything in 3rd or higher. However, by the end, I did jump down to the 30tooth and liked it. I can see using the 34 in rare instances, but it was only on the major climbing courses last year. I never used the granny up front and with the exception of commuting to trails, the 42 is rarely used as well.

So, part of the bike diet will be going to a 1x9 configuration. I hope to run something like this Truvativ Noir 1.1. It's light (750ish grams, I think) and looks good. However, anyone have input on other cranks? I'm guessing that my current 3rings and crankset are over 1000grams, so I can save a good chunk of weight here. New lighter SPD compatible pedals will also go on these.

The other benefit of 1x9 will be in dumping the front shifter (125grams), the front derailleur (another 125 or so) and cables. I also plan on converting to GripShift for the rear. I ran GripShift for several years "back in the day" and have no problems with them (another 100 or so in savings). I do need to keep the chain on the front rings and a friend just bought this from eThirteen. 56 grams, so plenty light and again, it looks good.

So the last part of the equation is figuring out which cassette to match with the 32 on the Noir crank. I had hoped to justify something closer to a 11-28, but the 11-32 (XT, XTR, SRAM 990?) will probably be the way to go. In the long run, I could jump up to a 34 in the front for faster courses and yet keep a good low gear for climbing. Current cassette is around 435, XT and SRAM 990 would save 160grams, XTR would be closer to 210.

If my math is correct this should save approximately 250 for the cranks, near 300 in the shifters/derailleur area and 160 on the cassette. Grand total of 700+ grams. Add that to the expected 800 grams in wheel set and tires and I should be close to 4lbs lighter on the bike. I haven't looked to see what could be saved in new bars, stem or seatpost.

So what have I missed? What are your thoughts on grams per $$ value on these parts or other suggested parts? Thoughts on the gearing choice?

Start of the Bike Diet

2010-03-28T19:57:00.003-05:00

Time for the Stumpjumper to go on a diet. It has been at 26.25lbs or so and that just won't cut it. Lots of places for it to lose weight, starting with the wheel set. The good guys from the shop set up up with some deals. This is the first one for me to take advantage of. I don't have the weight for the current wheel set, but I figure that its 2000grams total or more for the front and rear set.

So I ordered the Roval 29er wheel set from Specialized, thinking that they would be coming in near 1500 grams and I would be saving a pound. I didn't really want to spend the money to get down to a 1200-1300 wheel set. Imagine my surprise when I weighed the pair. 1370 for the pair, with skewers and tubeless ready.

I think that I will be saving another 100 grams on the rear cassette (moving from a cheap heavy 34 tooth to something lighter/smaller). I also think that I will find another 100 grams in lighter tires. Grand total should be between 800-1000 grams (about 450 to a pound)

More to come this week as I get serious about my research. Stay tuned.

Rear wheel with skewer and tubeless ready-705grams
Front with skewer and tubeless strip - 665 grams

Candy the old-fashioned tooth puller.

2010-03-25T17:29:00.001-05:00

Maddie has lost her third tooth in the past two months. This time it was a "gushers" candy that helped.

St. Louis Mini-vacation

2010-03-21T16:33:00.002-05:00

It was Spring Break this past week for the girls. We didn't plan on anything major, so we saved our ideas until the end. Of course, by then we wanted to go some place nice, but the plane tickets were expensive by then.

So we decided on a quick three day trip to St. Louis. Booked a room at one of the downtown hotels and left the house on Saturday morning. Our first stop was at Hannibal, MO for an educational side trip. Madison had been reading Tom Sawyer for school and we "made" Hannah read a shortened version before the trip (under extreme duress). It was a fun side trip and we spent a good 4 hours walking around and touring the cave.

Sunday was spent at the old courthouse museum (Dread Scott case was tried here). Amazing piece of history that I had forgotten about. Then we did the Arch, a Lewis and Clark IMAX film and more history museum.

Monday was spent at the Missouri Arboretum. The only reason we went, was for the Chihuly glass installation. The vast majority wasn't out (due to weather), but it was still fun. This would be a gorgeous park in the summer.

We drove home via Columbia, MO to see some different sights and the girls kept thanking us for a fun vacation. Holly and I just laughed because we thought it was a "geeky" vacation. All the same, we all enjoyed the time together and out of the house. More pics on Flickr.

1st Race of the Season

2010-03-06T14:52:00.002-06:00

1st race of the season and it hurt so good. Jason convinced me to try the Spring Gravel Series, so we loaded up and headed towards Grinnell. Not much for a race report. Very hilly, stayed with cat4/5 pack until 2nd or 3rd hill on the gravel section, then settled in for a training ride. Got a good workout in so I'm happy. 2hrs at 158avg heart rate, legs felt strong, endurance was expectedly missing.

Jason and I were the only Rassy's guys there (whats up with that?). I think that I finished somewhere near 10-12th out of 21.

I needed that....

2010-03-04T19:10:00.002-06:00

All the cyclists out there will understand. I finally had enough of my own excuses and just decided to leave work at 4pm. On the bike near 5pm and head out on the bike paths for a scouting session of what's available. I headed down the Clive Greenbelt starting at the Country Club Lake. It was partially snowpacked and sloppy, but rideable. The section between the Clive Waterpark and 86th street was the most sketchy (but still rideable).

I rode all the way to Denmans and then headed back west through Valley Junction and on the EP True trail. EP True is 100% clear and so is the trail along 60th (north) past Bike World and Granite City to the Greenbelt again. Total of 1:45 and I think near 25miles. The biggest surprise is that I felt good the whole time and even pushed myself a few times to test the fitness. Can't wait for the weekend to ride some more.

Lunch

2010-03-01T11:18:00.001-06:00

I carefully picked out the ingredients for my burrito and thought I was getting a healthy lunch. Then I get back to work and realize it towers over my slinky. At least it will be 2000 calories of healthy.

Weekends are for Skis and Bikes

2010-02-28T19:52:00.003-06:00

First pic is one that I found on my cell phone from the guys ski trip. We had eaten at Rasta Pasta and on the way out spotted a rasta colored knit cap with dreads. I made my brother put in on and grab the magic stick for a pose. That's big Dave on the right. Good times.

