RAGBRAI '09 - Council Bluffs to Martensdale

Team Skanks loaded up the bikes and ventured off to Iowa for 3 blissful days of self-contained riding. The bike weighed in around 60 pounds, and made the hills of Iowa that more challenging.
The final tally for the 3 days, for my bro and I, was 198 miles (disappointed it wasn't 200). Aside from the rain on Tuesday afternoon, the weather was relatively comfortable. Evenings and mornings were a bit chilly, but nothing to complain about. Highlights of the tour: beer can obstacle course near top of grueling hill, fantastic route out of Council Bluffs, Ames beer (who knew?), pork chops 2 days from Mr. Porkchop, excellent salmon pasta from Pastafari, tent camping, super-steep hill out of Red Oak on Monday (okay, it kind of sucked), flawless pick-up in Martensdale, nice folks in Greenfield who let us set up camp in yard. Good time was had by all!

Fremont Pathfinder Duathlon = best race time yet

Finished the race under an hour at 59:16. Plus, I beat last year's time by a minute (must be the new, full-carbon Cannondale). I cracked the top ten, and placed 8th overall (out of 84 individual racers). The course was flat and temperatures were very comfortable. This personal best was a great way to finish-out my racing in Nebraska.

Tour de MOPAC East

I celebrated the completion of my Lincoln job and the upcoming move to Pittsburgh with a nostalgic ride of the MOPAC trail. Started the MOPAC at 33rd Street and rode out to 334th Street (just past the town of Wabash). Aside from a short chase by 3 dogs near Wabash (I had to sprint), the ride was perfect. Conditions were on the humid side, but refueling with H2O and Gatorade at the gas station in Elmwood certainly saved my butt. The 57-mile trip was completed in 3 hours and 40 minutes. Not the fastest pace, but it was a great way to prep for RAGBRAI next week. Ride on!

Indian Cave State Park trip

My fiance and I had a chance to finally make it out to Indian Cave for some camping and riding. It was great to break out the camping supplies again. Great prep for Ragbrai. That night, while sitting around the campfire, we had an unexpected guest of some kind. Unknowingly, we had an intruder steal a bag of food. We found a trail of oranges from the bag that led into the forest. The girls claimed it was either a pack of coyotes (heard earlier in the night) or a rapeist. So, around midnight, we got to pack up the tents and move our camp closer to other fellow campers (expect now at the RV park down the road). Therefore, it wasn't the most peaceful night.
Sarah and I got up the next morning for some riding. She ventured off on the pavement to explore the entire state park. I ventured into the single track to test trails 3, 7, 8, and 9. With the exception of the awesome downhill and scenic vistas from trail 8, I was disappointed. The horses have again made their mark. I spent a good portion of the ride dodging large horse-hoof divots. The trails are not very bike friendly. You have to know the trails well so you don't have any painful uphills (I experienced one). After such climb, I can across two aquestrians. I made the comment to the first gentleman on horse that it was quite the climb. He replied that is so the bikers don't go on the trails. I thought this was a pathetically rude comment, but I continued on my way as I had to rendevous with Sarah shortly. Overall, a good trip. Glad to have made it out there before the move to Pitt.

Are you...

Put me in charge of the store marquee, and you are going to receive some biased advertising. This will be my 3rd straight year for the greatest bike ride across any state. 20,000+ riders, Mr. Pork Chop (Pork Chooooooooooop!), spaghetti feeds, small Iowa towns with fantastic hospitality, and again thousands of other fellow riders! This year, Team Skanks will be small in number, but strong in weight. We will all be self-supported this year...carrying all our gear on the bikes. Should be a damn-good time!