Weekend Update

Dirt home from work was modified by high water

It was a busy weekend here, and not all of it was about bikes. Not by a long shot. However; there was something "big" announced and I did get a ride in on Friday after work.

I'm not the guy who coined the phrase, but I like it, and I've adopted it- "Dirt home from work". I use it to motivate me to take the longer way home sometimes. I used to do this more often a long time ago, but once the kids got into elementary school, I quit. I had to be back at the house by a predetermined time to get them and let them in the house. Now that they are older, I have to remind myself that I can do this stuff again. So, "dirt home from work" is just something I have latched onto as a motivator/reminder to get out and ride the dirt single track we have here in town.

Well, my ride took me to Lower Hartman first and that was kind of a bust, since the water is up. I ended up turning around and coming back down Shirey Way and over to the newer trails on the East side of Hartman Reserve. I know these trails have names, but I am not in the "club", so to speak, so I just ride 'em. Whatever it is the small cadre' of people call these trails is not well known beyond their clique, so I just use the common man's place names for these things. At any rate, those trails were fine and I had an enjoyable ride on the Blackbuck.

Cars on the grid for the Xfinity race at Iowa Speedway.

Saturday was the big day for myself and my son to attend the last Iowa Speedway event for 2015. It was kind of a big deal, in terms of the event, but I won't get in to all the details here. The point was that it was an all day affair getting ready for this and attending it. The race was great, if you are into motorsports. Iowa Speedway puts on great racing, and we had fun. We didn't get home until about midnight though!

Then Sunday I had to be up at 5:30am to get ready to lay down some Fender bass at church. That isn't something I get to do very often, (play the bass guitar), but it is always fun to do that. When that was over, I was bushed, of course, since I didn't get much rest. So, instead of beating myself up more in high humidity and hot temperatures, I took it easy the rest of the day.

Friday's ride showed me that I still am not quite "there" yet when it comes to being fully recovered from the GTDRI. Especially my lower back, which I suppose took a beating due to all the seated climbing on the GTDRI that day. The Blackbuck single speed felt great Friday, and I may have overdone things a tad bit!

Now I have to fine tune the next Trans Iowa event, which I announced on Saturday. By the way, thank you to all who have already thrown their hats into the ring for volunteering for this beast. You are all greatly appreciated.

Now hopefully this week I'll get some gravel in.

Weekend Update

Dirt home from work was modified by high water

It was a busy weekend here, and not all of it was about bikes. Not by a long shot. However; there was something "big" announced and I did get a ride in on Friday after work.

I'm not the guy who coined the phrase, but I like it, and I've adopted it- "Dirt home from work". I use it to motivate me to take the longer way home sometimes. I used to do this more often a long time ago, but once the kids got into elementary school, I quit. I had to be back at the house by a predetermined time to get them and let them in the house. Now that they are older, I have to remind myself that I can do this stuff again. So, "dirt home from work" is just something I have latched onto as a motivator/reminder to get out and ride the dirt single track we have here in town.

Well, my ride took me to Lower Hartman first and that was kind of a bust, since the water is up. I ended up turning around and coming back down Shirey Way and over to the newer trails on the East side of Hartman Reserve. I know these trails have names, but I am not in the "club", so to speak, so I just ride 'em. Whatever it is the small cadre' of people call these trails is not well known beyond their clique, so I just use the common man's place names for these things. At any rate, those trails were fine and I had an enjoyable ride on the Blackbuck.

Cars on the grid for the Xfinity race at Iowa Speedway.

Saturday was the big day for myself and my son to attend the last Iowa Speedway event for 2015. It was kind of a big deal, in terms of the event, but I won't get in to all the details here. The point was that it was an all day affair getting ready for this and attending it. The race was great, if you are into motorsports. Iowa Speedway puts on great racing, and we had fun. We didn't get home until about midnight though!

Then Sunday I had to be up at 5:30am to get ready to lay down some Fender bass at church. That isn't something I get to do very often, (play the bass guitar), but it is always fun to do that. When that was over, I was bushed, of course, since I didn't get much rest. So, instead of beating myself up more in high humidity and hot temperatures, I took it easy the rest of the day.