This weekend had a great forecast and although I've been coming off of a cold I knew it would be great to get out on the bike. On the other hand, some locals bought the equipment and started grooming a skating trail at Raccoon River Park. I wanted to combine both.

I know that my family and the vast majority of my friends will look at the this picture and say something like "what a dork". However, I felt like an explorer getting ready to tackle the great beyond.

The route was via the Clive Greenbelt towards Denmans and then the back way into Raccoon River Park. It took about an hour to get there and then I parked the bike at the dog park and changed into my ski boots.

I did a quick 20min explore (medium pace) and hoped back on the bike for the trip home. This time I went north through West Des Moines and caught the trail near Clive City Hall. The above photo was behind Menards. The trail was in pretty good shape with the exception of a few slick areas between 72nd and 86th streets (behind the oil storage area).

It was a good time and good experience. Total of around 25miles.

Sunday was for Hannah and I. A ski race was set for 2pm, so we rented some skis for her and went back out to Raccoon River Park to warm up and explore the trails together. It was a warm and sunny day near 34, but felt close to 50 in the sun.

Hannah took right to the XC skiing and loved getting out into the woods. Our plan was to ski together and get my warm-up in, then she would hang out for the 15min while I raced. However, Mark just assumed that she was racing and placed her name on the roster. She wasn't so sure, but with gentle prodding by the other 5 racers, she decided to give it a go.

Hannah did a shortened loop (this was supposed to be fun, right?). The other women racer (did a full loop) chased her down on the home stretch. We all encouraged them to the finish line and Hannah lost the sprint by a nose. I was so proud of her and her 23min effort. She also said that she really enjoyed it, so it was a win/win.

We drove home and shared the skis with Maddie (she had been doing homework). Hannah put my skis on and the two of them explored the back yard and laughed a lot. Another successful weekend.

Chicken Satay Sliders

2010-02-20T18:08:00.001-06:00

mmm....mmmm.....good. Thanks Rachel Ray

2010 Boys Ski Trip

2010-02-15T18:58:00.003-06:00

Another great ski trip with the boys. High School pal David and Bro Tim. I drove over and picked them up at the Denver airport on Wednesday and we drove up to Breckenridge. We had the traditional sushi dinner on the first night and hit the local bars.

The nightlife was definitely lacking, but we were all tired from traveling and fine with hitting the hay early. Thursday was spent at Breckenridge. As luck would have it, Andy had a day off and was happy to give us a tour of the mountain. Although it was cold and windy, we had a blast. No pics from me on this day.

On Friday, we drove over to Vail and were greeted with 5" of new snow. It skied deeper and we had a blast ripping up the back bowls and exploring the trees between the runs.

Tim's first run of the day at Vail.

David at Vail.

Scouting the trees.

Saturday was at Keystone. We had another 5" of snow and it was windy again. It was my first time at Keystone so it took awhile to get my bearings. We spent a lot of time in the trees and found some good shots and snow over the boots to mid-thigh (in spots). Lots of fun. We stopped by Andy's workplace to say goodbye and called it a day.

The evenings were all dead. We think because it was just before presidents day weekend. Of course, it could be that everyone goes out late and us "old guys" like to be in bed by 10pm.

My drove home started at 4am MST. I woke to 3" of new fluff in Denver and the first hour was only at 50mph at best. Then it opened up and I made good time until about 125 miles outside of Omaha. The wind was blowing the snow across the highway and dropping visibility to zero (see above). I saw several crashes and was worried about someone stopping in front of me, or barreling into me from behind. I can see how these accidents happen, not a fun situation.

More pics and a few short videos on Flickr.

Keystone

2010-02-13T17:19:00.001-06:00

Noon at Keystone. Another 3-5" of snow, but we are finding knee deep in the trees.

Vail

2010-02-12T12:37:00.001-06:00

Gatorade $5.25 Cookie $3.25 skiing with boys at Vail.....not quite priceless.....but still awesome.

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Road Trip to Breck

2010-02-09T13:14:00.001-06:00

Left ar 6am this morning. Reasonable roads to Omaha, then progressively worse until we came upon a 15 mile section that had just been re-opened. This semi had just crashed. Tough picture but if you look closely, the dump truck front half is nose down and upside down.

Roads are now back to clear and the sun is out. Clear sailing ahead.

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2010-01-17T16:39:00.002-06:00

So I've been out at Big Creek XC skiing the past two days. This weekend I strapped on the heart rate monitor to see if it is as good of a workout as advertised. From last weekend, my trapezoids and back were sore from the poling and I had found some odd/unknown muscles in my legs.
I arrived on Saturday near 9pm and the Zoom Performance guys and Marco were just finishing up. The temps were warming up and the sun was showing it's face. I new that my opportunity for good snow was diminishing. To make things better, the groomer was just finishing up (thanks Kevin?).

I did one warm-up lap that included all of the little side trails out and back. 31min of a good workout (later found out 157avg heart rate). I shed some clothes and took off to beat my previous time. I stopped once or twice for a short conversation with others, but mostly kept ma decent pace. I finished 29min later with a 164avg. Somewhere on these two laps I hit a 177max, so I guess that I now have evidence that XC skiing is indeed a good workout.

I set my alarm for 6am on Sunday as the overnight temps were staying too warm. After a quick Starbucks stop, I headed back to Big Creek. I started at 7:15 and the temp was showing 34degrees from my car. I was hoping that the fog would keep the snow in good shape and just as I was ready to start I heard Kevin (?) come by on his snowmobile/grooming. Again I did a short warm-up and two laps. My body (especially my ankle and foot muscles) was feeling the effort from Saturday. The first lap was 31min again, but the heart avg dropped to 150. I went hard on the second lap to set a mark to shoot for in the future. 27:32 @ 162. I'd bet that the nicely groomed trail helped, plus my form is coming along better.

I do get MLK day off for the first time, so I plan on heading back up to get another day on skis. I definitely can see how the leg muscles are getting a great workout. I'm impressed with how much of a heart workout it is.

