Braketown, Brakecity, BRAKEVILLE

Reckoning with reason...

2011-03-25T06:14:00.000-07:00

"Everything happens for a reason", I HATE that saying. Its a way to say "Gods will" without being too religious, its a polite version of "shit happens". We say it when when we're struggling to find meaning after a tragedy, it would sound like wisdom if it were not so overused. Reasons are hard to come by even though we say everything happens specifically for them. I tend to believe that everything happens in exactly the way it was intended to happen from the time the universe popped into existence, there is NO escape, even if you try to change the inevitable future, any particular result of your efforts of change was going to happen precisely in the order and manner of the original design. Hows that for a reason? The reason I'm thinking about reasons relates directly to my current state of recovery after having broken my leg again (actually, the third time I've broken the SAME leg again). That reason is painfully obvious (or is it?), bad decision making leads to poor outcomes. "Look before you leap" is a much better saying as it implies a certain pre-vision, as opposed to "everything happens for a reason" as a post apocalyptic explanation of the unexplainable. Its at this juncture we need to insert a bit of Darwinism, not really related to Darwin's Origin of Species but implied in the manner of the risk taker's (read: Dumbest) in a given population that will kill themselves BEFORE they have passed on their DNA, consequently stopping that branch of evolution. Were it not for the fact that I grew up (and currently live) in the most topographically BORING section of the world I KNOW I would not be writing this manifesto in this present time. Everything happens for a reason. I'm old enough now to look back in horrified wonder at all the painless results of my (and my peers) escapades. How am I still here? Everything happens for a reason. Injuries heal, scars fade, memory dims. There must be a plan as yet unrevealed, some elusive...reason that some remain unscathed, some get injured, some die, everyday. I can't wait to see how the future unfolds, you already know its pre-ordained and chiseled in stone. I hope I get to understand the reason that everything happens for, while it happens.

Leaves in autumn, with corn (part 2)

2010-09-24T13:49:00.000-07:00

Here it is fall ALREADY, the last time I posted anything I was still reeling from post-snowboarding-winter is my friend-damn I hate summer blues. OK, to recap the summer it was hot, wet, no bike racing (unless you count the Cobble Climb) dreary, damp, and hot, broken bike (a lot), hot, crappy and wet. The Missus and I did run quite a bit this year, and my bones are none the worse for wear. Unfortunately running doesn't "do it" for me like riding does. Too slow maybe. So now what? I'm still playing the waiting game for news from the West, its painfully apparent that there is no shortage of labor right now, and although I know better it seems I have an itch that I'm gonna scratch no matter what. Tick-tock Doc... Oh yeah, Colorado is nice until you find yourself at 13,000 feet and have to answer the call of nature, and although I'm no Boy Scout, mad scrambling thru my pack revealed a whole box of tucks medicated wipes (whew!) I hope the Marmots forgive me. Please don't ask why I had them, just be grateful I did. So I'm rockin a new-new frame and I find myself being a bit cautious but I know its only a matter of time before I'm talking with Santa again. My running shoes got dirty and are no longer bright white and green, but I've been told they're supposed to look like that. Doing some MUCH needed trail work at Dehn's. Waiting for the first fluffy flakes to fall on me, will they be the Crested variety, or man-made?

Weekend fun

2010-06-01T12:41:00.000-07:00

Geode first lap: 46 minutes (after I realized my bike was ready to snap in half...again) Geode second lap: 41 Minutes (after repairs...so close to sub-40) Climbing Rocks: Did a 5.9 for the first time...sweet. Climbing Stones: Finished 2nd overall in the COBBLE CLIMB, 34.5 seconds. "Missed it by that much" as they say.

I fall to pieces...

2010-05-20T06:41:00.000-07:00

I should have known better than to tempt fate but this has been an interesting week to say the least. (NOTE: encrypted text dead ahead) I've been trying to get a rather large and embarrassing monkey off my back for awhile now, and every time I've tried to eradicate this deadly Orangutan it alters my normally pleasant demeanor, in other words I get my GRUMP on. So it was last night, when a perfect storm of circumstances added fuel to that inferno. On the way to Geode my truck reminded me of its pressing need for a new radiator, no harm done and I'll get to it sooner rather than later. I also had not been on the trails since the deluge last week that included at least six inches of rain in a two hour period, Des Moines county and surrounding areas experienced flash flooding of biblical proportions (if you've been on Stoney Hollow road or have seen pics on this blog be advised that right now this road no longer exists) So trying for a 2010 personal best time on flood ravaged trails was foolhardy to begin with but off I went. I've been around long enough to know that holding an 11.5 mph average on ANY trail will get you a top 10 finish in the Sport MTB class, anything over 12 mph average and your in the Expert top 10 hands down. So I'm all anaerobic at 14 mph on the front side when I encounter my first downed tree, I screw up the approach and go ass-over-tea-kettle and bend the crap out of my rear derailleur. 5 minutes of cussing and re-bending commence in ernest as an amused fisherman watches me spit and fume. Oh, I forgot to mention that I've also re-injured my "half pipe" wrist in this melee. Ok, I'm calm again and all is not lost, however the trail has taken a BEATING and has a water carved rut for miles on miles. This is about where I encounter my second downed tree at 20 mph in one of my favorite downhill sections, its about 2 feet high and I can't stop. I lift the front tire to clear it and heave into a bunny-hop attempt at speed, I clear the front but clip the back and I'm now riding a 20 mph endo towards some nice stout Oak trees, GOTTA BAIL QUICK and hit the ground right in front of them. I laid there for awhile in the mud just re-thinking my intended plan for the evening and decided to do a slow ride back to the beach and just enjoy the woods. Oh, thank goodness I got mad at the poor reception and left my Blackberry in the truck cause I would have lost or smashed it twice.

2010-05-17T06:24:00.000-07:00

Its been quite a long time since I've pinned on a race number of any sort. Turns out to be a running race that ended this unusual streak. The Great River Bridge Race was Saturday morning, those 6 miles over the bridge and back included a trip up SNAKE ALLEY in the first mile. Again, course volunteers were calling out times as we crossed each mile marker along the route and when I heard 7 minutes and change after the first mile I knew I was going WAY TO FAST. So I settled in for the long haul. Weather was good cause last year we ran in 30 MPH sustained winds with gusts to 45, not too hot not too cold. I was wearing one of the best running shoes ever made by NIKE (in 1999) and up until 2010 had looked surprisingly good cause they've spent most of that time at the bottom of a seemingly bottomless shoe collection on the front porch but after an hour laced to the feet of someone of POOR running form they self destructed in a mess of dry rotted foam and shredded rubber. I'm absolutely stunned that the little air thingy's in the heels didn't pop. A CLASSIC shoe for a classic race. We'll have to see if this running thing merits any investment in decent running attire or if I should just go barefoot. At the 5 mile mark I was at 53 minutes and I knew there was no way I could finish in under an hour as was my goal (when in reality, this being only the second time I've ever ran this far I was happy to finish at all) I crossed the line at 1 hour 3 minutes, not too bad cause later on it took me 3 hours to climb upstairs to go to bed that night.

Try-FECTA

2010-05-10T07:13:00.000-07:00

Three things that caused me pain this week. First one was running a timed mile. Its been almost a full year since I've run any farther than 50 feet, I dislike running for any reason, but once again I've been drafted into doing the Burlington bridge race. Missus Brakeville has been bitten by the "RUN BUG" big time and has been training alot, she usually runs the front side of Geode from the beach to the Dam and back again (6.4 miles or approx. 10K) while I RIDE the complete trail. SIX FRIGGIN miles of running. Last year I ran the 2.2 for the Bridge run with exactly ZERO miles of training and limped for a week. So, how much could one measly timed mile hurt? Quite a bit actually and it took me exactly 8 minutes and 15 seconds to complete, needless to say I could not go up stairs the next day. It was also the next day I found out I'm signed up for SIX FRIGGIN miles of the bridge run. So with legs of stone I decided to try and run SIX FRIGGIN miles at Geode (just to see if I could do it). I ended up running the entire distance, and it was not all that bad. I will say that running downhill sucks and I look older while I'm doing it, going up feels better and once I controlled my breathing I was enjoying myself...ALOT! scary right? My time, 1 hour and 20 minutes on the nose. Gee I'm glad I trained for this years race and I hope I didn't burn it all up last week. Oh yeah, I also went golfing. Golfing? Seriously? Yeah golfing is sort of an obligation each Mothers day, The other 364 days my clubs gather dust which is OK by me. Maybe someday when I can no longer do fun stuff I'll be a golfer. 1 mile run, 6 mile run, golf. YOU LINT LICKER!! WHAT-THE-FRENCHTOAST is my world coming too? BTW I spun a 44 minute Geode time, so close to sub-40 which is good for me :)

Big Hard Sun

2010-04-22T14:23:00.000-07:00

I have to admit I'm becoming a bit of a phone geek, all the while knowing that I'm only scratching the surface of what "3G" really means (and honestly I don't know or care what 3G means) However, there are a few nice APPLICATIONS (notice I didn't say apps) that I really enjoy. PANDORA is one of them. Its a free inter-web based radio station that plays music based on your favorite song, band, or artist. Reception is sketchy at times (think Geode) but so is regular cell service, but damn its nice to ride with tunes blasting your earballs the whole time. When I'm away on "business" it tracks down anything I need (food, clothing, shelter, booze) and guides me home via GPS, and I can BLAB to my hearts content during all these things. I've added twitter to this blog cause UBERtwitter (currently located in the upper right hand corner, clicky on the X'y) is another of the APPLICATIONS I take advantage of. Most of my tweeting is in code and quite melancholy at best, mostly meaningless but it is kinda fun following others posts in realtime. Good luck to all the TRANS-IOWA riders, you're gonna need it this weekend!) NOTE: I've traveled more miles by bike this month than the last 5 put together :)

Ride the Lightning

2010-04-15T10:46:00.000-07:00

No not the electric chair, actually riding a bike again. While the rest of the cycling world was busy building base miles I was busy making turns, now comes the fun part. How many weeks before I don't get dropped on the Roadie Tuesday group ride? Well the count is 1 & 1. There are a few bright spots though, first one is I don't care as much these days as I used to, dunno why, but its not the end all beat all score sheet of my world as it once was. It may take until september, but I'll get there eventually. The second one is even brighter, by watching what I eat and trying to eat better food I'm headed into spring already below 180 pounds, that in itself is a small miracle. Normally at this time of year I'm just three LBS shy of what I refer to as "the FATBOY club" (200+), so my psuedo diet is going quite well thank you. Oh yeah, ever get that ANNOYING creak during a MTB ride and you just can't find the cause? Well its been officially twice now, ANOTHER broken pivot axle on the Blur. That means I've managed to snap all four of them at one time or another, hey Titanium is light and sexy, however, in its application here I could live with chunky and durable steel. SANTA CRUZ has been very good about getting me the repair parts F.O.C. and I get to learn basic bike mechanics...win/win. Winter seems far removed already cause its 80 degrees in April, I better get my snowboard out of the truck and put away now. :(

Thats COLD!

