The Life And Times Of Thaddeus Neil

Midweek Racing Break

2008-09-04T16:26:00.004-05:00

Whew! What a blast. I'm home tonight from Boone. I'll be forgoing the racing action tonight. I will return tomorrow and Saturday. It's been a blast! I've had a lot of fun down there and believe I will be returning next year. I shot some photo's and have a bit of comentary on what's been going on so, here we go;

I shot a couple of pic's of Mike last Saturday night at the season championships in WC. They pulled all of the cars onto the track and did driver introductions. Then they were lined up in order of point standings. Mike started 6th and after being back in 8th he managed to get 3rd. A great way to end the season. Unfortunately, more stuff got torn up on the car.
That along with the damage from the previous week forced us to make the decision to not race the SuperNationals. So, it was time to relax, enjoy the racing and root on the other guys we know.
Monday night I took several photo's in all directions from the spot I was standing.
As you can see, there are cars, haulers, people, and campers as far as you can see.
The infield is jam packed full of cars. In fact they have been kicking out non qualifiers to make room for other classes coming in to race.

Monday was stock car and hobby stock qualifying and a complete late model show. There were 170+ stock cars and 110+ hobby stocks.
Tuesday was day two of stock car and the final day hobby stock Qualifying. Tuesday also saw a complete sprint car show
A terrible photo of one of my favorite late model drivers from Monday night. Josh Most (a WC regular) started inside row 5 and got 2nd place. He put on a heck of a show, working through the field and lapped traffic. My other friend, Ryan Griffith, finished eighth after starting right in front of Josh. There were 48 late models.
Wednesday! Modified invasion!!! Limited Modified hot laps lining up. There are 304 open modified's registered. Last night they ran 40 heat races, 2 A mains, and 8 B mains along with last chance qualifiers for stock cars and the last chance A main for stock cars. Our friend Ryan Leeman just missed making the show Saturday. He finished 13th. The top 10 qualify.
Hot Car Alert!!! This Texas based car is one of the hottest cars I've seen. I did pick out a couple more but haven't gotten photo"s yet.

This car is nice and clean looking on the outside and when it's circling the track it looks solid.
Once you get up close though. Wow! The intricate vinyl work on this thing is amazing. the entire deck through the car is like this and all of the inside panels are too. Just think, all that clean looking stuff you see on the sides and top is all done up like this on the inside. Amazing!
Not a good way to start your Supernationals. They said this guy flepped goo last year too.
Once the car was right side up he was done. He did walk away. The racing was fast and ferious. There was a lot of rubbing and bumping, beating and banging as the only way to make the A main last night was to win your heat race. Webster City's own Mark Elliot smoked em in his heat. Rich Lewerke finished second in his heat and then walked away with his B main.
Once the dust had settled and the last of 8 B mains were over, I headed to the tech. tent. in the second A main Mark Elliot won pretty convincingly. He looks really good and I think he has a shot to win the entire thing. this shot was from tech where the guys were tearing Mark's car apart for tech inspection.

Tonite the B mods take to the track. The car count for the week sofar is almost 700. I'm sure after the B mods tonite it will be over 900. Amazing for a small town like Boone, IA. to draw that many cars from places like California, Texas, New Mexico, North Carolina, Kentucky, New York, and even Canada. They said so far 22 states are represented plus Canada. And that's in all classes. I can see cars coming from all over to run modifieds but, there's a ton of staock cars from Texas there. Crazy!!!

Stay tuned. I'll pass on more from Friday and Saturday.

God Bless and be safe with whatever your doing! :-)

Meet Mr. Weckl

2008-08-31T10:45:00.001-05:00

Another one of my hero's, Dave Weckl and his band Synergy play the song Natural Energy. This is a great song with a real funky latin beat to it. Enjoy!!!

Leroi Moore

2008-08-29T23:41:00.003-05:00

08/19/2008

We are deeply saddened that LeRoi Moore, saxophonist and founding member of Dave Matthews Band, died unexpectedly Tuesday afternoon, August 19, 2008, at Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in Los Angeles from sudden complications stemming from his June ATV accident on his farm near Charlottesville, Virginia. LeRoi had recently returned to his Los Angeles home to begin an intensive physical rehabilitation program.

" The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant will also be. My Father will honor the one who serves me." John 12:23-26

"For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Ephesians 2:10

As I was doing some reading in the Bible, I thought about the passing of Leroi Moore. For some reason these two passages stuck out to me. I think that Leroi Moore loved the life God gave him and he definitely used the time here on Earth to it's fullest. With this being said, I'm sure that he is very content with his life's accomplishments and is now reflecting on his time with a smile on his face. I also believe that God did place him on this Earth to do good works. And I can honestly say that I believe that he did not disappoint and his music will fill our hearts forever.

Leroi Moore

Forever in our hearts

Let The Madness Begin!