Friday's ride showed me that I still am not quite "there" yet when it comes to being fully recovered from the GTDRI. Especially my lower back, which I suppose took a beating due to all the seated climbing on the GTDRI that day. The Blackbuck single speed felt great Friday, and I may have overdone things a tad bit!

Now I have to fine tune the next Trans Iowa event, which I announced on Saturday. By the way, thank you to all who have already thrown their hats into the ring for volunteering for this beast. You are all greatly appreciated.

Now hopefully this week I'll get some gravel in.

Gone Racin'

Pretty sure this is the winning car from Saturday night right after it qualified.

Apologies for the non-posting over the weekend, but I have season tickets to Iowa Speedway, courtesy of my Mom, and I was gone to see the Iowa Corn 300 Indy car race with my son.

So, I know many of you may not be into motorsports, and that's cool, but I've had "total immersion" since before I can remember anything.

My Dad was a dirt track driver and served on a pit crew for a time. I was drug around in the back end of a '56 Nomad all across the state to dirt tracks every weekend of the racing season as my Dad wrenched on this fellows car and we were sitting up on the boards watching as dirt clods flew by our heads. After a while, my dad quit the crewing job, but we still went to the races religiously for years afterward. That's where my love of loud cars and racing was formed and I still have a soft spot in my heart for motorsports to this day. Mostly NASCAR, because that's the sort of racing I was brought up on, only in the dirt.

So, there's a little something you may have not known about me. Like I say, not everyone is into auto racing, and that's understandable. I have been a student of racing since I was a kid, so it's hard for me to leave that behind. Of course, getting season tickets to Iowa Speedway only makes it so that I just have to go and see the shows these men and women put on. The show this time was Indy cars, as I have said, and the race was really good. Glad to have witnessed it.

So, with that itch scratched for a couple weeks, it's back to bicycles.......

Gone Racin'

Pretty sure this is the winning car from Saturday night right after it qualified.

Apologies for the non-posting over the weekend, but I have season tickets to Iowa Speedway, courtesy of my Mom, and I was gone to see the Iowa Corn 300 Indy car race with my son.

So, I know many of you may not be into motorsports, and that's cool, but I've had "total immersion" since before I can remember anything.

My Dad was a dirt track driver and served on a pit crew for a time. I was drug around in the back end of a '56 Nomad all across the state to dirt tracks every weekend of the racing season as my Dad wrenched on this fellows car and we were sitting up on the boards watching as dirt clods flew by our heads. After a while, my dad quit the crewing job, but we still went to the races religiously for years afterward. That's where my love of loud cars and racing was formed and I still have a soft spot in my heart for motorsports to this day. Mostly NASCAR, because that's the sort of racing I was brought up on, only in the dirt.

So, there's a little something you may have not known about me. Like I say, not everyone is into auto racing, and that's understandable. I have been a student of racing since I was a kid, so it's hard for me to leave that behind. Of course, getting season tickets to Iowa Speedway only makes it so that I just have to go and see the shows these men and women put on. The show this time was Indy cars, as I have said, and the race was really good. Glad to have witnessed it.

So, with that itch scratched for a couple weeks, it's back to bicycles.......

Perfect Weekend?

Lookin' good, feelin' good!

Wow! Was that a great weekend or what Midwesterners? I cannot remember a weekend like this in terms of weather in recent memory. Decent temperatures, low humidity, and while it was a tad breezy, it was one of those "red letter" weekends in terms of what usually happens for weather around here.

Saturday was a four hour outing on the bike. I did all of the 3GR route, but I stopped a few times for different reasons. Once to adjust the saddle, once to relieve myself, and another two times for images. Between those stops I hammered maybe a little too hard for the shape I'm in, because I literally destroyed myself out there. I actually came home and after eating, I laid down for about three hours! I was soooo tired. I couldn't stay awake, and my legs were just weak beyond belief after that ride.

