It's On.................

OK, last week I made mention I was working on something big! I didn't want to talk about it because as I said : It was beyond my control! My fate rested in the hands of our trusted US mail system.

Yep, I got in! Spot number 47 has my name on it! Trans Iowa: 310 mile all gravel road, endurance race! the field is limited to 100 people and the only way to enter is by mail. Registration opened on Dec 2nd and I timed it just right! I mailed my post card last Tuesday with the assumption it would take 3 days to get there. I was right!

A quick break down of the event: It starts at 4am on Saturday the 28th and the official cut off time is 2pm on Sunday. Yep, you have 36 hours to complete the race. At the start they give you a cue sheet with the directions to a checkpoint 50 miles out. You have 5 hours to make it. Then they give you a cue sheet for a check point a 100 miles out, you have 12 hours to make it. Once you make the 150 mile check point you get a cue sheet to take you the rest of the way. Somewhere in the last 160 miles you will have a suprise check point. That keeps you honest!

nope! Iowa ain't flat my friends!!!!!!!!

So in a 36 hour period you have to pedal 310 miles, eat and sleep! No pressure, none at all... The kicker, it's a totally self supported race! No GPS units allowed either! You have to rely on small community stores and your own ability to navigate! Sound like fun???? 

country road! take me home!!!!

You start in Grinnell Iowa and finish in Grinnell. At the start you head to the northern part of the state and make a loop through northern Iowa back to Grinnell. If you fall out at any point in the 36 hour period it is your responsibility to get back to the start in Grinnell!!!

So my friends training has begun! I put in a total of 5 hours over the weekend and we are just getting started! From what I understand (emails from the promoter) you need to get up to the point where you can spend 10-12 hours on the bike at a time. Once you are there it's all mental!!!!!!!! WHAT THE HELL AM I THINKING....I must already be mental....

17 hour drive to Iowa 36 hour 310 mile race 17 hour drive back to Charlotte all in the span of 5 days!!!!! You only live once.....

One last figure from this race: The race is 7 years old and out of 7 years and 700 people who have tried it, only 57 have finished within the 36 hour time limit!!!!!!!!!  

December...........................

Yes, I know I should have done this post yesterday since that was the first day of December. But I let it come and go, then it hit me this morning, Christmas is coming! I love Christmas! If it ain't your favorite time of the year you must be  a scrooge!!!! We have the change in the weather, it finally gets cold and the light's come out!!

That's my favorite part! Christmas is the only time of the year when you can make a tacky ass mess out of your yard and house and nobody cares! Any other time of the year your home owner association would be on your ass!

Even the bike shop gets into the spirit! I took this shot last year but they have done the same thing again this year. You have to turn your head when you see a giant bicycle all lit up!

not my house!

I used to do my house back when you could see it from the road, now you can't see me from the road so what's the point! All you can see from the road now is the woods! I thought about putting lights on the trees out by the road, but I don't have enough cords to get all the way out there. So no lights...Bah hum bug.....

Oh yea, I spend the whole month waiting on my favorite TV show of the year!!! "Christmas Story" it will be on all day Christmas day...................I love that show, It makes me laugh all day!! This will make like the 200th time I have seen it............... 

greatest movie ever!!!!!!

my favorite scene

ralphie all grown up..................

Bike Mechanic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You know most people think a bike mechanic is just some guy who changes tires and adjusts brakes! My kid wants to be a "bike mechanic". I say go for it! His mom says no way, he is going to college! She thinks bike mechanic's change tires!

I say if he wants to go to school for this and learn, why not? He would have a job the rest of his life! A low stress job and an enjoyable job! Yes, I want him to go to school, but sometimes you can just tell. Cody is really laid back and I can see him taking some time between college and high school. If that would be the case why not let him go on to bike school and at least stay busy learning something!

Besides does this hub look very easy to rebuild? I put these pictures in here to give you a new perspective of how complicated bicycles really are. Believe me most bike shops won't even work on the $100 dollar specials from Wal-Mart! Those are considered throw away bikes! If they last a year you got the good out of them.

How about this hub? It's an internal 3-speed hub. I don't know about you but I think I would want a bike mechanic from a bike mechanic school to work on this if it needed to be worked on! If Cody wants to learn how to repair things like this then so be it. It ain't rocket science but it ain't far from it. Especially when you get into the high dollar bikes. Most people don't realize there are bikes out there that sell for 10grand!

So why not , he could learn to be a bike mechanic and then go to school and work in a bike shop! I think we need to checkout the "park tool bike school"...................

Burrrrrrrrrr................

The weather spoiled us over the holidays that's for sure! We had one really cold morning the day of Thanksgiving but beyond that it has been great! We'll that all changed! The rain came and with it came a cold front. Now it's cold....

