Thank'n the family for a wonderful year.

The whole fam damily here, Mark, Albert, Me, Amy, dad, mom, and Dawn. Me and my honey she puts up with my compulsive eccentric continuous bike riding.

Daughter Melissa, and the little potato bug, my grandson Cole

My son Joshua David

Here's Caleb, my youngest.

Brook, a great son in law, and yes that is the little potato bug Cole again. He gets double exposure due to his super duper qualities. :-)

Super Dog, Pitty, wearing her bling, and going out on the town look.

Geeesh what is she doing in here, that's Rascal, my doggie gone to doggie heaven. R.I.P.

To everyone, have a good year, the choices we make, have a big effect on the place we find ourself. Be close to those that you share your life with. Oh and get out and ride your bikes. :-)

Dave

Have bike, will travel

Leaving home this morning, windy and snowing and drifting. Headed towards the in city bike paved trail which takes me to the outside of town. Decided to ride on the sidewalks here, cars and me getting to close for comfort with slippery streets.

Ahhhhgg!!! Had about 5 miles in, ready to get on Heritage Trail and noticed I lost my toe cover I made from a old pair of winter shoe covers. I thought about not turning around, toes with the missing toe cover were getting colder then the other foot, so back track I did, and here it lies.

Rode this back trail to Sageville Iowa.

Now out in the country. Snow well packed. 2.3 Studded Nokian Freddies, worked flawlessly. I timed how long I rode to determine what point to turn around to get home before sunset. 6 hours of riding, would have liked to ride longer. Back tracking and then back again added a extra 10 miles. I did not make it to my destination I had planned but I realize it's much more about the journey, then the destination. Kept a eye open for snow mobilers, so I could move over so we could pass each other without a CraSh!!

Thanks for visiting, ride a bike when you can,

Dave

On the road again.

Plans are to get started early tomorrow morning and follow the purple line. This route follows an old rail to trail bike trail spring summer and fall, and mostly ski and snow mobile in the winter. I found a old bike light I mounted on my handle bars to help light the way if needed. With cloud cover, and slow going I don't know if I will get back before "lights out" It will be 23 F with light snow showers at 8:00 a.m. tomorrow, certainly easily tolerable. I am pack'n a few snacks and 80 ounces of fluids. There are towns near the trail if I need to replenish. My IPOD is loaded for mind entertainment. This is the route for the Triple D bike/run/ski race Jan 9th. I sent my registration in today. So thanks for visiting, safe travels.
Dave

Lights and other stuff.

Lights.

I ordered a medium level lighting system for my bicycle. Because the shorter days was starting to collide with my want to ride. So if I get stuck out on the trail, with the sun going down, I can see myself home with bike lighting. Keeping warm has always been a challenge with winter riding, feet and hands being the biggest problem. With SIDI winter biking boots, a chemical warmer between two pair of socks, inserts, and a boot liner solved the frozen foot problem. Bar Mitts with a chemical warmer totally covers the hand issue.
So ride I must. I have Wednesday of this week, plans are to see the countryside on a bike.

TODAY'S AGENDA

Today's agenda will include eating and ................................................. and more eating....................................................

Oh look here comes the chief maid, the dishwasher, cook, floor sleeper and my honey :-) She's multitasking cleaning the floor and talking on the phone all at the same time. Seems I'm starving today, often happens riding that long in the cold weather yesterday. After eating, and eating some more I worked on bikes some, thinking I should go lift weights a bit and give the legs a break. I miss the longer daylight hours. It's nice when you can come home from work and have enough daylight to ride 50 miles. Now I need to burn a vacation day to ride. I have one more day off I need to take off for the year, I'm hoping Wednesday, and get out and bicycle in the country.

Peace

Dave

Rode myself out of daylight

Wowser, wasn't planning on doing a metric. (62 miles) but I did. Snow was good for riding, yesterday's slush froze hard, I could ride on top for the most part. I had 20 miles in, and drank everything I brought with me. I didn't want to turn back and ride another 20, with out something to drink, I was all ready thirsty. Poor planning. The town of Dyersville was 10 miles away. I was traveling anywhere from 6 to 10 mph depending on the snow conditions. So I decided to head to Dyersville and buy some things to drink at the gas station. I picked up some water, a 32 oz Mountain Dew, and a 16 oz Amp. Just a little caffeine to help with the return trip. :-) What I didn't realize I did not have enough daylight to get home, and wasn't packing any lights. Duh!! Good thing it was a clear sky and about 1/2 a moon out. I could almost see where I was going. Lots of snow ruts, but some how managed not to go on my arse. Was, half froze, by the time I made it home. . Did not see many people, a few walkers, a few snow mobiles and not one other bicyclist. I approached a couple that had a Collie with them, running around, they made no attempt to restrain their dog as I rode by. Trail rules are that dogs must be on a leash. As I rode by the dog leaped out and bit me. Fortunately the dog locked onto my riding shoe, which is a heavy SIDI Diablo GTX winter cycling boot, and didn't rip out a chunk of me. Ticks me off, people and not controlling their dogs on the trail. Happens too often.

