Good weekend

Once I was able to put the job behind me on Saturday, I had a good remainder of the weekend. My former coworker, friend and fellow cyclist Lacey had a camping party to celebrate her birthday on Saturday. She swung by my house and we took off for a relaxing ride to Prairieflower campground near Saylorville Lake while our spouses drove up to the campground. The ride pace was good, the conversation was excellent and the cold road beer on the bench overlooking the prairie was a good way to start the evening. After arriving at the campground we all took a nice 10 mile ride up the bike trail to Big Creek and back before having dinner and drinks. Rick and Jana were waiting for us when we got back and a dinner of grilled asparagus and salmon was soon in our bellys. A campfire, a "few" drinks, and lots of talk rounded out the evening. I took my Salsa La Cruz and loaded everything for the night onto my Bob trailer. I forgot what it was like to pull an extra 40 lbs of stuff. Legs were feeling a bit more tired than I expected.

I got up the next morning around 6 and packed my stuff up as quietly as I could and hit the road. I made my way back towards Greenwood park to help with the first of two IMBCS mountain bike time trials on Sunday. More fun watching people race and talking with everyone afterwards. Between races, Kyle Sedore, Kurt Benson and I strapped a couple of pizzas on the Bob and hit the north half of the Sycamore trail to the start of the second race. The race finished with some music, plenty of beers and a nice schwag give away courtesy of Rasmussen Bike Shop and Kyle's Bikes. I hopped on the La Cruz and made my way home, arriving around 4:30 PM.

A good solid 60+ miles for the weekend, most of it with a loaded trailer in tow, plus good friends, good food and good beer. It would be hard to ask for a better weekend.

Going to be doing it all over again this weekend at CITA's Second Annual Ales and Trails event at Whiterock Conservancy near Coon Rapids. If the weather holds, I'll be riding up to Coon Rapids on Friday if anyone is interested in riding. I'm gonna try an ultralight camping setup with just a seatpost rack, Camelback and a Jandd frame bag to see how well that works out. There will be some gravel involved for sure, so bring a cross or mountain bike.

Cold Ride

Met Kurt, Kyle, Bruce and Taylor out at Big Creek this afternoon to ride the snowmobile trails. 30 minutes of attempting that and we figured out that the snow was not in the right shape for bike riding. We spent the next 90 minutes riding on the roads around the lake, and at some points, on the lake itself. The winds picked up while we were riding and the temperature dropped. By the time we finished up, the winds were blowing at 20 and gusting to 30 and temp had dropped to 7. A good two hour workout, and some good mental training. Meeting Lou, Pete and Pig for an indoor training fest tomorrow morning. Windchills are going to be too low for even this hardy soul to head outside.

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.

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

Saturday = bike day

Met up with Lou, Doug and Maria for a beautiful Saturday morning ride. We left Grounds for Celebration in Beaverdale at 7 AM, wound our way up to Ankeny, and met up with the Lake Country Cyclists. Troy was on his MTB and was the only one that wanted to ride our pace, so our group of 5 proceeded NW out of Ankeny, over to Polk City, down along the west side of Saylorville lake and back towards Sayorville, into DM and back to Beaverdale. 3 hours of riding with the group, plus another hour for me to ride to the start and back from home. Sounds like Pete and Piggy went for a mountain bike ride yesterday. Was a good morning for it. Have barely seen Pete all summer since he's been racing road bikes and I haven't been making TNWC due to volleyball.

Proceeeded over to Rassy's to pick up a chain ring for the Monkey, dropped Conor's old MTB off at the Des Moines Bicycle Collective, chatted with Graham for a bit, and then headed towards Colfax to go to a bicycle swap meet and meet up with a guy to buy a couple of Dahon folding bikes. Also managed to pick up a couple of unmangled fenders for my 39 Colson. Hopefully I can get it put together this fall and over the winter. Came home and cleaned up the better looking of the two Dahons, and everyone took it for a spin. It's just a damn fun bike, even as odd as it looks. The rear three speed hub could use some oil, but other than that, the first one is in good shape considering it's age. If I would have paid $50 for one of them, instead of $50 for the pair, it still would have been a bargain. The second one is going to need some TLC before it's really ridable. Guess it's another winter project.

All three of us rode bikes over to another family's house for dinner and conversation later in the afternoon. They live about a mile or so from us so it made perfect sense to ride over, especially with how nice the weather was yesterday.

Finally a beautiful week

After all of this winter's cold, this spring's rain, and last weeks flooding, we've gotten a reprieve. Temps in the mid to upper 70s during the day and no rain. I finally went 5 for 5 on commuting this week, which was really nice. Four days on the LHT and 1 day on the Paramount. No jerks trying to run me off the road or cut me off on 86th this week. I wonder if they are getting used to the fact that I'm going to be there, and taking my lane? Got a bunch of other "utility" miles in as well. Rode to Sands and back for volleyball on Tuesday, and rode to El Bait Shop for drinks and dinner with the family, and then over to Court Avenue Brewery for dinner and drinks with a bunch of people from Rasmussen's. This was Greg's way of saying thank you for volunteering to help at the Hy-Vee Triathlon this weekend. The ride back from downtown starting at 10 was interesting. I'm not used to being out on a bike that late on a Friday night, especially downtown. I was extra careful about the route that I took home, and the proximity of other vehicles just to make sure nothing bad happened.

Rode down the 62nd street hill to 86th with Kathy this morning. I took the '53 Schwinn so I wasn't tempted to go much faster than she was going. It's an old bike, and it's likely a bit small for me, but I like riding it. Stopped for coffee and a scone for breakfast and then we headed home.

Racing the Johnston Green Days Crit this afternoon. Headed out to cheer on the rest of the Rassy crew and the PRC girls during earlier races. Afterwards, headed to Ankeny to have some food and drinks. Tomorrow is relaxing on heckling hill in the morning and then working the wheel pit for the Pro races at the triathlon,

A good, productive day.

25 miles of urban riding today. Right below freezing this morning, so the ride downtown was interesting. The 25 lbs of tools and cleaning products in my backpack, and the east headwinds made the ride a bit of work. The roads, covered in ice wherever a side street intersected them, required keeping a close eye on things, even riding the Monkey. My change in shorts seems to have paid off in terms of the pain. Have a two to three hour road ride scheduled for tomorrow. Different bike, with a different seat, so we'll see how things go.

Today's work at the Des Moines Bike Collective was very effective. A number of people showed up to volunteer their time and effort to clean up the space. Carpet was ripped up, old furnishings were drug to the curb, and floors were swept and mopped. While the carpet came up, after a bit of effort, the foam that had been adhered to the concrete did not. Thankfully, Carl Voss managed to borrow what I can only describe as "The Hellish Carpet Foam Removing Machine". It weighed about 75 lbs, had a large blade that was as wide as my palm. We turned this thing on and the blade vibrated back and forth somewhat violenty. For the next two hours we proceeded to separate the foam from the floor.

Clean up ended around 2 PM. Afterwards a few of us went to Ritual Cafe for a drink and some discussion. Afterwards, I rode with The Mostly Reverend to Zanzibars and onward towards The Orphanage. A big thank you to the folks at Zanzibar's for supplying us with tasty coffee to keep us working today. The rest of the ride was a warm, uneventful, if somewhat wet, trip home. About 25 miles of riding today, some of it cruising with friends and chatting. It was definitely a good day.