Happy Halloween Picture Post

Mr. Ames smiling next to an upside down tree after a quick spin around Turtle River. It's getting chilly out there. It won't be long now until there's snow on the ground.

Budget Biker's winter bike. Looks like fun : )

A fat new 2.70 tire on the front.

A hub's eye view of that wide tire.

Just enough room. I guess you have to remove the brake arm in order to get this tire in there. Nice work SBS.

Random links post I'm going to attempt to link to as many other sites as possible in one post. Well it's official I signed up for the Arrowhead 135 today. Now I just have to wait and see if they accept my entry. Only 50 allowed this year and those 50 are determined by your race resume. I hope I'm worthy. As of earlier this week only 23 had registered so hopefully I'm in by default : ) I found a bike apparel company named Evomo that I ordered a T-shirt from. Here is one that expresses how I feel about Dr. Dingle's recent post. Make sure you enlarge the picture to get the whole effect. Pretty nice stuff. Not as nice as the Team Brown Bear shirts that I can't wait to see. Speaking of Team Brown Bear. Brooks is on a roll in the WCA cyclocross series. Second in points. Very impressive. Brian could be right up there if he can just toughen up a little : ) Is Lane alive? In the on going Pugsley saga. I'm set on a 9-speed rear wheel. If it's good enough for Mike Curiak, it's good enough for me. Now I just need to install a couple valves in the fork and downtube for white gas : ) Does anyone have a hub suggestion? Sounds like DT Swiss is pretty good. That's all for now. Later.

Pugs II Lots of interesting ideas out there for the Pugs. I still like the idea of a 9-speed wheel in back, and a reserve single speed wheel on the front in case something goes wrong with the shifting. Although pw's Nexus idea is a close second. I'll have to research that one some more. Cellerat brought up some good questions on gear. I liked how the pogies worked last year, but I'll be experimenting with some other gloves to see if I can drop a little weight. As for the Lake boots I used last year. They worked fine up to about -5 degees. I want to try out a light pair of winter boots with a pair of Power Grips pedals. I also like the thermos idea from Curiak's Moots rig. Freezing water was a big problem last year at the Arrowhead. I could put some soup in one of them. Mmmm. There might be some fabricating going on this winter. Keep the great suggestions coming. Is anyone else seriously considering doing the Arrowhead race this year? It is a lot of fun.

Pugsley Upgrade I want to upgrade the Pugsley. I don't know if it is really an upgrade or not, but there are a couple of things I want to change. First I want to either rebuild or replace the rear wheel. I want to make it into a 9x1, sorry single speeders. That means I need a new rear hub or entire wheel. As well as a rear deraileur and shifter. If a new wheel is the way to go I want to try the new extruded Large Marge XC rim from Surly. Not sure on the hub yet. For the shifter I'm thinking of a Paul Components thumbie paired with a 9-speed shimano bar end shifter. For the rear deraileur I will use the 9-speed XTR off the 8000. I also thought about going with the White Industries Dos ENO freewheel, but it doesn't come in a big enough gear. I'd need at least a 22t. Any other ideas?

Cavemen are people too I always thought there was something different about Fox. A manly beard, he likes to be in the woods, sophisticated, and he writes Haiku : )

Work Bench I'm looking for any advice on building a home work bench. I want to get a shop together for this winter in my garage. I know a few of you have built your own and I was wondering if you just winged it, or had plans to go off of. As many of you know I'm not very handy when it comes to tools, but I think I can handle this little project. I know there are some nice pre-built benches out there too. I would like to try it myself though. I was thinking of something I can mount a truing stand and a vice to. Any thoughts or advice before I end up like Kerkove.

Titanium Bits Since I've been "domesticated". I've had plenty of time to veg-out in front of the TV. Last week I was watching ESPN and Primal Quest Utah came on. They were profiling some of the teams, and one of them was "Jen's Men". To my surprise there was a Grand Forks native on the team. It was Jason Magness, one of the guys from the climbing wall at the mall across from the Ski and Bike Shop. They interviewed him, and I have to say he's sounds like an interesting guy. I guess he used to be a rocket scientist and worked for the FBI to name a couple of the things he used to do. Now he teaches Yoga in GF. Crazy. Anyway it was entertaining seeing Jen's Men run around Utah for 500 miles. They ended up getting 24th place out of 90 teams. Very impressive. I think it would be fun to try an adventure race some day. Anyone else ever attempted or want to attempt one of these? In other news Jen and I went out and looked for wedding bands. She found one she really likes, but I couldn't find one. Then I remembered seeing some sweet titanium chainrings and cogs on the singlespeed forum at MTBR. They are made by Boone Titanium Rings and guess what they make titanium wedding bands as well. After browsing their site I found a couple I like. I might even have to get a matching chainring for the Pugsley : )

First Snow

First Snow of the year today. Looks like we might get an inch or more. It'll probably melt just as fast as we get it though. I'll try and take out Pugsley for it's first snow ride this year! Here are a few pictures.

I switched over to the beta blogger. So, I had to redo all my links. I think it looks better now. I will still be adding some more as I remember them. I also created a copycat blog to go along with the Team Brown Bear blog that Brooks and Brian made. It is Team Polar Bear. Enjoy.

