Sycamore 8

Spent four or five hours this morning helping out with the course setup and management for CITA's Sycamore 8 Trail Run. I woke up later than I intended this morning and had to hustle to make the setup meeting time at 7 AM. I was greeted by a flat front tire on my Karate Monkey so I grabbed a set of platform pedals and a pedal wrench and headed out with my Singlecross in the back of the truck. Riding Sycamore with the cross bike wasn't as bad as I thought. Definitely worked up a sweat while riding along some of the grassy sections near I-80, and also while moving some brush out of the way. My Salomon boots kept my feet warm, and the layers I put on kept my body warm. I did manage to pick the wrong gloves to wear and ended up with some cold hands while the race was actually in progress. Sycamore is in remarkably good shape right now (for Sycamore). The frozen ground makes for a fast ride through there. The bald eagles are out in force along the Des Moines River as well. Beautiful to see and cool to hear when they are roosting above you in the trees. Anyone that believes that an elevated highway through the middle of this area will have miniscule effect on the wildlife is sorely mistaken. Gonna bundle up tomorrow morning and ride some new trail with Squirrel on the east side of the river. Should be a good time.

CITA's Ales and Trails 2009

Spent Friday night through early Sunday afternoon at Whiterock Conservancy for CITA's second Ales and Trails event. Whiterock is 4300 contiguous acres of oak savannah, prairie, and farmland near Coon Rapids, Iowa. If you are a fan of the outdoors you owe it to yourself to spend some time there. We filled our weekend with camping, mountain biking, a 45 mile gravel road race, a few beers and an evening concert in the riverside barn by Des Moines' ownBrother Trucker.

The gravel road race on Saturday was a lot of fun, if a bit brutal. Squirrel managed to build a course where the B-road sections were the fastest thing we would ride on all day. Very few sections of flat, and a southerly course with a SE wind. After what I thought was a good start, hanging with Dave Lippold to the top of the climb we hit right out of the start, my legs just pretty much gave out. I couldn't get into a rhythm on the climbs and just couldn't get my legs to spin up the way I wanted. Squirrel and I stopped for a mid ride beer at Sammy's car, about 10 minutes behind Dave, and decided to just push in together and try to wrap up second and third spots. Squirrel just dieseled his way along and I yo-yo'd behind on the climbs and caught up on the downhills and on the flats. I had to finally let Squirrel go with about 5 miles or so left and just finish the race out. I ended up finishing in about 3 hours and change. I felt worse after those 45 miles than I did after the 10+ hours of the GLGA a month ago.

On Sunday, Matt McCutchen, Brian Sheesley and I took off after breakfast and spent the next couple of hours just riding around on the double track through Whiterock, taking in the scenery and just having a good time. Screaming fast downhills and some long climbs greeted us almost all of the way into Coon Rapids. On the way back, Brian and I took a different path back that involved some rough pasture land, cows, and barbed wire fence crossings. I hit something in the pasture and developed a slow leak once we were on the gravel back to Whiterock. A quick hit with the CO2 cartridge got me back to the truck and, after a change of clothes, on my way home.

I, and everyone else. had a lot of fun at this years Ales and Trails event. It would have been good to have had more people in attendance. I'm not sure if it's the location, the drive, or something else that prevented us from having more people show up. Hopefully we can increase the number of people, and the fun, for next year's event.

December = Good times

Has been a varied week on the biking front. Four days worth of commuting this week, despite the snow and the cold. This has kept me in shape, but cemented my decayed mental state with a good number of my coworkers. The good thing is that I really don't care. :) I felt like getting some extra miles in on Monday, so I met up with Kent and rolled down to the shop where Stirling remove a crank spider for him. We had a good chuckle at the guy who thought that studded tires were necessary already. Afterwards, I rolled with Kent to his house and then took Beaver Ave and the Trestle to Trestle trail home. Bonus 20 miles for me. Would be nice if businesses kept the sidewalks/trails in front of their businesses in better shape, but no issues for now. 23 miles of cold pavement for the day.