I got a late start, and I began the ride in a windbreaker since it was cool-ish to begin with and it was breezy out in the open. However; after getting warmed up I decided to pack up the wind breaker and go in my jersey alone, and that ended up being the right choice. Jersey pockets are a wonderful thing, by the way!

The gravel was quite varied this time. I saw and rode on everything from fast, smooth hard packed gravel to "normal" conditions, to gravel spread across the entire roadway, and even a bit of "freshie" gravel that was 4 inches deep on a fast down hill section right by Denver. That was sketchy at speed!

Go fast-Turn Left.

Speaking of speed, I went and took my son for a bit of a Father-Son time to Iowa Speedway on Sunday. I've been something of a racing fan all my life as I was brought up into the racing scene by my parents who used to drag me around to all the dirt short tracks in Iowa when I was but a wee lad. In fact, my father was a driver for a short time and then worked as a mechanic and pit crew member for another driver for awhile.

Anyway, I escaped being a racer somehow and ended up being a cyclist, but I do enjoy watching racers push the limits of speed, so I've been watching racing for many years. Of course, my son ended up wanting to see one of these deals and my Mom, who knew all this, bought me season tickets. Well.......what are ya gonna do? You go to the races!

I hadn't attended a race since my late teens or early twenties, I cannot remember, but the sounds were very reminiscent of my youth, and the sights were as well, minus the flying dirt clods and sideways cars. It was fun, and of course the modern race day attendee has a lot more to do and see at the track than we did back in the day, which is great for the times the cars aren't on the track. Anyway, I had a great time, so thank you, Mom!

That capped off a great weekend. Hopefully it was awesome where you were at as well!

Perfect Weekend?

Lookin' good, feelin' good!

Wow! Was that a great weekend or what Midwesterners? I cannot remember a weekend like this in terms of weather in recent memory. Decent temperatures, low humidity, and while it was a tad breezy, it was one of those "red letter" weekends in terms of what usually happens for weather around here.

Saturday was a four hour outing on the bike. I did all of the 3GR route, but I stopped a few times for different reasons. Once to adjust the saddle, once to relieve myself, and another two times for images. Between those stops I hammered maybe a little too hard for the shape I'm in, because I literally destroyed myself out there. I actually came home and after eating, I laid down for about three hours! I was soooo tired. I couldn't stay awake, and my legs were just weak beyond belief after that ride.

I got a late start, and I began the ride in a windbreaker since it was cool-ish to begin with and it was breezy out in the open. However; after getting warmed up I decided to pack up the wind breaker and go in my jersey alone, and that ended up being the right choice. Jersey pockets are a wonderful thing, by the way!

The gravel was quite varied this time. I saw and rode on everything from fast, smooth hard packed gravel to "normal" conditions, to gravel spread across the entire roadway, and even a bit of "freshie" gravel that was 4 inches deep on a fast down hill section right by Denver. That was sketchy at speed!

Go fast-Turn Left.

Speaking of speed, I went and took my son for a bit of a Father-Son time to Iowa Speedway on Sunday. I've been something of a racing fan all my life as I was brought up into the racing scene by my parents who used to drag me around to all the dirt short tracks in Iowa when I was but a wee lad. In fact, my father was a driver for a short time and then worked as a mechanic and pit crew member for another driver for awhile.

Anyway, I escaped being a racer somehow and ended up being a cyclist, but I do enjoy watching racers push the limits of speed, so I've been watching racing for many years. Of course, my son ended up wanting to see one of these deals and my Mom, who knew all this, bought me season tickets. Well.......what are ya gonna do? You go to the races!

I hadn't attended a race since my late teens or early twenties, I cannot remember, but the sounds were very reminiscent of my youth, and the sights were as well, minus the flying dirt clods and sideways cars. It was fun, and of course the modern race day attendee has a lot more to do and see at the track than we did back in the day, which is great for the times the cars aren't on the track. Anyway, I had a great time, so thank you, Mom!

That capped off a great weekend. Hopefully it was awesome where you were at as well!