Newton 'Cross Pictures

Whew! Two days of 'cross racing has left me drained. I'll post all of the gory details later. Until then, I posted a ton of pictures here to keep you busy.

Cross Weekend

This weekend Christy and I are headed to Newton for two days of 'cross racing, and two days of hanging out. My bike is ready, and I'm a ready as I'm gonna get. It should be fun. I hope it don't rain. But if it does, so what. It's 'cross after all.

I'm taking my good camera, so hopefully I'll come home with a few good shots.

Hmm . . . I just heard thunder . . . .

Gravel/Cross tomorrow

I plan on doing a couple of hours of gravel on my 'cross bike tomorrow afternoon if anyone is interested in joining me. I'll be at the north shelter at Ada Hayden at 4:00. All are welcome. If the mood strikes, we could ride by my place, grab my portable barriers, and do some 'cross racing/riding in McFarland.

It's gonna be a beautiful day! Don't miss it.

Squirrel's Nest Time Trial

I went to Des Moines for Chris Maharry's time trial today. What a cool event this has become! There was donuts, coffee, sports drinks, gels, and ton of schwag. This year the event was held at Green wood park. It doesn't have same level of intrigue that Targhetto does, but the trails are pretty sweet. Those guys have been working hard.

Several team 14ers line up for the start.


Hansen was looking very alert today. Apparently he lost a couple of fingers in an industrial accident.


Pete, Rob, and Sterling.


I went out, rode the course, and had fun. Nothing I could do would put me at the front, and nothing I did would make a difference to the season's points.

A rare smile for the camera from me.


Bruce enjoys a pastry


Hmmm. This is an IQ test question. Can you spot the progression?

Answer: Shaved, hairy, shaved, hairy. I would have also accepted Old, younger, younger, youngest.


Maharry announces the winners, and there is a mad stroll for the prize table.


An excited crowd looks on.


Afterwards we met at Rassy for some food, tasty beverages, and an awards ceremony the the IMBCS. I got 4th place in Sport Open this season. How did I do that, you ask? By showing up at all of the races. It's just that simple. Sure I sucked at several (most) of them. But I was there. Things fell as they should, because in most races I couldn't catch the guys in from of me (Bruce Reese, Bruce Brown, and Kyle Williams). Kyle and I were neck and neck early in the season, but as he got better I got worse. Bruce Brown got me in every race expect one. I can remember being in front of Bruce Reese exactly twice . . . once at the start of the Sylvan Island, and once during the Iowa Games . . . both proud moments for me.

I was pleased to see that they recognized everyone that qualified for IMBCS points this year. I wasn't expecting that. Sadly, there weren't very many of us. Oh, well. Maybe next year.

Getting Ready for 'Cross

I've spent the last few days making a few tweaks to my 'cross bike. Regular readers will remember that this is the bike that I won at last year's 'cross state championship, so the bike doesn't owe me anything.

I took off the stock fork and repaced it with a Winwood Dusty.

The stock fork was a heavy pig. The swap resulted in about a 3/4 pound weight savings.

I also replaced the stock chainring gearing with a 42 tooth Salsa single chainring, a Wetzikon outer chain guard (both from cyclocrossworld.com), and the stock chain watcher on the inside.

I never understood the stock Specialized gearing (34-48). That is just nuts. The 34 is mostly too weak for anything, and the 48 is way to strong (although it did work pretty well for gravel). But it would have sucked in a 'cross race. I could see having to jump from little to big ring several times each lap. I suppose Specialized is trying to be all things to all people, and all gearing to all people. It is much better now. I've ridden it for a few days in most types of conditions I'll see in a 'cross race, and I'm very happy with the result.

I also slapped on a Thomson Masterpiece seat post that I won in a race earlier this year. Sweet. The Thomson post feels like a feather compared to the stock (carbon) post. Alex said the carbon post might be carbon clad aluminum.

While I was snapping pictures, I took one of the top tube. The TriCross has a unique top tube shape that is much more comfortable when shouldering the bike during long run-ups. It is flat on the bottom. Really!

Overall the bike dropped more than a pound because of the upgrades, and is now under 20 pounds.

Now I just need to get a set of these, mounted on a set of these, and I'll be set. I'm going to be the slowest guy out there on a fast bike, but that's OK. It will still be a boat load of fun!

Cycling Trifecta

I went out for a gravel ride with Bryan and Alex this afternoon. I took them out on some of my favorite gravel routes. It rocked. They rocked. I sucked. Oh, well.

I took a few pics. Bryan borrowed my Rig to see what this whole mountain biking thing was about:


Alex rockin' on the 'crosscheck.


Check it out! We got Bryan to ride a mountain bike on single track!


Alex descending on the 'crosscheck.


We did a couple of hours of gravel and single track. To complete the trifecta, we did a little pavement going back.


We are doing it again next Wednesday if you are interested.

