Reading, Riding, Drinking

A Little German in Me

2009-05-06T10:04:00.007-05:00

My beer explorations have steadily continued this week. Monday was my night to cook dinner, and before picking up the food I made a trip to John's beer room for the liquid. One of their knowledgeable staff members was there giving out samples of Weihenstephener Korbinian (a rather tasty doppelbock that I picked up) and their Hefeweizen. It tasted like a pretty good Hefe, but I am not really a fan of those, so I passed on it.

Then we got to chatting about Saisons and Pilsners. I was disappointed to learn that Saisons don't really travel well, hence the reason the three I have had recently were brewed in Kansas, New York, and Iowa rather than on the Franco-Belgium border.

As the weather was a little warm and sticky I asked for some recommendations on a smooth, crisp German Pilsner. He pointed out the Ayinger Jarhundert Bier, which is one of his favorites.
Many of you might recognize the Ayinger name as they are the brewers of that great goat ornamented doppelbock, Celebrator. The Jarhundert was shockingly good. A super clear pilsner that somehow packed in an exhorbitant amount of flavor. I can't wait to pick up another one. It might become one of my favorite summer beers.

The beer man also recommended a Dunkel by Spaten which had just come off the ship and was thus very fresh. This dark lager was quite a shift from the crisp pilsner we tasted first. The intial sips were somewhat dissapointing, but after clearing the pallet (which I should probably do some other way) I found the beer to be sweet and smooth. It had a big malty caramel flavor, quite similar to many Oktoberfests. I will definitely get it again.

While consuming these great brews I was reading Charles Bamforth's Grape vs. Grain, a cultural and historical comparison between wine and beer.

Bamforth is a food science prof at UC-Davis, but is originally from England. He has that wonderful British sense of humour, and he makes no qualms about his goal--to raise beer up to the level of appreciation and sophistication that wine has enjoyed for numerous decades.

And he makes a pretty good case. The book is a quick read, and for anyone who wants a brief but still thorough history of beer and beer making, it is a great place to start. I also found the wine chapters interesting, but I mostly ended up skimming those. They were equally as informative as the beer chapters, but Bamforth's tone is slightly anti-wine (though he still enjoys his fair share of it). So if you want a less scued history of wine, you might want to look elsewhere.

Tonight is date night, and with some damp, rainy weather on the way I'm thinking it might be a appropriate for something Belgian.

Of Bikes and Beer

2009-05-02T07:28:00.003-05:00

Well the rest of April just slipped by and I didn't even get a blog in. That is some bad blogging practice, and I will try to be better in the future. In those two weeks Robin and I went to the Chicago burbs to celebrate my grandmother's 80th Birthday. It was a grand time. And I took a super easy week on the bike, which was very much needed.

In fact, I will credit the easy week as the reason I was able to finish the ride on Thursday night. There were some other reasons, too. It was mostly a straight out into the wind and then a straight back with the wind kind of ride. Those are generally easier to stick with than the rides of many crosswinds. Still, there were hills. But then there was the fact that I only took one pull (not counting the times when we were riding a double paceline). I look forward to increasing that number by many multiples in the future.

As some of you may know, Robin and I have been talking about buying a house (though we have recently talked about waiting, as the market here is a little crazier than we are). This means we have been working really hard at saving money. Some weeks are better than others, of course. On one of the better saving weeks I decided to save on beer. While perusing the hundreds of fine brews in the John's beer room, I could not find a deal that pleased me. But then I somehow convinced myself that a 12-pack of PBR, for just over 8 dollars, would be a worthy substitute for a similarly priced micro-brewed 6-pack.

It was an interesting experience. I, of course, have downed many a PBR, and enjoyed it, too. And the PBR again did a pretty good job. It certainly is priced right. And a cool, crisp, inexpensive lager is a nice thing on a warm day. And as long as you don't directly compare PBR to a brew in another league, you are fine.

But then last weekend we shared some fine brews with our good friends Steve and Cody. We had some quality pilsner, got torpedoed again, and explored the Boulevard Smokestack Series. We had brought the Saison, and Steve and Cody brought the Sixth Glass. About two-thirds of the way through the lovely evening we explored that Sixth Glass (it might have literally been our sixth glass, it was hard to say) and wow is that a knock you on your ass strong brew. PBR will not knock you on your ass. It will, admittedly, increase the likelihood of putting you in a position to be knocked on your ass (like friend bowling or the buffalo crack, but those are stories for another day).