I'm Baaaack Well I made it back from the metropolis of Memphis, TN. It was quite an experience. Courier training went great. I'm glad to be done with all of that. I didn't realize that Memphis was such a big city. Lots of crime. Eight murders, numerous robberies and assults in the two weeks I was down there. A couple of the other guys that were down there for training took me to Beale St. It's a famous street in downtown Memphis that has a ton of blues clubs and restaurants along it. Very cool atmosphere. We went to BB Kings blues club. Also checked out the Rendevous restaurant for some of their famous Memphis "dry ribs". Very tasty. Thanks for recomending it PW. While walking along the blocked off street, a guy passed us followed closely by a few of Memphis' finest. They grabbed him and started to take him back the other way. He started to resist them. I've seen enough episodes of COPS to know what was coming next. They threw his arms up behind his head and took him down face first into a metal railing outside one of the clubs. Then they all piled on him with knees in his back. All the while he's screaming "I didn't do nothing". This was about 10 feet from us. We just stood there in awe. Welcome to Memphis : ) I also got to see a NHL exhibition game at the FedEx Forum. Predators vs. Blue Jackets. Lots of fighting and scoring. Nashville won 8-1. Karl Goehring was on Nashville's roster, but didn't play. I also saw a guy with a Sioux jersey on. What a small world. One night we headed down to Tunica, Mississippi to lose some money at the mini-Vegas they have there. It really is like a mini-Vegas. Big casinos with all the lights and attractions. I ended up playing a cash poker game for about five hours. I was up a 100 bucks at one point, but then lost it all and ended up down a hundred. Just like on TV : ) All in all it was a good trip. Two weeks on FedEx's dime, I can't complain : ) Here's a few pictures of the trip. Enjoy.

The famous Beale St.

Bad boys, Bad boys, whach ya gonna do when they come for you? Brought to you by the men and women of law enforcement : )

A neon "Lucille"

On the way downtown this guy was going the wrong way down the street in his rickety looking wheelchair. The speed limit here was 40 mph! Unbelievable. I was surprised this picture turned out as well as it did since we were going so fast by him. Ride it like you stole it buddy.

At the hockey game. The FedEx Forum is similar to the Englestad Arena, but one level taller and not as luxurious.

The Horseshoe Casino in Tunica, Mississippi. There were probably 20+ casinos all lit up like this.

Mr. Kerkove posted about a new map site called Route Slip. I mapped a couple of routes in the North Dakota section. Llama Turtle Field Brian! Check it out, and add some more. Pretty cool stuff.

The EnduroSnob Epic has been cancelled. That is too bad. I had gotten time off and everything. Oh well I might put my time off to good use and go to Matt's Tobasco ride in Iowa instead.

Anyone want to go out to TR this weekend?

That's all for now.

Turtle River, CX, Ultra Distance Events and Memphis I went out to Turtle River State Park on Monday. The new trails the Americorp crew made are perfect. They extended the horse trail section so that there is single track all the way along the hill on the east and south side of the trail. Very fun and fast. Especially going opposite of the "race loop". I managed to clip a tree with my left grip which sent me heading straight into a tree on the right side of the trail. I cushioned the blow with my arm and then rolled a couple times down the hill. I was a human pinball : ) Then the ski trial section just before heading into the gopher hills has been replace with some sweet single track as well. A few nice roots and rocks in this part. The old Americorp trail along the marshes was also widened and groomed better than ever. Helmets off to those guys and gals from Americorp who put in over six solid weeks of trail work. Thank you very much. Brian, make sure you bring the 9.9 in October. Paddy, you and Naomi should head over there on your way down to the CX races at the end of the month.

The new and improved section towards the end of the "race loop"

Tonight I went to the first cyclocross race of the season in Moorhead at Johnson Park. I've never done a CX race before, and it was an eye opener. 45 minutes of my lungs on fire. Ouch! I'm out of shape. It was painful but fun. A lot of nice guys and gals showed up. A big thunderstorm just missed us. Only a few sprinkles to make some of the grass sections slick. I will definitely be back for more.

EnduroSnob needs some brave souls to sign up for the EnduroSnob Epic in November. Only six signed up so far, and a third are from North Dakota. Lets try and get a 50% representation at least. If Mangan and I can do it then Sears and Brian certainly can. Come on guys. You can do it.

Also the Arrowhead 135 registration is open now until December 1st. Start getting your winter camping gear in order. This is a must do race. Any takers out there? Pw-how about it this year?

In non-biking news I'm heading to Memphis, Tennesse on Sunday. I'll be there for two weeks for FedEx training. Then everyone in Fargo better stay off the sidewalks cause I'll be behind the wheel of a big white truck : ) It should be fun. Anyone been there before? I'm gonna try and catch a Nashville Predators pre-season NHL game. Other than that I'll see if I can't rent a bike and get in better shape while I'm down there.

That's all for now. I'll try and keep up with blogging while I'm in Memphis. Hopefully I'll get a bunch of pictures of Graceland to share with everyone : )

Paddy Wagon Hey Mr. Hummeny. I didn't know you were sponsored by KONA! Check out Paddy's new ride for 2007 : )

Afton Results and Pictures Here are the solo results from the 24 Hours of Afton race. Brian-11th, Chuck-15th, Me-40th, Trent-42nd, Sears-68th. Great job everyone! Here are a few more random pictures. Enjoy.

Trent rockin the 4900. We need to get him a jersey : )

Trent after one too many Red Bulls! You the man Trent : )

Mario making friends at Afton. I want a dog.

