nats pictures

it was tough. and a long, tedious process, but i finally managed to get the boatload, in nearly its entirety, of pictures we took this past weekend up for all to see.

CLICK ME!


and yes, it is in backwards order. what can i say, turns out i'm not a web genius, just a web nerd.

nats part 2

disclaimer: this one is bound to be quite long. and for that, i apologize in advance.

friday night: we went to the hotel to check in and unload after watching the qualifying runs of the 4 cross. at 6 we headed back to the resort for a pre-race meeting where some school spent a long time arguing with the officials, suggesting that the girls only race 2 laps, since the conditions were crummy, but still keep the guys at 4. one of the officials put it well, with a retort involving some witty remark about the ladies only doing half the distance of the men. we decided the arguing guy knew his school's women would do better in a short race and was trying to stack the cards in their favor. thankfully, the race wasn't shortened, for either gender. but the meeting was a good time. we had a few laughs at all the teams there taking it seriously. i don't want to sound like one shouldn't take nationals seriously if one is fast enough. its just that we are in such a different league, to take the race seriously wouldn't have been any fun. we made it to nationals, that was our goal. and we all finished the race, our other goal. standings don't really matter for us. yerke put it well when he compared us racing in nationals to the university of iowa football team taking on a hobbyist team from kirkwood community college. we are just in a different league than those fast riders.

on the way back from the meeting we stopped to get some dinner, and were served by the rudest little twit of a waitress i've ever had the pleasure of dealing with. no harm done, we decided she must have been grounded or something, as she was angry at the world. as we were finished with our meal, matt looked out the window and started laughing. it was snowing. hard. it wouldn't last long, and didn't accumulate to anything, but we all had a nice laugh at that. it looked like condition were to remain wet.

we woke up sunday, got all geared up, and headed back to the resort for our race. on the way we stopped by a local bike shop, where i thought all my problems would be solved as i bought a new bladder for my camelbak. no dice. the mouthpiece was broken, and it leaked badly. we stopped by on the way home and exchanged it for a new one. but i still had to do the race with water bottles. which really wasn't that big of a deal afterall.

we got to the resort, and headed up to the top of the ski hill, where the race was to begin. we found a parking spot right next to the course, so we could watch the women come in from their race, and cheer them on. they had the distinct misfortune of racing in misty / foggy, cold, windy conditions, that would later clear up nicely for us. we tracked down syracuse girl, whom we had met at the pre-race meeting friday night, and congratulated her post-race. she looked like she had a good time. and i wouldn't be surprised if she finished quite well. although i wouldn't know, as the official standings still aren't posted anywhere. but that's another story. you'd think usa cycling would run the collegiate national championships well....but you would be wrong. no signs to tell people where to park in a massive resort complex, no posting results formally (merely taped to a mirror in a hallway), no t-shirts with our registration packet (they would be handed out at the awards banquet saturday evening), no tickets to dinner, rather a super long line with names crossed off a list...it was just poorly run. oh well. enough about that...

a bit later it would be time to race. we headed over and lined up at the rear of the starting group. it wouldn't make sense to have forced our way forward and just ended up getting in people's way up front. the course lap started and finished at the top of the ski hill. immediately after the start it put the whole group of us on a just slightly narrower and shorter than a football field of pure, sticky, brown mud downhill. it was awesome. bikes were sliding all over the place as the mud sucked people this direction and that. my bike in particular was all over the place, it seemed that my front tire grabbed on and tracked a nice line, but the rear, with its very small tread pattern just slid all over. needless to say, i was having quite a fun time. i do like to slid. and i like to ride in crummy conditions. eventually the muddy downhill gave way to some nice muddier singletrack. the downhill section had spread the group out enough that there wasn't too much of a bottleneck at the entrance to the trails. and sure enough, very shortly the bottleneck spread itself out too.

anyway, the entrance to the trails was a foot-deep, winding, crevase-esque little trough of black mud around a little lake, that eventually lead into the woods. where we were met by an increasingly tricky section of rock gardens. read: not too bad at first, but gradually, and continually getting worse until we were in the midst of a meadow of slippery rocks in the midst of the woods without so much as any line to pick through the things. i walked quite a bit. so did many others. yerke had the distinct pleasure of watching the guy who won, ride through this section when he got passed on lap 3. (we were all lapped on the third lap by the leader..except john, who finished his third lap right infront of the winner. he wondered what all the cheering was for, he would later recall...) i guess the guy just plowed through it with no regard for anything, least of all his bike. anyway, the trails were nice. i bet they would have been a riot in dry conditions. heck, i thought they were a riot in wet conditions, and was actually glad we were racing in the muck. i have a feeling, if things were dry, the race would have been much, much faster.