Skinny Skiing or Biking This Weekend

2010-01-15T16:23:00.001-06:00

Temps are supposed to be above freezing so that means that I will have to ski in the morning. However. the warmth and melting would provide for a chance to scout the local paved trails to see if I could commute downtown next week. Either way, I have a three day weekend and plan on working out all three days.

Maybe ski in the morning and bike in the afternoon?

Vacation Ski Pics/Movies on Flickr

2010-01-09T19:20:00.002-06:00

A good selection of ski pics with the family and kids are on Flickr. Two movies as well. Here is one of them from Snowbowl. The run was down Paradise.

Lots of Snow, Lots of Skiing/Workouts

2010-01-09T19:00:00.004-06:00

The big storm this past week dropped about 6" of snow on our neighborhood. Then the winds lasted for about 24hrs. Apparently, up to 40mph, so lots of drifting. The only way to approach all of this snow is to treat it like a workout. Lots of hand shoveling (as my snow blower is too small and weak). 10 shovel tosses to the left and 10 to the right. Good back and ab/oblique muscle workout.
Today's effort was 45min to go through 3ft drifts for about 150 feet. Then another workout to try and widen the entrance to the driveway. Final cleanup with the blower. Although it was around 5 degrees out this morning, I was working up a good sweat.
The entrance to the driveway has been getting narrower and narrower. I think that the pile on the right is over 6ft tall. Once it settles, the kids have been talking about creating an igloo inside of it.
After lunch, I wasted a good hour on the PC and then a tweet from Guitar Ted describing his XC ski got me off the couch. Skiing sounded much more fun than riding the trainer in the basement. It has been a good 10yrs since I last put on the skinny skis. I forgot how much technique is involved. My knees and angles felt weak and wobbly, but I had a blast. I quite after 45min to save my body for tomorrow.

The late afternoon at Big Creek Park. Lots of ice fishing going on, a few snowmobiles and about 6 XC skiers.

End of Vacation

2010-01-03T21:05:00.002-06:00

This pic of the girls from the warming hut at the top of Snowbowl will have to suffice until we get home and I can upload some pics and video.
We had a great vacation. I had three hard ski days and two others with the girls. They improved greatly in those two days. The did were tackling solid blue runs by the end of the 2nd day.
Not too sure about headed home to the minus degree temps, but the fun has to end sometime.

Ski day #3

2009-12-30T08:56:00.001-06:00

No pics from Tuesday on The Big Mtn outside of Whitefish. Skied with dad, brother Tim and Old ski buddy Timmy G. Good snow coverageand we found some good snow off piste. We slowed Timmy down from his usual pace and still did over 20k vert in about four hours. Taking today off to hang out with the parents and the rest of the family. Hopefully take the girls up skiing tomorrow afternoon and evening.

Snowbowl day 2

2009-12-27T17:03:00.001-06:00

Back up to the bowl today. Again by myself as the kids are getting gramma and grandpa time in. Felt decent but a little sore from yesterday. I did get a good leg workout yesterday with 3 runs from the top, 3 down Grizzly and two on the upper chair. Thus today was just 2 from the top, 1 down Grizzly and 3 on the upper chair.

Those that have been there can appreciate the above picture of the chicken chute runout. Last run of the day after coming down west ridge. My legs were turning into jello. A few more pics on the Flickr page.

Christmas Break training day one

2009-12-26T13:06:00.001-06:00

5 hours of skiing laps at Snowbowl. If I remember correctly. 2600 vertical feet from the top. Half laps at the top of 1200. Decent snow, hard in spots, but beats riding a trainer indoors.

Can't wait for vacation

2009-12-19T09:49:00.003-06:00

7 days from now, we should be sitting on a chair lift and not on the couch. I keep checking the ski reports and it looks like we will have perfect timing. The Big Mtn (never Whitefish Mtn Resort to me) is filling in nicely with a few inches a day. Here is their ski report video from Friday. Turn up the sound and check out John Dunnigan (local folk legend). His words are great!

"I'm dreamin of ways to survive, and I like deer meat with my minimum wage, it helps keep the dream alive."

"Meats in the freezer lets go skiing..."

Back to commuting

2009-12-17T21:51:00.002-06:00

Test commute home tonight. Took the bus into work so I could be on time. Ride home through Waterworks Park and the Jolly Holiday Lights (better part of the commute in December). Most of the ride home was good, but need to find a safer way for the last 4 miles. Might try again on Friday, it depends on the overnight snowfall.

Jinx!

2009-12-13T12:21:00.001-06:00

Look back at my last post and then forgive me for screwing up the bike riding in Des Moines. At that time, the forecast was for a few inches at most. We got 16" and now most of the bike trails won't be clear until spring.

I did go ride this morning for an hour looking for a clear route to work. 60th streets bike path is mostly clear and rideable, but EP True trail was not. I ended up looping back towards Jordan Creek and Ashworth to 156th and home. Somewhere near a 12mile loop. I hadn't ridden in 9 days so it was nice to get out. I spent the rest of this morning getting the rollers out and ready for training.

The pic is of the house and showing those out of state the remnants of the storm.

Base mileage goals

2009-12-03T21:52:00.002-06:00

I've gotten back into training for next season. Laying down some base miles knowing that this decent weather will go away after Christmas. Since Thanksgiving I've ridden six of the past eight days for 187 miles. 29+ miles each of those six days. Tomorrow will be a short day but the next 10 days of the forecast look good enough to continue ridding outside. I'm hoping for 500 miles outside for December. I hit somewhere over 400 in November so if I have to ride inside during January and February, those base miles will carry me through the winter.

We did get temps over 55 on Monday and Tuesday, but otherwise it was been closer to 30 or 40. My new shoes are working great, but the fingers are still blocks of ice after an hour. I'll be pulling the mountain bike out and installing the pogies as those are the only way for me to keep warm.