Afton Aftermath Afton didn't go as well as I hoped it would. Started off trying to beat Kerkove on the run. I'm too slow to be doing that. I'll learn one of these days. Hit the first climb and had no power. That was pretty much the story until I pulled the plug at 3 o'clock in the morn. I had a few falls and one good crash somewhere in there. Brian had a good race with 11 laps. Trent had a stellar performance as well. He got six laps, and managed to shave 40 minutes off of his best lap from last year. Amazing! Sears managed a few laps on his fixed 29er. That couldn't have been easy with all the hills and fast downhills. To each their own I guess : ) Chuck was still going stong with 11 laps when we had packed up camp early. Have to wait till the Afton site posts the results to see where he ended up. Overall a good performance from our camp. Thanks go out to our solo pit crew person Tonia. Thanks to Alane and Dick for the deviled eggs. Mmmmmm. Thank you Chuck for letting us use your RV. That was nice. Congrats go to Team Cannondale with the one two punch of Mr.24 and Bucannondale. It's gotta be the shoes! That's all folks. Here are some photos.

Mario and me getting aquainted on the ride down : ) You fed him, right?

Sears admiring his bike on the left. Trent working on his knot tying skills. Mario on the trail for some bitches. Tonia surveying her support setup. And Brian, well I'm not sure what he is doing.

In other news. The Hummenys' had a great weekend at a 8 hr race in Canada. And Nick Martin pops the question on his blog. That blows my mind. Proposing after three days? It took me nine years! Wow. I'll try and post more pictures later. Blogger is acting up again.

Afton here I come Well after weeks of agonizing over whether or not I would be able to go to 24 Hours of Afton. I am going to be there this weekend. With over 70 solo racers it should be a good one. Brian, Sears, Trent and even Mr. 24 himself are going to be there. Maybe the Lederhosen laden Fox will show up as well. Looks like highs in the 70's and low's in the 50's with a slight chance of rain. Comfortable weather as long as it's not pouring like at Nine Mile. Trent is bringing a secret weapon that I would like to borrow on all the climbs : ) What is this weapon I speak of? Here he is.

Super Mario! I'll be making friends with him on the ride down : )

In other news. I started my new job on Monday. I spent the first day filling out a bunch of paper work. Then I got to watch nine training videos, and that wasn't even all of them. I think it is going to be a great place to work once all of the training is out of the way.

If I don't blog again before the weekend. Have a good one.

Random Post Went to Maplelag with Trent today. It was a great ride. The deer flies have died off and there are still no mosquitoes. Temps were in the 80's, but there was a nice breeze to cool us down. There was almost two miles of new singletrack. That means just over a nine mile course for the Laddies Loppet race in two weeks. It was good to get out there and see all of the new and old stuff. That course never fails to humble me. I had a few close calls on the lake drops. Trent had a nice slow motion Over-the-bars moment. I wish I had remembered my camera : ) Oh well, now Trent can deny it. Brian you need to get up this way with the 9.9 soon. You would love it. How about coming up for the Loppet? In other news. It looks like Dave Nice is looking at putting on a Trans-Iowa style race in Colorado next Fall. That would be a lot of fun. I should have more vacation to work with by that time as well. It also looks like Trans-Iowa V.3 is a go for next year. It is going to be a loop course instead of across the state though. I like that idea very much. Check out this post from Nick Martin's blog. I'd give anything for a Moots snow bike that carries your stove fuel in the fork and downtube. Wow! Speaking of snow bikes. Who wants to go to the Arrowhead 135 race on Feb. 5th? I'll be in GF again this weekend. Maybe it won't rain like last weekend, and I can check out the new trails at Turtle River. Talk to ya later.

New Job Well I can finally quit spending Jen's money. I got a new job yesterday. I just hope that I pass the drug test and physical : ) They don't test for HGH or EPO, do they? : ) At least I don't have to worry about a negative testosterone to epitestosterone ratio like Paddy : ) Anyway I should be starting at FedEx on the 21st. This means I might have to miss 24 Hours of Afton though. We'll see. I'll try and make it work. If you haven't already. Check out Brian's blog for pictures of the Climbs of the Tour de France. Alpe d'Huez! I'm soooo jealous. Heading to GF this weekend. I hope it doesn't rain. I'd like to go and check out the new trails at Turtle River. I'm also contemplating running a 10k on Saturday. A little cross training for CX season. Hope everyone has a great weekend! Later

24 Hours of Nine Mile I'm back from the cheese state. Lots of rain and hot humid temps, but lots of fun anyway. The weekend started on Friday morning with a 7 hour trip to Wausau, WI. We arrived at the race venue and set up camp. Then went on a night time pre-ride lap. The course was a blast. By far the best singletrack I've ridden, and lots of it. Tons of rocks and roots that all flowed perfectly. We went back to our camp site and tried to get some sleep. Unfortunately it started to rain. At first it was just a little sprinkle. Then it went from a light rain to a windy downpour and back all night long. Needless to say we didn't get a lot of sleep. The clouds had parted by the start of the race. I volunteered to do the first lap with the lemans running start. I saw a bunch of familiar faces in the starting shoot. Matt, Paddy, Kerkove and Endurosnob to name a few. 10:00am came and we were off. I felt pretty brave on the run, and tried to pass as many people as I could. Probably not the smartest thing to do. I passed Paddy and told him to pick it up : ) Once we got to our bikes and started down the course, he did just that, and flew by me. My first lap was decent. I definitely got caught up in the excitement and took off way to fast. I always seem to do that. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I finished in 1 hour 15 minutes and tagged off with Trent. The afternoon laps were hot and sticky in the sun. Brian set the fastest lap for our team at 1 hour 4 minutes. Way to go! Trent had great times as well. And Sears kept up fast lap times even though he was on his fixed 29er. Greg made a quick trip up from Madison to cheer us on. I was saddened that the infamous Fox was a no show in his lederhosen : ) As the sun set, it started to cool off a little bit. I took off with my lights and had my best lap of the day. There were three checkpoints along the course. The first one was all lit up, and had a good sized cheering section by the dirt jump they had built. I got some good air and roar from the crowd. That got me pumped for the rest of the lap. At the third checkpoint (Checkpoint Charlie) there was quite the party going on. There were people cheering and ringing cowbells all over, and the music was just as loud. They sure know how to put on a race in Wisconsin : ) On my second night lap it was starting to lightning and thunder. After checkpoint charlie the skies opened up and the wind started to howl. I made it back to the finish, and that was the end of the race. The race organizers had stopped the race and eventually cancelled the rest of the event because of a tornado warning. We packed up camp and hit the road. This is a must do event for anyone thinking of trying a 24 hour event. Minus the weather everything about it was perfect. Great course, loud music, hot showers, bike wash and food and equipment vendors as well. A first rate experience. Our team had a great time and a lot of fun. That was our goal for the weekend. Mission accomplished. Great race guys! A big thanks go out to Terry, Monty and the gang at The Ski and Bike Shop for sponsoring us. Thanks guys and gals. You're the best!