2008-08-27T21:47:00.003-05:00

It's about to begin. The Madness!!! Next week it begins. The IMCA SuperNationals at the Boone Speedway. We'll be there too! to watch and.........participate, in the madness. That's right! The Critter Nation, Wiemann Farms #4 stock car will be competing in it's first SuperNationals. I am proudly sponsoring the car for this event. Monday and Tuesday we will try to qualify for the Saturday night features. Ried, Nathan, and I will be helping out in the pits as well as we try to put the #4 into the big show at Boone. Wish us luck. There will be a ton of cars there trying to get into the show. I would say that throughout the week 500+ cars will try for very few spots in the big show on Saturday night.

I will be keeping my eyes on this guy in the modified division. Mr. Excitement! Rich Lewerke is an animal behind the wheel and he's run WC a few times this year. I love watching this guy drive and I hope he does well.

Until next time.......... God Bless!!!

HM Magazine GWAR spot

2008-08-24T20:04:00.001-05:00

HM Magazine GWAR Spot 2

2008-08-24T20:03:00.001-05:00

I'm officially seeling out! Check out this Mag. It's really good!!!

Dave Matthews Band - Grace Is Gone - MusiquePlus - 2001

2008-08-20T19:26:00.001-05:00

Our Grace is gone. Our Grace would be Leroi Moore of DMB. Unfortunatly Leroi passed away yesterday. This is an extremely sad day for DMB fans. Leroi was the sax player (in case you didn't know) of the tightest group of musicians of this decade.

Me, being a huge DMB fan, feel deeply saddenned by this tragedy. Leroi will be greatly missed. I'm glad I got to witness him in his time here on Earth as he displayed his God given gift of music.

I pray that DMB will forge on in Leroi's memory.

All About Work

2008-08-18T18:53:00.003-05:00

Dedication to your job. That's what I want to talk about. At what point do you say "my job's not THAT important"? That question was asked last week. This guy was on his way to work from Fort Dodge. He was scheduled to start work at 5 AM. Apparently, when he was near the Answer Farm on the back way to W.C. (about 10 miles away) he got a flat tire. Then he had to ask that question. His answer was slightly different than about 99.9% of us would have chosen. He decided to forge on! The photo's below show what was laeft of his truck after driving apx. 10 miles on a flat, crossing a set of railroad tracks and several bridges, and going through some tight corners along the way. All be cause his answer was "I can't be late for work".
When he pulled into the lot there were sparks and smoke rolling out from all around this thing. Amazingly he hit a parking spot.
There was a black skid mark about 200 yards long leading into the parking spot. Around 6, when about 75% of the plant was coming to work, there as many people heading to the lot to look at this as there were going into the plant.
This is what is left. The wheel was destroyed. The center part is still there and the lug nuts still on. He was riding on the front bumper and the running board. This thing is prbably totalled. They said when it was loaded up in the afternoon and it was lifted up, the entire front axle fell off. Folks coming in the same way said there was skid marks and car parts all over the road the entire way into town. Unbelievable!!!
Check this out! Dad is chewing tobacco now. He's got the entire can in his cheek. What a stud! Actually he had a tooth crack and it got infected so now he has a softball for a cheek. he's definately in pain and has been in the dentist once and will be going back tomorow.

Vinnie Colaiuta-The Hong Kong Incident

2008-08-15T22:06:00.001-05:00

As promised. This is Vinnie playing the drum portion of the Hong Kong Incident. His transitions are very cool in this. His overall plating style is just fabulous. He is on e of the most complete drummers around. Enjoy!

Vinnie with Karizma

2008-08-15T21:04:00.001-05:00

This weeks featured Vinnie Colaiuta video on the LATOTN Blog. This time Vinnie is rockin out with Karizma and playing a song called I'm Tweeked. You"ll notice he's playing his signature series Gretch drum kit with the cool white shells. This guy is an amazing player and has played with so many different artists over the years. He is quickly becoming my favorite drummer, hands down. I will continue to share cool music like this with you when I find it. Good Day!

A Day At The Fair

2008-08-13T20:01:00.004-05:00

Ariel and I spent Monday at the State Fair. We had a great time. I haven't been to the Fair in a few years and she's never been so, it was fun for both of us to explore some things at the fair. We hit up exhibits, got tattoo's, went on rides, went to the races, ate funnel cakes and all kinds of other state fair junk food, checked out the animals, and so much more. It was a lot of fun! I didn't take too many photo's but here's a few for you to check out.
The world famous Budweiser Clydesdale's were there. We watched as they brought them all out of the stable and hitched them up and then went for a ride around the fairgrounds. They even had the dalmatian. Very cool!
I really like these things. They are such cool horses. In fact way back in the day, when my Dad lived on the farm, my Grandpa had Belgian draft horses.