Nite Ridin' Report

Well, it almost worked out. Carney, Marc, myself, and a few others headed north through town and ended up at Ada Hayden, where we had to stop and fix a fixie (good thing we had a bike shop guy along). It was getting pretty dark, but we continued up Arrasmith trail. Carney and I were the only ones with lights, so we kinda herded the others along. We ended up in cul de sac hell. With this limited lights, we rode in cul de sac circles for a while. Several of the guys were on skinny tired fixies (not conducive to gravel), so we parted ways. I headed for home, and Carney was their beacon for the ride home. It was funny to watch them ride away. They were all like moths to his flame.

Tomorrow I am doing some 'cross bike gravel grinding with Bryan. We are leaving from the north shelter house at Ada Hayden at 4:00 and plan to be out for 2-3 hours. You are welcome to join us if you wish. And you don't have to be on a 'cross bike neither. Mountain bike, fixie, single speed, roadie, we don't care.

Night Ridin'

Carney and I are going to try to hijack the Fixie ride tonight. When they aren't paying attention, we are going to lead them off into the country for some gravel and trails. Bring your lights!. Carney won some new NiteRider lights at the Boone 24 and he is itching to use them.

If things go according to plan we might stop at my place for a bevvie or two.

Sugar Bottom Root Fest

I made my first trip to Sugar Bottom today. The race was cancelled last year because of politics, so, this was my first chance to race here. The course is long, with 10 miles of twisty, tight singletrack. Mostly not too hilly, but really friggin rough, with lots and lots of exposed roots. People had told my that, and I thought I was prepared for it, but I had no idea. I think I've got a new least-favorite course on the IMBCS circuit.

Hansen showed up to race expert for the first time, and lined up between Jay Cam.


Most of the usual suspectes were here.


I tried to start off fast and stay in front of a few guys, but if I wasn't keeping pace with the guy in front of me, I'd let them by. After I'd let about 50 guys by, and was getting really tired of the friggin roots, I slowed down some and settled into a (slow) pace. Here's a tip - the roots don't hurt as much when you slow down, so that's what I did.

Here is my finish line picture:


Two laps - nearly three hours! That's a pretty long sport race. I think there were quite a few DNFs. Even the fast sport guys were in the 2:10 range.

Hansen relaxes after the race with a bevvie. Did you think he wouldn't have one?

Catchin Up

I'm finally caught up with my other duties, so here is the promised blog dump.


The Boone 24 pre-race meeting


At the starting line. Where are are their bikes?



Ron had a tounh time firing the starting gun.



Hansen stopped by to check out the fun.


Matt, Bruce, Rob, and Chris.



Rob taking a break by the light of the tiki torches.


Then bike world guys stop by to say hello.


Thad cuts the cheese.




Whatta ya trying to do? Kill me?


Hangin out at the Mercy campfire.


Team 14 tiki torches from the air. Things looked pretty fuzzy by this time.


Things looked much better in the morning. Bryan stopped by to see what he missed.





Next up was the Tuesday fixie ride with Cory, Marc, Emily, and some guy I didn't know.

We headed for a bridge in the middle of nowhere with some Guinness




After that Emily ended up in a heap on Lincoln way after trying to bunny hop a curb. Marc and I try to direct oncoming traffic, while she untangled.

Later we hit a pub down town. Good times.


Up tomorrow in the Sugar Bottom Scramble. Never been there. 'Bout time. Better go to Bed.

I'm Working on it!

I can't count the number of people that asked about my blog this weekend.

"Is everything OK?"
"Is there anything we can do?"
"Can we bring a covered dish to the wake?"

No, the blog is OK. I've got pictures from the Boone 24, and I will post them soon (although I expect most are dull and out of focus, 'cause that's how my weekend went). Big fun was had by all that attended.

There is some stuff going on, and that has to be at the top of my list right now. I'll keep you posted.

The End of an Era

I got an e-mail from Thad his morning announcing the end of Team 14 as we know it. It is sad day. But I know, I mean I really, really know where he is coming from. This sport takes a toll on any relationship that is not a cycling relationship. In order to succeed (or be mediocre, in my case) you must spend a tremendous amount of time on the bike year 'round. If you spend that much time on a bike, you are going to alienate a few friends and family members off the bike. I know that because I've done that.

And that only counts the time on the bike. There is a huge time committment related to running a bike team. I got a taste of that because Thad allowed me to manage the Team 14 mountain bike squad this year. It was great fun, but at the same time it was a tremendous responsibility, and more of a time committment than I had anticipated. So I can totally relate to where Thad is coming from.

It is so easy to get wrapped up in a hobby (after all, this is just a hobby, right?), and in doing that we neglect those that are closest to us. It is also difficult to find balance when you are also struggling with the desire to succeed. I've gone through it several times in my life with several different hobbies. It doesn't help that I have some OCD tendencies. When I get into something, I GET INTO IT.

Frequent readers will remember my TAGGED post from last winter. My MO with hobbies is to jump into them with both feet, then lose interest after a few years.

Am I in the twilight of my bike racing career? I don't think so, but time will tell.

Farewell Hollow Supplanter

I went for a ride this morning with Cory, Alex, and OP as a way to say farewell to Cory. He is leaving for Oregon tomorrow morning to follow his dreams. I admire that.