Squirrel - saw at 4x4 pt buck on the ride home tonight. Behind the school just north of Walmart on 72nd. Could have been a 5pt, he was at least 6ft tall and my first instinct was "Elk", but then I realized that I was in Iowa. Tried to get the camera out in time, but he wandered off.

Another exploratory ride

2009-11-28T14:37:00.002-06:00

1st, this pic is the north end of the new trail mentioned yesterday. All done in concrete with two nice switchbacks.

Today I rode north through and past Grimes towards the mile long bridge. Time wouldn't allow me to cross, so I went south on Beaver Ave. I haven't been on this road since we moved here so it was a nice change of scenery. Turned west on 62nd and back home just under 2hrs and 30.5 miles.

One last weekend day for more training hours. Dirt or road? Dirt if it is dry.

T-Day Ride

2009-11-26T18:50:00.005-06:00

It's been a rainy week in Des Moines and the annual Turkey Day Mountain Bike ride was cancelled/moved to pavement today. So, when I woke up to strong winds and 30degrees at my house, I waited a few hours. It never really warmed up, but I hit the road on the cross bike at 11am and it was 34degrees with gusty winds at 20+mph. I wanted to get a good two hour ride in at a steady tempo.

The start of the ride had me headed north towards Grimes on pave and gravel, I was originally thinking of riding across the mile long bridge to Polk City, but I wasn't really dressed properly (hard to figure out each year). I ended up turning east on 62nd through Johnston and used the tailwind to push me into town.

The ride was good. The route down 62nd was new to me and I haven't ridden from the Trestle trail to downtown in a year or more. After hitting downtown, I decided that hot chocolate was in order to make it home. Caribou coffee on Ingersoll was the saviour and I warmed up for 20min.

I finished the ride by taking the Clive Greenbelt home. 34miles in 2:15. Not too bad for a slow ride on the trails.

Besides clothing, my biggest test of the day was my new shoes. I bought a pair of Specialized DeFrosters from Rassy's. They fit well and were comfortable given the temp. My toes got a little cold by the end of the ride, but given the wind and my poor circulation that probably wasn't unexpected. I need to experiment with vapor barriers to see if that helps.

At the end of my ride, I checked out the new trail that will link Hickman road and Douglas road near 142nd. The bridge is in and it looks like they are ready for the payment/concrete. Hopefully they can finish before spring.

Proud Accomplishment

2009-11-21T17:59:00.002-06:00

Look what Hannah hung up on her bathroom mirror. She is obviously proud of finishing the kids race of the Dirty Duathlon last weekend. Race number and finishing ribbon.

Ski season is around the corner

2009-11-18T21:21:00.002-06:00

I'm getting jazzed up for ski season. 10day Christmas trip to Montana coming soon, plus an Olympic year, one or two trips to Colorado if I'm lucky (Andy, you have the floorspace, I have a sleeping bag).

Found this clip from Audi. Note the knoll jump at :40, the weights at :48 and the balance ball skilz at :55, great athletes.

No updates from the weekend yet. Hopefully soon with photos. I took 2nd in the 45+ state cross race. Beat several others that had gotten the best of me earlier in the year, just decided that I had to go harder from the gun. Stayed with Todd G. for the first lap, then watched him ride away from me. Then was a volly at the Dirty-Du on Sunday. The girls both did the kids race. Maddie won the girls and Hannah did well (I think she was surprised at the pace). Pics coming soon.

Morning Commute

2009-11-13T07:08:00.001-06:00

Second day in a row with a beautiful sunrise. Red sky in morning, sailor take warning......must be for the strong winds from the south. Last night I rode a northern stretch of the commute at 30+mph. Lots of "YeeHaw" factor doing that in the dark and on the bike path.
State cross race this Saturday and then Dirty-Du (volunteer) on Sunday.

Madison's version of heaven

2009-11-11T17:56:00.002-06:00

Maddie is our little vegetarian. She starts each meal by eating her salad first. She always has seconds of salad as well. Tonight she happily finished the remains of what was left of the Caesar salad. As the title says it was her version of heaven.

Mike McMuffins

2009-11-07T08:47:00.001-06:00

Mike McMuffins are the breakfast staple of trailbuilding. My old college roomie made these. You can guess his name.

SpookyCross Race Report

2009-11-05T21:53:00.003-06:00

Saturday the 31st and Sunday the 1st were the back to back dates of the SpookyCross cyclocross races in Des Moines. I participated in my first cross race at this venue last year and it was a blast, it was the same this year. Good courses and a good workout.

Saturdays racing was on the north side of Living History Farms. The course started by entering an easy looking field. However, once you entered the field, you find out that it had 4-6 inches of standing water. We are the 1st race of the day and by the end of the race, this section had 4-6" mud holes. The rest of the course alternated between fact MTB and fast roady conditions. Overall, I think this course favored a MTB rider and handling skills. I started near the back but quickly found myself in 4th or 5th position at the end of the mud. I decided to push ahead and wound my way through the field. I felt good during the race and actually worked my way up to 10th in the cat 3 field (they started 1min ahead of my group). I ended up 4th for the day in the 45+ category.
Sunday was at the main Living History Farm site. This course was longer than the previous days and appeared to favor a power rider. This time, they started the 35+ and the 45+ fields together. When the gun went off, I took advantage of the majority of the field fumbling for their pedals and took off. I quickly decided to throw caution to the wind and started sprinting. I figured, what the hell, I'll go out front and let the others chase me down. I was 4th going into the first field and only lost a few spots on that lap. I think that I finished the first lap in 6th and mostly held it there. I lost a few positions in near the 30 minute mark and ended up 9th out of the combined group. Another 4th in the 45+ group.

After these two races I ended up in 2nd overall in the series (45+). However, there were a few other fast guys that just didn't get the minimum number of races done. I'll remember their names for future races and try to pass them in the future to make my overall finish legit.

Cross is a lot of fun and I'll definitely continue to work on it. I need to work on increasing my pain threshold as my perceived pain is higher than the actual heart rate. Still a possibility of two more races. State Championships are 11/14 in Altoona and Jinglecross is the weekend after Thanksgiving.