We were in the livestock barns and we we stumbled across some unusual animals like llama, yaks, and even this elk.
We had to go back to the Budweiser stable and Ariel wanted a pic of her with Ace.
We were riding some rides and Ariel wanted to get on this little roller coaster. I told her I'd just watch on this one. There she is, at the back of the bus. She had fun.
In the evening we checked out the Deery Brothers Summer Series for Late Models at the State Fair Speedway. This was one of the first heat races. The first car (the red number 10x) is one of my friends that I graduated with. Ryan Griffith (Grubby) drove away with this heat race and ended up getting 5th in the feature. A very good night for him! There were 38 of the best late models from around our region in attendance, and with 3 supporting classes, there were 120+ cars in the pits. It was good racing.

All in all we had a great time. It was good quality time together for Ariel and I as well. I was very happy we got to go do this and we're both wanting to do it again.

Thanks for checking in and God Bless all of you. Be safe!

Random: I read this one, and then read it again, and for some reason it stuck with me. So I thought I'd share it with you. Enjoy.

We also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. Romans 5:3,4

A Week Of Sprint Car Racing And Fun

2008-08-11T10:02:00.004-05:00

Last week was a busy week for me. It was a blast though! I haven't been to Knoxville for the Nationals in a couple of years now cause I've been racing bikes. And even then I would just make it down for a night or two. I haven't gone for the entire thing for about 6-7 years. So this year I wanted to do the entire thing. Unfortunately I couldn't get vacation to go on Wed. or Thurs. but, I made the best of it and went to Oskaloosa on Mon. and Tues. and then hit Fri. and Sat. in Knoxville. It was a great time. I didn't take many photo's but I'll share what I did take.

Dad and I took off on Monday to go to the Front Row Challenge in Osky on Monday. We went through Knoxville to pick up Kraig as he was dropping his camper of at the campgrounds. This race is really cool. We got what they call a party pass and drove my car into the infield and parked. It was a huge party down there and you couldn't fit another vehicle down there if you wanted. The race was really cool as they tried to qualify to be in the fastest 8 cars and then they had two up run offs until 1 car was the winner. They gave away tons of parts and equipment to the drivers, which was cool.
The fastest guys lined up and had a running race down the front stretch. The winner took home a $5000 pair of cylinder heads.

This was the work area. You can see that there were tons of people in the infield on the left and you can barely see the grandstand on the right. It was full too.
Look out! It's the party police. We saw some very interesting outfits. Over sized hats, dresses made out of beer boxes, funny t-shirts, and much more.
Joey Saldana (9) and Tyler Walker (24T) lining up for their two up run off. I was trying to get a good pic of Tyler but this was the best I could get.
Saldana ended up in the final two and lost to Mark Dobmeyer. Mark had the option to stat on the pole and win $5000 to win the race or choose to go to the back of the field and if he came through the field and won, he would take home $50,000. Dobmeyer chose the front row so they offered it to Saldana and he took the challenge. Unfortunately neither would finish the A Main.
Dobmyer (15) was walking away from the field and then when he got into lapped traffic he was victim of someone else's slip up and got caught in this crash. Dobmeyers car is the one on it's side. Under this red flag Saldana would drop out of the race as well. He had started 30th and was up into 14th.

After the races, the party continued. They had dj's and dancing and all kinds of stuff going on. Everyone was having a good time.

Tuesday we went back to Osky for the Non winged sprint cars. This was the coolest racing I've seen in quite a while. We sat in the grandstands and it was full.

Saturday night at Knoxville. This was prior to hot laps as the push truck were packing the track.
Same shot but a little earlier.
After the races on Friday night. They had a band playing outside the track. We all hung out until they were done and had a good time. This pic is some of the gang we were with.

I could tell all kinds of stories but, I'm pressed for time. Ariel and I are off to the State Fair today. I'll post pic's and stuff later.

Thanks for reading and God Bless!

Howdy

2008-08-03T14:05:00.002-05:00

Hey, I haven't been around the computer much this week so, I haven't had a chance to post anything new. So, here's some photo's and some other useless information you may or may not want to know about. Enjoy!
Another wonderful pic of me! Um.....well.......I'm standing outside the house......doing what?......I don't know. Why the pic was taken?.......Um........not sure...........
We had some bad storms pass through on Tuesday. We caught the edge of the storms but, they produced tornado's and high winds as they pushed to the southeast. Ariel took this photo from her step-dad's place northeast of town after the storms had passed. She has a good eye for photography. She gets it from me......of course!
My cousin Andrew sold his Harley for this monster! As far as drumming goes, this guy is the master! For those of you who don't know music, let me introduce you to Vinnie. Vinnie Colaiuta to be exact. This guy is a machine! He has become one of my absolute favorite drummers. This is Vinnie in the studio.
This one is for Tom (my step-dad). This photo was shot in the studio during a recording of a Jing Chi album. Jing Chi is (from l to r) Vinnie (drums), Robben Ford (guitar), Jimmy Haslip (bass). Stay tuned to this blog. I'll post a video of one of their tunes soon. They have a song called the The Hong Kong Incident that I love. It has a cool groove and Vinnie's rocking it on drums.