2010-04-09T09:43:00.000-07:00

Well I chased winter anyway, above is union bowl at Copper. (HOLY SH*T)I dropped off a small cliff and cratered into 5 feet of powder, had a little trouble extracting myself on that one. No injuries to speak of, except that I got stuck for a week in Colorado on business (no really I did) with exactly two changes of clothes. That means I got to be on the slopes during GAPER day. This is the day that Colorado locals harass and annoy everyone from out of state, so I tried to blend in as best I could. To be honest I am ready for warmer weather now, it snowed ALOT everyday I was there, so much in fact I-70 was closed for awhile, with lows in the single digits I needed more layers on the lifts but boarding down was warm enough. I chatted with a guy who was indeed handi-capable on his sit-ski, if you haven't seen one of these up close they are as complex and groovy a machine as it gets. Complete carbon fiber frame, suspension and seat all mounted on a custom built snowboard. I don't know if I'd have the cajones to ride one of these things or not but he looked smoooooth making turns downhill. The cranes are migrating across Nebraska as well. They go north in the summer and south in the winter, those two things are the ONLY two things thing that ever occur in Nebraska (besides camping near the borrow pit lakes by the freeway) WORD: Cautiously optimistic

Spring means a new beginning...

2010-03-29T07:24:00.000-07:00

Geode is about 95% ready to go, just a few mush holes here and there but the hills are rideable. It did take me 53 minutes to complete my first lap of the year though, that will get much quicker as the trail firms up... Dehn's is an absolute mess right now, the middle of the flat section is actually under water as of 3/27, plus our friendly 4 wheelers have created a few spots that are a foot deep of muck so if you see them down there CALL THE FRIGGIN POLICE ASAP and turn em in. I am going to have an interesting week, I will be riding for sure, however, it will not involve anything with wheels...I've studied nuclear science, I love my classes. I gotta crazy teacher who wears dark glasses. Things are going great, and there only gettin better. I'm doing alright, gettin good grades. The futures so bright, I gotta wear shades. I'll explain the relationship of those lyrics and the title to this post in due time kiddies...stay tuned for the next thrilling episode!

When will it end?

2010-02-22T07:21:00.000-08:00

Since opening day on December 12th 2009, we have 24 days of boarding in this season. 24 days of riding snow in all its conditions, REAL powder at -5 below zero, rain soaked slush at 40 above and everything in between (Colorado doesn't count, as that was a solo trip). My body is starting to feel it and I'm wondering where all the weekends have gone but its still going to be a shock when it all ends with the inevitable spring thaw. Last years abrupt ending sucked, one of the instructors I work with remarked "the slopes closed on my birthday, I lost my hobby, hanging with my friends and my job all on the same day". Great present. God knows last years early closure depressed the hell out of me too, I guess I'm just gonna have to get back on the bike and ride it out of my system. The Beach boys wanted an "endless summer", I,m thinking endless winter.

Un-Bike related ponderings

2010-02-17T08:55:00.000-08:00

Gotta love the Winter Olympics, and more importantly Snow sports in general, and even more specifically, Snow Boarding. I can almost identify with the singlespeed 29er crowd in mountain biking, as boarding always seemed to me, to be the "fringe" outcasts doing their own thing and re-inventing how to ride the snow. Big pants, big coats, big risks, hiding behind gangsta bandanas and the obligatory Oakley's, throwing themselves off cliffs just for the flight time and basically living large. As boarding becomes "mainstream" (forgive me for using that term because I'm employed to do just that every weekend) theres a part of me that would like to hold on to its origins. A little childish I know, but seeing boarders in tight sponsor laden spandex is akin to watching a NASCAR driver change hats six times during the victory interview *YUCK* Case in point is Lindsay Jacobellis, I'll let you google that one cause the first thing you're gonna read is how she showboated herself out of a gold medal in '06 while heading to the finish line. If you saw her DQ last night out of the medal round, I couldn't help but feel extremely sad for her cause the first thing thrown in her face is the 06 fiasco. I'll make a bet that some of her most vehement critics have NEVER ratcheted a set of bindings to their boot and made one F***KING turn on a board let alone raced one against the best in the world. I would have jumped from the couch in tears of joy had she won, styled it with a grab and given the media two fist fulls of middle finger while sliding across the line. A small and not too subtle reminder that just because boarding has made it all the way to the Olympics does NOT mean its nearly as civilized and tame as its apres ski cousins sipping a 1996 Bordeaux bistro style slopeside. Maybe 2014 for Lindsay, maybe never, maybe it really doesn't matter. She'll still be riding while all the couch surfing potato's sneer at what they'll never understand. Its not about them.

Trippin

2010-02-03T07:45:00.001-08:00

Welcome to Copper Mountain Colorado, we'll be cruising at an altitude of 12,000 feet this afternoon down to 8,000 feet by this evening. Todays weather is perfect sunshine, no wind and fresh powder from last nights 4 inches. Your quads will scream bloody murder as the runs are 20 times longer and steeper than you've experienced so far this year. I highly recommend trying the double black runs down the Union bowl, how in the hell can moguls get made on a 45 degree slope? Why in the hell would you want to try and snowboard down them? Why not? This is the view from the top of Coppers 22 foot tall "SUPERPIPE". I told myself I am not in the least interested in this feature. Why should I risk it? Hell I'm still nursing a couple of cracked ribs from 4 weeks ago. I don't have a helmet either. My skilz don't qualify. My right rotator cuff may be damaged beyond repair. Missus Brakeville strongly suggested I DO NOT ATTEMPT!!!! So I didn't do it (at least not the FIRST day) By the second day the overwhelming urge to add to my list of injuries was TOO great. First run down was sweet, I noticed that TV does NOT do justice to just how HARD the surface is (note to self, make sure your edges are tuned BEFORE you try this again). A couple of lame 180's is all I could throw, but I was unscathed and grinning. Now lets hit it with some AMPLITUDE, needless to say most of the swelling in my left wrist is gone already! I did recover my hat, glasses, goggles and camera after the dizzy spell went away. I'm sure the onlookers were entertained and the results of my second run may have persuaded those contemplating a go at the pipe to avoid injury as well, so it was kind of a public safety visual aid that may have saved lives. Hmmm, I wonder if Snowstar will let me build a mini-pipe there :)

Workin for a living

2010-01-04T06:01:00.001-08:00

Me and the Missus on a powder day. Me working hard with a future shredder. Poaching runs at starrs cave when I'm not at work (hiking for my turns) If you want to wierd your neighbors out, build a three foot kicker in your front yard and practice doing a backside 360 for a couple hours. (ask me how I know) I haven't had the nerve to throw it at work yet cause I'm nursing some bruised ribs but SOON, very soon. :)

First Tracks

2009-12-08T05:42:00.000-08:00

The storm of the century is on its way. Ski Snowstar opens this weekend. I call first tracks. And thats a good thing (Martha).

The Happy Mutant

2009-12-07T05:45:00.000-08:00

I've been meaning to post this for awhile, when in Burlington, stop in at our newest (and only) OUTDOOR ADVENTURE store THE HAPPY MUTANT and get your fix on. More stuff is added every day. Click the linky in "clain links below to keep up to speed.

I HATE GREEN

2009-12-03T05:46:00.000-08:00

The pics are really bad cell phone photos of My REAL job. Its strange looking at the actual terrain when its dry ground, you need to imagine 6 feet of snow covering everything. We had our first Instructors meeting last night and its supposed to get butt-wrenching cold in the next couple of days so my fingers and toes are crossed. ITS TIME TO SHRED, Fred.

Turkey's are so misunderstood

2009-11-25T11:57:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving; To the benevolent entity in control of the entire universe, we all tend to bitch a lot, but here is an attempt to rectify our ungrateful nature that exists for the other 364 days. It's a mere happenstance, a chaotic twist of evolutionary chance, a few extra random molecules wound into our DNA are all that separates us from worms, to being able to see, hear, experience and dream our lives away in relative comfort. A species that no longer survives by tooth and nail, but actually changes its environmental conditions to suit our own evolutionary shortcomings. I'm thankful that I'm not naked, boneless and blind on a cold and wet sidewalk, almost hypothermic and all the while still slowly succumbing to the invisible ultraviolet radiation streaming through the cloud cover. Unable to speak, shriek, or change the circumstances whereby one meets the ultimate fate of every living thing...alone and incredibly anonymous.

Leaves in Autumn, with corn...

2009-11-23T05:35:00.000-08:00

The "narrows", Keep Right go's without sayin. Sweet bypass of Single track goodness (note the mush down below) I started calling this section "SLUGS" cause I found about 10 empty 12 gauge shells during its construction. Heres what they've been shootin at, meet Junior. Nice Buck but theres also "Big Daddy" who's half again as big with what looks like an Oak growing out of his skull, he only comes out at night and he's quite camera shy...I can't imagine why? I need a better camera, or some photography classes. If you ask anyone, and myself included, fall is the most favored season. Autumn in the Midwest makes living here almost bearable. Dehn's is no exception, its odd that no matter how much rain we get the trail is still as hard-packed as a sidewalk with one proviso, it does get about a 1/2" of slimy, slippery mud puddin on top, which is similar to riding on ice topped with snot. Happiness is a dirty bike (and I whine about going through cassettes and chains too fast Ha!). While other trails around the area turn into bogs that can reach the depth of your hubs, if you're willing to get spackeled, Dehn's is pretty much OK until the frost heaves in spring start.

Almost time...

2009-11-21T12:55:00.000-08:00

Close enough to start wishing for some snow! Check out the link to My REAL Job. Its actually a great time and as I progress in this sport its becoming increasingly evident I need to start wearing protective gear. Its getting colder and I've been practicing my Snowboard OLLIES in the living room, which by the way is a never ending source of amusement for Missus Brakeville. I tend to get a little too excited about boarding, for instance, I had one young student last year who's Mother had dressed in FIVE FREAKIN LAYERS of winter gear. Sometimes I take it for granted that me being fairly OLD, people should have NO problem keeping up with my lesson speed, however, even in the 10 degree cold this poor kid started turning a bright shade of red, then a ghostly white, and promptly threw up all over the bunny hill. After many apologies to his parents (who were really cool BTW)and the removal of a couple layers from the Lad to keep from overheating, I slowed the pace WAAAYYY down and and made my exhuberance level matches my students capabilities. Live and Learn :) I may even try to Ski this year, but I don't want to jack my knees up any more than they already are. C'mon POWDER!!!!!!!

Dehn's and Deer's

2009-11-16T08:50:00.000-08:00

"TEAM TITANIC" yes thousands of people died in the cold water in 1912, however, this time it was a happy ending Go jump in the lake, much warmer at this years POLAR PLUNGE than last year. Mama don't care unless you talk, then they FREAK! Thanks to our Local Bicycle shop BICKELS, I was able to spend the entire day Saturday blowing the leaves off Dehn's trails. Its a pretty long walk carrying the industrial sized leaf blower they have but its worth the effort cause you can actually SEE the trail now, especially at night. I talked with one of the land owners as well (he thought I was a four wheeler when he heard 4 hours of leaf blowing) Really nice guy who just purchased 11 more acres of Dehn's, hates four wheelers but likes us bikers. You'll be seeing more "no tresspassing" signs in the future but he is specifically targeting the wheeler crowd. If you see him make sure you thank him for letting us maintain and ride trails on his property. Next up I'm going to get rid of the WIDE bridge the wheelers are/were using to get around the main loop and a more biker/hiker bridge will be installed in-line with the flow on that hill.

