It's Not All About The Bike

This blog is almost all about bicycles all the time, but that isn't what "life" is about all the time, and especially not for me. I did do a couple of days of cycling this weekend, but Labor Day was spent doing other stuff.

Downtown Iowa Falls

Every Labor Day in Iowa Falls, Iowa, there is a classic car show. I have attended this show in the past several times, since my Mom amd step-Dad live very near there.

The town of Iowa Falls is called the "Scenic City" and for good reason. Tall limestone cliffs line the Iowa River as it passes through town, lending an air of Nature and the town still retains its old downtown flavor with restored buildings and many businesses still operating there.

The show takes up the entire town's central area. Some years are sparse, not so spectacular, and many years it seems the same ol' cars are there again. However; this year was pretty dang outstanding.  There were more than a handful of cars I would have loved to have driven, and a few I would have liked to have kept around.

A sano Monte Carlo. Killer bodywork!

I know cars are the bane of everything cycling to some folks, but cars were at once not so evil, yet terrifying, and mechanical. Something about older cars just makes me very interested in them.

And I don't think anyone would deny that the old cars, even the ugly ones, had "style", which is sorely lacking from most offerings we have to choose from now. Of course, most of the cars I saw were tweaked to look far better than stock, but there were plenty of stock, unmodified cars that were head and shoulders better looking than anything out there today.

And of course, you were considered fortunate to even have a car back in the day. Most families I knew had one. Yes- one car. If you went somewhere, it was likely the car had lots of people in it. Not like today. But I digress.......

Hot rod in red, white, and blue.

Well, it was fun to look at all the cars, and whatever you might think of cars, the outing showed me what sort of passion, work, and pride folks put into these machines. Really, it isn't far from how bike geeks look at their rigs, really.

And another thing- most of these cars were driven there. That's pretty rad. And they even got rained on, and nobody freaked out. I was impressed by that as well.

So, I had a great time there with my family. Then another thing that was non-bicycle related happened that was pretty cool too.  I had been thinking about getting another tube amplifier for my guitars for quite sometime. I had several amps on my radar, but they were all so expensive, and well......I have a pretty sweet little Blues Junior. So, it wasn't a top priority for me, just something I would have liked to have gotten at some point.

Vox AC30CC2

Well, a person that also plays in the church band with me had an AC30 they weren't happy with and it was in decent shape. I got to session it a few times, and well.....I got it this past weekend. 

What can I say? Top Boost channel, a Normal Channel, and a switch that combines them both for really great tones. Swampy tremolo and wet,wet reverb inside as well. Yes- it nails the "Queen" sound, but there is a lot more inside this box than that.

Did I mention it weighs in excess of 80-freakin' el-bees? Ouch! My back probably won't thank me, but my guitars sound so much different through this 2 X 12 monster that it seems as if they are all new git-boxes. For me, that made it worth it right there.

Okay, so there ya have a little glimpse of what I like and do beyond the bicycle stuff. I hope ya'all enjoyed that, but tomorrow it's back to bikes again!