In other news, my brother is laying down all of the music he has written on cd. He's gonna send me a copy when it's done. I can't wait! This kid is amazing! I'm proud to be his bro!

I guess it was inevitable for Nekoda and myself to become musicians (he's amazing and I'm...well...so so) with the parents that we have. They are all fabulous musicians too and, are very inspiring. I know growing up, listening to the music they played was very cool to me. I always thought, this is what I want to do when I get older. I'm very glad I'm getting back into the game. I've always had music in my heart, I just haven't been playing it. Now I'm going at it again and I hope to get out soon and get some new gear, get some gigs, jam, and just enjoy playing. Hopefully, someday, my Bro and I can collaborate on something. That would be very cool.

Hey, God Bless, and thanks for reading. Good Day!

Speaking of music and the power and release that music provides for us. I found this Psalm that speaks of praising God with musical instruments. Just think, all the music you listen too, regardless of if it's christian or secular, rap or metal, pop or rock, funk or soul, opera or classical, jazz or polka. It doesn't matter what kind of music it is, you have some kind of music that you like, that makes you happy, that gets you in a zone, that relaxes you, makes you dance, that means something to you. We all have a deep love for music. Just imagine your life without music......I can't, can you? Well, the Lord has blessed all the musicians that make all the music you listen too the gift of music. He's granted us all the ability to play an instrument, sing, write music, and share that gift with everyone. So think about this passage a bit and what it really means.

Praise the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens. Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness. Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre, praise him with tambourine and dancing, praise him with the strings and flute, praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals. Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Psalm 150

Way To Go Carlos!

2008-07-26T10:45:00.002-05:00

Carlos Sastre has won the Tour De France with an inspirational TT ride today. I'm very happy. There is no one more deserving than Carlos. Hats off to Vadevelde, Hesjedal, and big George too who put in outstanding rides today too.

God Bless! Have a great day!!! :-)

STUPID!

2008-07-25T19:32:00.002-05:00

S-T-U-P-I-D!!! Man, did I get to witness a stupid the other day.

Let me set this up here. OK, most of you know I have a history of being involved with being a promoter. Specifically, a bike race promoter. Now, I always planned everything out to a T. I made sure everything was covered and anything that could possibly go wrong was thought of beforehand. Anyone who knows me can tell you that the week/s prior to a race I was busy, stressing, working hard, and not doing anything with them because I was in preparation mode. They will also tell you that on the day before, and the day of, I was all business with no room for humor or joking around. I guess I was pretty serious about putting on a flawless event that everyone would want to come back to.

Now, the other night was supposed to be the big Thursday Night Thunder race at the Hamilton County Fair. This is a big race with high payout and on a night when no other track races so, there were REALLY GOOD drivers traveling from all over the place to race in WC.

When I got off work on Thursday morning it was raining like crazy and I thought the worst. I was supposed to get up around 3 and catch a ride with the race car at 4:30 or so. The pit gate was scheduled to open at 4. Hot laps were scheduled for 6 and racing at 6:30.

So, I woke up at 3 and was thinking that I would be going right back to bed as it would either still be raining or we would have had too much rain to race. The first thing I did was call the track and got a busy signal every time I tried. So, then I called Mike and asked him. He said they were on (This was at 3:20) as scheduled. So I checked the radar (it was all clear and looking good for the night) scrambled to the shower. When I got out I saw Mike had called, so I returned his call.

At 3:30 the races were cancelled! Unbelievable! Are you kidding me! With the pits scheduled to open at 4 they cancelled at 3:30. The reason was that they didn't have anyone to work the pits in and prep the track following the rain. This has got to be the biggest bonehead move I've ever seen as a promoter. It quit raining around 11 or so and there was ample time to prep the track and pits and have a tremendous track to race on. Any race promoter with half a brain would of had it worked and ready or would have cancelled around 1 at the latest.

So now, think about this, there are drivers on the road coming from Marshalltown, Mason City, and many other towns that aren't real close to WC. Most of which are already nearly here or are already here. Can you imagine how P.O.ed the guys were. I know I'd be hot if I just traveled 70+ miles or so to race to find out they're cancelled.

The fair board here has always had kind of a bad reputation when it comes to the race track. Well this year the fair board said they were going to promote the 2 fair races. Al Urhammer, that normally promoted the races was not involved. Thus giving the fair board another black mark on the tally chart.

The race is rescheduled for Tuesday but, is the damage done. I think on Tuesday if I lived in Mason City and I saw any little blip of rain on the radar, I'd probably leave my race car in the garage at home and save my gas money.

Just my opinion! But, I'll be there though because it only costs me about .20 cents to get there.

Thanks for listening to my aggravation and my opinion. God Bless! Be safe!

Random Reading: Think about this one for a bit!