Off to Wisconsin Going to Nine Mile to have some fun : ) Report and pictures to follow. Later.

Random Mode Not much new here. I should be in GF again this weekend. Last weekend was fun. Sears was in EnduroSnob Epic training mode on Sunday. Check out his ride report. Sounds like he'll be ready for 9-mile next weekend. Greg is back in the area, and he showed up at the Sunday night ride. It was good to have someone to push me to the limit. The trails were really dry. Places that usually have some water on the trail were bone dry. Even the gopher hills section! Which is good because that means NO mosquitoes! I showed Greg the new section of single track in the horse trails, and we found that someone had extended it even more. They did a really good job too. We rode back to the Chalet for some water, and met a guy who said he was with Americorps. He said that they have been staying there for a week so far, and would be building a bunch of new singletrack for the next six weeks! He said they would be working on some new trails in the northern part of the park as well. I can't wait to see what they do. If it's anything like what they have already done, I might have to move back to GF : ) Anyway, sounds like Greg will be in GF again this weekend. It should be another good weekend of riding. I might even have to bring the Poprad for a Mangan Gravel Grinder. We'll see. Is Lane still alive? Simmons out.

Finally Friday Hey Friday is finally here tomorrow. Not that it means that much to me. Everyday is like Friday for this slacker : ) I ventured out to Maplelag on Tuesday. It was hot, and the deer flies were crazy. I had forgotten how tough the single track was out there. I did a loop of the Expert course for the Laddies Loppet race. It was brutal, but still a lot of fun. Trent we need to plan a trip out there sometime. Sounds like Greg is going to be in the area until September, so maybe we can all get together out there. Sears, would you be interested? On Wednesday I went on a group ride with some guys from Paramount Sports. There were six of us. It was hot and windy. There were some goods sprints. About 30 miles total. It sounds like there is a group ride pretty much everyday of the week. Lots of riding to be had. Jen and I are heading up to Grand Forks tomorrow. I'll be bringing the 8000 for some Turtle River action. Any takers for Friday or Saturday?

Fargo Well I've been in Fargo now for over a week. It's not that bad. Not Grand Forks, but not that bad. Still looking for a job. I'm in no hurry though. I have a sugar momma now : ) Just kidding Jen. Hopefully, I'll be able to contribute to the bank soon. Biking here is crazy. The traffic in town is horrible. On Friday Jen had to go to Grand Forks to do some wedding stuff, so I decided that I would bike up there and then get a ride home. I took the 2300 out of the stable and headed north. It took me 35 minutes to get out of Fargo! Once out of town it was nice. I bet I didn't see more than 10 cars until I got close to GF. It was a hot and humid day. In the 90's with a strong tailwind. I took two bottles of Accelerade and a 1 liter camelbak full of water and Elete. I had to stop in Hillsboro to refill with water and gatorade endurance. I love the look on peoples faces in small towns when a guy in tight shorts and tap shoes comes into the convenience store. Priceless. 3 hours 46 minutes of riding time. 84 miles. Should be good prep for 24 hours of 9 mile at the end of the month. Are you ready guys? It should be a fun race. Since we're in the team division, I should have plenty of time to harass the solo guys. Can I get a roll call of who's going to be there? I'd like to get some good pictures of the event, so stay tuned for that. Greg are you going to make it? Later

Dave Nice is my hero Just wanted to give a shout out to Dave Nice. I met him at Trans-Iowa. Super nice guy. Anyway, he is out in the wilderness of Montana starting the Great Divide Race. He is riding a fixed gear bike! For those of you that don't know what a fixed gear bike is. It means there is only one gear on the bike, and that there is no coasting. If the wheels are turning you have to pedal. Here is a picture of Sears' fixed gear Monocog 29er' as an example. Notice you can run it with no brakes, if you dare.

This is the longest off-road race in the world. From the Canadian border to the Mexico border along the Rocky Mountains. Totally self supported! I don't know how he can pedal with cajones that big : ) Good luck man! You can follow the race reports here. I'm heading to a fish fry, and then it's to The Hub for burgers with the Wisconsinites. Later

p.s. Hi Chad I : )

Still here I've been really busy/lazy lately. I pulled a Paddy and tried to stay away from the "time waster" as much as possible. But, here I am. So, what's new? Well I'm moving to Fargo at the end of the month. Bruce Furness is no longer Mayor, so it's safe for me to move down there now : ) Anyway, I can't wait. I'm not sure what I'm going to do for work yet, but hopefully something will pop up. Not much new on the biking front. Went for a ride with Sears and Squez on Sunday. We rode out to the TR sunday night ride, rode the ride, then rode home. About 55 miles of fun. Sears wanted to make it a challenge and rode his Monocog 29er fixed. He's an animal on that bike. No log jump can stop him. It really is unbelievable! Watch out at Nine Mile : ) Other than that I haven't been riding a whole lot. Well just thought I'd post a quick update. More to come. Hope everyone is having a great week. Good night.