Spookycross Video

2009-11-05T21:21:00.005-06:00

This is a video from Nate. Start of the Sunday Cat3 race at Living History Farm. This shows the entire 1st lap, around 7:30 minutes, total race time was an hour, so repeat about 8 more times. Nate is experimenting with video from his Ipod as mounted from his handlebars.

Girls Night Out - 80s style

2009-11-03T20:35:00.003-06:00

Beggars Night was this past Friday. For some reason Des Moines doesn't have the kids celebrate Halloween on the 31st, but they go out on the 30th. They have rules: the hours are 6-8pm and homes will have a light on if they are open for treats. The other tradition is that the kids have to tell a joke to get their candy. Best one of the night: What do you call a haunted wigwam (sp?)......a creepy tepee. On one hand, it's nice to have the set hours. On the other, it sure makes for an odd night on the 31st.

This year the girls dressed up as 80s girls. Heavy makeup, big hair and fun accessories.

This will probably be the last year for trick or treating. They went out with a few of their friends, but many of their friends stayed home and handed out candy.

Loving sisters!

Kids Stuff

2009-10-28T20:02:00.002-05:00

Halloween/Beggar's Night is obviously coming up, so this past weekend was the annual pumpkin carving night. This time, the girls got to do the majority themselves (using real knives). Of course, Dad was nervous and had visions of cut off limbs or knives jabbed into their bellies. I hovered a lot and tried to actually let them do the work. Lots of fun and they look forward to it every year.

Hannah on the left, Maddie on the right

Maddie ran in the 6th grade cross country meet at the end of September. They had 40-50 girls on the line and a cool course that ran around one of the local elementary schools. Once lined up, the coach fired the starting gun and they were off. Another coach was driving the leadout Gator and lead them through the course. Maddie ran hard and slowly worked her way through the field. I think she ended up in the top 15 and ran a little over an 8min mile.

The final corner before the finish.

2/3rds of the way through the course.

Soccer is now finished for the year (Maddie) and Hannah is showing interest in joining again next year. Something about how physical the play is getting that intrigues her (we'll see). Both are still enjoying school. Lot's of friends, still in band and choir.

Holly and I finally broke down and bought them phones. Three hours after the purchase, Hannah had over 150 texts sent and recieved. Guess she wasn't joking when she said; "I really, really, really, reaaaaalllly, want one"

Race Report - Cattle Cross

2009-10-26T19:49:00.003-05:00

I hadn't originally planned on racing this past weekend, but the family started heading different directions and I found out that I would need a 6th race for the local cross series. I made my decision around 12:30, loaded the car quickly and hit the road near 1pm. I had an hour drive and the start time was 3pm, so I wouldn't have much time to register and warm-up.

The drive was quick and the location was easy to find. I quickly registered and changed, grabbed the bike (had to quickly change out a flat front tire) and did a single recon lap. The course had us weaving across a shallow ditch a few times, then into and through a muddy cattle chute. After that it was another 150 yards into what I think was the horse barn (soft sand surface that required a short run). After that, there was one hurdle and mostly wide open through some grassy areas. A good course that I thought would favor the road cyclists and put me at a disadvantage.

The cat 3's took off, followed by the 35+ (10sec later) and finally, the 10 of us in the 45+ category (10sec later). As we sprinted the initial 100 yards towards the 1st ditch, I was sitting around 8th spot. I passed 1 or 2 and counted myself in 6th spot (I have this habit of counting my position from the leaders in the 1st couple of corners, it helps keep track of my placing because the various classes usually end up co-mingled). Then I had a bit of luck, Kim West had something happen during the 2nd ditch crossing and he took a hard left into the course tape, that caused a pause in the group and I was in 4th (what happened Kim?, I didn't see any raccoons). We headed towards the cattle chute and I was able to get past Laugs for 3rd. Steve Fleagle was leading (haven't caught him in any of the previous races) and John Adamson (Mr. 10 Leadville belt buckles) was in 2nd. I bridged up to John by the end of the lap and we had a good gap on those behind us. I drafted John in the one longer straight and hung onto his wheel to recover some.

I've been hoping/waiting for a race in which I could try to use tactics in order to decide the outcome. Thus, when John said that he was slowing down and suggested that I should pass if I wanted a chance to catch the leaders, I was leery. Was the older veteran using his knowledge to sucker me out of my plans? Should I just wheel suck and recover? I thought about it for what felt like an eternity (5-6 seconds) and decided to go. I put in a hard effort to get a gap (I've read about that in Velonews) and looked over my shoulder. I had shaken John, so I took off after Steve.

Now in our conversation, John had mistakenly thought that we were in 3rd and that 2 others were up the road. With us hitting the back of the 35+ racers it was hard to tell (was it his mistake or more cunning deception?). I went hard for another 2 laps and then started to die. Of course, John had probably planned all this and caught back up to me. He passed and I tried to stay on his wheel. It was just too hard and I looked at my watch. We had 25min to go in the race. I decided to let him go and save it for the last 15min.

When I finally decided to go, I was fortunate to be lapped by the cat3 leader. I caught his wheel in the fast section and used his momentum to make up some serious ground. I did try a bad line in the barn and lost some time, but thought I might catch John for the finish. It was fun chasing him down and we were both making time on Steve (who I could see looking over his shoulder). We had caught the guy that John thought was in our class (and confirmed he wasn't). At the end, I waited a lap too long. Steve won by 100 feet or less to John and I was another 50 feet behind John.

What a fun race! It's been at least a decade since I've been at the front of the race and fighting for a final podium spot. I enjoyed the mental aspect of this race and was glad that my form came back. I hope to carry some of that into the final races this weekend. Spookycross on Saturday and Sunday. Too bad that we are mixed into the other groups, because I bet the small but vocal crowd didn't realize how close our race was.

I do realize that the fastest two riders series (of the 45+) were not at this race, but it gives me hope that if I find a little more speed that I can still make it to the front of the field this weekend.

Post for my brother

2009-10-23T21:41:00.001-05:00

Brother Tim calls yesterday and gives me crap for nothing new lately. It made me go into the archives and find this video of his batchelor party. He really gets it going at the 1:30 mark.