Flash...cold off the presses

2009-10-30T14:02:00.000-07:00

Well, strictly speaking the young'ns out there may not even know what a "press" is(was). I've been riding alot, and when I say alot for me its alot, which means I'm destroying stuff. For some reason I go thru cassettes, chain rings and chains at an almost even 6 month interval. Damn they're expensive to replace, and I've tried EVERY chain lube out there, currently its ROCK-N-ROLL blue (cause I'm SO cool) This stuff seems repel dirt and grime the best I've seen. Hell I even had to replace the pulleys on the rear deraillure (sp?) as there were NO discernable teeth left on either the upper or lower. All these components worked wonderful in the relatively dry trails at home, but when it got wet and muddy at Farmdale (I-74 Series finale) they conspired together in an ORGY of chainsucking violence. So bad that I was using my XT chain to cut through my chainstay, ripping off the groovy-but-absolutely-worthless-bling thing thats meant to protect the nice carbon underneath. Then my bottom bracket spit all its ball bearings out, not that this was a shock seeing as its two years old, I must say that I'm impressed with outboard bearing designs. Replaced with a Chris King BB, if its half as good as my six year old headset I'll be happy. Oh, I also snapped two (upper and Lower) titanium pivot bolts on the BLUR...nice...If you've ever had to drill a 15mm titanium bolt/pivot out of a carbon frame you'll know this is easier said than done. Replacements from Santa Cruz were free and quickly sent, however, they've went to Stainless Steel on the lower pivot...hmmmm, me thinks I'm not the first to experience this issue. Other than MY drivetrain problems and broken pivots I can't complain about the new bike too much, its stiff and light, climbs pretty well and makes a big hit nice and soft (btw I snapped those two pivots climbing believe it or not) So, on with the early winter riding, the lights are on the bike, I'm freaking out the local Deer herd, and am STILL patiently waiting for snow....

Its all over...

2009-07-27T11:48:00.000-07:00

But the CRYING...Contador wins the Tour, calls Lance a JAGBAG and a crappy teammate. I say, bring on 2010 and Team Radioshack, no matter what you feel about Lance Armstrong you gotta admit he looked "pretty good for an old fart". And since cycling seems to eat their own, say what you will about Lance but I'm sure VS. tv likes a 50% larger viewing audience, yeah I know, they should've called it "all LANCE, ALL the time" but cripes its AMERICAN cycling on the tube. Don't tell me Ventoux didn't stir you're climbing legs a little?? Maybe??? Speaking of JAGBAGS, its seems my best buddy Greg Lemond has figured out mathematically how Contador MUST be cheating because of his reluctance to talk about his VO2 max as it pertains to climbing the Verbier...Gee Greg, you're right again! Nobody will ever be as good as you were, or as CLEAN as you were. All Greg needs to do is come up with his own rubber wrist band and I'll buy two of them cause he is SO "then". RAGBRAI finished up in Burlington this weekend, pretty cool to see it happen. The weather they had this year was awesome. When I get older I might try it, if nothing more than to answer the first and always question someone will inevitably ask when I reveal my true cycling identity. WOO HOO for IOWA! Summer's almost gone and I'm already dreaming about fresh powder, obviously wishing my life away....

Colorado is cool

2009-07-22T11:08:00.000-07:00

How much stuff can you cram into a Jeep? Everything but the climbing gear, it had to be sacrificed for the bike stuff. Everyone was flashing thier brights at me, must've been settin a little low in the rear, and with 5 people inside the poor little truck climbed the 6 mile 7.5% grade of Monarch pass like Cadel Evans...SLOWLY :) North fork of the South Arkansas river outside of Salida, water temp? c-o-l-d! about 20 yards from the tents. we used it instead of the cooler, and, some previous campers left me a couple bottles of suds! SWEET! Its nice going to sleep listening to the white water flowing by, unless you have to pee during the night. We were in Bear country, apparently WE taste like chicken, but all we saw were sheep. I would have liked to see a bear (from a distance) but echoing my son, "my Daddy didn't bring no gun" so maybe its better we didn't. Angel of Shavano campground (9100 feet up), I could get used to it. we had the best weather window, 70 degrees during the day and 40 at night with nary a drop of rain. Mrs. Brakeville says Bear Grylls is full of shit!! We DID have a fire courtesy of BIC, cause raw SMORES are just wrong. There is nothing like a pine fueled camp fire to cleanse the soul. The Colorado trail, leading to the Angel of Shavano trailhead. This is open to bikes as well, and descending the trail is FAST and sketchy, the open wounds on my shin have healed nicely. Obviously there are a few hike-a-bike sections that can't be cleared no matter how fast you hit them! The view from 13,010 feet up 14,299 foot Mt. Shavano. I noticed my heartbeat in my eardrums, wierdy. 50mph winds and a desire for O2 kept us from knocking this off our list but we'll bag it soon enuff. Above is Hartman Rocks near Gunnison, granny gear up, big ring down. Can't wait for the next time. Oh, I actually raced the Scott County short track race, gee, who knew that these were so intensely paced? Duh! I finished on the lead lap so its all good.

RUN FORREST!!!!!

2009-05-18T09:27:00.000-07:00

Running. I heard a comedian comment about runners, he said "nobody likes 'em, they're all skinny and in great shape!" George Carlin said "running isn't a sport, ruuning is a way to get someplace faster than walking". Running for me has always been painfull, maybe because I do it so infrequently, or perhaps because it shakes loose the 30 extra pounds on my gut like jello in a baggie. The Missus and I volunteered to help at the registration for Burlington's Bridge Run on Saturday, all we had to do was hand out pre-registered packets to the racers (and listen to the inevitable jock-snots whine about everything from the free tee-shirt size to the course itself, I think every race promoter wonders why these types of people even show up if not to flap their gums and bitch). For our efforts we scored a free entry into the race WOO HOO! There is NO WAY I'd run six miles unless a Grizzley was behind me, or maybe if a passle of Bigfoots attack me at night in the woods and steal my bike, so we both opted for the 2.2 mile version, and I can tell you the last YEAR in which I've run farther than 1 mile was 2004. Be that as it may, my only goal was to RUN the entire 2.2 miles, even going up snake alley or into the 35 mile per hour sustained headwind on the return across the bridge, I would continue to do my best impression of a "run". At the 1 mile mark they were yelling out the times, my first mile? 11 minutes, 26 seconds. DUDE, at that pace I could complete in under a half hour! So across the bridge we go with the wind at our backs, not too bad at the turn, the REAL runners will continue on to get their six.("not I" said the sly Fox) I drafted a 70 year old guy I caught on the bridge while we were buffeted by the killer headwindn, and once we passed the middle of the bridge and were on the downhill side, I hit the gas and passed him! (I'm so ashamed) Anyway, I finished at 25 minutes and 9 seconds, well under the half hour I had thought it would take me. I must confess my running shoes were purchased sometime in the last century, if memory serves 1998. They look brand new, but my feet are fatter or something cause they don't fit very well. My toes hurt, my thighs are mush, and every time I sit down now I wonder if they will support my weight when I stand again. I may have even had a little fun...running.

Dirty little secrets...

2009-05-14T05:35:00.001-07:00

Santa Cruz Blur XC Carbon...BIKEGASM!!! 4.4 lbs total The secret is I really don't know jack when it comes to bike mechanics, so nows the time to learn. A thank you goes out to my LBS for loaning me some tools I don't have. Is it bad when theres parts left over? Almost done, "Mr. T" to the rescue, cause I didn't want to even attempt shift cables. I got NO skilz! Thank you SIR! He then went on to diagnose that my rear wheel is ready to split in half and handed me a spoke wrench. *gulp* Old and new. New bike is 24 lbs. total. That might not sound so great but its two lbs. lighter than before and I'm running a list of heavier albeit stronger components. (read cheaper to replace as well) XTR cassettes last about 9 months before the teeth are gone and at 300 bucks a pop FUGETABOUTIT. If I was REALLY worried about weight I'd consider dropping a few LBS. off MY enlarged rear end, and thats basically free. Dirty secret number two? I have NOT been able to ride my new bike more than 20 feet due to work and friggin rain. I'm almost insane...in the membrane...insane in th...well you understand.

Its not the years, its the mileage

2009-04-30T13:48:00.000-07:00

I'll be saying goodbye to an old and very dear friend next week. In 2001 TREK introduced the FUEL full suspension bike to be had in different groupo combo's, at the time I bought the middle of the pack FUEL 90. My first real bike in almost 20 years. And what an awesome bike, it made me a rider again, it compelled me to actually RACE and compete in a very tough sport. It has transformed my body and spirit, like a lever action RED-RYDER BB gun at Christmas, I dreamed about XC greatness, and when I'm not riding it faithfully I can feel it in my soul. The only component left from the original bike I bought in 2001 was the seat post, and only then because it has permanently welded itself inside the carbon seat tube on my current frame. Too many high powered car washes I guess (always keep your shaft greased they say). TREK has been kind to me as well, as I have broken two main triangles in both aluminum and carbon and two swing arms, I've replaced them with the latest TREK had to offer, primarily SEXY carbon fiber goodies. Three front shocks, two frame shocks, six seats, four handle bar and grip combos, five different cranks, six cassettes, two sets of shifters, brakes, and God knows how many tires filled with GALLONS of STANS. But alas, TREK can not undo what almost 20,000 miles of abuse has wrought on ten year old full suspension swing arm technology, EVERY pivot point on this bike is wallowed out in both the frame and swing-arm, almost every stress point is now showing little stress fractures where the top coat of carbon weave is flaking off. If I turn left, the back half of my bike now leans right, creaking and groaning with the strain. There are literally coke can shims installed to take up the slack on the main pivot, whose slide bushings long ago have joined together and eaten into the aluminum inserts on the main triangle. Where today they use sealed cartridge bearings, ten years ago TREK used plastic bushings (I've replaced them all at least five times that I can remember). I've had first place finishes and last places finishes, I've pulled off some amazing saves and had some absolutely horrendous wrecks. This bike has been ridden in the mountains, in the desert, fast, slow, dry, sloppy, cold, hot and every condition in between, and I'm guessing over 1,000 laps (at least) of Dehn's woods. It has earned its retirement and then some, but I've said before I am a predictable creature of habit and change is something I despise so this frame will remain on my wall not as merely a bike, but as an example of real art, a sculpture formed in carbon from yesteryear...Next week Mr. FED-EX should be delivering a replacement frame from a different manufacturer, we'll see how much bike tech. has changed in a decade, cause its got some mighty big shoes to fill...Stay tuned.

Tranquility

2009-04-22T06:46:00.000-07:00

M I S S I S S I P P I spells relaxation

And just what do YOU do?

2009-04-02T20:17:00.000-07:00

Its a question I've had to answer before. If you've ever experienced the joy of interviewing for the job you already have you'll know what I'm talking about. In our current economic climate its to be expected I guess, but the first one was a surreal nightmare. I have the feeling I'm going to do it all over again next week so I thought I'd have a little fun with it. Feel free to help me edit the following job description, I look forward to any helpful comments or constructive criticism(s). Lets see...At any given time I may be occupied with customer service, engineering, reception, purchasing, selling, quality, psychiatry, truancy, discipline, training or buying outdoor crap off e-bay. I administer pay, I dock pay. Simultaneously understanding and overpowering, I could be delivering or driving, directing or designing, decreeing or deciding, debating or denying, detached, engaged, enraged, enlightened, enthused or completely oblivious to everything or anyone within the building. I talk fast, I work fast, I take my time, I hurry up, and yes once in awhile yes means no and vice versa. I'm a communicator, a fabricator, a moderator and prognosticator, pliable, rigid and open to suggestion know matter how stupid it sounds. I program, promise, pander, push, plead, parade, parlay, promote, placate, pacify, provide, plan, and sometimes piss people off. I'm powerful and powerless pivoting on pointless if you'll pardon the pun. I've screwed stuff in, I've screwed stuff out, down and definitely up, at the very least I'm consistent. I'm grounded on a high perch. I have to sense the senseless, help the hopeless, guide the godless, buy the worthless, live off the kindness, and even use the useless if absolutely necessary. I'm all about safety too, don't stick your other hand in the machinery "Lefty", do not use a fork in the toaster "Electra", right foot gas, right foot brake, its the same one right? Watch your step, look up and live, look out below. Keep an eye out really doesn't mean that. The life you save may be your own, buckle up, lock out tag out unless of course we need it. Poison will poison you even if its only a little poisonous, don't play Russian roulette during break time; especially with an auto-loader, please don't stare at the arc welder, pretend that was your head, what do you mean what do I mean pretend? Band-aids may not staunch arterial bleeding. I have the equivalent of, and the experience to get certified as an MD, PHD, CPR, FR, CIA, SPC, ESQ, RX, DOT, USDA, OSHA, SAE, BBC, MSNBC, XP, MP, VD, BFD, WTF, and OMFG put together(LOL). As you have already surmised I truly am a unique individual just like everybody else, and I am the perfect candidate for my own position, and I can assure you this paradigm of behaviour will continue throughout my tenure, if you so choose to keep me in your employ. P.S. Wheres my bone-us?