Dirty Kanza 200 Race Report Well I survived the rocky roads of Kansas this weekend. What a race. The course was unbelievable, the weather was perfect and the "Trans-Iowa Slayer" became the "Dirty Kanza Crusher" : ) Rick and I left for Kansas at 6:00am on Friday morning. At about the South Dakota border I remembered that I forgot my rain jacket at home. Luckily there was big yellow store in Sioux Falls. After a quick pit stop for gas and a jacket we were off again. As we passed through a town on the Kansas border, we were shocked at the temperature on the bank clock. 100 degrees! We arrived at Emporia, KS and checked in at the Travelodge where the race headquarters were at. The race organizers were busy getting everything ready for registration. So, we went to our room and started to get our bikes and gear ready for the big day ahead of us. We registered and I seen a few familiar faces. Patrick Humenny, Guitar Ted, Dave Pals, Matt Maxwell and Paul Jaconson had all made the long voyage to Kansas as well. It was getting late by this time and I needed to get some sleep. I set three different alarms for 4:30am, and dosed off to thoughts of gravely goodness. The alarms rang, buzzed and beeped and we hopped out of bed to get ready. It was warm enough that I could wear shorts, a base layer t-shirt, a Ski and Bike Shop issued jersey, thin wool socks and full finger gloves. 34 brave racers gathered for the pre-race meeting at 5:45am. Then it was a cowbell start at 6:00am. The group pretty much stayed together for the short ride out of town. As soon as we hit the gravel things started to pick up. I had told myself that I didn't want to try and stay with the lead group. I didn't want to blow up like at Trans-Iowa. But, I found myself right in there flying down the gravel at around 20 mph. Amazingly I felt good, and continued to as guys were getting flats or dropping off the back of the pack. Pretty soon it was down to about 10 guys. Then two of them flew off the front never to be seen again till the end. Paddy H, Joe Partridge, and I were riding along. I got brave and put in a hard effort to pull away from them. They were on single speeds, so they were spinning out on the flats and down hills. They kept close with all the hills though. I am not a climber! I hit the first pass through town at 40 miles in, and stopped to refill my camelback, water bottles and relieve myself. I came out of the store and a few guys had gone by, deciding not to stop and refuel. The course up to this point was nice gravel with a lot of hills. They don't call it the Flint Hills region for nothing. I pressed on to the halfway point in Cottonwood Falls. The course got a little tougher at this point. There was a shallow stream crossing, more hills and a river valley that had the worst road up to this point. It was probably a good mile of rocky road. And I mean rocky. Popcan sized rocks from one side to the other. I thought I would get a flat for sure. I didn't and was glad when that section was over. Along the way a couple of nice locals had set out water at the ends of their driveways for us. That was very much appreciated. Almost to Cottonwood Falls I see this monster of a hill. I put it in the easiest gear I had and started to pedal away at it. As I crested it there was another one just as big waiting. Son of a B***H! That hurt. It was getting pretty warm at that point so it felt good to get to Cottonwood Falls and rest a little. I checked in at the halfway point at about 11:30am. 16mph average for the first half. I wasn't expecting that. Again I filled up my water reserves and grabbed a couple of turkey and cheese sandwiches. I went and sat down at the chekpoint and chatted with a couple guys. One was single speed legend DJ Birtch. He had just done the Kokopelli trail race last weekend, and here he was doing the Dirty Kanza this weekend. WOW! Anyway, Matt Maxwell and I headed out of the checkpoint for the next section of the course. It was rumored to be the toughest stretch, and it didn't disappoint. 50+ miles till the next pass through town of Eureka, KS. Matt and I stuck together for a while then we yo-yoed back and forth a few times. We were riding through open cattle range on the rockiest roads I have ever seen. Even worse than the one before Cottonwood Falls. It was weird riding along with cows right along the road with nothing in between you and them. A few darted in front of us. I've never seen a cow run before, but they sure can make the ground rumble. On a long up hill section a we saw a rider coming up behind us. I did a double take as I seen it was Patrick Humenny. I guess he thought the course was too easy, so he went and got lost for 45 minutes : ) Simply amazing! He gets lost for that amount of time, and comes flying up to us like its nothing. Crazy Canadians : ) After that we hit the mother of all downhills. It was a rock road littered with even bigger rocks and there was a good sized ditch down the left side. Paddy went flying down it on his Giant XTC. Not to be out done, I went full speed ahead after him on my 32mm cyclocross tires. That was the scariest ride of my life. It was steep and fast. I couldn't hit the brakes at all or I would have wiped out for sure. I made it unscathed, and had a good adrenaline rush for the rest of the ride to Eureka. I rolled into Eureka and Joel, one of the race directors, said that I was in third place. Shortly after me, Paddy and Matt both came flying in. Same routine. Fill the bottles and get some food. My feet were really bothering me at this point. I had to take off my shoes and rub em down a bit. Paddy and Matt took off ahead of me. I put my shoes back on and gave chase. There was about 60 miles to go to the finish in Emporia. About 30 miles to the next pass through town of Madison, KS. I caught Matt, but never saw Paddy. This part of the course was somewhat hilly, but not as bad as the open range section. I took it pretty easy until Madison. I stopped and topped off the water and had a slice of pizza. While I was sitting on the curb a rancher pulls up in a farm truck, gives me a funny look, and then says in his Kansas accent, "You need a shower!" I agreed, then he asked, "What the hell I was doing?" I told him that there was a 200 mile race going on, and I had about 25 miles to go and pointed at my map on the bike. He looks it over and yells at another guy sitting in his pickup truck, "Bob, you gotta see this f**kin' map!" I laughed out loud almost choking on my pizza. He wished me luck, and I was off. The last 25 or so miles I felt awesome. I had a slight tailwind and was cruising along at around 18-20mph. Contrary to the G-Ted's audioblog I didn't pass anyone on this section. But one of the guys that was watching the final stretch back to town saw that I was flying and said, post race, that I must have passed 5 or 6 guys. Not true, but it sounds impressive. So, just go ahead and pretend that it happened anyway : ) The sun set a few miles outside of town, and I switched on my lights for the last few miles. There was a few fireflys that lit my way as well. That was surreal after 200 miles of gravel and rocky roads. I came into the finish area to applause and cowbells. What a great feeling. I finally finished one of these long gravel endurance races. A 4th place finish none the less. Official time was 15 hours and 26 minutes. 12.96mph average. I got a nice cowbell for finishing, along with some other goodies from the sponsors. I went and showered all of the salt and dirt off of me. Then came out to watch all the other finishers come in. Out of 15 finishers, there was still one out on the course, and it was starting to rain. Then it started to downpour and lightning. The winds picked up and everyone ran inside the hotel. David Pals was still out there riding in the storm just miles from the finish. I can't imagine the ride he was having in that storm. Then just a few blocks from the finish. Some idiot in a car ran into him! I guess he slid on the wet pavement and got back up okay. Crazy ending to a great race. Maybe he'll start a blog and give us all the whole story. This was one of the best races I've ever been to. It was well worth the 12 hour drive. The race promoters were great. They had the course marked well, great maps to follow and really just made it a fun atmosphere to race in. Thanks guys! I look forward to coming back next year. Hopefully I can talk a few more North Dakotans into coming down. Brian, Sears, Greg? Anyone up for it? As for Mr. Mangan. He had a great race as well. He made it all the way to the midway checkpoint. 88 miles on the course. He decided to call it quits there, but then proceeded to ride/walk back to Emporia. For a grand total of 113 miles. Very impressive! For his next trick he's going to try and finish the 300+ mile EnduroSnob Epic. Anyone else going to join us for this one? That's all for the long race report. Here are a few pictures to mull over. Later : ) Lots of gear. Not all of it was used though. I really liked the modern bedspreads : )