Interesting Downhill Video

2009-10-10T13:41:00.001-05:00

Taco Ride

2009-10-07T21:13:00.001-05:00

67 degrees when I left work. 15 of us left the shop and hit the trails. 45 minutes later the lights came on. For some reason only a few of us remembered lights so most bailed and headed to Giffs Tavern. I chose to ride another lap of Denmans. I'm trying to get used to the MTB again. Three weeks of riding the cross bike with 50lbs of air pressure, skinny tires, and a rigid fork make the transition back to the MTB a little odd. It felt like the tires were 'bouncy' and slow.

Can you hear me now?

2009-10-06T20:46:00.003-05:00

Funny that I can follow yesterday's post with this one......

My bike was in the shop to replace some spokes and subsequently the tubeless tires that I run were having problems holding air. I decided to burp the bead, add some more Stan's liquid and re-inflate. They seemed to have a slow leak so I thought that I would pump them up past 50 psi to make sure the bead was seated. Pump, pump, pump, 50 looks good, so 60psi must be better....pump, pump, pump......... BLAM-O

Can I hear you now? Only if you talk to me from the left side :)

Anyone know anything about Smart Phones?

2009-10-05T21:24:00.002-05:00

I've been trying to read up on what I need vs. what I want for me next cell phone. My requirements:
1) Has to be with Verizon as I need the coverage when I'm out west.
2) Good internet browser on a large screen.
3) Qwerty Keyboard or Qwerty Touchscreen, big enough for large fingers.
4) Good camera. I have a 2.0 which does fine. 3.2 minimum, but like some of the new 5.0mp.

I want to be able to update the blog, read and post comments to other blogs, take good quality pics and post to the blog or flickr, surf the majority of my internet sites. Music capabilities would be nice (on a 3.5mm jack), but I hardly use my iPod as it is

Oh, I would like to create/update Excel spreadsheets on the phone (bike training log, etc).

HTC Pro 2, Storm 2, something called the Imagio. All three are supposed to be out soon, but who knows. Anyone care to chime in?

1st Real Cyclocross Weekend

2009-09-27T19:59:00.003-05:00

Good weekend with friends and family. It all started with an old friend dropping into town instead of just flying home on his return trip (Penn State to Seattle). Nice to know that the Midwest is not always the "fly over" part of the nation. I showed Matt the city on Friday and then had him crew for me at my 1st cross race of the year. I raced cross one day last year at Spooky Cross and that was on my MTB. This year I was already and the hardest part was trying to figure out what race or "cat" to try. Cat4 is the beginners and juniors, but I know that the top guys would still be faster. On the other hand, Cat3 would be too fast, but maybe the field would be bigger and I could blend in. In the end, my decision was made on the basis that my racing age for cross is 45 (next year's age). Since they had a 45+ category, maybe I could have fun and actually race for a place.

My pre-race warm-up consists of using my fingers to open up the upper respiratory passages (thanks for the nice picture Matt). We had 10 old guys in this race and we started 1:30 behind the Cat3's. The 35+ started :45sec in front of us. The course was very hilly and I quickly found that my 39tooth gearing was terrible. I probably only used 3-4 gears the entire race. At the start, the top 2 guys took off and I only saw them towards the end as they lapped me. I was able to stay with #4 for awhile, but in the end couldn't reel him in. I thought I was 5th and the initial results had me as 5th, but the final results put me into 4th. I don't know if one of the 2-4 DNF'd, or if there was a problem, but I was happy with the result. The positives, were my dismounts, barriers jumps and the sand pit (I rode it each time). The negatives, were the bike gearing and some tactics.

Saturday had a steep run-up as shown above.

Saturday night was fun with more friends over for BBQ and the Penn State vs. Hawkeye game. I dropped Seattle Matt off at the airport on Sunday morning. I hope that the race action put the drive to get back on the bike into him (I'm sure it will). I then re-loaded and headed to the Sunday cross race. This course looked flat and fast. We picked up two new riders in the 45+ category and 11 of us took the line. I decided that I needed to push harder if I was going to see 3rd or 4th place. We went out hard off the line and 1st and 2nd place checked out. It was a race for 3rd and I was in 6th. I jumped on a wheel and it felt like he was towing me around, but 3rd was getting away, so I moved past into 4th and pushed harder. I held it for a lap before I made a mistake and was paying attention to my cleat problems and just drove off course. Damm!!! Lost two places before I could get back on course.

I was also gassed by this point, so I slowed it down and maintained for 10min. I saw Kim West drop out, so that put me in 5th (flat tire or crash?). With 20minutes to go, I was 100 yards back from 4th and put in a hard effort to bridge across. I was within 30yards and headed into the barriers. They were a tricky off-camber, downhill double barrier. It felt like you were approaching at 20mph. I unclipped my right leg and swung it over the bike, tried to unclip the left foot and I was locked in. After a big "Oh Shit", I locked the brakes and laid the bike down, sliding right up to the barrier. That was it....4th place was gone and I was tired. I ended up 5th. Tired, but smiling.

Saturday's sand pit.

Overall, it was a fun weekend. I learned a lot about racing cross and got a two really good hour workouts in. I need to get a smaller front ring and new pedals that shed mud better.

Next weekend is Take a Kid MTBing on Saturday and SugarBottom Scramble on Sunday.

Tandem Taco Ride

2009-09-23T20:57:00.001-05:00

Taco Ride with Hannah on the tandem tonight. Lite turnout by the normal group but had lots of fun with Courtney, Nick, Brian and Al. We even did a few drive-bys for the photographer that was out there for a future article on Iowa trails.
Didn't spend much time at the tavern as it is a school night and Hannah didn't seem to like the taco. Thus we hit Wendy's on the way home.