The more things change...

2009-03-20T06:22:00.000-07:00

The more they stay the same? Not really, If I said I've ridden a total of 200 miles since January 1st 2009 it would normally be out of character for a "cyclist" of my caliber (rrrrrright). But it is a true statement; however, 170 of those miles have been put on in the last 6 days, and its not too terribly hard to imagine how out of shape I am. Sure my legs are a little sore, yeah I have no endurance yet, but what I was NOT prepared for is HOW MUCH MY ASS HURTS. Every bump in the road has become a new level of pain. I'll never take for granted that saddle time is not just how far or fast you can go, there is also an ass-time-build-up-to-it factor involved. I may (will) be wearing TWO pairs of bib shorts for this weekends riding. Obviously This is the first year I can remember being so attached to winter snow and boarding, I can ride a bike regardless of the weather so there isn't an abrupt "end" to my cycling season. Spring temps. in the 70's and rain ended my Snowboarding period-point-blank. This sort of instant change in my schedule is not something an OCD'd creature of habit like myself tolerates very well, kinda like a polar bear without ice, I can't adapt to my new enviroment without a certain amount of crankieness...No wonder Bears get pissed and eat people from time to time. I've been accused of changing sports or activities too often. But I really think if I had the $$$$$$$$, I'd chase winter all the way to the southern hemisphere in search of powder. The flip side is some of my left, and ALL of my right rotator cuff(s) in my shoulder sockets are shredded beyond healing, maybe a couple of months away from slamming my old body into the ground would help this situation...naw!

Cross Training...maybe?

2009-02-10T06:54:00.001-08:00

Welcome to Monarch Mountain Colorado! The temp. is a balmy 50 degrees and its a KAVU day, Klear above, view unlimited, add in runs that approach a mile in length and SEND IT!...I'm thinking about dusting off my bike someday but right now I'm PRAYING for more snow and cold. A perfect February get-a-way. This is near the top of Monarch's "K2 organic terrain park", about three hundred yards of 45 degree slope into a 25' tall kicker. It took me three times just riding by it before I actually had the nerve to hit this jump, the first time I almost didn't have enough speed to make it up the verticle wall. After a couple of succesfull hits, I had to quit because the Ski patrol was evac-ing an injured skier, kinda sobering but this thing was too good to pass on. Also had a buuch of smaller jumps, log rides, rails and various other ways to commit suicide by board and I spent an entire day trying em all, free adrenaline and I escaped with no "major" injuries, SWEET! (edit: I DID bust my ass on a stoopid rail grind, but I healed quick cause all the kiddies were watching, can you say IBUPROPHEN?) Top-o-the world Ma! Things become much clearer at 12,000 feet, hey look, you can see Telluride about 100 miles away! Nary a cornfield in sight either. The Missus and I at the Lodge, three days of solid boarding make your quads SCREAM. I don't know if it translates to riding a bike but I hope it stays winter for a long time.

Those who can't do...

2009-01-20T09:07:00.000-08:00

TEACH! I'll be testing this week to become...a SNOWBOARD instructor! Woo-hoo, can you say "comped" for next year? Now, there is no way that I was chosen for my MAD SKILZ, I was asked to teach because of the fact that I'm reliable (read OLD). Why not get paid to do what you like? I've got a groovy new Board coming AND I'll get a name tag that says "MATTHEW" on it...SWEET. I can tell you that as I age my recuperation powers have ebbed somewhat, so after this weekends two days of marathon "shadowing", basically following a 15 year old kid downhill doing switch 180's and ollie-ing over obstacles my body is SORE, but its great polymetric moves that will either harden my bones or break them outright. Next up, mastering the "butterbox" and 50/50 railgrind. How much do you suppose AFLAC will cost me?

If you should go skating on thin ice...

2008-12-29T06:00:00.000-08:00

This is from the "Polar Plunge" at Lake Geode, water temp 42 degrees...cold. This is from the "Flint Creek Flop" water temp 32 degrees...really cold! It wasn't that I had a near death experience as it was only chest deep, but I can tell you that there was mild panic, followed by nervous laughter...the bike is OK, but my cat-eye may be toast. If the horse throws you get back on quickly, hell I was already soaked how much more wet could I get? I like Starrs cave, it almost looks like anywhere but Iowa. I wonder if Pugleys float?

Moon shadow

2008-12-15T05:44:00.000-08:00

Lighting courtesy of the Suns radiation reflected off the moon. Keeps Bigfoot away to! Obviously, the Moon at perigee seems 30% brighter, cause its about 18,000 miles closer to the earth. "We don't need no stinkin lights"! Night riding in Dehn's. BTW theres a 12 point Buck that really doesn't like to share the trail, I got the feeling he was pissed every time I lapped him

Long time comin'

2008-11-20T14:18:00.000-08:00

WHY SO SERIOUS?

Cripes I've been out so long I forgot my password. This saturday I'll be one year older, I'm celebrating by jumping into lake Geode. My company is putting up the cash to help the Special Olympics .soiowa.org/Events/PolarPlunges/tabid/122/Default.aspx so I gotta take the plunge. After that its on to Burlingtons version of http://www.thehawkeye.com/print/Cranksgiving-Food-Drive-111508>CRANKSGIVING we'll see if I can pull off the double.

All things to everyone?

2008-08-18T13:51:00.000-07:00

Random UTAH photo...

I have enjoyed reading the blogos this summer, everyone doing their own thing and living life. there are a couple on my "must read" list; Jills Sub-Acrtic journal being one of my favs cause she is an excellent writer. I've always wanted (still want) to see Alaska for myself but thanks to Jill, Juneau is NOT on my "hit" list, too much friggin rain. Denali? you bet! Wrangle St. Elias? In a heartbeat! Cordova? Show me to the Helipad for some fresh powder goodness! She's tougher than I could ever be. I like reading Kerkoves stuff, mainly for the race info from out west cause its stuff that sounds like fun, but I don't think I can even ride 100 miles let alone race it. Case in point, a lot of folks give a daily update about their condition "hey, my legs felt light and snappy today". My legs always feel lethargic and dead, except last saturday. For some reason I had endurance (holy sh*t?!), after 20 miles of Dehn's I still felt the need to go further. So i thought why not ride to Geode, do a lap on the trails, and home again. So heading out of town I'm showing off by track standing at a red light on Roosevelt ave. Green light, I'm still in the big ring so I kill it off the line and proceed to snap ALL FOUR CHAIN RING BOLTS, now I'm dodging cars trying to find my sprokets and enough pieces to get to my LBS. Nick fixed me up and I'm on my way out of town, 65 miles later I'm home again. Note to self, you're OUT of Butt Butter! Nice day, about 5 1/2 hours on the mountain bike (repair time included) but a nice change from my normal 1 1/2. I think I may actually *gasp* race a bike again soon. I never know how fast/slow I am till I meet other riders around town (its SLOW btw) but it still makes for good times on a bike and thats what counts. Cyclo-cross isn't too far away, and if my calf muscle stays attached to my fibula I just might make a couple.

Saturday is Trail Maintenance Day

2008-06-26T06:12:00.000-07:00

I need a chainsaw, and a CAT D-9! The good news is even with yesterdays rain the trails are PACKED solid like a dirt sidewalk...a few greasy spots but all in all ready to rock. anybody have a 5 gallon bucket of DEET?

Its READY

2008-06-23T05:59:00.001-07:00

Well, first things first. Obviously the Mississippi is doing its best to reclaim its floodplain, while us mere mortals are doing our best to stop it. Its WINNING. None-the-less I think it may be a good idea to remove some of these levees once and for all, easy to say cause I don't live there I know, but in the end the river will do it for us. On a side note, while I was filling sandbags I ran into TATERS golden brown friend. Talk about sandbaggin HA HA HA, thats a joke Nick!

Finally its ridable, the new trail around all the sewer mess. I think I have spent over 50 hours building this trail, benchcutting the WHOLE thing in. Its still a little spongy and needs packed but it takes 26 seconds from start to finish. My reward to work ratio is KILLING ME.

Utah revisited

2008-06-18T07:09:00.000-07:00

This is the MAZE district of Canyonlands. I thought about giving a detailed account about what we went thru to get here, road conditions and a list of items that a person NEEDS TO STAY ALIVE in what has been called "The most remote spot" in the lower 48 states...but you'll just have to go yourself because no amount of words can describe this place...

HOLY F******ING SH*T

2008-06-03T09:35:00.000-07:00

Saw this on MSNBC, drunk driver hit the peloton in Mexico. What a sobering image, all you riders out there be particularly careful this year...please!

I'm literally number 2...still

2008-05-30T07:47:00.000-07:00

Moraniec climbs to win Burlington native claims victory in Cobble Climb. By GARY HADENFELDTsports@thehawkeye.comAfter falling just 3.2 seconds short of overall victory last year, Burlington native Dominic Moraniec claimed the top prize in this year's running of the Cobble Climb event at Saturday's Snake Alley Criterium.Moraniec pedaled up the two-block stretch of Cobblestone Alley -- the initial block of brick and the final block of rough cobblestones -- in 38.98 seconds, which was 1.98 seconds faster than overall runner-up Matt Brakeville.Moraniec unseated two-time defending champion and three-time winner Dennis Grelk of Donnellson. Grelk's bid for a third straight overall title was dealt a blow by mechanical failure. Grelk had his chain snap just 20 feet from the finish line at the top of the alley.Brian Abbott exhibited the true spirit of the event, his dogged determination carrying him to a third-place finish. Abbott, a last-minute entrant, competed in jeans and a T-shirt and rode his road bike. Finding the going tough on skinny tires, he ended up carrying his mount and running up the final portion of the hill.

Bridge to no where...for now

2008-05-19T05:25:00.000-07:00

First, you need to move a ton of dirt by hand to make a 55 degree slope ridable to the gully.

Pick a suitable location for the bridge, in this case a large albeit dead tree (the top is missing since the last storm) but perfectly lined up to the "trail"

Fabricate some HUGE trusses for support (yes I used a level to install them)

Frame it up BABY

Tree Hugger or wood Gnome???

Screw in the decking

35 plus feet of hillbilly superstructure, this new bypass will skirt the mess down by the creek, four wheelers won't fit on it, and it will flow like honey WOO HOO!

Random Kayak photo, I hear Banjo's playing somewhere???

I'm NOT the Lone Ranger afterall...