Rick's steed and fanny pack. I can't say enough about those comforters.

The Dirty Kanza Crusher! Those skinny 32mm tires never got a flat. Unbelievably none of the cyclocross bikes had a flat! Hmmm?

The starting line-up. From left to right. Paul Jacobson in the blue jersey, Eventual winner Dan Hughes in the distance, Matt Maxwell in the green camelbak, the madman singlespeeder Patrick Humenny in the blue/orange jersey, Dave "I like to dent cars" Pals #605, Rick Mangan for team Ski and Bike Shop, and last but not least "the audio blogger" himself Guitar Ted in the white and red jersey behind Rick.

A nice shot of the grassy Kansas plains.

Mugshot of yours truly all covered in dirt and salt. Apparently I'm now balding as well : )

They don't call it the Dirty Kanza for nothing.

200 miles of Dirt Lovin' Good Times!

Top speed 37.8mph Weeee! The maps were perfect.

Make sure to check out the Dirty Kanza site for other reports and pictures. Also, G-Ted had some great audio blogs on his site. Check them out if you get a chance. He should start a satellite radio show like Lance Armstrong, but for off-road racing : )

Off to see the Wizard Well just finished packing up for the big drive down to Kansas. Rick is picking me up at 6:00am. Then it's about a 12 hour drive down to Emporia. Sounds like it's going to be a nice weekend. Highs around 90 and lows in the 60's. Should make for a good 20 hour bike ride : ) There should be some good audio blog updates over on G-Ted's site. I should have an update Sunday night if all goes as planned. In other news, a rather large sign toppled over at Rydells today. Right on a $20,000 mini van. Check out the pics I took below. Sully admiring the damage.

That's all for tonight. Hopefully next post I'll have finally finished one of these endurance races : ) Have a great weekend everybody!

The Carnage Tonight started out great! All the Ski and Bike Shop guys and gal got together for some laughs at The Hub. The good Dr. Dingle even made an apperance. Hub Specials for everyone.

Mmmmm! Hub Burrrrrger!

With our bellies full of beef and taters. We decided to head over to the parking ramp for the 1st gravity race of the season. I brought along the camera again. I hope the resolution is a little better than the last video. Sears drew first blood, and dominated the racing that ensued. Let the carnage begin! No pedaling fools!

Messing Around Inspired by this. I went out to TRSP tonight and messed around with my new camera. It was challenging to ride one handed on single track. Should help with the technical skills though. I still need to work on the editing. The auto production thingy wants to do its own thing. Enjoy! Hopefully the rain will stay to the east and I can get some more fun footage : ) Brian is in town, so you know what that means. Hub Burgers and Gravity Racing! I'll try and get a video of the first GGFGRPS race of the year. Foxy when is that new site going to be functional? Good luck to Mr. 24 at the first WEMS race of the season! One week to go till the Kanza!