After that Sixth Glass we were not able to fully explore the others. So Robin and I tried the Saison a few days later and absolutely loved it. It was crisp and clear and super hearty with little citris spices. I had experienced brews similar to a saison, but now I am somewhat of a convert.

So after the week of 'PBR,' I entered the week of 'much more expensive beer.' We tasted a much cloudier and wheatish saison from Hennepin. And then we also had a special brew from the good folks at Sierra Nevada called Wet Hop Harvest Ale. Strong, dark, and hoppy. It was another style that I had never truly experienced and I really want to go back soon. Apparently they harvest the hops at a certain time in the season when they are still wet and immediately start the brewing process. Very interesting. Does anyone know a great Cultural History of beer? There is so much I don't know.

Anyways, this is getting wordy enough. And I need to start eating breakfast, because in a couple hours I'll be suffering on the Amana ride out to Maifest, where there will no doubt be some more fine brews consumed. I cannot guarantee that there will be more pulls at the front of the ride, though. That might take a couple more weeks.

disclaimer: After linking many of the fine brews, I am now realizing that they might not work as you will have to verify you are of age. They work on mine, though, so I wish you the same good reader.

9th

2009-04-16T08:12:00.014-05:00

On this beautiful Thursday morning, at about 7:45, I was surprised to see that I was the ninth cyclist rolling down College St. toward downtown, work, school, or wherever. I know part of this is certainly due to the fact that spring seems sprung, but I also hope last night's highly successful bike rally in Des Moines was a part of it, too.

I am sorry I missed it. It is not everyday you get to ride down a street with 8 other bike strangers, but it is even more rare to do so with 500+ riders. Hopefully there are more to come, but hopefully the need for such rallies does not increase. In the meantime I'll keep living the daily bike life here in Iowa City.

For the cyclist's perspective on the Des Moines Rally (since the normal media is not doing much to cover this) check out the write up at 30th Century Cycles.

Take Three

2009-04-14T21:39:00.004-05:00

Tonight I went on my third group ride of the year, and as it happened, the group did the same loop as they did on the other two rides I did--the rather classic Sugar Bottom-Tiffin loop. On the first attempt I opted for the self drop and rode in via the bike paths. On the second attempt some crazy shenanigans occurred involving a tandem and some overly aggressive youngins. On the third attempt I actually did the whole loop, but I didn't quite make it all the way with the group.

I did take a few pulls, though. And a couple of them came when the speeds were quite high. But I'm mostly in high spirits because I felt pretty darn good for most of it (and I have two beers in me).

After getting dropped on the south side of Tiffin I rode in with a couple of Bikes 2 You guys before we picked up Steve a couple of miles later. Steve and I rode through town duking it out with the cars. OK, so it wasn't quite that dramatic. But still, there was a boxing glove.

Hopefully I will be able to make the whole ride on my fourth attempt, but if not, no biggie. In the meantime, while you anxiously await to see if I can finish the next group ride you can check out a selection of our wedding photos here.

Back Up and Running, er, Riding

2009-04-12T17:23:00.002-05:00

For some reason my blog was not online earlier this week. I had my tech person work on it, and now we are back. She is so good I had to marry her.

The weekend has been filled with much socializing and riding. I managed to get in three good rides in three days. On Friday I went out in the howling winds with Sean, the only person I know who has an epic four part blog post on the 2009 American Birkebeiner. I encourage you to give it a read, but make sure you've got some time, or at least are at work.

After the ride we went to the Hudson River Gallery for an opening for Robert Caputo. It was a really fun and busy opening. We talked with many friends and then later in the night got corralled into going out for sushi. Sushi with Nick is always a good time.

Saturday started with a mostly mellow ride from the park. A small group of 7 or so rolled south into the crosswinds for an Eden's Loop. After that Steve, Joe and myself decided to stay out in the nice weather and add on a Sharon Center loop. The sun was shining and I even made the bold move of removing my knee warmers.