"But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come." John 16:13

Tour De Carlos

2008-07-23T16:40:00.002-05:00

I've actually been watching the Tour. It has been the best one I've ever seen. Yesterday's downhill finish was awesome! And today, seeing one of my favorites win the stage was great. I can't think of anyone more deserving of the stage win and to win the Tour (if he could pull it off) than Carlos Sastre. Go Carlos and CSC - Saxo Bank!

Tomorrow is the big fair race at the Hamilton County Fairgrounds. With a high payout, there should be a ton of cars. It should be a good time. Hopefully the guys can do well and make some dough.

I've been seeing some clips fro Ragbrai on the news. I haven't seen a drunken idiot named Hansen on TV yet and, quite frankly, I'm disappointed! I saw Armstrong and "one of the most under-rated rock and roll groups of our time" Styx on TV last night in Ames. It would have been cool to see Styx again. They do put on a good show but, then again, most shows are really good when your in the front row!

Be safe with whatever fun summertime activity your doing this week. God Bless!

Let Ragbrai Begin!!! Without me!

2008-07-20T11:33:00.002-05:00

If I had a dollar for every person that's asked if I was doing Ragbrai, I'd be rich. I've never done it! Not gonna do it now! Might not ever do it! So give me your dollar and be quiet!

Well, we went to the races on Saturday night and, as we suspected, we got wet. In fact the tornado sirens started going off while there were cars on the track racing. I was watching the radar on my phone so, we decided to load the cars up and as soon as the sirens started blowing we flew out of the pits to beat the rush of trailers trying to get out. It rained pretty hard. Television said there was a tornado near the airport and one east of town near Blairsburg but, I don't think they were confirmed.

So this week the Hamilton County Fair begins and there is racing on Thursday and Saturday. The races Thursday have a huge payout. $1000 to win Late Models, Modifieds, and Stock Car (our class). The field sizes should be huge. Looks like I may be late for work. Yippee! Then on Saturday the sprint cars will join the regular classes.

Right now we're in a tight point battle. Mike is in third place in points with about 8 cars that in contention for the lead. Mike's been steadily finishing higher and higher and I feel confident that a win will come soon. Reid on the other hand has slipped out of the points battle following a couple of rough nights. He's working through some mechanical issues right now but, I know it won't be long and everyone will be chasing him. I can't wait!!!

I hope all my cycling buddies manage to stay dry and out of severe weather this week for Ragbrai. It doesn't look very good for a weather forecast this week. Be safe everyone!

Thanks for reading and God Bless. Let me know what you think of the new layout.

Classic reading that everyone should know but, I just felt like putting it out there. Think about it a bit!

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." John 3:16,17

WHY?

2008-07-13T14:32:00.003-05:00

That seems to be the big question lately. Why? Why did you quit? Why are you selling everything? Why? Why? Why?. Well, I've decided to break it down for you.

First off, I still have a bike. I have my single speed commuter bike that I ride around town on. I still enjoy commuting. So I haven't sold everything. I still have all my tools and stuff as well.

Now, to the meat and potatoes. I have reached a point where I just do not have any desire to go out and train any more. I guess you could say that my heart just isn't in it any more. Those close to me know I've been wrestling with myself, for about the last year, as to what direction I wanted to go with cycling. I finally reached the point where I was just going to races and not training. Granted, I was getting terrible results and getting pulled a lot. I think the main reason I kept going was because of the people (there are some great people in this sport).

Now with the cost of travel and stuff, it just isn't worth it to me any more. I would still go and ride around in circles for fun and hang out with everyone but, it's not worth the cost of travel and entry fees to get pulled and not be able to finish the race. It is kind of sad that someone of my fitness level is getting pulled from Cat. 4 races (maybe some folks need to be upgraded a bit more frequently in this state) but I'll save that for another rant.

So, lately, I've been getting back to my roots. I've been giving time to my friends that really bit the bullet for me while I was training ALL OF THE TIME or traveling every weekend. I can't count the number of times I turned them down to go train or race. Kind of makes me feel like a piece of poop looking back now.

I've also picked up the sticks again. I hadn't played in probably 4 years and hadn't played regularly in probably 10 years. My new goal is to get a new set and try to work my way into a band. I've already had a couple of offers but, I need to practice up a bit and get a new set. My current set is probably 20-25 years old and leaves a lot to be desired.

I hope this will shed some light on the question WHY? I hope to keep in touch with everyone and will work hard to keep this blog updated so you can see what I'm up too.

So, in conclusion, the rumor Chris Hansen is spreading is not true. I'm not taking up body building and I do NOT own a tanning bed. He might though......

I hope all of the cyclists I know and love have good success in Clear Lake this weekend. I must say thank you as well to all of you (you know who you are) who called me to talk and see what was going on and offer their kind words and friendship. There are some really amazing people that ride bikes and I'm really glad to have you guys that "really care" as my friends. Thank you all so much.

One more thing I feel compelled to do (speaking of amazing people) is to thank some folks that have stood behind me throughout my cycling career and are still sticking with me now.