Busy Bloggers Well it looks like some of you guys in the Bloggersphere are pretty busy. Brian took an 11th place finish at a road race in Wisconsin today, and is going to try and top that performance tomorrow in the first WORS race of the season. Way to go Brian. Give em hell! Greg has also been up to no good. He just started to 12 hours of Lodi Farm race at midnight. I got a pre-race update from him earlier this evening, and he said that he would be going up against a former world single speed champion. I can't think of his name right now, but he said that he had a sweet Ti Deluxe single speed IF. Good luck Greg on your fixed Klein single speeder! I hope those flamer flames make you fast : ) As for the Endurosnob Epic. It looks like no one wants to join me and the Mangan for another epic race. Brian, Greg, Brooks? Anyone care to join in the fun? I know Paddy H wants to, but he's whooped, waapaa : ) Just kidding Paddy. I wouldn't want to be in that spot. How about a update on who's in, and whose not? EnduroSnob? In other news I went out to Turtle River tonight. Sears, "The Professor" Yearwood, Randy Lieberg and his friends Steve and Sonya were all out there for the Friends of Turtle River BBQ. I did a couple laps on my own. Then Randy, Steve and Sonya joined for another. It felt good to be back on the old 8000. First time this year. The trails are in great shape with only a few soft spots in the low lying areas. The new single track along the horse trails has also been cleaned up. It is looking good, but could still use some TLC. It's fun to have a new section to conquer. Well that's all for now. Good night.

EndoroSnob Epic I just registered for the Epic. Who else got in? I'm going to ride now. Later : )

You Dirty Kanza Well I just dropped my Dirty Kanza registration in the mail. I hope there are still a couple spots open. I say a couple because I also talked the Budget Biker ,Rick Mangan, into registering as well. It should be a lot of fun. I can't wait to see all the crazies from TI again. In other news Patrick Humenny is back in bloggerville. Will he disappear again before the Dirty Kanza? We'll have to wait and see. I'm renaming the link on my blog in hopes of keeping him around a little longer this time : ) That's all for now.

Reflections Well I'm back home. Here are some random thoughts. I got all my stinky biking clothes all washed. I just cleaned up the Poprad as well. It was tough getting all the mud off of it. Especially the worm guts! There were some of the biggest worms I have ever seen laying in the puddled roads of Iowa. They were so big you couldn't swerve to miss them. Some I bet were a foot long. Anyway they really stuck to the bike. I also forgot to mention the skunk I saw. I was pedaling along and saw a skunk come running out of the ditch at me. It saw me and started running alongside me for about 20 yards. All I could do was keep riding and hope he wouldn't spray me. Luckily he didn't and ran back into the ditch. I could've really had a hard time finding a ride back to Algona if he did spray me : ) And how about those Badger holes alongside the B roads. That was kind of scary. Speaking of rides I have to thank Gary, Jim, Tom and Paul again for letting me tag along. Gary and Jim decided to keep riding on the paved roads after Paulina. They wanted to get a century in to finish out the day. You guys are hardcore : ) Thanks again guys. Hope to see you at the next one if it happens. p.s. that helmet must be someone else's. I have mine, and it smells. Bad! As for the next race. I'm really thinking seriously about doing the Dirty Kanza if there is still a spot open. I guess I didn't get enough suffering at TI : ) Anyone else want to do this one in a few weeks? Let me know. It would be fun. I promise. I mean, how much worse could it be than this weekends race? Did everyone check out the videos on Jeff Kerkove's site? The first one where Dallas and Lindsay were the last two standing was unbelievable! Those Canadians sure can ride. I wish I had talked to them, but they are so crazy it's intimidating : ) Maybe next time guys. You rock! p.s. Paddy are you going to start blogging again now that TI is over? I would like that : ) I think the Pugsley would have fit right in with all the hogs and cows we passed in Iowa. I don't know if it would have been a better choice for the race though. A cyclocross Pugs does sound good. Would that work? Well time to sleep. Good night : )

Soaked One word, SOAKED! Unbelievable conditions this weekend made for a race to remember. The race started at 4:00am with the best conditions of the day. Overcast with a light sprinkle and hardly any wind. Guitar Ted led us out for a three mile prologue on a paved road. From there it was a left turn onto the gravel roads of Iowa. The conditions got worse and worse. The first few miles were a set of grueling hills. The guys at the front of the pack, including Matt Maxwell, were setting an insane pace. I tried to hang with them, but only lasted a few miles. I overheated and had to slow down to recover. The roads were like peanut butter which made that hard. The rain just got worse as the miles ticked by. I was soaked from head to toe. I came to the first B-level road. A few guys were already walking in a small patch of grass on the side of it. I did the same. After probably 50 feet, the grass disappeared, and my tires were so caked with mud they wouldn't budge. I had to carry my bike for almost a mile. After getting all the mud scraped off it was back on the gravel. It was soft and it was slow going. I don't know how slow because my computer quit working from all the mud being wedged around the sensor. A short stretch later, and another B-level road awaited. Luckily this one had a nice wide ditch to ride/walk in. From there it was a short paved road to the first town, Alton, IA. There were a few cars parked on the side of the road waiting for their riders. I waited around and a few guys came rolling in. We decided to call it quits, and ride the paved road to the next passthrough town. Six hours and 45 miles from the start of the race I was cold, wet and ready to get off the bike. Paul Jacobson and I decided to pull the plug and his ride was kind enough to give me a ride to Algona. We called G-Ted to tell him we were DNFing. He said that there were only 8 0r 9 guys left on the course. They were still 80 miles away from Algona, and there was no way they were going to make the time cutoff at 6:00pm. Ted and Jeff decided to call the race at Algona. So the first one to Algona would be the winner. Matt Maxwell and Paddy H had both dropped out of the lead group that had been going all out from the start. Very impressive race for those guys in the horrible conditions. Great job guys. I picked up my drop bag, and Ted and Jeff were nice enough to hand out some freebies to everyone. A big thanks to those two for putting on an incredible event! Even with the bad weather it was still a great experience. One that I won't soon forget. Thanks guys. Sorry that I don't have much of a story to tell, but I'm sure there will be a lot of good ones coming on the MTBR forum and blogs. Stay tuned. Also check out the Trans-Iowa Radio broadcasts on the Trans-Iowa site. Priceless : ) Later.