2008-05-06T08:09:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking about this summer alot in terms of racing my bikes, obviously more thinking than riding or racing at this point, and I guess there are more than a few of us out in BLOGLAND that have decided to cut back on racing time this year. Everybody knows the $$$'s are tight, buying gas sucks anyway, and more than a twinge of family time guilt comes into play in regard to where a person spends their time and money. I'm already thinking of summer projects I HAVE TO COMPLETE, like repainting all the trim on my windows, fixing a million little things around the house, hell I think nothing of raking 5 miles of trails in Dehn's but I need to rake my yard once in awhile as well. I'll still get to a couple of races this year but nothing compared to the last 4 or 5 years. I am going to concentrate on the trails too, I'm even entertaining the idea of organizing some Mountain Bike rides for the YMCA, they have access to some of the best trails right behind their back door and don't even realize the potential. Now that school for the Kiddos is winding down I may even get to ride on Tuesdays again, which is going to be tuff cause I've had a secret affair with with CAKE this winter (well PIE too) but I LIKE CAKE, and cake likes me cause I'm still carrying most of what I've eaten. Its like that commercial where the guy lost his expense report so the accountant just looks at the guys butt and exclaims "HO CHEE MOMMA" yeah... Kayaking is fun, NEED WHITEWATER.

Something new...

2008-04-10T07:41:00.000-07:00

Flint Creek during a flash flood WOO HOO!

Ok I'll admit I had a Downhill bike, I got it CHEAP but it was absolutely worthless around these parts with very little chance of encountering an actual Downhill run/ride. GOD BLESS e-bay cause its now in the hands of someone who really wanted it. The proceeds from this sale were used to purchase two Kayaks, yeah I said KAYAKS. Always wanted em just never pulled the trigger on one till now. I see a shift in my outdoor pursuits as of late, yes I'm still riding but this year may be a little different as the Family and I spread our activities a little more across the board. Variety IS the spice of life...

Dryin the Dirt

2008-03-27T07:10:00.000-07:00

*NEWS FLASH* Dateline 3/26/08, Burlington Iowa...Dehn's is firming up pretty good right now, the trail report from last nights ride confirms that you no longer have to pedal on the downhill sections. I think (sometimes) that barring any sort of freeze and thaw cycle from here on out, a rider could get a good base workout in for the upcoming "SYLVAN ISLAND STAMPEDE" scheduled 4/13/08. In other news I must announce its OFFICIAL, "I do not like MAXXIS tires", however, I WILL run them down to the cords anyway unless of course I wash out one too many times and destroy more equipment than I normally do. Back on subject there are a number of fallen trees that I'll get to this weekend (if I can borrow a chainsaw) who knew there could be so many dead and dying trees in the woods, and with the soil off-trail so loose, those rootless rotten ones are falling at a record pace...

Chaos theory part 1

2008-03-25T07:18:00.000-07:00

Since I am a creature of habit or incredibly lazy, I tend to stick with what I know. Case in point is tires, specifically mountain bike tires. For the last three years at least, I purchase a new set of Conti explorer pro supersonics each spring and run them down to slicks by december. Hardpack, softpack, mud, snow, gravel, pavement, slickrock, makes no difference to me at all. Besides the lazy part, I hate changing tires cause I've run STANS conversion goo for the same amount of time, that, and prolly the most important reason is cause I know these tires actually work with STANS goo. Back when I gave a rats ass about the weight of my XC bike I was running Conti Twister supersonics and at 340 grams per tire and 1.95 wide, a light and quick combo, HOWEVER, I had a really BAD experience with this set up not once but twice. I coated myself with white latex on the trails, and coated the inside of my truck after a tire completely blew off the rim. Explorer supersonics are a little beefier at 440 grams but the tread is larger, but riding em non-stop gives you a perfect tread depth about july. This year I'm trying something old yet new to me, MAXXIS igniters + STANS goo + 1.95 (again). If you've been to Guitar Teds blog you've read about his experience with Stans stuff, I'm kinda having the same issue with leak down but its getting better with each ride, I can already report that front wheel traction is NOT as good as I had hoped, but we'll see as the trails firm up...Speaking of which, Dehn's will have a new route around the sewer repairs of last summer, cause right now and every time it rains this section turns into an unrideable SWAMP...Stay tuned!

Come again..?

2008-03-13T13:21:00.000-07:00

I heard Scott Murphy is in YELLOW at the TOUR DE TAIWAN, or maybe its John Murphy. Regardless I bet they're both from IOWA...

Bridges of Des Moines County

2008-03-11T05:22:00.000-07:00

Not really a romantic DRAMA, but more like the condition of such...You can get across this bridge on HWY 99, however, if one attempts it wearing bike shoes and booties it becomes a gymnastic balance beam on banana peals...ask me how I know!

An Ode to WINTER...

2008-03-10T05:29:00.000-07:00

I don't know what an "Ode" is but it sounds poetic, regardless the Fam went Snowboarding for the final time this weekend. Thanks to Al Gore we can now enjoy winter sports far into what has traditionally been SPRING, (you really need to hike up your Carbon footprint people). It had been awhile since we traveled to Sundown (Dubuque Ia.) so we headed north. According to the Office, Sundown was sporting a 5' foot base and groomed packed powder, while technically true, it was much closer to five feet of SOLID ice with sugar on top. Being reluctant (read "broke") to purchase our own boarding gear, we need to rent equipment where ever we go, the state of this rental stuff varies from place to place but it will get you down the hill, that being said, for those of us who are "goofy footed" (right foot forward) they simply turn the mountings around on any given board that have been THRASHED by all the 'regulars" (left foot forward). What this does is put the ripped up edge on my heel side so all my backside cuts become SKETCHY, if not downright dangerous...(footnote here, I WILL own and WEAR a helmet the very next time I strap into a snowboard) You can guess where this is leading right? My "normal" wipeouts became epic on the ice block slopes, and I've been popping ibuprophen since Saturday evening. I may even purchase my own Board for next year (fingers crossed) cuz in the immortal words of Mr. Hooper, "I can't take this abuse much longer"...other than that, with the arrival of DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME, the Tuesday night Roadie rides begin again, Tis the first green of spring!

Its not Summer yet...

2008-02-25T05:16:00.000-08:00

Nope its not even close to summer at all, didn't feel like riding so a little hike at Starrs cave was just as nice. It was starting to warm up and this waterfall was dropping chunks of ice while we were there.

Last week Flint creek was a raging river of 12" thick ice chunks, so the ice I'm on here is only about an 1 1/2 thick. We don't have GLAS-CEE-ERS here in Ioway so this is the next best thing. Spread your weight out and crawl...and hope all three of my fat dogs don't get to close. HA! try THAT Mr. Grylls.

SOOOOOO close, still dry the edges were REALLY thin...

Ok now hike the cliff back to more solid ground, why did the chicken cross the road? Cause he's a dope...

During our hike we decided to fight back against Old Man Winter with a good ole camping trip. I had a good spot that I knew would be sheltered from the wind and really is in the middle of no where yet close to home...um yeah, anyway it was a first for the Missus and I to winter camp and it was GREAT.

Surviving on NOTHING but weenies and cafe' mocha in the wilds is tuff, but both are readily found we even dug up some wild blueberry bagels, MMMMM chock full of nutrients and VIT-A-MIN CEE. We didn't use a film crews help either.

Its chilly out there...

2008-02-12T05:26:00.000-08:00

Geode at -4 F, and the snow was too deep for any fun to be had, Dennis was right, Dehn's is perfect right now. And with the extra 20 LBS. on my ass I had no trouble at all finding traction.

My 2008 Sponsors

2008-01-30T11:53:00.001-08:00

FAG cigarettes, you'll love the team kit

You are what you eat

Safe and Sound.

Please make sure you take advantage and patronize these wonderful sponsors!

Sweet Sunday Fun!

2008-01-28T07:26:00.000-08:00

During a hike up frozen Flint Creek, Missus Brakeville made the remark, "I'm surprized you don't ride your bike on here". DING what a great idea! So Sunday morning we started our ride at hwy 99.

The conditions were PERFECT for riding without needing studs, 8 inches of ice with a little skiff of snow for traction.

There were a few close calls as I endo'd in some thin stuff, and Katherine hit the deck on a patch of glare ice, but we didn't drown

Smooth sailing

No hills

Peace YO!

Watch out for the clear stuff.

Flint bottom bridge, it was melting pretty fast now, had to hug the bank here.

I finally got my feet wet around Beaverdale and had to turn around here, I think all the salt on the roads had washed into this section cause it was UNSAFE for travel. But a good three hour workout in NICE weather.

How cold can it be?

2008-01-21T06:22:00.000-08:00

Well I'll tell you what, I knew there was going to be trouble when my truck would not even get to operating temp on the way to Dubuque for Lance Andre's TRIPLE D race. My feet were getting cold while driving the 2.5 hours. It was -11 below zero when I got to town, however, the cycling Gods warmed us up at the start as the temperature climbed to a sweet -6 below zero. WTF???? I got a bad feeling again as we rolled out of town cause I was trapped in a herd of Puggsleys, (never seen SO many in one place) no problem keeping with these monstrosities on the well packed snow, but as soon as we hit the rutted DEEP potholed nasty foot trail (approx. 1 whole mile)they were G-O-N-E. I was in granny high spinning for every inch of forward motion, I passed Dennis who was busy fixing a flat, he yelled he was OK so away I rode. Now after working up a nice SWEAT on this section it was UP THE EASY PAVED (and relatively) snow free climb out of town, directly into a 15 mph headwind. Do the math, that gives you a wind chill factor of -32 degrees, my goggles froze over quickly, and I climbed with one hand over my nose the entire way up just to deflect the wind, but I was still pretty warm and good to go, It was near the top I had my last drink. The skinny tires I had made this part pretty easy and I caught some Puggs on the way up, but this was short lived, I think Dennis came around me on the climb too but I couldn't see anything for sure through my frosted lenses. The snowmobile path was "rideable" for my gear but it was still taking everything I had to stay upright in the snowpack, quite a few times I washed out and had to push this off camber and uphill section, and Lance, Bruce, and a few others went around me here, I was able to keep them in sight so I spun on into the wind. There were already riders turning around and heading back at this point, some said a few didn't even make it past the first gnarley section. I made it to a little ravine at the private snowmobile trail and decided to get some sugar into my gut, (the wind here was HOWLING) my computer said almost ten whole miles. My camel back was UNDER my top layer and filled with goodies, including much needed water, but I had to stop and take my gloves and coat off to get to em, I was now carrying 100 oz. of frozen water, and an assortment of chocolate bricks that I could not bite through without chipping my teeth, (uh-oh) Dennis had told me earlier that HAMMER gels are immune to the cold, he was right, even at -6 they were still "liquid" and I washed one down with snow. Total time spent at this location I'm guessing three minutes, in that time my coat, mittens, helmet straps, neck gaiter and fingers had frozen solid. I headed up the trail into the wind, chilled and chattering, picture riding across a snow covered hay field( no trees or wind breaks) uphill into the wind at six below, I did, and turned around and went the other way, I had had enough. I had my camera with me and was going to snap a pic of a bank thermometer showing the temp. but it died in the cold, so did my GPS, I would not remove my mittens again PERIOD! coming back I was picking up some riders who had already turned around and we soon had a small group, we stopped in at Freeflight bikes to warm up. As luck would have it my cell rings and its Dominic asking how my race was going, the timing was perfect, cause my "race" was OVER. A couple more riders came in to the bike shop so our little group headed back to the finish as fast as we could go, we picked up a few more on the way in, thank God there was a couple locals cause I had NO idea how to get back through the industrial section. Total miles a little over 20, almost four hours at an average of 5 mph. Mr. GRELK finished this thing, I can't tell you how impossible the conditions were, he was out there for almost TEN FRIGGIN HOURS, and has some frost bite to to prove it. Jill in Alaska does this everyday, she is also quite mad and completely insane...I hope Lance Andre holds another race next year.