1. My Dad. I can't say enough about everything he's done for me. If you only knew. Without him I would have quit 5 years ago. He's been an important part of everything I have done in the cycling community over the years.

2. The MBWC crew. These guys are the ones that we all started out and had no clue what we were doing. then we ended up running a team, hosting races, starting a MTB series in Iowa, building trails, and so much more. So here's to you Pat Foley, Nick Woolley, Sean Myers, David Krenz, Dad, and anyone else who joined us over the years.

3. My Sponsors. Without Sterling, Greg, and Terry at Rasmussen Bike Shop I would have been done long ago. These guys backed me right out of the gate and have, and still do, stand behind me. Hands down THE BEST BIKE SHOP IN THE WORLD! Oakley Rob has been an amazing friend as well. Sticking with me through thick and thin. As long as he's selling Oakley, I'll be wearing them. You should too because this is another guy that has done more for cycling in Iowa than most everyone else. He's definitely in the 5% of cyclists in Iowa that make the sport what it is.

4. I have throw out some randoms as well. Steve Lauber for getting me going in the sport, Chris Maharry for being a friend and role model to a new guy on the scene. Brian and Jeff Farrell for being unlike the others, keeping their noses out of the air, and welcoming a new kid to the road racing community, Everyone that believed in my vision and was a part of Team 14, and great people that have encouraged and been so kind over the years like the original Toyota of Des Moines MTB team, Dave Hammer, Pete Basso, Kieth Wells, Craig Decker, Marc Hollander, Doug Klahsen, Lee Venteicher, Clark Priebe, Shawn Walker, Sally Logan, Troy Krause, John Leffler Jr., Don Raskey, Tom Price, and I'm sure there's many more I'm not thinking of right now. So don't be upset if I left you out because as I reflect over the years there are so many people that gave me advise, coached me, encouraged me, offered their hands during hard times, and became my friends. And I'll never forget any of you for that.

5. And last but not least. Thank you to all of the guys that gave me the chance to share my wisdom, advice, coaching, and friendship with them. Guys like Chris Hansen, Bryan Moritz, Travis Jass, Jesse Gerlitz, (I'm sure I'm forgetting a few here) and everyone that ever asked me a question about cyclocross (racing, technique, gear, etc.). Watching these guys get better and knowing that I contributed in some way, shape, or form is the most gratifying thing I'll take away from all the years I raced.

I'm sure I'll see you all back out on a bike again. I need time completely away from it now. I'm sure I'll get a bike again and race again at some point. One thing I do know that I'll do differently though is, not take it serious at all. It will be for fun and to catch up with all my "friends" out there.

Thank you all for everything and God bless you for the amazing people you are. Safe Travels.

Talking about the friendships I've made with so many of you through cycling over the years, I found this passage, regarding the importance of friendships;

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work:

If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who fall and has no one to help him up! Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. Ecclesiastes 4: 9-12

Happy 4th of July

2008-07-05T16:03:00.000-05:00

Hope your all having a happy and safe 4th of July weekend. I know I am.

Congratulations Tom for getting the the quiz right. This is the one person that I knew would win if he saw the quiz. Although, Bryan Moritz surprised me with his Stuart Copeland band choice. Oyesterhead! Wow! Oh and Tom, do you think you could come up with 2 more artists Vinnie has played with? Kidding!

Well, as many of you know, I have quit racing bikes. I will get into that more this coming week when I get a chance to post again. In the meantime, check out the big sale I'm having. I'm selling pretty much everything. A lot of stuff is gone already but, there's still some left, so check it out here.

Until next time, God Bless and be safe!

The Big Sale Is On!

2008-06-30T19:36:00.002-05:00

Check out the big sale. Everything from race promoting gear to bikes to parts and much much more. Check it out here!

God Bless! Happy Shopping!

Trivia Day

2008-06-26T21:20:00.003-05:00

The three photo's below are of famous drummers. These three are of a few of my favorites. Trivia Time. Can you name the three drummers in the pic's. Good Luck. I may even throw in a prize for the first person to get all three right.

Double bonus points if you can tell me a band or artist these guys play/played with.

God Bless! Crank up the volume!

Been gone, back, for now....

2008-06-23T16:58:00.002-05:00

Haven't been around the old computer too much lately. I guess you could say I've been out enjoying life. A lot has gone on over the past couple of weeks and I don't want to bore you with all the mushy details so here's a brief overview of highlights.

1. Been going to the races frequently. Last Tuesday I got to see Kenny Wallace and Ken Schrader (both Nascar guys) race dirt cars in Fort Dodge. I went over with Mike and unfortunately the motor in his car blew up. A very expensive night. I went to Webster City on Saturday where they had double features to make up for the races that got rained out two weeks ago when we go the 6 inches of rain that caused them to cancel last week. I'm really getting back into this and getting my hands dirty working on the car.

2. Went to a street dance on Friday with Hansen and met up with several other people and even chatted with some I haven't seen in quite a while.