Wednesday found me heading out after work with Kent again. We rolled black label down to Denmans and cut first tracks through about half of the single track there (forgetting that Rick Blackford was headed out from the shop about the same time). Kent was having a tough time in the snow with his commuter geared Haro Mary, so we dropped onto Dirty Express about halfway through. Had a quick chat with Squirrel, Rick and Conlan and then rode black label and pavement to Kent's. I hooked back through Windsor Heights for some food and poker with friends. 3 miles of single track and maybe 12 or so on pavement for the day

Thursday's commute was damn cold, especially going home. Second time this week to bust out with the ski mask so my eyeballs didn't freeze solid. 6 miles of commute

Friday, I rode into work, and then raced downtown afterwards, getting some odd looks from cars as I passed them both along Ingersoll as well as between stoplights downtown. I met Kathy, Dan, Lacey, Tobin and Ellen at The Royal Mile for dinner and drinks at 6 PM, before The Nada's Silent Night show at Hoyt Sherman Auditorium. I snuck over to Carl's Place for Newcastle with the CITA boys before heading back over. Everyone else sat in the auditorium and enjoyed the show. I, along with Ryan, Squirrel, Ed, Kent, Sam and Justin spent the show powering 25 strings of christmas lights by powering a generator with a bike. We each rode for two songs, and spent the rest of the time off stage right drinking beer or Templeton and Coke. This was the first year for this, and it was a success. I think plans are in place to power more lights this way next year. Kathy and I headed over to the after party for a bit and then made our way home. I think I passed out in bed about 1 AM. A great day with a number of great friends. Probably 13 miles of cold pavement for the day.

Saturday morning , the alarm went off at 6 AM. Way too early considering the previous evening's frivolity. I got dressed and headed out to meet Sam by 7 AM at the north Sycamore trail head. CITA has taken over the Sycamore 8 trail run. Sam and I loaded up Sam's Bob and headed south along the trail, putting up arrows and signs so the runners could find their way to the finish line. With the trailer, the signage and a couple of stops for coffee, it took us about 90 minutes to mark most of the course. After a quick sweep of the course we headed to the finish for some very welcome soup and hot chocolate. After the last two finishers crossed the line, I helped pack up the truck, and then Kristin Reese and I rode the trail back North. After splitting off from Kristin a couple of miles later, I rode back and collected all of the signs that Sam and I had put up. 18 miles of snowy single track in 30 degree temps.

Saturday trail work

Building stringers


Footers on, and footings dug



Decking on. Ready for approach armoring.

If you see someone you know in these photos, and you ride, hike or walk the Center Trails at all, stop and thank them. A number of people donated a full day of their time to help rebuild and improve Rollercoaster on Saturday. A lot of work was accomplished, including repair or replacement of four bridges, armoring of bridge approaches, improving trail drainage, filling in washouts, and building an entirely new section of trail.

CITA Ales and Trails

The focus of this past weekend was the CITA Ales and Trails event. This was put together by CITA as a way to celebrate its 10 year anniversary in a family friendly atmosphere. It took place at the Whiterock Conservancy south of Coon Rapids. The weather forecast took its toll, as only half of the expected number of people attended. We spent part of the morning walking around the Riverhouse, barn and exploring the flower gardens. Liz Garst gave an excellent talk on the history and mission of the Whiterock Conservancy, including a detailed account of the visit of Nikita Kruschev during the late 50's. Afterwards we enjoyed lunch and caught up on the Iowa/ISU football game.

The afternoon found some people taking naps, enjoying a guided nature hike through parts of the conservancy, canoeing on the Raccoon River, and/or biking on some of the 30 miles of trails that wind their way through the 4000+ acres we were on. Afternoon gave way into evening, and that meant dinner. While Sammy worked the grill, Justin and I acted as sous chefs and prepped the beans, rice and helped Sammy out in any way we could so he could keep his eyes on the grill. In the end, we had grilled chicken kabobs, burgers, dogs, and a bunch of other food and desert for people to enjoy. The rest of the evening was spent listening and dancing to the music of Brother Trucker in the Riverside Barn.

This was a fun weekend, and it was nice to see so many people attend the event with their kids, enjoying the outdoors and the company of others. Due to untimely illness, Kathy and Conor weren't able to come up. I know Kathy was looking forward to spending some time in the canoes for part of the weekend. It sounds like CITA is in the process of planning a similar event next year. Hopefully the weather cooperates and more people are able to attend and enjoy the conservancy.

As always, I took some photos. So did Squirrel, and Justin

Trailwork ++

Met Squirrel, Kent and Justin at the exit of Denman's on Friday evening for some rework on the exit and a bit of mowing. A couple of hours later we had a good portion of the back half of Denman's mowed and a new exit cut and test ridden. Pete Basso and one other person whose name I didn't catch also showed up to lend a hand. Afterwards, some tasty adult beverages and a trip to Squirrel's place to sharpen up the tools, finish off the bevvy's and head for home. Quick stop at Panchero's for a burrito and I was set for the night.

