Look on the bright side

I love the fall!

Fall is my favorite time of the year. Cool temperatures make the air fresh and sharp. Leaves turning all sorts of colors make it a great time of year to be outside.

I was out over the weekend trying to do my part in trail maintenance. Raked about 3/4 of the pines before my rake broke. Turned out to come in handy that I was able to get out and clean Saturday afternoon, as we used the pines for part of the monthly time trial last night. Our time trial was the first "night ride" I have had in a long time. I forget how incredible it is to ride in the woods at night. Our trails provide excellent scenery while riding along the ridge above town. Coming up the hill from complete darkness besides your headlight providing you with 20 feet of visibility to viewing Decorah lit up through the trees is pretty awesome.





I am going to visit Aj in Portland on Friday. School has been terribly busy which is a bummer because I thought my senior year should be a little more relaxed. We start fall break on Friday until Wednesday so I will be spending my time out west. Aj has some awesome things planned while I am there. I am hoping for a bike tour of Portland over the weekend and on Tuesday we are climbing Mount St. Helens. It's going to be an awesome break!

Heck of the North

This past weekend was the first annual Heck of the North gravel race in Duluth, MN. 102 miles of some of the most scenic, remote, and beautiful countryside I have ever seen. Total time on the day was 8 hours exactly. 7 hours 30 minutes on the bike. Very happy to get my first gravel/endurance race and gravel century out of the way. Heading into the race I was nervous because of my lack of training, but the legs held up well. Nutrition went as smooth as it could have (Thanks, Aj) and still had more gas than expected at the end of the race. I feel as though I could have pushed harder, but with it being my first race I did not know exactly what to expect. Looking forward to the next event I can participate in and work on improving.

Here is a link to the few photos I took during the race. The race itself was approximately 75% gravel (washboard), 10% pavement and 5% "singletrack." Check make sure to check out the "singletrack" pictures. That stuff was nuts and not ridable by my standards....kudos to anybody who attempted.

Go Easy.

Pictures

Spent the last week near Elkhorn, WI with family and friends at a cabin that Anne and Sandy rented. Had an incredible time and words and pictures cannot describe how awesome it was to be surrounded by family simply enjoying each others company.

Pics of the lake will follow, but for now here are some of the pictures of my attempt to bike all the way to the cabin. Made it to Dodgeville, WI the first day of riding (115 miles total) and rain detoured me from riding until later in the afternoon Friday and only rode an additional 35 miles before the rally car picked me up....oh well. Did not make my goal of riding all the way to the lake but accomplished my first century and then some while enjoying my time on the bike.

This Irritates Me

Word is spreading quickly about a new petition started online by a group of Iowans for the Iowa Legislature to place a ban on the farm-to-market roads. For those unsure what a "farm-to-market" road is, it's basically any highway that connects agricultural and rural areas to towns and cities. To see the petition (do NOT comment on it as they count it as a signature), click here. Some of the comments did make me laugh out loud, some made me furious, and towards the end it left me sick to my stomach. These people are definitely on my short list and are probably sitting with their laptops on the beer guts, sporting a confederate flag on their wall.

I do see where some of their concern stems from. Many cyclists do not obey traffic laws, ride with a helmet, and bike lights/reflectors. Cyclists need to ride together with traffic as we are considered (by Iowa law) to obey by the same laws of traffic. Common bike ettiquite should be taught at an early age and obeyed by all. The same should be taught to drivers, give at least 5 feet of space when passing a biker, slow down, and pass safely.

One comment I read (which was a common complaint) is that cyclist do not pay fuel or license taxes for using the road. Do they really think that all cyclists only drive bikes to get around? Almost every biker I know owns a car and pays taxes. Very few use a bicycle as their only means of transportation.

While I don't see any reason that this ban would ever be considered, it just goes to show how ignorant people can be. We might as well sign a petition preventing people from exercising or leaving their homes for the potential of inconveniencing others. So, to show how obnoxious the petition to ban bikes has been, another has been started to ban cars from the roads. So, now that you have read my rant, I encourage anyone who rides a bike to sign the petition here.

Nordic Mess

Hard to believe Nordic Fest is already here. Back in high school, this time of year essentially meant that summer was over. Fall sports begin practice shortly after and school before you knew it. It's nice that I have a little more of summer to enjoy before classes start again.

I have came to really enjoy watching my sister (Catherine) preform as a Nordic Dancer. In the past Mom had to pull some teeth at times for me to come watch, but Cat does an awesome job. It's hard to find another dancer who seems to smile and enjoy her time out in front of the Norwegian crowd as she does.

The performance times for the dances are as follows:

Thursday night at 6:30
Friday at 11 and 7
Saturday 10:30 and 7

As for my activities, you can find me at the rock throw sometime Saturday morning as well as on the river enjoying some choice beverages if the weather holds.

Pictures to follow....

Adventures on my La Cruz

I have been riding my La Cruz everywhere lately. There has been a steady balance between pavement and gravel thus far. The usual route has been out towards Bluffton and beyond, but I am excited to start heading out in different directions.

The two pictures below I took on the river trail where I set up my hammock to read and take a nap before biking to work.





Below is a picture from my most recent ride through Bluffton, Burr Oak to Middle Hesper Road and back to my house. It was a chilly, fall like ride in mid-July, which is extremely rare in Iowa, but it was beautiful regardless.