I'm literally number 2...still

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

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...

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...

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

*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

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..?

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

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...

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...

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...

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.

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Sweet Sunday Fun!

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?

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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

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)