Time to bundle up and tough it out! After getting in 4 full days of riding I have taken 2 days off. So tonight I am going to get back out. All I have done for the last 3 weeks is ride the mountain bike so tonight I am going to get the road bike back in action! As I write this I have the lights charging and when the sun goes down I am gonna hit the road for a night road ride.

I already rounded up all my cold-cold riding gear so I it's time to get tough! Be a man! Blah!Blah!Blah!!!!! Stay tuned for a full report tomorrow!

On to other things, I forgot my camera today and I really had a few good shots for this post too..
First was big pill of riding clothes: I knew everybody would get a kick out of a pill of clothes! Second: it was a shot of my kids new LETTER... Letter you say, yes a letter! Cody got his letter for his letter jacket! To a kid this is a very big deal!

his school is light blue and white colors

Being my kid he took his girlfriend with him to the banquet. He was the only one there with his girlfriend! Hell I think he is the only one on the team who isn't scared of girls! I bet I know who will be wearing this jacket before it's over!!!!!!!!!!!

On a roll..................

Until now! I was on a roll, I pulled the unheard of 4 straight days of riding, that never happens! With a wife and 2 kids it ain't very often I can get out of the house to ride that many times. But with the holiday and being of work I managed to make it happen! Then what happens, it starts to rain!

I had my rest day yesterday and was really planning to hit the road tonight. I thought the rain was going to be gone by now, it ain't! We are supposed to have a storm roll through here around 12 noon. That's what they are calling for anyway, so that means it will hit this evening. Besides that the soccer banquet was changed up for tonight instead of last night so BAM! I am screwed again!

I have a master plan I am working on! I don't want to spill the beans just yet, a lot depends on things I have no control over. Luck! I might be lucky I might not! But I have a plan! Hence the reason I am trying to step up the riding so early in the year.

If it I am "lucky" I will be traveling a thousand miles from here for a race most people would never even consider doing. That my friends is all I can share right now, except for these pictures! I would be seeing a lot of this if if I am "lucky".....................

2-Wheels And A Turkey.................

I love 4-day weekends! Especially when it's a holiday. Yes, Fred's dead! He was great turkey and he performed well, we were proud of him! He came out nice and juicy and was ready when everyone got there. We had the house full of people and the kids played hard. Little Wriston, my chicken farming nephew had a ball playing with Chase, and Cody. So I guess you could call it a success!!!

I rode everyday and ran myself in the ground! That was my plan so I guess I can call that a success! I rode Uhwarrie twice and Sherman branch twice. Thursday I rode with Glen and Alex first thing in the morning! When I say first thing I am talking we meet at 8am over there! If you know me, you know that just don't happen very often! But it being Thanksgiving day I had no choice if I wanted to ride.

man down!!!!!!

I was glad I went because Glen pulled a classic! He did the old "stop and can't clip out of his shoes" trick! What made it so funny was where he decided to do it at. Right on the side of a hill and fell down the low side! After we found out he was alright we laughed like hell! I haven't laughed that hard in a long time, he ended up about ten feet down the hill side!

all the leaves are down now!!

So overall I had a good holiday, got to see some family I haven't seen in awhile and had good food. Even went to a movie with the wife. Oh yea, even got in a little shopping!! I hate shopping!!!!!!!

His Name Is Fred.........................

World meet Fred! Fred meet world! Every year, much to the dismay of my family, I name our turkey! This year his name is Fred, he came from the Butterball Family! They seem to be nice parents, every year they raise their young to be about 13-14 pounds and then send them out to meet the world!

Fred

We found him hanging out in the big play pen (freezer) at the local Wal-Mart. He and all his brothers and sisters where just hanging out waiting to be adopted. I was looking for the big fat one with low self esteem but they all seemed to be about the same size! So I based it on the location in the playpen. He was hanging around in the bottom and looked like he really wanted to get out so I dug deep and brought him to the top!

Fred on a plate

His first stage in life will be the oven and then the plate. Once he makes the plate I will introduce him to all the family, they are all really excited to meet him! We got people coming from 4-5 hours away just to meet Fred so we will make sure he is dressed to impress!!! After everybody enjoys the afternoon hanging out with Fred we will pack him up and he will be ready for the final act in his career!!!

Fred on bread

That's right he will make a guest appearance as a turkey sandwich for lunch the following day! His final act will be Fred on bread! Then his career as the family turkey will come to an end!

Next year we will visit the Butterball playpen and see how they do with the next generation of little fat kids! Then we can do the process all over again, I love turkey day!!! I get to go ride in the AM and drink plenty of beer in the PM with a bunch of food and football thrown in.......PBR baby..............Happy Thanksgiving....