At the end of the ride Joe invited us over for a beer. Joe homebrews some mighty fine stuff, and last time he had us over we had a few too many pale ales. This time was not too different. We sat around in the sun reliving old bike riding memories and getting drunk on a super crisp IPA half a pint at a time. I spent the rest of the afternoon in tipsy bliss.

Sunday I woke up early and started reading the Paris-Roubaix coverage until I could get a video stream going. Robin and I watched it in French. Between Robin's knowledge of the language and my knowledge of bike racing we were able to mostly piece together the narrative of 2009's Hell of the North. As always, the race did not disappoint.

Following the race I went out to the park to meet up with Joe and Steve for another Sharon Center loop. It was windier and cooler than yesterday, but it was still great to be out. I have now ridden 8 out of the last 9 days, so hopefully some decent fitness awaits me just around the corner.

A Shock to the System

2009-03-27T07:10:00.002-05:00

Last night I did my first group ride. It hurt. I know I am not in great shape right now, but the ride was more difficult than I imagined it would be. Before the ride started I had pretty much decided to duck out early and take my own, easy way home. So I did not technically get dropped, but there is no doubt I would have been dropped had I stayed.

Still, it is fun to learn where you are at and have some goals. Now I get to work at finishing one of them darn College Green rides again. There is no substitute for consistent riding, and there also needs to be some consistent, fast riding, too. I had been neglecting that last part.

Oh, and I finally received my new lenses for my sunglasses. They make the world pretty and bright and I don't have to squint. Plus, there is no tape in the way.

One Week Anniversary

2009-03-21T14:15:00.003-05:00

Robin and I have now been married for one week. And I can say that I still love the married life. It is easy to say that when most of that time was comprised of partying, relaxing, and not working. But still, I'm looking forward to hundreds and hundreds of other weeks both similar and different.

On Pi Day of 2009 Robin and I said "I do." It was a fantastic day, and we feel really lucky that so many interesting people played a part in it.

My best man Tom came in from LA.

International violin phenom Johan Jonsson played during our ceremony.

The Tortolita Gutpluckers (including father of the bride on tub base) provided the live music once the party really got going .

National Geographic photographer Dave Edwards decided that our union was worthy enough of his camera. And if that wasn't enough, he also gave us a print of his photo that made the "100 Best Pictures of National Geographic" list. Simply amazing.

When it was all said and done, Robin and I ducked away to Hacienda del Sol for some relaxation. We had a beautiful room, enjoyed some desert walks and hot tub soaks, and spent our last night sipping an extremely fancy port (thanks Vic!) on our private patio while we watched the sun set near the Catalina Mountains.

The only down side of the trip was not having sun glasses (mine are getting a new prescription put in). But Robin and I fashioned these lovely temporary sun blockers out of my regular glasses and some spare lenses from her sunglasses:

Not the most stylish things, but they got the job done and were fairly comfortable.

Now we are back in Iowa City and enjoying the early spring weather.

husband

2009-03-09T17:52:00.002-05:00

-noun

1: a male partner in marriage
2 British: Manager, Steward
3: a frugal manager

from m-w.com

Well I don't meet any of those yet, but I did just replace a broken belt on our dryer. And now I'm drinking a beer, so at least I meet American TV's definition of a husband. And in 5 days I'll meet the first definition.

Drinking My Way to Better Health

2009-02-01T08:25:00.004-06:00

It has been a tough week of ups and downs, sore throats, sore sinus cavities, and sore chests. Ok, so maybe those should have all been singular, but I think they all were quite uncomfortable on more than one occasion.

So I've been trying to rest (and have been moderately successful at it) and drink lots of liquids.

Well, I haven't really delved into the last one. I had a wee taste after I won it at Iowa City's first ski race nearly two weeks ago, and it was mighty tasty. Perhaps in the near future I can taste it a little more thoroughly.

Odd . . .

2009-01-15T18:03:00.003-06:00

Today I walked into the John's Grocery beer freezer, and it felt downright pleasant.

Misadventures in Waxing

2009-01-13T14:13:00.002-06:00

We have been getting some good snow falls here in Iowa City. On Saturday we got somewhere between 3 and 4 inches and then on Monday afternoon we got another solid 4 inches. Tonight, we could see another 3 to 5.