3. We had our contract negotiations meeting last Sunday and we (UAW Local 442) voted to ratify the new contract. It is a pretty good contract. There a a few small details but they are issues we all knew wouldn't go our way.

4. My grandparents surprised us all by showing up on Sunday. What a pleasant surprise to get to see them. It's been a while. It sounds like we all may go out to eat tomorrow in Fort Dodge.

5. I broke my snare head on the drum set so I haven't been able to play. However, I got that fixed and also have a new supply of sticks. I found a guy that plays guitar and he wants to jam sometime so, hey, movin in the right direction huh? Hopefully soon I'll be able to get a new set. The one I have is 20 years old and I need all new equipment. I've been surfin the web and have found exactly what I want to get. We'll see how soon I can get some cash rounded up to get them all bought. I might have to start selling some cycling stuff.

Thanks for checkin in. I'll try to update more. God Bless.

Random:
"Heaven and Earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away" Mathew 24:35

More Water! Stop!

2008-06-10T18:59:00.004-05:00

I went out and rode with Mr. Hansen tonite. I haven't riden with him for a while so that was kind of nice. He had been out for a few hours with Clark and Brian earlier. He needed a good recovery ride so, enter Thad. That's what I'm good for is recovery rides. I like to go nice and slow for about an hour. HaHaHa.

We decided to cruise around town and check out the flooding. The river is cresting today so everyone is sandbagging like crazy. I took some more photo's. Some the same as yesterday so you can see just how much it came up overnight.

Past the sewage treatment plant you can see that the river is flowing into the 7B Ranch.

Heading out of the city works area you can see that all of the river trailis under water.
This is the access road and the river trail. The water is all the way up to the railroad tracks.
This is the other side of the tracks where River St. should be. The water is all the way up to Ohio St. Many volunteers are out sandbagging.
This is the street one block to the west of River St. right behind the executive in. There is water from the swimming pool to about Webster St. and all the way up to the hill behind the liquor store.
This is where City Park Campground should be.

What I showed yesterday where the Electrolux trailer lot was. The gravel area is all now under water.
The ball diamonds at Nokomis Park is all gone now too.
The river is about to go over the road.

You can see by this photo how much higher it is today compared to yesterday's same photo.

I also recieved word from my Mom that my Grandpa's sister had to be rescued from her home near Waterloo. She lost everything. Her house, car, possesions. They were lucky to just get themselves and the pet's out.

Word is that many towns around the state are bracing for the worst. I know Des Moines, Cedar Falls, Iowa City, and many more are gonna get it. And to make things worse they are forcasting another 1 to 2 inches of rain tomorow for the WC area. Will it ever stop?

Thanks for looking in. God bless you all and I pray we all survive this ordeal. Please be praying for all of your loved ones, freinds, and everyone else who is being effected by this.

Flowers & Floods

2008-06-09T21:34:00.005-05:00

First off, flowers for the girls checking in :-) and to anyone else who likes flowers.
River St. in WC. The waters have gone down a bit since yesterday but, still way up. A guy I work with lives down this street and he's under water.
Jim Veach's place off of Bank St.

Park Ave. looking to the north.
Same location but, looking further east of the river towards the houses.
The race track from the grandstands. Don't think there will be races this weekend.
Another look from the front strait of the race track.
A look towards the pit area. You can see the porta-potties floating.

Another view of the track.
I can tell you that it's pretty deep out there.
A view of Maple Ave. a block east of Park Ave. They managed to sandbag around Don Bordwell's house. It looks like they may have saved it.
He's been commuting by canoe to dry land.
It got kind of close to the water treatment plant. Hopefully the rain will hold off for a while so this will recede a bit.

A look towards the west from the White Fox Rd. Bridge.
A look to the east from the bridge. To the left side you can barely see the entrance to where the Kendall Young Creek flows into the river.
The water is getting close to the bottom of the bridge.
Electrolux pulled all of it's trailers from the lower lot to higher ground.
The entrance to the River Trails by Nakomis Park.

Some less wanted, and less fortunate, trailers that got left behind.
Nokomis Park ball diamonds. Those of you who did the cyclocross race in WC a couple years back know this park as the park we raced in.
Looking towards the Railroad bridge in Nokomis Park.
Same shot as above.
The railroad bridge from the canoe access in Nokomis. The same park we races Cyclocross in.

This Weekend In Pictures

2008-06-09T13:32:00.002-05:00

The weekend started out with me heading to Fort Dodge with Mike and Bob (his Dad) to go race at the Mineral City Speedway. It was a big night as they were running late models too. Things went pretty well early on. I assumed my former role, from back in the day when I used to go all of the time, to being the tire guy. I check air pressures and heat in the tires after the run and then clean all round the wheels to get any packed mud out of the wheel itself and the fender well area. I then help out with fuel, chassis adjustments, and anything else until we get close to feature time. Then I will set the air pressures where Mike wants them. We always wait until the last second to do this because the track changes as other classes run on it. It can dry out, cars can lay down rubber, grooves can come in in different parts of the track, etc. Lot's of variations and we set the car up accordingly to get the most grip and get as much power to the track as possible.