Almost ready...

2008-01-15T05:34:00.001-08:00

Had to re-think what I was wearing for the really REALLY cold stuff coming for this weekends "race". So last night it was 20 miles, temp. at 14 degrees, northwest wind at 15 to 20 mph, a good night to test a different approach. I think this is the combo, but my snowboarding mittens and pants were almost TOO warm, I gotta remember to PACE it, I'm not gonna win, but I am gonna FINISH. I need some chemical warmers and a hydration system that stays in LIQUID form and that should do it...

Prep work...

2008-01-14T05:41:00.001-08:00

I used to live on this road, I arrived here about 10:00am and 33 degrees, If I'd been about five minutes later it would have been REALLY ugly GOO. The gravel was pretty easy earlier cause it was frozen solid, so it was a quick 60 miles saturday morning... Time to clean it again

I know just how this feels...I'm going to try out some different layering this evening. the temps for this saturdays 60 mile point to point won't get any higher than single digits, I wonder if I can shift with my mittens?

Sir Edmund...

2008-01-11T11:20:00.000-08:00

Mt. Everest had only been summited(for the first time) 10 years before I was born, but as a young'n I remember reading about Everst, and Ed Hillary and Tenzig Norgay's feat in wide eye'd wonder, in fact its one of the first things I remember being able to read. It amazed me that there were still places on Earth where no one had stood before, (believe it or not there are still a few of those left) and I'm sure that the hard backed Britannica book of the year 1953 is still sitting on my parents book shelf to this day. In it, Hillary and Norgay are standing on the summit still wearing their supplimental oxygen masks, an ancient black and white photo that was burned into a young boys mind. No doubt that my love of high places came from imagining myself as the "Great Explorer and Climber" even though I grew up in the flatest place on Earth.

At 29,028 feet above sea level Everest has been the end all climbing experience since it was "knocked off" in 1953. although literally hundreds have climbed it over the years, it remains as deadly now as it ever was, and to return from the summit alive requires as much luck as it does skill. Ed Hillary and Tenzig Norgay did it with a style of modesty and humility, and never forgot the people or the mountain that made them famous. If you asked me who my heroes are this man would be at the top of my list.

Godspeed Sir Edmund

get down with the almighty grind now...

2008-01-07T05:33:00.001-08:00

What else are you gonna do when its 50 degrees in January? May as well get your slope-style on Cheeka! Unfortunately my Son was not able to go with us this time, after THREE surguries to his leg and knee (with another scheduled for this month) we agreed that maybe shooting down a snow covered hill was not the best thing for his well being at this point, sorry Kiddo! Oh yeah that whole bike thing, enroute to another 100 mile attempt, I had a flat about 4 miles out, with my dead legs from boarding, and already covered in grit, it was the most merciful thing to call it a day and walk home...and NAP

A most excellent NEW YEAR...

2008-01-02T05:35:00.001-08:00

The newest addition to our fam is Tikaani, I wanted to name him Homer but Missus Brakeville said NO... Amanda is home from school, so to ring in 2008 Tater, Dennis, Nick, Tom and I decided to ride a century (before the snow). Well, um, I had to bail out near Keokuk and ended up with 85 miles in, the rest of those yahoo's made their first 100 miler for the new year. No we are not drinking the antifreeze, it was almost 40 outside not too bad at all... Dennis taking a pic of me taking a pic... This is the reconstructed Mormon Temple in Nauvoo Il., and no Mitt Romney wasn't home...

The only way to recover from an 85 mile ride is to GO SNOWBOARDING, absolutely AWESOME to board in Iowa during a six inch REAL snow fall SAWEEEEEET...

Missus Brakeville carving the fressh IOWA powder...

Self portrait for your veiwing pleasure...

Almost 2008

2007-12-26T09:38:00.000-08:00

I signed up to do this. Should be an interesting ride/race to kick off the New Year however, I will not be using the bike you see below. Why did I get a 7.5 inch travel Freeride bike? Um, cause it sounded like a good idea at the time. Maybe I'll finally race in this series with it, or permanently damage myself, either way, its spongy and already has been hucked off my front stairs. Aw 'cmon everyone needs one right? All this bike represents is more trailwork for me, ( i need a freaky raised ladder bridge-drop-to-gap-jump-slope-style-mad-skilz-ankle-busting-medical$$$-type trail)

Honkers, Snow, and IOWA

2007-12-17T06:58:00.000-08:00

What started with a dozen ended up being thousands...Waves of geese hitting Geode during saturdays snow...may have to start hunting these guys again We need to buy a dog sled and MUSH these puppys Riding Sunday Stayed out until my waterbottle froze...

I call FIRST TRACKS!

2007-12-07T05:23:00.000-08:00

WOO HOO We finally got some snow to ride on. And DAMN was it slick, my rear disc froze solid and riding in the woods using only the fronts is a recipie for PAIN... Can't remember which picture this is right now...DOH! Left over from Halloween, but a must see anyhow, From Left to Right; daughter T1 as "little DEAD riding hood". Mrs. Brakeville enjoying a really bad hair day and face peel gone wrong as the "Witch Doctress". daughter T2 as "Frankensteins Squeeze". BFF as "Zombie Girl". Me you ask? I'm still wearing it to this day...If anyone asks, yes I have NOT had a hair cut since MAY 2007, and I'm digging it. Cheers!

I CAN GIVE YOU WHAT YOU WANT!

2007-12-06T05:26:00.000-08:00

Well not ME so much but how about a 60 mile point to point MTB race on January 19th 2008??????? huh? HUH????? I gotta try it right? HERE's all the POOP, HOWIE are you interested??????

I like bikes too, but this....

2007-11-28T11:07:00.001-08:00

Man admits to sex with bike Edinburgh, Scotland | October 28, 2007 12:01:13 AM IST A man who admitted having sex with a bicycle in a Scottish hotel has been placed on the sex offenders' register for breach of the peace. Robert Stewart admitted to the crime Friday in Ayr Sheriff Court and is to be sentenced next month, Britain's Telegraph reported Saturday. Stewart was discovered last October by two maids who entered to clean his room during a stay at the Aberley House Hostel in Ayr, Scotland. The accused was holding the bike and moving his hips back and forth as if to simulate sex, a sheriff's spokesman told the court. The shocked witnesses told the hotel manager who told the police. Stewart, according to the Telegraph, is not the first person convicted of sex with an inanimate object. In 1993, Kar Watkins, an electrician, was arrested for having sex with pavements in Redditch, England. (UPI)

Too soon

2007-11-12T13:18:00.000-08:00

OOPS, I guess my return to the CX races was somewhat premature, as I have now REALLY screwed up my calf. It had been FEELING 100%, I even took the time to warm up before sundays race, but, the run-up hill on the first lap popped it AGAIN, not as painful this time around but now I have this groovy knot right under the skin. Once again it really doesn't hurt to ride but there will be NO RUNNING in the near future, so middlecross and jinglecross are officially OFF my schedule, the perfect way to end a perfect season. I shall now consume large quantities of STERZINGS potato chips, coke, and cheese until January 2008. For Sale: 2006 LeMond POPRAD Disc

Daylight time again...BAH!

2007-11-05T06:17:00.000-08:00

Needless to say we all hate the fact thats its dark by 5:00pm now, but you couldn't ask for a better day Sunday weather-wise for early november. I took the CX bike on one lap of Dehn's, then headed west into the 20 mph headwind to Lake Geode for one lap of the trail out there. I think my average speed going west was MAYBE 12 mph, but heading back east it was 24, even saw NICK heading into the wind on my way home. Good enough for a 45+ mile day. My calf is getting better but running is still a painful experience so if I do try and race this weekend it'll be just gimpin to the finish, I just don't want to keep re-injuring that muscle...

Motivational Poster

2007-11-02T08:03:00.001-07:00

The Author must have seen my races!

2007-10-31T13:49:00.000-07:00

Cyclocross is the opposite of sex--if you're doing it right it hurts, and it's only fun before and after. In my time racing cyclocross I've learned some tips for dealing with that nasty in-between part, which I present to you herewith. I won't say they'll make you a better racer--the way I race puts the "can't" back in "cantis"--but I guarantee they'll make you a better loser: Know When And Where The Race Is Eddy Merckx famously said, "The Tour de France is won in bed." Cyclocross races, however, are not won in bed, since misreading the schedule, sleeping in, and arriving after your race has begun tends to winnow your chances down considerably. Furthermore, as I've cited before, Woody Allen once said, "90% of success is just showing up." Of course, that still leaves a 10% window for failure, since I've showed up at cyclocross races and not succeeded innumerable times. I will say though that 100% of failure is not showing up, because it's tough to be competitive when your race is starting and you're 30 miles from the venue because you Mapquested the wrong address. Don't Pre-Ride the Course Yes, you read that right. While this bit of advice flies counter to every bit of cyclocross wisdom you're likely ever to hear, I've always believed that courting common wisdom is the path to complacency. I find that going in cold and flying blind can take the edge off the searing pain of those first few laps, since you're too busy being surprised to focus on how awful you feel. And dreading that terrible run-up for a half a lap can be demoralizing, while the shock of suddenly discovering it can give you that extra shot of adrenaline to get you over it. Complete unfamiliarity with the course can turn a killing field into a haunted hayride teeming with fun-filled surprises, thrills and spills at every turn. Do Not Have a Pit Bike This is another counterintuitive tactic. If you're like me, a crash or a mechanical problem comes as sweet relief. It's like a fire drill in school during a test. Suddenly, the pressure's off and there's no more pressure to perform. On the other hand, having another bicycle in the pit so that you can make a quick bike change and continue to race only expands the vast horizon of opportunity for you to lose. It's like getting one of those flu shots they give out at the office—how are you going to call in sick for a week when everybody knows you're immune? Never squander your inventory of excuses. Get a Bad Starting Position There are few things as embarrassing as getting a great starting position only to drop through the pack and completely fall apart on the first lap. Not only do your fellow racers notice, but so do the spectators. It's like you're an Alka-Seltzer and the race is a big glass of water, and everybody gets to watch your effervescent, frothy demise. But if you start the race in the back, you have nowhere to go but up. If you finish DFL, you can blame your start position. If you finish strong, you can point out how many places you had to make up and how high you would have placed if you'd started up front. Everybody hates a sandbagger, but everybody loves an underdog. Constantly Re-evaluate Your Goals As in everyday life, it's important to rationalize and to temper your expectations. Certainly you should start the race expecting to finish well. However, if you cling to that expectation you'll only be disappointed. So take the time each lap to analyze your position and re-structure your goals. If you find yourself slipping back, try to keep the guy behind you from passing you. If he does, try to hold his wheel. If you can't, repeat with the next guy. When there's nobody left, just wait, because eventually you'll get to experience the thrill of battling the race leader as you try to keep from being lapped. And if all else fails, comfort yourself with your superiority over the other riders in areas outside of racing. Sure, the guy who passed you just then was stronger than you, but there's no way he's better at cooking eggs than you. You're the Egg Master. "Chunk" the Race You may have heard of the memorization technique called "chunking," wherein you break large chunks of information up into smaller parts to make them easier to remember. Well, you should do that in cyclocross races as well. While a 'cross race seems short and appears to unfold faster than a Dahon on a Friday afternoon, it can feel like an eternity if you're actually in one. So like an alcoholic or someone getting paid by the hour to retile a bathroom, focus on completing one tiny section at a time. Like life, if you think about how much more you have left you can find yourself overwhelmed. Another "chunking" trick you can take from life is picking some small section of the course and convincing yourself you enjoy it. That way, you have something to look forward to each lap. It's like hating your job but looking forward to lunch. Ignore Your Surroundings As the race leaves you behind like a club-footed tuba player in a marching band, try not to pay attention to the announcer or the crowd. The announcer's spirited narration of the battle at the front will only serve to remind you how far back you are, especially when he starts describing the action on sections of the course you've just completed. Similarly, the crowd can be inadvertently discouraging as well. At first they'll cheer excitedly. But as you slip back the cheers become gradually less animated and more conciliatory, until they eventually devolve into the type of "you can do it!" sentiments generally reserved for "special" people, and then finally disappear altogether. Then, it's all about not getting passed by the riders warming up for the next race. Have Fun! That's right, this is supposed to be fun. So try to remember that as you struggle to keep your perfectly-cooked eggs down.