With the solid new base I figured it was finally time to try out my new waxable classic skis. I glide waxed the tips and tails over the weekend, and that just left the kickwax. I watched the temps all day as the snow was coming down and it was mostly between 25 and 27, so I figured the Swix Blue Extra would do the trick. After watching lots of Youtube videos, I laid down five super thin layers, corking each one in. After I was done, I thought the skis had a nice finish, but were still tacky. Surely a good sign.

Out at the cross country ski course I was happy to see that they had already started the grooming. I zipped down the hill and glided into the newly laid classic tracks, did a couple of double poles, kicked, and went no where. Shit.

One of the videos said it could take a kilometer for the wax to work in. So I double poled around, periodically adding a kick to see if I could feel anything. Nothing. Luckily I brought the wax and the cork with me. So I stopped to apply more. I nice elderly gentleman with some sweet ski socks came by and we chatted about the difficulties of classic waxing. Surprisingly, he said he was using the same wax as I was. That could only mean opperator error.

After my second application, still not much kick. A little, but not much. I applied one more thick layer and set off to make at least one loop before calling it a day (I wanted to be recovered for the Iowa City Ski Time Trial on Tuesday).

Halfway around I found the Eppens and saw that they, too , had mis-waxed. We talked about kick waxing and all things skiing as we slid around the course. In addition to learning that I should have used a much softer wax, especially since the temperatures were actually warming even as the sun was going down (what?!), I also learned some good tips on "field waxing." Mostly that one should not do such a thing. Thankfully the Iowa City ski community is not that pretentious.

Tonight we are supposed to have our first ski race, but as I type this the temps are still around zero with a stiff north wind. Easier to wax for, but not as comfortable for working a race or hanging around afterwards. So it is canceled. Hopefully next week. There is nothing worse than having to postpone a race for no snow on one week and then postpone it the next week because there is plenty of snow but it is too cold.

Fun in the Sun

2008-12-29T15:45:00.004-06:00

Robin and I have been enjoying a very nice holiday in the Catalina Foothills of Arizona. We've had much wine, beer, bike riding, and even some new books. Still, I am looking forward to returning to the snow and some skiing.

Full trip report, complete with hiking photos and biking videos, to follow. Happy New Year!

1 to 7?

2008-12-18T06:58:00.002-06:00

This is the range of ice and/or snow that we could get tonight. I find it simultaneously frustrating and comforting that no one really knows anything when it comes to weather.

Last night I got an easy ski in with Steve. They had groomed the snow out at Ashton, which made for some iffy conditions on the classic skis. Still, we figure at least ten people were out skiing on it yesterday, one with quite the headlamp.

So now it is a very packed down course with a little bit of grass and some sporadic dirt mounds. Local groomer Wayne F. says that it should help us keep a nice base up regardless of what falls from the sky tonight. Lets hope he is right, because the Iowa City Cross Country Ski Time Trials are abrewin and should happen soon, so we need our snow.

Now Just Waning

2008-12-13T09:17:00.006-06:00

Both the moon and the snow. And I couldn't even get a shot of the full moon rising because of the thick snowless clouds.

I went back out to Ashton for some skiing Friday evening. Since it has been so cold lately the conditions were rather unchanged from Tuesday. Part of the tracks on the upper west side had some more grass poking through, but the other side of the trail offered some decent coverage.

Still, I spent most of my time on the south end of the course working on my double poling. Occasionally I could get some kick, but I pretty much had to time that perfectly and get a little lucky.

Today and tomorrow are supposed to be quite warm with some non-snow precip, so we will not be skiing for a little while. I think next week I'll either suffer through some frigid townie rides or possibly set up the rollers in the basement.

Because tomorrow there will only be grass.

Waxing and Waning

2008-12-11T18:33:00.004-06:00

On our Tuesday ski, Steve and I spent some time talking about wax. Apparently Brian E got some new skis and sent them in to get some serious wax work done to saturate the bases. The Rock says it can take up to a full day of waxing to really get a new set of skis going (and he's Canadian, so that has to be right). Other than easy application waxes, I had never put any kind of wax on my skis, and I could see the pasty white dryness on the bases. Not healthy.

