Early Fall Gravel Grinder

I went out to Indian Creek today to ride and as I was getting my stuff together I got a text from James, he was looking for a ride around Noon (it was about 9:30 at this point). I text him back that I was in for a ride and decided to go ahead and do my original ride. I started around the campground loop and then headed over to the dam and then north. My full suspension bike was giving me a bit of trouble on power sections, not exactly sure what is going on but I have to get it fixed because it is not functioning as it is intended. Anyway I didn't go all the way to the top, pretty close but not all the way, since I needed to get back to town for the other ride. I ended up with a little over 13 miles of singletrack and other than my bike acting up it was a good time.

I met James at Hy-Vee at 12:30 and he told me we were going to meet Doug at his house and then meet up with Brent. We weren't really sure where we were going and to tell you the truth I don't think I could really tell you where all we went. I can tell you that it was a great ride and we found one road in particular that was an absolute blast to ride, it looked like a private drive and then ended up with an amazing climb with loose rock and some small rock shelves to lift up onto and then it was about the same coming down the other side (it was a mountain bikers dream gravel road hill). We spent most the afternoon on our ride and had a lot of fun, we ended up around 63 miles for the ride. I'm pretty sure there will be more of those in the future.

It's Getting Cooler

I'm sure we will get a few more days of warmer temps along the way but the temps right now are sure feeling cooler and I am really liking that. Now the delivery I got today is a bit premature as far as temps go but it won't be long and it will be time to get these out.

I got Louis Garneau winter cycling shoes.



And a pair of Castelli cycling bibs, these are fleece lined with a windproof front on them. I'm pretty excited to try these on.

An Expanding Nation

Okay so I am a sucker for documentaries about all natural foods vs processed foods and all the problems that are created from the latter of the two. Looking at the rising cost of health care in our nation is staggering, especially when the world is being structured on convinence which is just making health matters worse. I am very curious what percentage of our diets comes from processed foods which have little or no nutritional value whatsoever. I read a book a few years ago called "Sugar Blues" that really opened my eyes to just how bad sugar is for us. I did really well after reading that book on cutting down on my sugar intake but I have let it creep back in here and there, running a bakery makes it tough to stay away from sugar (actually even if I didn't work there it might still be tough). Another eye opening occurrence is how select countries that still live on mostly plant based diets and some fish do not have an obesity problem, and the health of those countries is for better than ours. I have been thinking about putting myself through a challenge but I am not sure if I can handle it, but I'm thinking if I only consumed an all natural primarily plant based diet for 30 or maybe 60 days what difference would I noticed in my body, mood, and emotions. This would be a detoxification process that could be tough at the start but I hope would be easier as time goes on. Now I haven't decided to pull the trigger on this yet but I will let you know if I do.

Hammer On!!!

24 hr of DINO

Well the 24 hr of DINO is going as I type this, I really wish I was there again this year but my schedule just didn't work out. Missouri has a good showing with many St. Louis riders going again. I told Molly that maybe they will race so hard at DINO that they might still be tired for RIM and give some of us a chance!!!

2011 24 hr of Seven Oaks

Instead of writing up a summary of the race I thought I would take 5 times as long and do a little documentary. I know it's cheesy but my kids are cheese lovers!!!

Out And About

Wow, where have I been lately? I for sure haven't been posting anything on here, I hope I have been out riding my bike. I can say that I have saved some money this year by not racing as much but I have paid a price of fitness and speed in doing so. Now I'm saying I'm not in shape or able to ride very fast because my fitness is pretty good and I can still carry some speed, it's just racing is a whole different level of training in fact I believe it is the best training. And for a guy like me that has never won a race when you come across as second best here and there it is some motivation to do better next time. Plus the racing scene is just so much fun, being around like minded individuals that enjoy riding their bikes in the dirt.

I am less than 2 weeks away from my second 24 hr solo race, I'll be heading to Boone, IA for the 24 hr of Seven Oaks on August 20-21. Am I ready? Maybe not where I want to be but I don't think it matters how good of shape I'm in I don't think I will ever be satisfied with where I want to be. I am ready to go out and race my bike for a day. My wife, kids, and parents will be there so it will make it that much more fun. I'm trying to get my body and especially my mind ready for the pain and agony that is inevitable. I will be taking my Specialized Epic and my Dad's Santa Cruz Blur for this race, I thought about taking Mary but I hear there is a ton of climbing on this course and I don't want to toast my legs earlier with no gears. I have only ridden my Dad's bike a couple times, but I really like how it handles (even with it being an XL frame). I rode a lap of the race course at Crowder and on some of the rocky climbs that bike climbed like a rocket, that bike has the VPP (Virtual Pivot Point). I don't know exactly how it is designed but it makes the bike handle very well.

I've been getting some miles in at I.C. and the cobwebs have been excessively bad this year. My last ride James was there before me so he got 95-98% of them knocked down for me so that was great, thanks James!!! My last ride out there I did a couple extra laps on the campground loop (which is blazing fast right now). After riding next to the water there is a short distance of gradual climbing and then the drainage crossing followed by some downhill again. The sun was getting lower in the sky and on the downhill the glare of the sun off the water was almost blinding and riding that section was a little difficult since I couldn't see exactly where I was going. My concern was that my speed was pulling me to the downhill side of the trail and I was afraid I was going to clip a small tree but it all worked out just fine. It made me think about Coach and the fact that he could probably close his eyes anywhere on that trail system and ride for 30 seconds or so and not miss a beat, I think that man knows every rock and root on that trail. Actually I think he knows a lot of trails like that, Lyle has mentioned about how fast Doug can memorize features on trails even in a single preride.

Truth In Advertising?

I am always looking for a deal whether it is on ebay or Craigslist or just a huge blowout on one of the many online shopping outlets and I have come across some really good deals. I watch a lot of bikes sell on ebay basically just to keep in touch with what bikes are going for, they always vary but it gives you a pretty good idea of what to expect. I am however always amazed at how many people list their bike as "Gently Used" or "Barely Ridden" or "It Has Never Seen Dirt". Wow, you mean you dropped $3,000 on a brand new bike and didn't ride it? I will say that I do believe that is the case sometimes as there are probably some people that have more money than they know what to do with and the idea of a high dollar bicycle sounds cool.

It's funny how these "Barely Ridden" bikes have "Normal Scuffs" on them, of course because you rode it because those scuffs on your chain stays didn't happen by keeping your bike in your garage. Now I'm not saying that there aren't some bikes that haven't been pampered out there and are probably just as good as they were when they were brand new but I sometimes want to list my bike and lay it all out on the line...something like this.

For Sale: 2007 Specialized Epic Comp

This thing has seen more miles than a hooker on the Vegas strip, and has been ridden harder too!!! I have beat the crap out of this thing out on the trails and she just keeps coming back for more. I wouldn't call her "Chubby" but she isn't exactly light, this is no featherweight carbon bike here. Adding to the weight is a downgraded wheel set that I bought after she and I took quite a tumbling pass down a hill at a high rate of speed, you have to watch out for gravity. I didn't buy the same level or better of wheels because...I'm cheap. The inside of the handle bar is able to breath really well as I have bounced off a few trees and tore the ends of my grips off of the bike, it's these little things you don't get on a new bike!!!

Now don't get the wrong impression because she is a great bike and has handled everything that I have thrown at her. Just be careful if your riding in Oklahoma, make sure she doesn't try to put her saddle somewhere it isn't suppose to go...I'm just going to leave it at that.