I have to thaw out now, was around 19 degrees F when I started. I put one of those chemical warmers on top of each sock, they work well. There is a race on this trail Jan 9th, the Triple D, I am planning on entering. Will need a bike lighting system if trail conditions are bad, which more often then not, they are.

Well thanks for stopping

Happy rides.

Dave

Christmas riding

Rode around this icy old town, through parks, down streets and bike paths. Freddies did me good. (my heavily studded tires) Mixture of wet pavement and icy patches did not biff once, came close a few times. This bluff is over the Mississippi River up in Eagle Point park. I was the only human being up there.

Below is the bike path up to the park. You can see where people made foot prints and all the other snow melted around the prints leaving these ice bumps.

LQQKing north up the mighty Mississip.

O, and Merry Christmas to everybody, those in these winter zones like me, find ways to enjoy, cabin fever is painful and this is starting to look like a long winter.

Peace and happy riding.

Dave

Trying,,

Started out on paved roads in the city. That went ok, was quite a workout with the ice and slipping and sliding up hills. Had about 10 miles in, cars were starting to scare me, slipping around me so I..............................................................................

headed out of town on this unplowed paved section. I wanted to get out of town and try the dirt trails. Snow got deeper then my crank. Rode back home had about 10 miles in.

So my next thought was to put bike in car and drive out to Heritage Trail and ride the dirt trails. That didn't work. Trail was an icy slush, tires would not hook up, I kept spinning out, my bike laid down and called it quits, so did I. Was going to hop on the trainer when I got home, fell asleep on the couch woke up when family and friends arrived for Christmissie stuff. So tomorrow, Christmas day, I will try town riding, if that doesn't work the indoor rollers are a must, then it's off to chill with the whole fam damily.

Somebody Helppppppppppp Moi!!!!

Was setting up to rain ride, and now find myself stuck on the couch watching Wayne's World eating an egg sandwich. It is nasty out there raining hard, and then freezing. I need to get swimming back as an alternative or additional work out. I don't think it should be called "work out" though. It is not work, it is fun. I think that is the difference between people that try every year to start a "work out" program, and have to push themselves through it, and then say pheww glad I got that in. Eventually they quit. Stop. Go back to sedentary lifestyles. The other group, just enjoys pushing themselves, setting goals, having fun while doing. This group is the minority. I am in this group, all my life, I had to do something, run, bike, swim, powerlift, etc. Most people who read this blog, are in this group, birds of a feather flock together.
I used to swim a mile almost everyday before work, at the YMCA, back in 99, 00, but then becoming a single parent, and getting kids to get up when they would shut the alarm clock off and get to school became the priority before work. So swimming took a back seat, but now I think I need to find my swimming trunks and jump in. So here I sit contradicting what I said up above. LoL. Ok time to move forward. Oh and guess what? Only two more days until Christmas is over. Bah Humbug!!!!

Ride safe, ride for fun, ride often.

Dave

THE STUD IS BACK.

No, no, not me. Geesssh. Delusional. The Studs are back on the HardButt.
What to do? What to do? We are getting bombarded here with snow and ice and ice and snow. Gonna try to do something on the bike tomorrow. Ride somewhere, somehow. Have to play it by ear, try the road, streets, trail, paved bike paths, something. I have the day off, and haven't rode outside since Sunday. So go I must.

Meet da PuGs and my mama

I wish I could say that this bike is mine. But I can't. Well, ummm I could say "it is mine" but my mom might rub soap in my mouth for fibbing. (see picture below of me and my mama) This bike can ride on top of snow, on sandy beaches, and the moon's surface. Alaska riders like Jill, take amazing journeys on this bike. With 12 inches of snow all ready on the ground and by the sounds of it about another 12 inches coming in the next couple of days, even my "fat tires" 2.5 inches will get buried and not hook up. I am considering, thinking about this bike. I talked to my friend and bike shop owner Parish about getting a Pugsley frame and building me one. I'll ride this 4 day weekend and see how riding goes. I rode on rollers after work tonight. 30 minutes, at a pushed heart rate, then lifted weights a little bit. It is hard for me to spend much time on indoor biking. 30 minutes, 40 minutes sometime, and sometimes a rare hour. But I find 10 hours on a bike outdoors, to be every minute enjoyable. Oh and YaHoooooooo, the days are now getting longer.

Some people like all this snow.

That's me and my mama.

This is why they make bicycles with snow tires.

LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW.

Bikes and other things.

Sometimes people will ask me, do you ever write about anything else besides,,,,,,,,,,,,, BIKES?!?!?!?!? Or they tell me I am nuts, riding in snow, or crazy for all the time spent biking. What they don't know is,
Biking is joyful for my spirit, soul and body. I enjoy the challenges, setting goals and going after them. The time spent out in the country, the sights, the workout, it is a good "think" time. Music time. The endorphins, the relaxed feeling of afterwards. I enjoy how good a beer and pizza taste after riding a century on country roads.

