Ivy in Red: A road side attraction

A Week of Water and Fall

Hiking in to Coon Creek

Coon creek meets the Upper Iowa

Bob Ross happy trees glowing along the Upper Iowa

YAHTZEE!

Big Sky Iowa

Raise the Roof

THE ROOF WAS RAISED, THEN ROCK MAN G BURNED THE PLACE DOWN!

Life after Tour de Moo

It’s been a few weeks now since the end of Tour of America’s Dairyland and my self esteem is back to hovering right around normal. I’ve spent my time getting back into a nice routine of longer rides with friends. Every time I spend some time away from NE Iowa, I come back with a new appreciation for our network of roads. On every ride in the last weeks I’ve been getting these surges of exuberance like a child on a roller coaster right when I starts to move. The excitement is uncontrollable and shakes itself free through limbs and lungs. A friend took me on some roads that I had never been on before and I couldn’t help but squeal with joy as I descended into the lush, cool, tropical like valley. We’ve had so much rain here lately that you can smell the green of the plants in the air and the landscape colors are surreal. The humidity is so high it feels like underwater cycling at times but the steady rains have helped keep it in check.
It’s the simple pleasure of just riding without an agenda that I’m appreciating so much currently. I’m starting to realize more and more that no agenda riding is what it’s all about. The training, the peak fitness and competition of racing are enjoyable to a degree but I’m finding myself wrestling with whether or not the amount of energy and time necessary to compete at this level is worth it. I’m sure that at some point the answer will become very apparent. For now I’ll continue to enjoy this short time of no agenda until it’s off to the races again.

Sleepless in Dairyland

It’s still early. A little after midnight. It’s something that I struggle to get used to but it’s inevitable as these tours get into the later stages. A struggle because I’m used to being asleep around 10. A struggle because I want to be asleep. Early because I know that I’ll be up for another couple hours staring into the dark replaying over and over the race today, races of yesterdays, and races to come. It’s torture. I don’t want to be thinking about racing. I don’t want to be thinking.
I had high hopes for this series. I wanted to be a factor. I wanted to help my team. Chronic back pain, a flat and a crash have taken me out of 4 of the 7 races so far. They say “that’s racing.” It feels like failure. But I’ve always been too hard on myself. Sometimes it’s hard to see the improvement but everyday there’s a new lesson. Everyday I learn a little more, become a little wiser. I have to keep out of the wind. I have to find the better line through the corners. I have to be patient.
The fire in my legs and my head keeps me in thought, keeps me awake. My eyes are tired and they hurt. My head is tired and it hurts. My body is trashed and it hurts. And yet, this is when I perform the best. I know that everyone is feeling the same. Some more so, some less, but it seems to be late in a series that I come into form. Maybe there’s good legs waiting for me tomorrow. Maybe I’ll be able to help my team win. Maybe I might win. Maybe…maybe I’ll just stare into the dark and think about it.

Tour of America’s Dairyland

It’s been a year since I Iast stood atop the Cat 3 podium at the tour of America’s Dairyland, adorned in the yellow jersey holding a cheese wheel above my head in salute to the team the helped put me there. I’m returning to the race this year racing at a different level with some new teammates and new goals. I learned a lot last year, but I’d have to say that I’ve learned more in a shorter period of time this year as I’ve been lining up and bumping elbows with some of the best amateur and pro riders in the region. Lessons haven’t come easy nor without a loss of skin. I’ve definitely made some mistakes but I’ve had some good showings as well. The training has been much different this year than last. I put in a huge amount of time developing my base fitness in Tucson, AZ in late winter. I was fortune to be able to spend March and April enjoy the incredible hospitality of the Cal and Nancy Baker residence/training camp with team mate Garrett. Last year at this time I was still working hard to develop my speed and power but this year I’m spending more time on the couch and enjoying my garden. So far racing has provided all the intensity that I’ve needed during the week. I also came to the race last year with some pressure knowing that I had a teammates working hard for me and I didn’t want to let them down. This year I’ll be switching up the rolls and doing my part to help teammates get to the top. So, even though this year has been new and somewhat experimental, I’m heading into this series feeling strong and confident.

You can look for updates here, www.team-wisconsin.com, and www.tourofamericasdairyland.com

The Time Goes

Apparently it has been way to long since any new thoughts or pics have graced the virtual pages of this site. Long enough to start getting harassed by friends and certainly long enough for me to forget username and password. I’ll begin my come back by stating that you’ve sucked me back in, though I often wonder why. I had plans to write a long post, long enough to satisfy even the most frequent viewer of this silly blog, but I have decided that that would be far to kowtow. You’d get your quick fix and be off to some crap version of a blog like cheapgingerpop or something. So I instead leave you with an IOU. Or IOMe rather because this is my blog. Oh the stories there will be of adventure, far away lands, savage battles over fair maidens, and desk jobs. Until then I leave you with the most disappointing of endings.

To Be Continued…