Almost there Well it's almost time to head out for Iowa. I figured I'd get a quickie in before leaving. The bike is ready, the bags are packed, and I'm getting anxious. I can't wait to meet all the crazy Trans-Iowans tomorrow night. The forecast for the race is looking like rain and a headwind. Ouch! Oh well, it will be more memorable that way. I hope to have some good stories and pictures when I get back. So, until then here is a great quote from Kent Peterson's blog. Enjoy : ) To be truly challenging, a voyage, like a life, must rest on a firm foundation of financial unrest... "I've always wanted to sail to the South Seas, but I can't afford it." What these men can't afford is not to go. They are emmeshed in the cancerous discipline of security. And in the worship of security we fling our lives beneath the wheels of routine. And before we know it our lives are gone.What does a man need, really need? A few pounds of food each day, heat and shelter, six feet to lie down in -- and some form of working activity that will yield a sense of accomplishment. That's all, in a material sense, and we know it. But we are brainwashed by our economic system until we end up in a tomb beneath a pyramid of time payments, mortgages, preposterous gadgetry, playthings that divert our attention from the sheer idiocy of the charade.The years thunder by. The dreams of youth grow dim where they lie caked in dust on the shelves of patience. Before we know it, the tomb is sealed.Where, then, lies the answer? In choice. Which shall it be: bankruptcy of purse or bankruptcy of life?-- Sterling Hayden, Voyage, 1976 (Thanks Doug Hackney)

Update Not much happening lately. Trying to get ready for the big event next weekend. I can't wait for it to get here. This time next week I'll be snug in a bed in Hawarden, IA. Then it's a 4:00am start to the other side of Iowa. Here's a picture of what it's going to look like at the first B-level road : )

One big log jam. Just imagine that those trees are all 70 Trans-Iowans converging at the first B-level road. Notice the "TRAVEL AT YOUR OWN RISK" at the bottom of the sign. Comforting isn't it. 340 miles of Iowa, coming up : )

Well it's off to bed. Get to work at the bike shop tomorrow. I'll try and post some pictures of the Trans-Iowa Slayer later this week. It's starting to look like a touring bike. Later.

Slacker Sunday I was a slacker today. It felt good. I had a long ride planned, but upon waking this morning I decided to sleep in. Oh well there's always tomorrow : ) I should probably start training for this little Trans-Iowa race soon : ) April 29th is coming up too fast. I did drive out to Turtle River State Park to check out the trails though. They are drying out nicely. I think they were ridable, but there were signs up asking not to ride on the trails because they are too wet. I did see a badass Jeep out there with some bike tire tracks heading away from it though. So someone was tearing up the trails. Anyway they should be good to go by next weekend barring any late week rain. Keep your fingers crossed Greg. Are you going to bring your bike up with you next week? Brian, Fox are you guys coming back to the promise land for a Sunday night ride? It is my B-day on Sunday : ) Everyone should plan for a Sunday night ride next weekend. Followed by a Hub Burger. In other news the flood of 06' is on its way out. Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy.

Here is a marker that was put up after the flood of 97'. The river was up to the 1979 mark earlier this week.

The Sorlie Bridge with water still up to the bottom. Whitey's restaurant, in the background, has some good food if you're ever in town.

Some of the singletrack at TRSP. A little too sticky yet.

Some more trails. I wonder what happened to the no bikes allowed sign? Hmmm : )

Anyone know what kind of animal track this is? Probably just a dog.

That's all for now. Later.

Flood of 06' The Red River Valley is in it's flood stage this time of year. The river here in Grand Forks is around 48 feet now. Not quiet like the flood of 97', but still impressive. The river made it to an all time high of 54 feet in 1997. The dikes have since been raised to 60 feet, and are stonger than ever. So that means everyone heads down to the river to see what's happening. Including the Dingle blogger and I. We went on a little ride tonight and took a few pictures of the spectacle that is the Red River of the North. Enjoy : )

The Dingle blogger on the Lincoln Park dike striking a pose. Nice Surly Cross-Check!

The mighty Poprad with the Mighty Red River in the background. The river is usually on the other side of those trees in the background.

The point bridge was closed due to water running over it on Sunday night. The stink factory is in the background. Otherwise known as the beet plant.

The new floodwall was erected, closing off the Sorlie Bridge on Demers Ave. Only one bridge left between Grand Forks and East Grand Forks. That won't be closed unless the river goes above 50 feet.

The Sorlie Bridge with water bubbling under the girders.

On the left side of this picture is what's left of the old railroad bridge that was torn down after the flood of 97'. This is the center pier that the bridge would pivot on to let steamboats through back in the day. Pretty amazing to think that was possible back then.

I'll try to post some more tomorrow.

In other news Nathan, a crack mechanic at The Ski and Bike Shop, had an Ultimate Fight on Saturday night. I heard it was intense. Unfortunely he fell victim to a choke hold once again. That's okay though. It takes some big ones to get into a mixed martial arts fight with a guy who has a pay per view fight coming up. Keep your chin held high my friend. Or better yet keep it tucked in to defend those choke holds : )

Later