Finally, my third finish in the TransIowa

I've been craving my third finish since my second finish at the great TransIowa. My last finish was way way back in 2009 so it kinda seems like a while ago. Now at the moment it does not. I remember with great detail because I just went thru it. I had a riding partner for most of the fist day and gained another once night set in. So, it was Matt Jennings third attempt, and John Welsh's second attempt and it was all greatly satisfying. We kept a good pace in the daylight but I'm pretty sure we were crawling thru the night. There were a few scattered moments of panic during the final 100 in which I pondered the pain of crossing the line at 10 minutes after the final cut off. In the end we had about 40 minutes to spare in the 32 hour event time. The picture is of me getting ready to leave check point one. Thanks to Elisabeth Reinkordt for the pic. I had flatted about ten miles in to the event. I considered it good luck but I did lose my riding partners for the remaining 42 miles in to the checkpoint. The weather was perfect, the route was beautiful, the gravel was constantly changing and the skies were clear. Thanks to everyone who helped me complete the journey.

getting the shakes...

As TransIowa approaches for yet another year, thoughts to it fill my mind. I do my best to prepare myself as best I can, but the uncontrollable elements as just that. I'm hoping for my third finish this time. I've kept up my century per month from last year and those have been good as usual. The crew around here did a Kansas state line ride for a nice even 128 miles. Thanks to Cornbread for the pic. I'll let you know how I did...

Oh dang

As some of you may have noticed, I've fallen off the radar. Like, way, way off. I think it's been a year since I posted anything...and well over a year since I rode my bike with any regularity. School, job hunting, new career as a nurse in the ER...bikes have been on the back burner. But I'm starting to feel the itch to ride again, especially thanks to some fellow Flagstaff Soulcrafters Leslie and Stacy. It's hard to beat a long ride with good friends! Hope to keep up my riding streak, and who knows I may even (gasp!) race my bike this year.

Back to It

For most of us, riding bikes is a typical part of the weekend schedule. It may be a race, a roost on a favorite mtb loop, or a cruise to an over-priced coffee and a yard sale, but it's there. The weekend bike ride is always there, like a good friend, or your laundry basket: waiting for you to dive in.

So in a sense, this weekend was like most others, except my "laundry basket" has been a bit empty when it comes to bike riding. Cancer can do that to you-set your priorities on the sideline while it wreaks a game of havoc on the main field. But I am back to it. I'm back to that invigorating flow of trail and rock and trees and laughter. I'm back to it, people, and cancer can watch me roll.

late December post

I finished 2012 with at least one century ride a month. It was a challenge initiated by Hurl and shared with me by a friend. I had always wanted to do a year's worth of centuries, so it was easy to bite on. December's century was the tried and true Wilber, Malcolm, Lincoln route. It's almost dead on 100. We streatched December out to 103.5 or something. Mostly gravel as usual, but to change it up I rode drop bar fixed 29er. Already puckering about the notion of a Jan hundy this year...it's snowy and cold, sort of. I do hope to keep up the hundy a month for a while tho. It's adictive.

Don't call it a comeback.

Back in 1988 when I started working for Bruce Gordon Cycles he had just started building his Rock 'N Road bikes which were cross type bikes built around his own Rock 'N Road 40C tire.  He also made cable connectors so you could swap bar/stem set ups between road and mountain without having to adjust your gears.  Pretty slick.  I road one of these bikes with flat bars for a couple years while I worked there.  Rode it everywhere I rode my mountain bike.  But at the trade shows shops couldn't wrap their heads around the bike.  "What am I going to do with that? It's not a mountain bike and not a road bike", they would say.  I'm pretty sure that was the point.  And who would come into Bruce's shop checking out the Rock 'N Roads?  Wes Williams, father of the 29r, who will tell you that Bruce's bikes were an inebriation for him.  So here we are almost 25 years later talking about "Monster Cross" bikes like they're something new.  The good thing about this resurgence has been that Bruce decided to make his tires again.  This time Panaracer is making them in Japan for him and they're lighter and a little fatter than before.  The first ride I did on the new ones was aboard my Dirtbomb on a 70+ mi ride with lots of road and lots of fire road climbs and save for the severe suffering, the ride was amazing.  The Rock 'N Road tires are really the best dual purpose fat cross tires out there.  Not too buzzy on the street and super-traction on the dirt, both climbing and descending.  Kudos to Bruce for going out on a limb all those years ago and also for bringing these tires back!  

Greetings from Sarteneja, Belize

As the title suggests, greetings. It's been awhile since my last posting, and I know this. Life is keeping me busy in Belize, and while I have been thinking about posting here, the time is now. I can't promise this is going to be anything outstanding, other than a simple hello. Right now, I am on Day 14 of not having running water, and have at least 10 more to go. That's a total of 24 days. Yep, the village I live in has received a grant for a new water system, and it's in process. Supposed to be finished by end of 2012, but it's anyone's guess for project completion. The situation currently is two-fold since the Water Board couldn't pay the electricity bill to pump the water, and now that the bill is paid the construction has to continue, and since the tank is dry from not having water for the past couple of weeks, why not now? I can think of many reasons why, one being the fact that I have been without running water a most basic human need. I have been hauling water back and forth from my landlord's house tapping into his well, and his rain water. Awesome sauce, I know, pure adaptation. A part from that, I am ok in terms of happiness. I will be much happier when the water returns. That said, have been working on my bike here, and I think I have it to a place where it can bomb most anything. I hope to post some pictures of it, and slap a Soulcraft sticker on it at some point. They actually had a bike race in the village the other day. And we are talking coaster bikes all the way around. No hipsters allowed -- these people would school you on a bike. Anyways, that's enough for now. Cheers.