I remember once reading a interview of a ex marine, who rode everywhere he went, and as often as he could. He was asked how he could ride 20,000 miles a year. His answer was, "so I can have lungs as big as air mattresses, a brain the size of a BB, and buns as hard as a brick. What he was saying was what Louis Armstrong said when asked how he could play that horn all day, and said "if you don't know I can't tell you"

A bunch more snow is coming to Iowa, that is OK, I enjoy all four seasons in Iowa, and adapting my "ride" to each.

So happy rides to all,

Dave

EENIE MEENIE MINY MO

WHICH BIKE SHOULD I TAKE AND GO
Ended up taking the Trek XO2 CX, rode around town on pavement mixed with ice. Felt zippy, been only riding on snow trails with fat tires and a hardtail the last couple of weeks. So the lighter bike, on pavement felt like flying. One of these days I am going to have get down and dirty and take care of some bike maintenance, gotta take care of the horses. My main three rides are Trek 1600 road bike, Trek 6700 Hardtail for snow travels, and Trek XO2 a great cycle cross for dirt trails, and put on studs for ice and light snow.

CHILLS and THRILLS

Spent the day riding country style. Most of my route was hard hard packed snow from snow mobiles. Was able to ride well with the 2.5 Big Earls, didn't need the studs. Saw lots of hunters wearing blaze orange, shot gun season was open for the deer hunters. Was glad a random shot gun slug didn't find it's way into my body. That had the potential to ruin a good bike ride.

Snow and ice on gravel rides better then snow and ice on pavement. With the gravel rocks and sand mixed with the ice help the tires hook up with the road.
This is the one unfinished bridge, both ends need fill. You can't get across. I made the decision the creek is not frozen enough to cross. So I doubled back and took a bypass route. I went into a creek last January, when my foot broke through the ice. Talk about a cold rush. I got the chills now, I started out and rode hard, perspired, and then chilled. I need better breathable base layers for upper body. Having a hot Tom and Jerry, with rum to chase the chills back outside where they belong. Triple D will run along this route Jan 9Th. Lance runs a very well bike, run, or ski race. Click the link and sign up if you are in the area, and are like many of us, like to torture yourself.

Look out for the man in the mirror.

So was a most enjoyable day. My triceps and shoulders got stiff. I have been riding drop bars for the last 9 months. Either my Trek cross bike or my trek road bike. Now with all the snow I am riding a Trek Hardbutt with straight bars. Upper body is not used to this yet. I rode for 5 hours, I didn't track milage, I purposely don't unless I am riding a century makes riding more fun for me. I have one more dirt century to do for the year to meet my goal of 54 centuries. The "cup of dirt" started me on that trip. Maybe tomorrow. However my body tells me that riding in snow is about 3 times harder then riding on pavement.

Well thanks for stopping, leave a comment, ride a bike.

Dave

Everybody puts on a little weight in the winter.

43 lbs of snow riding human made mechanisms. Gonna go where the SnowMo's go. Riding snow mobile trails today, will wear a flashing red light so they don't run over the top of me. Going studless, I'll see how it goes. I'll leave you with this, something Henry once said.

"Whether you think you can, or think you cannot, you are right." -Henry Ford

Yeap, Big Earl is fatter then a Nokian Stud.

Yeap, it has been confirmed, Big Earl is fatter then a Nokian Stud. I weighed both tires, Earl came in at 1100 grams, and the Stud man came in at 1000 grams. I am going to try Big Earl tomorrow a Bontrager tire at 2.5 on my Hardtail to see if I have enough tire floatation to ride on top of the snow with it. I will give up ice traction but where I am riding is all snow covered.

Nose drippings

Say hi to the bridge repair guys, one bridge left to finish from the flood damage of June 08. I've made 53 century trips on this dirt trail this year, so we've seen each other a lot. Good fellas.

Snow mobiles are cutting a trail.

Bar Mitts rock. That every year problem of frozen fingers has been solved. I put one of those chemical warmers in each Bar Mitt. Was 25F out and I rode with fingerless summer biking gloves and was plenty warm. The annual frozen fingies has been remedied.

Only one rider before me. Oh wait that was me from last week end.

How Bizarre. Riding along and saw this pair of sun glasses crushed. Then I realized they were mine. I must have dropped then Sunday after I took them off and stuck them in my neck band. and didn't realized I lost them. Well I was able to salvage the lenses, I have another pair they will work on.

Rode 6 hours today at a whooping 7 mph average. Crunching through snow, on a one horse open sleigh. with the fat studs on. I am out of gas, all that snow riding was quite a workout. My knees are whooped, stiff, I need to look at what is not adjusted right on my recently new hardtail. Back to the trail this weekend.

Good rides to you.

Dave