I remember first meeting Cory nearly two years ago. I was headed out on a training ride with another guy. We ran into Cory as we were leaving town, and invited him along. It was on that ride that I found out that Cory and I worked at the same place.

A short time after that I saw him posting on MTBR about TransIowa, and I suggested we do a few training rides. He was also the one that inspired me to start a blog.

It is sad to lose a local ridding buddy, but great to see him going out in to the world to seek his fortune. Such is life living in a college town. Sigh . . .

Good Luck Cory!

Coast to Coast Memoirs

Local fast guy and friend Andrew Carney has a write-up on his blog about he and his brother's unsupported coast to coast bike ride last year.

Pretty cool stuff. If I was about 25 years younger . . .

I'm a Wimp

I bailed on the Webster City group ride tonight because I'm a wimp. I looked at the radar about 4:30 and it looked pretty iffy, so I pulled the plug. I called Nick and told him I was gonna be a no-show.

So I rode some local gravel, so that when mother nature decided to unleash her fury I could make a mad dash for home.

During the ride, things looked pretty ugly, but I stayed dry.

I'm a wimp. Maybe next time.

35W Bridge Collapse

The link below is an account from a Minneapolis cyclist that was one of the first on the scene at the 35W bridge collapse:
http://www.startribune.com/slideshows/rich_media/1344505.html

As some of you know, I work for the Iowa DOT, so this hits a little close to home.

BTW, I lifted the story from CVO's blog, 'cause it brought a tear to my eye.

Headed to the City

I'm headed for the city. Webster City that is, for the Wednesday night group ride with some Team 14 mates. If you were reading the comments (as if anyone reads the comments), you would already know that.

All are welcome. If you would like to go, let me know (515-290-7789). I'll be leaving from my place at around 4:30, in order to make it up there in time for the 5:30 start.

On the Road

Here's shot of something a little different:

It's me out riding my road bike without a number on my back. I think that it has probably been a couple of months since i took my road bike and just went riding around. With the rains of the last two of days it will be another day until I can get back on the dirt, and maybe by this afternoon the gravel will be ridable again. So, this morning pavement was all I had. Not riding was out of the question, as I was already slipping into another lazy streak. A couple of off days of because of family stuff + a rain day = I have to ride today.

OK, I just didn't ride around. I did a warmup, and some tempo work on the Gilbert loop, worked on my tuck going into the wind, tried to attack on all the hills, and managed to close a 1/2 mile gap on another bike in a 3 mile span (the old guy on the trike never knew what hit him).

I also remembered my chat with Chris Hansen this weekend (he was trying to talk me into going to the state road race over by the Mississippi), and he was talking about the importance of sprint work when doing crits. Coming out of every corner in a crit turns into a mini-sprint just to hang on - especially if your cornering needs as much work as mine does.

So, when I was out this morning, I tried doing some sprint excersizes. After I had done my other work, and was already tired (like in a race), I put it at about 17 mph, and about 60 cadence. From there I did an out of the saddle sprint until I was out of gas. Rinse and repeat. After few miles of those, I was cooked.

I'll be doing that again.

Cross Training

It's not really cross training, as it is training for cyclocross. I took my 'cross bike out this afternoon for an easy spin to flush the legs out after the weekend's abuse. After a spin around the park, I put the bike on my shoulder and ran home.

It was a good workout, and gives the neighbors something to talk about!

Seven Oaks

I went out to Seven Oaks to do a few laps in a continued effort to shake off the cobwebs that accumulated during my mid-season break. My companions for the day were Team 14 mates Nick and Aaron.


Nick is well known in Iowa mountain biking circles – everyone has met Nick. Aaron is a young mountain biker that has shown some real promise lately. He recently won a Gold medal in the Iowa Games mountain bike race a couple of weekends ago. He has a background in track and cross-country, so endurance sports are not new to him

We all met up in the parking lot and took off on the course. Seven Oaks is in great condition right now. The tread is perfect, the moisture content is perfect, and everything is pretty well maintained. Aaron led, with Nick and I taking turns chasing him. Aaron had no trouble staying in front of me. He didn’t even look like he got winded doing it. Nick and I got a good workout chasing Aaron.

After the first lap, Nick stayed in the chalet to watch the end of the Firecracker 400 (wtf?), while Aaron and I rode another lap.

This was right after Nick told me he'd rather watch cars going in circles than ride his bike.

I was feeling pretty good this lap. My legs had opened up some, and I was keeping up with Aaron on the flats (on the hills - not so much).

Then I went over the bars. I happened so fast I didn’t have time to prepare (probably lucky). I was setting up for the G-out, and in my approach I clipped a tree with my bars, and I went head first into a mulch pit. Lucky for me it was nice, soft mulch. I got up, brushed myself off, took inventory of my bits, and headed back down the trail.

Gotta give a shout out for my Oakley Half-Jackets. This is the second time that I have pile driven them into the ground (the first was at Lewis and Clark). In both cases I landed face first, and I just assumed that the glasses were destroyed in the crash. In both cases the glasses came out unscathed. I’ll stop short of calling them indestructible, but they are pretty darn durable. They are definitely more durable than I am.