Catching up on posting

2009-09-20T21:01:00.002-05:00

I had grand plans to post a real race report for the 24hr race, but work was busy the following week as well as real life. Then the following weekend of racing came and went, then more work and life. Now I'm two weeks out so I'll just say that it was fun. Really, really fun. Not as physically hard as I expected, but more mentally difficult (keeping track of other teams and teammates). Great camaraderie among teammates, other teams, solos, duos, 12hr guys and gals, 24hr guys and gals. Just a great time. I'll be back again.

As I said, last weekend was the Sycamore and Hillside time trials. Both were IORCA series races that I needed to do well in. I started Hillside early in the morning by helping tape the course. Upon finishing, I had 45min before the start so I did a faster lap and missed any racer meetings. I lined up to be the 4th off the line and hit it hard. Previous years has this race as a 1lap race and I gave it all I could and really felt good about myself for leaving it all on the last climb. I sprinted through the line and turned left to recover. Then I heard the spectators and officials yelling for me to start lap 2. Huh!!!!! Oh well, it was my fault. The 2nd lap wasn't as good but felt OK. I think I finished 10th overall and around 6th in Expert.

The Sycamore time trail was going to be a 9min, all out sprint. I rode the course once and on my 2nd lap I hit the ground and broke a front spoke. Nothing hurt but pride. I went back to the car and removed the spoke and straightened the wheel. Shortly after the repair I hit the trail as the 2nd one out. I let it all hang out and felt pretty good about the lap. I ended up 4th or 5th overall and with that result, I believe that I secured the 35+ Expert point series. A successful weekend.

The rest of the catch up is in pictures below:
Maddie played goalie in soccer this weekend against Bondurant. They played well for the 2nd half, but were beaten soundly in the 1st half.

Hannah is my tag-a-long and is always willing to help out daddy (still a daddy's girl). I took advantage of that this weekend and taught her some responsibility (I think that is how my father would have put it). I felt proud for how hard she worked in mowing the lawn, plus she did a great job with very few crooked lines. Keep in mind that my mower does not have powered wheels. All leg power at the Griz household.

I took advantage of my birthday for a ride on the new cyclocross bike (what is cross?). This has been my other project for the past 3 weeks. All built up now and ready for race season. I explored a new trail project near the house and then worked my way down to Denmans for the obligatory new bike photo. It rides great and is way more comfortable than the Lemond.

This is the structure for the bridge on the upcoming trail in Urbandale. It will run from the end of the trail behind the retirement home that is near 135th and Hickman up to Douglas. It also appears that a spur will be headed towards the new regional park northwest of 142nd and Douglas.

BTW - another great win by the Griz. 49-17 over Portland State in the conference opener. PSU coach Jerry Glanville was not a happy man.

Prep for Take a Kid MTBing

2009-09-09T20:12:00.004-05:00

We have been hard at work on the plans for this years Take a Kid MTBing (TAKM) day. It will be on Saturday, October 3rd at Greenwood Park (Ashworth Pool). You might remember that our 1st TAKM ride was there two years ago, we were forced out last year due to weather, but this is a great central spot with fantastic trails for the kids to learn on. A good spot for picnicing as well.

As you might remember, we (CITA) won a MTB from IMBA during last years TAKM. We will be giving away this bike at this years event. The picture above is from when my trusty mechanics assembled it. All kids that show up for our event will be entered to win this bike. Parents that sign up to be a CITA member ($20 a year) will get an additional entry.

In addition, the good guys at Strider sent us a bike to demo and give away as well. We will also have a few other Striders at the event for your littlest ones to demo (max age is 5). Those that demo will be given an entry to win the Strider.

Look for more information on the event in the next week. I've been talking to the local shops on making sure that each kid gets a water bottle as a way to remember the day.

Team Rassy's 24hr 4-man team winners!

2009-09-06T16:10:00.003-05:00

I've uploaded a bunch of photos to Flickr, I'll let that tell the tale for now. I'll recap the event tomorrow as I've finally hit the wall. Until then I'll leave you with the photo of the 24hr 4-man team winners collecting the check. Team Rassy's. 30 laps total for the group which is somewhere around 240miles. A great race and a great time.

24hr race 10am update

2009-09-06T10:20:00.001-05:00

10am update. We are 10 min away from lapping 2nd place. I'm done with my laps, we have Jason Alread on course and Nate Cline in the hole.

24hr race update - 6:15am

2009-09-06T07:09:00.001-05:00

I woke up from about 2.5 hours of sleep and then finished the last night lap. 50min or so. Legs are feeling tired but apparently still doing good to only lose 5min on a night lap. The guys bumped up our lead overnight to near 30min. The 2lap each overnight strategy was good and I think it will payoff with faster morning laps for us. Hopefully we can catch and lap 2nd place so we can rest a liitle at the end.
BTW - congrats to Jason Dal for a 3rd place finish in the 12hr solo class.

24hr race - 1:30am update

2009-09-06T01:53:00.001-05:00

I just finished two night laps and then ravaged a bowl of pasta. We started our 2lap each strategy about 3hrs ago and now I get to lie down for about 4hrs. Hopefully catch at least two hrs of sleep. As of 1:30am we had a 13min lead. It was bigger but Nate had a light issue. He obviously did a great job in somehow finishing with next to nothing.

24hr 9pm update

2009-09-05T20:49:00.002-05:00

Coming up on 9pm. Still riding strong and still taking one lap pulls each. We are still in the lead and think it's by 12min. 2nd place still holding strong so the pressure continues. Squirrel is leading the 24 solo comp and still looking good.

24hrs 6pm update

2009-09-05T17:53:00.002-05:00

Coming up om the 6hr mark and we are still clicking off steady 45min laps. Our team is in 1st place by approximately 10min, but the 2nd place team is good and will keep the pressure on. My next lap will be partially in the dark. Sounds like fun!

24hours of Seven Oaks

2009-09-05T12:25:00.001-05:00

I'll try to post frequent updates. The race just started. A good turnout with probably 75 starters. 12hr and 24hr solos and teams. Jason was our starter and went out like a rabbit. Took the lead for us. Now we have to hold it, which is our strategy.