In the feature things didn't go well. Right off the get go as the cars cam to take the green a couple cars near the back shot off the track and one of them hit the concrete wall hard tearing his car up pretty good. On the restart Mike was inside row two and as they came through turns three and four to get the green a ball joint broke on the right front. Mike couldn't just stop as it would have created a massive pile up so he tried to keep going and was waving his arm signifying to drivers behind that he was slowing. Fortunately only one car was effected near the back as everyone cleared Mike. We had to load the car on the trailer backwards with a wrecker and set it down on a jack stand because the ball joint was broken, the shock was snapped in half, and the A arm was mangled a bit. Good news is that they got it fixed for Saturday night in WC. But they got rained out.

I missed Saturday as my cousin Andy from Waterloo cam over and we went to Knoxville for the World Of Outlaws. We met up with my uncle Paul and my friend Randee. The races were the best I've seen in a long time. The feature was simply an amazing race with two guys battling back and forth til the very end. I got a few pic's from the evenings racing. Most are from afterwords when we went to visit the pit area.

The two drivers that battled it out. The one being interviewed is Joey Saldana from California who drives for Kasey Kahne. Some of you may know Kasey Kahne as the driver of the Budweiser Nascar Team. The driver in the background is Donnie Schatz from Minot North Dakota who drives for Nascar driver Tony Stewert. Schatz came from a ways back and caught up to Saldana and they raced back and forth until Schatz got away with about two laps to go.
Saldana's trailer. They loaded quickly as they where looking to head south quickly, like many others, to race in Sadalia, MO. on Sunday.
One of my all time favorite drivers drives this car. Jac "The Wild Child" Haudenchild has been racing for many years and has always been one of my favorites.

An up and close view of another one of Tony Stewart's cars. These things are nothing but motor (410 cubic inches), fuel cell (the back part of the car), a wing, and the driver. With no transmission or any other heavy items on these cars they average about 115 mph around a dirt half mile track. Very seldomly do they ever lift their foot off the gas pedal. It's to the floor all the way around the track.
A closer view of the very compact drivers compartment. You can't see it in this photo but the drive shaft runs through the cockpit between the drivers feet.
One of the all time greats (although I'm not a very big fan) Steve Kinser who has won the Knoxville Nationals many times. Paul is the blurred out guy in the background.
Me and 360 c.i. driver Natalie Sather from Fargo North Dakota. This gal is 23 years old and she is just a tiny little runt. and she muscled this machine around the track with the best of them. She finished 3rd in the 360's feature. Oh, she was standing on her tip toes and I was squatting for this photo.
Natalie's Car. This is one fast chick!

Apparently my camera only likes Natalie. I have no clue who the blurry person is. I thought this was kind of funny that it was all blurred except for Natalie.
At a quick glance we all thought Dad started a sprint car team (Bruce Racing). Tony Bruce Jr. has a very cool rig. I love looking at these haulers. There is so much money wrapped up in these things. They are regular old 18 wheelers like you see going down the highways except the trailers are all specially designed for the cars, parts, and extra motors, cars, wings, etc.
The World Of Outlaws souvenir trailer. This is one of the coolest designs I've ever seen. It looks just like it's been splattered with mud from the cars spinning it up.
Leaving the bright lights of the speedway behind. We then popped across the street to the world famous Dingus Lounge. Everyone who is a sprint car fan around the world knows of the Dingus Lounge. As long as there has been racing going on here the Dingus Lounge has been the popular hang out afterwords. Pop in sometime and sign the walls of the building. Look carefully, some of the greatest sprint car, Nascar, IRL, and many other drivers' signatures grace these walls.
Sunday we went to Waterloo for Grandma's (The old Fart) birthday party. It was a surprise party and she was very surprised to see probably 60-70 people awaiting her arrival at the VFW Hall. I was on grill duty with Paul. It was a very special day for grandma. She's 85 now and she acts, runs, and plays like she's still 30. I love this "Old Fart" with all my heart. She definitely is a great person that has touched so many people's lives in so many ways. She can always bring a smile to your face. I'm proud to be one of her four grandson's.

This weekend we got 6+ inches of rain in WC and the town is flooded pretty bad. I will post some more about this later. I plan to go ride the bike around town in a bit so I'll snap some photo's. I do know that many homes are flooded and it's the worst I've ever seen the Boone River. Pray for all of us up here. Not just in WC but all over Iowa as the flood waters are bad everywhere and all of us are in some way being or will be affected by this crazy weather.

Thanks for looking in. God Bless.

My brother has this quote that he uses that I really like and think it's very true. It goes like this: "If you can dream it, you can do it." I was reading and when I saw this quote from the Bible it kind of drew some similarities to his quote. I think this is also very good advice we should all keep in mind.

"If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer." Mathew 21:22