Thankfully my wonderful parents helped fund my continually developing interest in all things nordic by contributing to my new birthday wax kit (tea not included).

Tuesday night was the first time I put it to use. I cleaned up my skate skis. Then I put a thick layer of base prep down,

scraped,

wiped, brushed, and wiped again.

Already I could see some improvement as the bases took on a dark sheen. So I then added a thick layer of cold blue wax (good for 21 to 10 degrees), completed the whole process, and followed that up with some purple (28 to 18 degrees). I figured any wax was better than what I had going, so I tried some exploring.

I had many reasons for my combo. Multiple layers would allow me to practice, and multiple layers of different waxes would prevent me from using up all of one type. I knew Wednesday's temps were supposed to be in the mid 20s, so I thought that the purple wax would be just right. The only problem was that we really didn't have much snow. We had more ice than snow. So I put down the layer of blue wax because it is a much harder (and hopefully sturdier?) wax.

I think the skis were the fastest they had ever been. And that was on some pretty awful conditions and with some iffy technique. The first skate session of the year with fast skis on icy terrain is not something I would recommend. But I only crashed once.

As it got dark I had some trouble seeing the super rutted out trail. So instead of skating some more I just worked on my double poling in the frozen classic tracks that people have been making all week. The new wax kept me sliding really fast, but just because it felt fast doesn't mean it was easy.

For twenty minutes I double poled back and forth along the nicest track on the course. As my triceps and abs burned all I could think about was a moment in Bill McKibben's cross country ski book Long Distance. On a trip near Yellowstone National Park, McKibben and a friend decided to ski over to some hot springs. I forget if they were 25 kilometers away, or 25 miles, but either way it was far. And the track was solid ice that provided no kick whatsoever. So the two of them double poled the entire way there, and the entire way back. I could barely last the twenty minutes I did, and I doubt I even covered 2 K. I am sure as my waxing improves I will no doubt be able to double pole amazing distances as well, but first I just have to get over some soreness.

Editors Note: The waxing pictures are a recreation of Tuesday night's waxing session. And the skis seen here are, in fact, Robin's.

Desperation

2008-12-09T19:02:00.003-06:00

Anticipation can only last so long. I guess for me it is about 10 days or so. In that time we have had many near misses in the storm department. Many of the weather reports talked of nice 2 to 3 inch snowfalls, and one even suggested as much as 5. None of those really happened. One day we got about an inch and a half. That was certainly enough to get started. I skied on Thursday and Friday and saw many people out enjoying themselves.

The snow continued to harden a bit with the dropping temps, but it was holding up well enough. Then last night we had some misty frozen rain for many, many hours. I wasn't too concerned as the weatherperson once again said we should get about 2 inches. I think we ended up with maybe a tenth of an inch. I sat at work watching the storm system swing east of us.

But in the afternoon Steve sent an emailing asking if I was up for skiing. He mentioned that the Eppens were a definite. Well that changed everything for me. If others were interested in seeking some awful conditions then so was I.

It was mostly ice with grass poking through, but a couple of the track sections allowed for some decent kick and glide. So it was better than it looked. And I got to work on my double poling quite a bit, which is good, because it needs a lot of work.

All in all we trudged through the ice for an hour. It was my fourth ski of the year. Not a great ski, but it will have to do. And since the forecast does not hold anything promising in the near future, I just might have to go back tomorrow and see how the skate skis do. We'll see how hte motivation holds up.

Anticipation

2008-11-29T18:55:00.004-06:00

It is the reason I love winter so much. For me, there are no other seasons where I must wait and watch the weather in hopes that something will happen so that I can get out and do a specific activity.

One can ride their bike in any weather. It is not always the most comfortable thing to do in rain, sleet, or snow, but it can be done. However, it is nearly impossible to cross country ski without snow. I've seen some pictures of people doing it on the beach, but that doesn't really count. For a real kick and glide one needs snow. And tonight we have our first winter weather advisory of the season. We could see up to 3 to 5 inches of snow fly, and I'm pretty ecstatic about it. Last year I received nearly 4 inches of snow on my birthday (December 6th), and Robin and I were able to get out the very next day. If this particular storm comes we could be on skis a week earlier than last year.