Look what I found

2009-09-02T21:17:00.000-05:00

in my garage...perhaps one of the little gnomes dropped it off on his way over to gnomefest.
Swapping most of the parts from the road bike. Other parts from Rassy's. Still need to decide on what to do about a crankset. Mine is an Ultegra 39/53 with Octalink bottom bracket. I could just swap the big ring and run 39/46 or something similar. But for the cost of a ring and new bottom bracket I could be halfway to a cross specific crankset with a better bottom bracket.
I also need a 27.2 black seatpost (hopefully lightweight). Anyone have a post, crankset or front derailler?

Opening weekend of Futball

2009-08-31T20:52:00.004-05:00

Sunday was spent in Ames for Maddie's soccer game. Hannah was kept occupied with the camera and the glider that kept on doing laps from the nearby airport. Maddie had a good 1st game of the fall season. 1 assist and lots of minutes.

They won 4-3 and played well as a team.

We then moved over to the ISU Cyclone soccer stadium. The Griz were playing the clones in Women's soccer and we had to show them the love. We were only able to see the last 20min as their game and Maddie's had started at the same time. The Griz were down 1-0 when we arrived, but seemed to have the upper hand and were pressing hard. Then a fluke goal rolled across and the game ended 2-0. As they left the field, I called them over for some autographs (the girls were too shy to do it on their own). I think that the Griz were a little dumbstuck.....why would they be asked for autographs 1500 miles away from home? However, when they came over and saw our Griz gear, they quickly warmed up and treated the twins to 10 minutes of their time. The girls sure appreciated it, THANKS TO THE LADY GRIZ!

In hindsight, it was pretty funny. The Cylones had left the field and were milling around with boyfriend and parents and the griz were getting all of the attention of the autograph seekers (all 2 of them).

Night Ride at Center Trails

2009-08-30T07:48:00.003-05:00

Put the word out for a night ride to test the lights before next weekends race. Had two that wanted to join the fun. However Pete ended up getting out early which was a good thing because he called and informed me that Denmans was dry and rideable (thanks for the call, I wouldn't have guessed).

I rode from the house and met Brian in Denmans near 7:45 and then we headed towards the pool to see if anyone else had decided to join. We were a little late to the meeting spot but didn't see any signs of life so we headed towards rollercoaster with the lights finally getting turned on. Just as we started the climb, Jacob appeared out of the dark and joined in the fun.

Three amigos on the 1st night ride of the summer (for me). Coaster, extended hillside loop, Denmans, J11 back to a short hillside loop and done.

Riding home with Jacob he invited me in for a quick beverage and 15min later I was riding the Greenbelt home. 38miles total and the new lights worked great!

Seven Oaks Race Recap

2009-08-29T13:43:00.002-05:00

Like Rick, I had the best intentions of writing a race report early last week. I also keep watch for others race reports and can't wait to hear how it went for them. I should be more prompt in mine.

The girls opted out of being my race support and I really don't blame them. While it is nice to have them there to cheer me on, I realize that they only see me for a fleeting moment and then sit and wait for another 45min until I come around again. Racing is exciting for the participants, but not so much for the spectators. I arrived at Seven Oaks near 10:30, registered and took my time getting ready. Jason and I headed out to ride the beginner loop and I stashed a spare bottle for the middle of my race. I felt good during the warm-up and thought I might have a pretty good race. Seven Oaks rewards those that have dirt skills and can stay on the bike the most often. I quickly drank a Monster (bad idea) and got lined up with the others.

The usual suspects were there including 4-5 really fast guys (I only plan on seeing Cam, Jed, Kent, Aaron and Jay at the start). I marked a few others that are in the 35+ category and we were off. The group spreadout quickly and got in line for the 1st singletrack climb. Funny how the experts really seem to understand where they fit in the line (speed wise). I was 12th wheel as we climbed and I felt good. All of us were still bunched together until the 1st switchback climb after the bridge on the backside. Bullerman was in front of me and riding strong until we hit the tight singletrack. A gap quickly opened in front of him and although Steve has the fitness, I could tell he wasn't comfortable on this section. I made a sketchy pass on the inside of a downhill switchback (thanks Steve) and pushed ahead to catch-up. I thought that I had dropped the group behind me, but on the next sustained climb I could feel them on my wheel again. Obviously these guys can climb better than me. I tried to push it harder on the technical sections and usually opened a small gap. Then Steve would power up to me. After awhile I asked if he wanted by, he stated that I was faster and would stay where he was. Wouldn't you know it, shortly after that I would bobble on a rooty uphill and have to hop off the bike. Steve got buy and I ran to quickly stay in touch. As luck would have it, we were just hitting the top/power section of the course and he motored away. I should have tried harder to stay with him, but I just didn't have it.

It was here that the Monster started to play with me. I was 30min into the race and couldn't tell if I had stomach problems or was dehydrated. I couldn't decide if I should drink or not. I paced myself through the start finish and was already behind Steve by 1:20. It took 1/2 of the next lap to get my body back to normal. In that time, Brad Patty had quickly caught and passed me. Again, I tried to stay with him, but couldn't hang on. Near the end of lap two I felt better and was able to push harder. I let it all hang out and thought that I was catching those in front of me. At the end, I don't think that I made any headway, but I did feel good about the effort.

Overall, I finished 13th out of 15. 2min behind Brad, 4 behind Steve and 6-8 behind those that I should be shooting for. I did get some small victories in this race. My lap times were consistent (something that hasn't been happening). 45min, 47min, 46min and my heart rates stayed higher for longer 173, 170, 169 avg for each lap.

I also learned to stay away from the Monster before the race. Overall, I'm happy with the way that I've been learning and progressing with each race this year. It was a big jump to move up a class, but I wanted the longer race times and in the end I will be faster/stronger for next year.

I couldn't figure out how to download the pic, but good race photos from Angy. I am photo #31.

Next up is the 24hrs of Seven Oaks. Racing with Rick, Nate and Jason. Looking forward to it.

Kids MTB Video

2009-08-27T21:03:00.003-05:00

Back in June I posted a short version of the girls on MTBs from vacation. I then worked on cropping a few smaller videos together, here is the result.