Halloweenie!

2007-10-29T08:46:00.000-07:00

We spent Saturday Geocaching Our newest toy is a Garmin hand held I got off E-BAY, its pretty cool, there's actually two hidden in Dehn's (not by us) and a couple more around town. However, hiking through the hills did not do any GOOD things for my wounded calf muscle, neither did sundays Mountain Bike ride to Geode and back with one lap of the trails thrown in for a little more pain. Its been a long time since i've ridden 40+ miles and it felt like it. I think I'm going to add some running into my weekly schedule cause I'm starting to get that "old mans" trot going on. I spent the rest of Sunday watching FOOTBALL with my leg wrapped in ice and elevated...Oh, and we did mean things to pumkins as well HA HAHAAAH AHH AHAH HA Fall colors? Whistle the theme from "Halloween" while you carve Flash on! OOOOO spooky!

Stage 2 Calf strain, oh boy!

2007-10-23T08:24:00.000-07:00

I can ride, but I can't run. Just tried a little "jog" and there is NO WAY I can jump barriers this weekend. That means I'll be missing out on the State Championship CX races this weekend. $#@^&***%@$# *#&^#%@*^%$#@!!!!!!! Hopefully if I don't try to do too much I can make Vande-Cross in November...$%%%^$@&*(&$+###@@$ &

BITCH BITCH BITCH...

2007-10-22T05:12:00.000-07:00

Over the Barriers. The new B.O.D. woo hoo! Me riding my bike. Tracy Thompson likes racing his bike! Nick on HIS bike. Self portrait, ala Kerkove. Sunday morning I had 6 eggs...all over the side of my truck. fuckers. Sunday morning I realized I've gained ten pounds since september. Thar she blows. Sunday afternnoon I strained my right calf on the run up...now I can't walk. damn. Sunday afternoon I tried to "one Leg it" a Lap. Another 2007 DNF, thanks. Sunday afternoon Nick says my CX bike feels riding a STINGRAY. ha ha. Sunday night the Bronco's BEAT the Steelers...lucky. Monday morning my leg feels a little better. maybe I can still ride this week...

Psyclofest CX

2007-10-17T06:39:00.000-07:00

Go to THE DICE SITE BABY for all the poop, I'm not even sure of the correct spelling for cyclofest, Pshycofest, syco...sicko sky whatever just BE THERE...Its supposed to be SUNNY this time, RRRRRRRRight.

SPOOKY CROSS

2007-10-16T05:45:00.000-07:00

I missed the I74 festival cause I was singing with a "band", too many schmirnoffs and FAT TIRE ALE, I forgot the words to "Little Things" by BUSH...Um yeah... I did the CX 3/4 race. It was very muddy. My shoes are still wet. I like racing my cross bike. My barrier skilz suck. If I had taken my camera out in the rain I would post pictures. I may steal some if I have to. Cheers!

Wood is GOOD

2007-10-09T05:17:00.000-07:00

This ain't the "New Yankee Workshop", but it is THREE new replacement bridges for Dehn's. Next up is a new surface for the "Bridge of Death", which when I walked it sunday has very little structural integrity left in the rotten plywood top, it'll have a 30" wide TREATED 2x10 SWEET riding surface...be VERY careful on the B.O.D. until then cause if the plywood snaps...(oh SNAP) it'll be UGLY. For my wood supplier; a BIG THANK YOU!

90+ degree's

2007-10-08T05:13:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite "B" level roads off Stony Hollow, might as well grind the gravel and work on my fall sunburn lines too.

A Bridge too far?

2007-10-01T05:23:00.000-07:00

Doing some maintenance this weekend, I didn't race in Peoria but thats another story I'll get to later, so, by not racing I decided to do some repair to the creek loop at Dehn's...You can get across but watch out for the three foot drop at the end!!! I have a WOOD source now so I'll finish it this week sometime. STAY TUNED! Before After, there IS a trail here Water logged and FUBAR God only knows how it got up the hill... Almost ready for bike traffic

THROWDOWN at the FARM

2007-09-27T12:30:00.000-07:00

May be your last chance at XC glory for the year, serious course, friendly club, and all the dirt you can handle. Go To the PAMBA link "ON YER RIGHT" for all the poop...I actually RODE my mountain bike last night, almost forgot how fun that is at night under a full moon in the woods

Cross is Boss...(stole the pics from Moritz)

2007-09-25T07:55:00.000-07:00

First race of the 'cross season, yeah I'm hooked. 2007 hasn't been kind to me however, as once AGAIN on the first lap I was trying to snooker everyone in the first corner around a traffic island and hit the curb, DOH!!! After I got back into my pedals I punched it to catch up setting about mid pack now, hard left into the first dismount and run up I'm feeling good, go for the re-mount, stand on the pedals and my chain had come off and twisted itself around my chain stay, DOUBLE DOH!!! Oh well, now I'm dead last and playin catch up. I did manage to catch a few and ran the rest of the race without screwing anything else up. Looking forward to the next one. I like movies, preferrably in the comfort of my living room but every now and again we'll hit up the big screen, BIG MISTAKE, some snot nosed kid behind us had never had the parental instruction to clear his clogged nasal passages, so for the first 45 minutes of "Resident Evil III", snuffaluffagus (which i began to call him) would sniffle up a big wad of snot every 30 seconds, I kid you not, It got so bad we moved over and behind him and could still hear it off in the distance. After watching so much violence and death I began a secret plan to dismember snuffy and stuff his fat ass into my empty popcorn bag...but the better angels of my nature took over and I spared his life (sigh*) Maybe I'll go with romantic comedys from now on.

Yeah thats how I roll...

2007-09-10T05:03:00.000-07:00

Before I start whinning I'll let everyone know that the City of Burlington is "on board" with making Dehn's trails a legitimate reality WOO HOO! Sugar Bottom you ask? The FIRST MILE of the race I had already been passed by the single speeders who left 30 seconds behind the experts, at 1.2 miles I had dabbed the ground on two corners and I was coughing up some nastiness I'd rather not describe on this forum. 1.7 Miles and I pulled over to let ALL the sports by, once they had ridden past, I decided it was OK to leave my breakfast (off trail mind you). Being a trooper and knowing that my hacking fit was over, I decided to press on, at a little over mile 2.3 I put the bike down again trying to catch back on, it was about here that I had to walk because I was seriously going to have an accident before I made it back to the port-a-pottie, uh-oh, now that would be embarrassing. and i didn't want to pass out on the trail with my bibs full of ****... afraid to throw a leg back over my seat I weaved my way my way back to the start/finish line and DNF'ed. I had completed 3.2 miles of the 30 mile expert race, but i left everything I had on the field so to speak...I've ridden and raced with a cold before so I thought it would be no big deal, I should have known by the amount of sweating I was doing BEFORE the race even started something was wrong, needless to say I spent the rest of saturday and all sunday on the couch, although I did sneak in a couple miles on my cyclocross bike, maybe I can repair my wounded pride with a couple of CX races that are coming up...c'mon 2008! I'll post up some pics of some local XC hero's WHEN THIS STOOPID COMPUTER STARTS COOPERATING...

Labor Day Fun

2007-09-04T05:48:00.001-07:00

ow OOOWWW!!! working the ropes! Camp run-a-muck I HATE camping at public campgrounds, too many people too close, and with the Mississippi at flood stage finding a secluded spot was going to be tuff. We settled on camping at the "primitive" sites in Palisades state park in savanna Illinois. We scored the LAST one available out of the three that they had, primitive means you hike in and carry EVERYTHING you need (including water)with you. If your in Colorado a two mile UPHILL hike is pretty normal, In the midwest its an anomally. 1.7 miles all uphill to campsite "B", actually a VERY nice place. All I could think about is what a cool downhill race this trail would make, especially the last/first 1/4 mile at what I'm guessing is a 12% grade. Also NO BIKES ALLOWED, but still, you could get a good 45 to 50 mph coming down the thing. Three tips; 1)don't forget your sleeping bags on the first hike up to your camp 2) No matter how tempting it may be, don't try to adjust a jet-boil campstove AFTER you've heated it up. 3)Climbing and rope work with three blistered fingers can be painful, however, one MUST NOT LET GO no matter what. Did my fastest lap at Geode for this year sunday, however, I'm still close to five minutes slower than my best ever time, must be gettin older faster than I thought.

Sound Advice

2007-08-30T08:28:00.000-07:00

On another note, I'm meeting with the Burlington Parks Dept. next wednesday at Dehn's. Its their intention to do a GPS survey of our little trail, I want to use the opportunity to make the case that these trails are a city ASSET, and should be left AS IS. it would be nice to be able to hold events there, protect the area from developement or destruction from off road vechiles, help the City understand how unique this area really is. Maybe even secure some funding for trail maintenance issues, trail marking signs. We'll see what happens

You love me, you really love me...

2007-08-27T14:04:00.000-07:00

I almost won an award Sunday. Unfortunately it would have been a "http://www.darwinawards.com/ "CHARLIE" I was attempting to dislodge approximately 300 feet of nasty hanging vines attached from a rather large branch laying on the trail to the very top of an old Oak 65 feet directly above me. My first attempt did nothing to break it loose, so I tried again, HARDER, maybe another 25 feet of vine and some smaller tree limbs started raining down but the majority of this mess was still sky high above me and I couldn't move it off the trail until I had enough slack in this twisted mess. I "Tazan-ed" again, this third try resulted in a tremendous snap overhead, I had broken the ENTIRE top of this Oak off and it was now accelerating towards me, according to Newton, at 30ft per second squared. Now I'm not the fastest guy in the woods but by the sound of this thing coming down I knew it had to be HUGE, what I ended up with was a pile of dead or dying vine three feet deep and a 30 foot section of dry Oak a foot in diameter to clean off the trail. Thank GOD I had moved my bike or it would have been smashed too, I'm sure I had inches to spare, but I would have been really depressed had I been killed, I can almost read my own nomination for my "Charlie" statue...

Karma and laziness

2007-08-27T06:12:00.000-07:00

I'm building an ARK

2007-08-24T05:52:00.000-07:00

This is a pic from where I work, after 6 inches of rain overnight we now have a wonderful lake. It didn't take the geese long to find it either. Dehn's is going to be a nightmare after this as well, if it indeed stops raining I'll post up some damage photos as I'm sure its going to nasty down there. Burlington and surrounding areas got some really wicked lightening storms as well, I've rarely seen that much lightning in one storm, kinda freaky

No Sugar

2007-08-21T05:18:00.000-07:00

two deaths valley B.O.D (bridge of death) SPASM CHASM Guess where I parked the trail maintenance truck, hint: there used to be a trail here Sugar bottom WAS postponed, now its September 16th. I used 6 hrs saturday to do some much needed chainsawing and weedwacking in Dehn's. The only maintenance remaining is the ladder bridge over the big creek. Sunday I decided to ride 30 miles (Sugar race distance),and with the shortened trail it took 8 laps. ouch...