Of course, the snow might not come. And I will actually be alright with that. Because as much as I love the snow, I almost love the anticipation of the snow more. And if we don't get it tomorrow, then it will be that much better on Wednesday. Or whenever it comes.

P.S. Sorry for the lack of posts. In the fall I usually take a break from the bikes, and that somehow corresponds to taking a break from the blog (despite the fact that I've been enjoying lots of beer and books). To make up for it I will leave you with some of my winter pics from the past.

The view out my back window in Flagstaff, Az after a 3 foot snow storm back in January 2005.

Our bedroom window here in Iowa City on a frigid January morning in 2007.

The beginning of a surprise 8 inch dump that came last February after Steve and I skied on the Reservoir due to sparse snow coverage.

Me, after many of my ski days from last year.

She said, "yes."

2008-10-12T08:12:00.002-05:00

I said, "will you marry me?" Well, I said some other things, too, but you get the idea.

Big FAT Disappointment

2008-09-14T21:47:00.006-05:00

At least in the race department.

The rest of the trip was grand. Robin and I enjoyed a beautiful drive on quiet Wisconsin roads as we watched the fall colors creep into the trees with every mile. We had a quiet, cute, and clean hotel room. And we enjoyed two great dinners (and beers) at the Angry Minnow Brewery, the first night with Steve and Cody, and second with the Eppens (Tandem Champions! Again!). And to make things even nicer, the drive home was significantly faster than the drive there.

As for my race . . . well, I can think of three significant changes to make before next year.

First, I will not eat a big greasy breakfast. I knew the race would be long and hard and due to my predisposition towards bonking I felt I should fuel up with things I know I like. Eggs, potatoes, and toast always work well for me, but the Northwoods style breakfast did not sit well. I had some nice burning acid reflux until just after OO. Yuck.

Second, I will wake up even earlier to get my bike on the start line. In '01 I scored a great spot a little after 6 am. This year I was there at about quarter to 6 and there were already a few hundred bikes on the line. And that didn't include the preferred starters. I saw the sign saying when I could put my bike down, so I will be there that early next year.

Third, I will ride my mountain bike more. I had lots of plans to do this and I have a number of silly reasons for not doing it, like getting Poison Ivy and being lazy about finding the right gear ratio to run. For the most part bikes are bikes, but rigid single speeds do work some special muscles, and right now it hurts to bend over and tie my shoes.

I had a really great time between about mile 15 and mile 30something. I felt strong on the hills and rolled well with some fast, small groups, even taking some pulls on the fireroad climbs. My gear choice felt pretty good, too. At least in those miles it did. I did a lot of "running" in the last 8 miles or so. But I do think this was the year to be on a single speed. The rain, sand, and puddles really wrecked some drivetrains, and in the final few miles I watched one poor young soul look down in bewilderment as his chain sucked the derailleur right off his frame. So at least I didn't have that to contend with. And I shouldn't next year either.

Perhaps I will have some more thoughts later, and if I'm lucky some photos. After perusing the plethora of photos available already I can say that being a mediocre finisher is not a good way to get your picture taken. It seems the documenters all reloaded their camera cartridges when I went by, so I'll either need to speed it up or slow it down to get some photo love next year.

Final Preparations

2008-09-07T16:37:00.005-05:00

This was the last weekend before the big

hugely rolling

and super fast

photos from www.cheqfattire.com

Chequamegon 40 mountain bike race. I have been spending the last few rides on my singlespeed to get used to it. I should have done this many weeks ago instead of days ago, but oh well.

I got some lighter and faster rolling tires for the race and also put a big 36-16 on the 1x1. I'm hoping it is not too tall for me, but other Cheq vets are telling me I should go bigger and just prepare for some running over the crests of the hills. Ouch! I think I'll stick with what I've got. It feels good on the hilly gravel routes I've been testing it on. And I also don't have any bigger options.

Today I met Steve and Jim for some nice riding out at Sugar Bottom. Steve is also doing the Fat this year, and we spent many miles convincing Jim to give it a go next year. Others decided to take a more secretive approach to their final preparations and not accompany us to Sugar Bottom. I have no idea what those secret preparations entail, but they will no doubt involve some fancy razor work.

also from www.cheqfattire.com

The trails were in much better shape than the last time I went in late July. There was still poison ivy everywhere, though. Hopefully I steered clear of it. I pre-medicated and post-medicated, so that could make a difference, too.