Went to Banner this morning to help out with the trail work down there. The plan was to move dirt, build derms and cleanup any trees that had fallen over during the winter. We managed to get nice berms built for two high speed corners in the space of about 3.5 hours. We also cleared out a number of trees that were clogging up the works as well. Not a bad bit of work for the size of crew that showed up. Next work day is the 24th at 8:00 AM. We can use a lot more people to help get things finished up.

Midweek info

Have ridden to work every day this week. Feels good. Took the LHT the first 3 days, loaded down with all of the bags. I notice the weight going up hills but the bike is very comfortable to ride with the bags on. Showed up and rode the Ritual Ride in full kit last night. I got a few odd looks from people, but had no issues completing the loop, even with the couple of hills that were tossed in. It was a good way to see how the bike would feel after a longer ride. I rode the big ring other than when climbing, so my legs were pretty tired after I got home. Not sure what my average speed was since I don't have a bike computer on it either. That will be fixed when the UPS driver shows up with my Garmin 605 sometime tomorrow. 

Took the 53 Schwinn into work today. I wanted to ride something different, and I also wanted to ride it before my short route to work is closed off until sometime this fall. It was definitely a different ride. The seat could stand to be moved back a bit, but other than that the ride wasn't bad. 

Taking the Karate Monkey to work tomorrow with the Bob trailer full of tools in tow. Heading out after work to help with some trail maintenance on the Center Trails. Then headed down to Banner on Saturday morning to help with the final stretch of work there. Here's hoping that the rain stays away long enough for us to be able to work.

Nice Rack (and a taco)

Blur of activity yesterday. Quick set of emails to the CITA mailing list resulted in the first Taco Ride of the year. Four of us (Jim, Jim, Sam and myself) left Rasmussen's at 5:30 PM for a solid 90 minutes of dirt riding on the Center Trails. They are MUCH faster without a foot of snow on them. Even after the rain last weekend they were in good shape. We picked up a few riders here and there on the trail, and ended the ride with five of us sitting at Griff's in Valley Junction drinking a couple of beers and eating a couple of tacos. My legs felt really good yesterday. It appears that the Denman's beatdowns that Cam and Pete gave me this winter have paid off. Every one else was ready t go for tacos, and I was ready for more riding since the weather was good and it was still light outside. I still need to work on my bike handling obstacle jumping skills a bit more. Tight turns on the 29er still feel a bit sluggish.

My Arkel pannier order arrived yesterday. I picked up a set of their GT-54 touring panniers, along with a small handlebar bag, and a Tailrider. I have had good luck with their (now discontinued) Samurai bags when I had my trike, so it was easy to go to them again for additional bags for the Long Haul Trucker. The quality and attention to detail on the bags is exceptional. If you need panniers, I highly recommend looking at their lineup. They are not the cheapest panniers available, but they are top notch and they come with a great warranty as well. To get the handlebar bag to fit, I think I'm going to need one of these. I wish it came in silver to match the rest of the bike hardware, but I'll deal with that when the time comes.

My Surly front Nice Rack arrived at Rassy's yesterday as well. Took a look at it and started the install after getting back home from the Taco ride. I quickly decided that I needed to wait until I was a bit less tired to keep working on it. It took a bit of time, and some reworking of my front fender mounts, but it's mounted, and not moving anywhere for the forseeable future. The rack comes with a dizzying array of mounting hardware. For my install, I used 4 offset brackets, some 3 mm and 2 mm spacers, and the appropriate bolts. I used two longer bolts to remount the brackets for the front fender stays since the rack used the same moubnts. I can definitely feel the extra 3 lbs of weight moving the bike around the garage. Once the back rack arrives, I can get it installed and then load up the panniers and take it out for a good test ride. I also took the time to make some more adjustments to my Brooks B17 saddle. Feels much better now that I'm not sliding down onto the horn so much.

Busy week ahead. Mayor's Annual Ride for Trails on Saturday morning. Fun Hater's Ride Saturday afternoon April's Dirty Century on Sunday. Fit session with DQ on Friday morning and then help with TransIowa through Sunday. Gonna need to keep the coffee pot well stocked this week.

Trail work day

Rode the Monkey with the Bob trailer in tow to do some trail work at Denman's Woods today. There were some problem areas that needed addressing, and with the bodies that showed up, it only took a couple of hours of effort to get things cleaned up, ridable and safe for everyone. Items addressed included bracing a log feature so that it didn't wiggle around, cleaning up an area that had developed too many alternate lines, removing a downed tree, and rerouting a section of trail around an eroded area. Photos I took are here

Got about 2 hours of riding time in today, all of it towing a 13 lb trailer with 30 - 40 lbs of tools in it.