I bet it rains again

2007-08-16T06:56:00.000-07:00

Sweet Butt Its the Sugarbottom Scramble, I know that SOUNDS naughty but its THE XC race in Iowa. Tight and twisty and if the rain holds off it should be decent weather See you there...

Not THULE, its TOOL (again)

2007-08-14T08:42:00.000-07:00

This was taken in the La Sal mountains Utah at 11,000 feet up, your looking east into Colorado a good 50 miles or so...i could not see any cornfields, sorry I know, I know the lyrics are SO cliche...But I can't help feeling the same way. For your listening pleasure, here's TOOL's "Right in Two"... Angels on the sideline, Puzzled and amused. Why did Father give these humans free will? Now they're all confused. Don't these talking monkeys know that Eden has enough to go around? Plenty in this holy garden, silly monkeys, Where there's one you're bound to divide it. Right in two. Angels on the sideline, Baffled and confused. Father blessed them all with reason. And this is what they choose. And this is what they choose... Monkey killing monkey killing monkey Over pieces of the ground. Silly monkeys give them thumbs, They forge a blade, And where there's one they're bound to divide it, Right in two. Right in two. Monkey killing monkey killing monkey. Over pieces of the ground. Silly monkeys give them thumbs. They make a club. And beat their brother, down. How they survive so misguided is a mystery. Repugnant is a creature who would squander the ability to lift an eye to heaven conscious of his fleeting time here. Cut it all right in two [x4] Fight over the clouds, over wind, over sky Fight over life, over blood, over prayer, overhead and light Fight over love, over sun, over another, Fight... Angels on the sideline again. Been soon long with patience and reason. Angels on the sideline again Wondering when this tug of war will end. Cut it all right in two [x3] RIGHT IN TWO! Right in two...

Da BEARS!

2007-07-23T10:49:00.000-07:00

I was sitting on my arse watching the tube one day a few weeks ago, (right before our trip) the lead story was a young Utah boy pulled from his tent and mauled by a black bear, right thru his sleeping bag/pad and all. Now when your sitting in the comfort of your air conditioning smack dab in the middle of Iowa you think "yeah, poor kid, I hope everything turns out ok", and life goes on just like before. HO HUM. When your actually IN YOUR TENT IN BLACK BEAR COUNTRY UTAH, this thought crosses your mind in a much different way, more like "Oh shit, ya know some kid got drug out of his tent right about HERE!" which is why my LOADED rifle was with me during our little excursion, not that it would have made much difference, and really offered NO comfort as Mrs. Brakeville and I tried to get to sleep that first night, and the previous campers had left a veritable BEAR schmorgasborg of foodstuffs laying all over the place, why not eat the corn fed Iowan's? Like a big green cream filled turnover, we went to sleep in our tent. (shhhhh! did you hear THAT?)growl/snort!!! The observation above came after a few of lifes little reminders that a person really has the ILLUSION of control at any given time, case in point; When your river guide tells you "hey you know you can jump out of the boat and do these next class III rapids in your life vest"... He's right! you can, however hitting a 7 foot high wall of water tends to knock the air from your lungs, and the next time you see daylight could be downstream quite a ways, my advice? Stay in the boat, you paid for a RAFTING trip, not FLOATING... Before ANY thought of Bears entered my mind, we decided that being in the MAZE during the 106 degree days was a death wish, (the locals confirmed this), so we headed up to the La Sal Mountains instead, 15 miles to the turn off, and 14 miles of 4X4 ONLY "road" would get us to "DARK CANYON LAKE", the 4x4 road took over two hours of climbing in low range locked in, with roughly 6,000 ft of elevation gained, once at our campsite my truck decided it would not shift into any forward (or reverse for that matter) gear. Crap. Stuck in park- 30+ miles from ANYWHERE, 11,500 feet high, no tow truck in sight. what to do? well you take your bike and head downhill, 40 mph at some points on texas sized gravel to get a cell phone signal, after 10 miles or so, i was finally able to make the call, only to have my phone DIE. OK. Well we're descending toward the town of La Sal Utah (pop. 15) might as well keep going. Off we went, I'm riding ahead (kinda enjoying the massive downhill) until I feel the warm stans-no-tubes solution washing over me from my front tire, no ordinary punture, I've torn the tire big time, I whittle a piece of pine into a tire plug and we're able to close the wound with 10 lbs of air remaining, almost enough to make it to La Sal without destoying my rim...long story short, got a ride back up from a nice local rancher, fixed my truck, ( I had jammed the steering column and key switch enroute UP the "road") and we commenced camping. Oh it rained THREE times that evening, had I not been able to move my truck, it would have been sitting in axle deep water...it had not rained there for a couple of weeks, and we camped without the bear fearing campfire going, burn ban don't you know? I rode the slickrock trail. sweet.

2,663 miles later

2007-07-23T06:46:00.001-07:00

On Holiday!!!!!

2007-07-13T12:33:00.000-07:00

Headed out this friday towards the Canyonlands in Utah! I'm going to miss a couple of cross country races but OH WELL! We'll be loaded with film and video, but I won't be able to post up until we get back. Slickrock Trail, Rafting the Colorado, Desert Camping, Climbing and Cayoneering I need more frickin hobbies...

DANGER WILL ROBINSON...DANGER

2007-06-25T07:19:00.000-07:00

The "railroad track loop" of Dehn's took a BEATING from all the rain we had this weekend! I'm guessing by the waterline it was about six feet deep over the new steel bridge, the creek couldn't move it, so it dug a new 1 1/2' deep channel on the far end...the 30 foot long ladder bridge at the other end of the trail??? GONE!...well not gone gone, its laying about 10 feet up the bank on the opposite side of the creek. I have an idea where to put it the next time because the flood also removed what was left of the little piece of land it was attached to. The water must have been rushing through there pretty fast cause it pulled up the 10' long pillings I drove in the creek bed to anchor it!!! If anyone wants to give a hand on the re-build gimmie a call!! The rest of the trails look OK just alot of sticks and such again.

THE MAZE

2007-06-22T12:54:00.000-07:00

This will be our vacation destination, first rafting the Colorado river in Moab, then...THE MAZE According to the Park Service this is the most REMOTE spot in the lower 48 states, accessible only by high clearance 4X4, better bring the kitchen sink in supplies cause the nearest town to the entrance is 45 miles away. The Mrs. and I will be biking un-charted slickrock, hiking the slot canyons, and poopin in a "honey pot" (no turds left behind) When someone tells you to get lost, THIS is where to go...

Farmdale!

2007-06-11T05:43:00.001-07:00

I rode more single track yesterday than I did ALL of the month of MAY!! The "Farmdale Frenzy" gets better every year. Trail conditions and the weather were perfect and this years race course was superb. Going down "Whistler" I registered 31.2 MPH!!! and hitting the high banked 180 at the bottom was like a 8G rollout in a F-18. PAMBA puts on a great race. I ripped off these photo's from Aaron, I should have given him my front wheel and at least had an idea what riding in the front feels like. I hate cramps ow ow OW!!! Oh, who ever designed the log pile-to-log pile gap jump desreves an "A+", that is so smooth at speed you don't even realize how far it is between them, i hit it kinda hard on the first lap hoping I'd clear it OK and damn near hit the trees on the other side. I may have to copy that thing here locally! Me likey alot!!

Wednesday Night ride

2007-06-07T10:06:00.000-07:00

WINDY AS HELL going home!!

ROCK "THE FARM"

2007-06-06T11:56:00.000-07:00

Throw down at the "Farm", the trails here are sweet twisty single track and the PAMBA folks put on a great race. HOWIE, you WILL race this weekend!!! You gotta beat those young punks down! Farmdale Reservoir Recreation Area Bittersweet Rd. Washington, IL About This Event PAMBA's Farmdale Frenzy I-74 XC & BigHit DH and MTX consists of: June 9th - The first of two Downhill and Mountain Cross races for 2007, and...June 10th - Frenzy Cross Country MTB Race, Race #2 in the I-74 Homegrown Race Series. DH/MTNX Categories June 9th - Due to circumstances beyond our control, the Downhill Race has been CANCELLED! Mudslides and standing water from spring rains have closed access for shuttle and emergency vehicles. We are sorry for any inconvenience. This situation should be resolved before the Sept. race. MTX is still a go!! There will be novice and advanced categories. Practice runs will begin at 3 p.m. and will be single elimination style tournament until the top three remain. XC CATEGORIES June 10th - Frenzy Cross Country MTB Race. No divisions or age groups for First Timer's Race. Novice and Sport Age Groups in both Male and Female Categories: 19 and under, 20-29, 30-39, 40 and up. Expert will only be divided by gender- NO age groups. This race can be used as a qualifier for inclusion in the I-74 Homegrown Race Series. You must attend/complete 4 of the 6 scheduled races for 2007 to be considered for Series contention. For 2007, you're finishing position against ALL racers in your class determines your points for that race. DH/MTNX Awards Medals will be awarded to the top three finishers in each category in each event. Gift Certificates, to local bike shops, will also be awarded to top three finishers. XC AWARDS Expert: Cash payout for top three finishers in both Male and Female categories. Sport: Medals and Bike Shop Gift Certificates to top three finishers in all age groups by gender division. Novice: Medals for top three finishers in all age groups by gender division. First Timers: some good swag.

Tuesday Nights..

2007-06-01T12:23:00.000-07:00

Tuesday night roadie/racer/wannabee ride map for shits and giggles :) Pretty cool website

Don't neglect your chain rings...

2007-05-30T08:41:00.000-07:00

I only had 4000 miles on this chain ring, surely its got one more little climb in it? "HOUSTON, WE ARE GO AT THROTTLE UP" I'm a loser baby, so why don't ya kill me? The Green Mile?

The more things change...

2007-05-17T13:58:00.000-07:00

I had an adventure getting this one Large animals and sheet metal don't mix... From Jersey Devil to Amityville Horror, here we go again!

SHOCKING...

2007-05-11T08:07:00.000-07:00

I can't help but WHINE about the price of gas, CRIPES! a day of racing is approaching $150.00 anymore. Yeah I know I'm driving a brick with wheels but $3.10 a friggin gallon??? Any takers on 2nd quarter 2007 profits for Exxon, the figure from last year was $10 billion, thats "B" for BILLION, and "P" for PROFIT. Thats after all the bills are paid kids. In a three month period thats $1300.00 per second give or take. (Don't trust my math, my calculator only goes to 1,000,000,000) On a lighter note next week is bike to work week, I may actually do it a couple times. So if I'm in meetings all week, I better apologize for the funky smell now. Who knows, it could speed them up a little.

BUZZKILL...

2007-05-09T05:00:00.000-07:00

Its always good to hit the road with friends, just a bunch of like minded folks turning the pedals, great fun! I finished the evening with a successful deer hunt! PETA CAN KISS MY ASS! The "usual suspects" OR "Any given Tuesday" OR a new hit show called "Operation Puerto" Amanda gives a shout out to "Peace Guy" Scott Murphy, Somewhere off the coast of China I'm sure that riding one handed snapping pics is perfectly safe peloton educate! There were three Deer, I tried for the hat trick but missed the other two... GODDAMMIT!