The ride was nice and relaxed in the beginning and then picked up a lot when we ran into big Todd on his singlespeed.

photo from Skinnyski

I was worried about pushing a large 36-17 on the twisty, hilly trails today, as I am used to running a 33-17, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I hope that means I'm ready for the race.

Friday Night Threesome

2008-08-29T20:29:00.002-05:00

Robin and I decided to go visit Steen after work today. She normally goes during the day when I'm at work, and I usually tag along on a Sunday here and there. But tonight we decided to have a relaxing Friday night ride and hoped we would have the place to ourselves. And we did. Not a person in sight, just a few little Japanese Chins.

This was my first real ride in the outdoor arena, and it was pretty fun. Steen was OK with having me on his back as long as he got to do some inconsistent figure eights close to the herd. After awhile he got used to me and then explored some more.

Robin rode after I did. She is much faster than me.

Someday I will get faster, too. Tonight I held back, though, for tomorrow is the fall ride of rides to Amana and the brewery. It should be fun and a little bit painful. Hopefully the Iowa Pale Ale will help dull pain on the way back to town.

The First Day of School

2008-08-25T21:15:00.000-05:00

And the first day that I have not had to go to a first day of school in well over twenty years. Sure, work was busy, but it was no school.

Paint Night Date Night

2008-08-21T07:17:00.004-05:00

As many of you know, quite a few weeks ago I joined the ranks of people who spend a large portion of their days in an office. As offices go, mine is pretty nice. I have a nice chair, some shelves, and plenty of cabinets for food, tea and coffee fixings, and I guess some files, too. The only thing my office lacks that I can't really do anything about is a window. But windows come with time, and I can easily get up out of my chair and walk to all the windows I could want. And I enjoy the excuse to stretch my legs frequently.

But still, the office is pretty drab. Beige-ish walls, light wood shelves and cabinets, and a light gray speckled desk top. I knew I needed some art, but then I remembered that I'm picky and poor. So I thought that maybe I would just get some blank canvases and paint them three different colors. I consulted my favorite artist, and she thought it was a fabulous idea. And it was a good thing she did, too, because while I am pretty good at coming up with ideas like this, I am not too excited to commit ideas to paper. It seems so permanent. And my lack of art skills was not helping me get started.

Thankfully, mixing paints and putting a solid color on canvas can be very forgiving and easily changed. So after a cool crisp pale ale, Robin and I went into the basement studio and got started.

I had a vague idea of what kind of colors I wanted, but I really only felt strongly about two of them. So we got started on a sage-like green and decided to see where that took us. For each canvas we (mostly Robin) would mix the color, apply one layer evenly over the canvas, and then mix a very similar color and add a second layer on top with varying brush strokes to create the texture.

After the green we moved on to a blue that was, and still is, my favorite.

For the third canvas I really didn't know what color to do. I originally thought something in a burgundy, and Robin was feeling deep brown. But as we looked at our first two colors we realized we wanted something more bold. So we leaned towards orange.

A lightning fast brush stroke is a sure sign of a competent painter.

And the finished product. I will send an update when I get them into my office.

On Disappointment

2008-08-07T13:45:00.002-05:00

After finishing Frank Conroy's extremely enjoyable Body & Soul, I was left with a desire to read something with a European feel to it. Perhaps it was all the classical music, or the small sections of the book that took place in London, but I really wanted to cross the pond for my next book. But I only ended up going back and forth, and in the beginning, that was all right.

I settled on Zadie Smith's On Beauty. Zadie is a young, popular British novelist who has received much critical acclaim. On Beauty is loosely based on E. M. Forester's Howard's End, takes place in London and the Boston area, and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2005. So it met many of the criteria I had for my next book.

Unfortunately, I cannot recall the last book that left me so disappointed. I think I can say that Smith is a good writer, and the story was captivating enough early on that I felt compelled to finish it. She also does a good job of asking large questions about race, gender, social action, and the nature of an individual's beliefs. However, none of those questions reveal any new insight, and in the end they are drowned out by unbelievable chracters, cliched academic jargon peppered throughout the novel so as to appear smart and witty, and increasingly unlikely coincidences that are necessary to move the plot forward. If you like books about wacky academics, both Francine Prose's Blue Angel and Richard Russo's Straight Man are much better. And if you are interested in social commentary on race, gender, and social action, well there are too many good ones to list.

On a not disappointing note, Robin and I had a fabulous date night where we enjoyed the smoke free atmosphere of George's and for the first time tried their much talked about burgers. They were simple and not much to look at, but for some reason they just tasted so good. We will definitely be back.

Iowa State Road Race

2008-08-03T12:31:00.003-05:00

No, I didn't race it. But when I showed up to the Thursday night group ride Hopson and Nick Martin roped me into driving a follow car. I was too nice to say no. Since most people on the ride that night were trying to take it easy for Saturday's race, I decided I'd try to be a little less nice on the bike.

My plan worked out a little bit. Coming into Lone Tree it was only Heath and myself trading off hard pulls. About a kilometer or so from the town limits sign I decided to come through hard. Not attack, just put my head down and see how long I could keep the pressure high. As I did this, Heath somehow pulled out of his pedal as he was trying to stay on my wheel. I heard lots of "Oh Shits" from the group. When I looked back I had a big gap, and everyone was still upright. I moved to the side of the road to keep anyone from sneaking into my draft and hammered for the line. I won. No check or anything, but I guess it was my own little State Road race. The rest of the ride was nice, and for most of it, it was Heath and I on the front with a few other non racers coming in to play, too.

The weather for Saturday's race was supposed to be super hot and muggy with temps into the 90s. But Friday evening a cooling trend came in and Saturday turned out to be a very nice day. Still warm, but not uncomfortable.

I was the driver of the wheels truck for the Women's Cat. 1, 2, 3 race. All six of them. West Branch Ford provided the trucks. So there I was, sitting in a gigantic F-150 pickup with two sets of wheels in the back. I felt more than a little silly. I was excited to volunteer for the local race and all my friends, but driving 81 miles in an ugly pick up truck just doesn't seem to fit with what bicycles should really be about. There is no support like this in mountain bike races, but I suppose that is mostly because there is no pack and there aren't really any vehicles that can easily follow through tight, twisty single track. With the nature of the pack in road racing, self supported races might not work too well, but so much of racing is gambling anyways, so maybe self supported races would just force people to be more careful with wheel and equipment selection before a race. Just a thought.

All complaining aside, it was a pretty fun day. I ate a nice lunch of pb&j, grapes, cookies, water, and gatorade while I watched the race from behind. The first lap was pretty uneventful as no one was excited to attack and no one wanted to get dropped. Towards the end of the lap I could see all the ladies chatting and next thing I know they were pulling over into an empty road maintenance parking lot. They had decided to all take a neutral nature break. This suited me fine as I also had to pee. So there I was, peeing on the side of the road next to a ditch with four other women scrambling to get out of their bib shorts. It was highly amusing.

On lap two Kim Eppen and Robin Williams (not my Robin, and not the actor either) started pushing the pace on the big hills in the crosswind. The first casualty was Andrea from Bikes 2 You. Up until that point she had been one of the strongest riders and was almost always on the front. Shortly after Andrea came off one of the two Punk Rock Cycling ladies slid off the back as well. After a few hills she managed to drag herself back to the group. At this point, no one wanted to work, but to get through the race they eventually settled into a fairly even rotating paceline.

This lasted through lap 2 and into most of lap 3 where Robin again attacked on the big climb out of the Cedar River Valley. Only Robin, Kim Eppen, and one Punk Rock racer were able to keep the pace. They continued to ride hard with Robin making lots good attacks. The Punk Rock racer rode a rather smart race as she forced Kim to chase almost everytime. With just over 1km to go Kim attacked hard and only the Punk Rock rider could follow. Kim gave everything she had to try to shake her from her wheel, but it was not to be. On the final hill miss Punk Rock came around and poor Kim was out of gas.

It was a fun event, and I think the promoters did a good job with what looked like a very demanding course. I hope it is here again next year, because I just might want to try my own chances in the race.