eventually the singletrack ran out and we were thrust back out onto the ski hill. first things first though, they made sure we were at the very bottom before they made us climb back up. thus commenced a series of hairy switchbacks. the worst of which, i rolled up to, looked at the spectators looking on, and said "who's idea was this!?" they got a kick out of it, and i cleaned the turn by some bit of sheer luck. it was the only time i would ride it well, the next 2 times...not so good. but i stayed on the bike, and didn't fall off the side of the hill, which would have been quite the fall at that point. after several switchbacks, we were about 2/3 the way down the hill, and they put us on an access road that cut directly across and downhill two ski slope faces. it was long, fast, and muddy. to top it off, they had a big old pipe running across it at about the point where you were carrying the most speed. once again my bike slid all over the place, and all i was thinking was "if i crash, i'm going to break something, but i'll be damned if i'm going to touch my brakes." so i didn't. and i survived. and it was awesome.

the road ended at the very bottom of the hill, and immediately took one quick turn around the parking lot, and headed right back up the hill. one big long climb with one switchback half way to the psuedo-top. pseudo-top, eh? yeah, this first climb only took us about half the way back up the hill. then a bit more riding across mud fields, and across a couple more ski faces, right over the grass, perpendicular to the face. 3 times i attempted to ride across the slope. 3 times i walked my bike. my rear tire just gave out on the grass. too slick for the conditions. that was the only place i had a problem though. everywhere else i loved my tire combo. big up front, little in the back, matt was right, moto is the way to go. after crossing the slopes we ended up with a bit more climbing, and a bit more trail before finally returning to the start.

well, it looks like i've written a bit much about the trail, and i know i've mixed up sections with other sections and things like that. right now i'm remembering one section i left out that was particularly fun. we rode up a very slight incline, in an open meadow-ish area, once again in a trough-like trail, with a soupy, light-brownish mud substance flowwing down the trail against our direction. now seems a good time to mention that shortly into the race i decided it would be a good idea to deliberately ride through puddles and all the muddy water i could find, as it cleaned the mud off my tires. and it was just plain fun to get a little bit dirty.

the first lap felt good. i rode it and thought i could keep it up for the necessary time to finish the race. and i wasn't even in last place. some rocks hung me up and i lost matt and john for a bit. but eventually caught up to matt. john had taken off and charged ahead. matt was hurting and had to pee pretty badly. so he opted to rectify that situation. and i passed him by while he did so. that would be the order for the rest of the race. i saw john on a couple of the climbs early on in the race, but he lost me quickly. i found out after the race, he did the whole race without his little ring. an impressive feat. and luck was on my side, as somehow i managed to stay ahead of matt.

during the second lap, things still went well, on the big climb i saw ndsu taylor behind me and hollered down at him. he caught up with me and i stuck with him for a short bit before he too left me behind. that kid can ride. i still felt decent going into the third lap. but things deteriorated quickly. once on the trails, the simplest little roots, and rocks were stopping me. i was off the bike a lot. i managed to suffer through it. but then came the climb. by the top i was literally falling apart. although i rode the whole thing. i spent all my time pushing in the singletrack, through the rocks, and over some roots. as i finished up the last section of climbing, i had long since been lapped, and some spectator was telling all of us we were only going to have to do 3 laps. i was elated. you couldn't tell it to look at me, all you could see was a body slumped over, concentrating on one and only one thing, turning over the pedals. but in my head i was happy beyond all belief. because, by that time i had decided i was going to finish the race. if i had to push my bike the entire 4th lap, i was going to finish. happily, i didn't have to.

after the race we headed back to the hotel to clean up and take a quick nap before the awards banquet. the banquet was nice. a nice selection of food, fish, pasta, meat, etc. we shared a table with the kansas boys and ndsu. this being our first nationals experience however, we didn't know costumes were appropriate attire for about 1/3 the house, and bring-your-own-beer was encouraged. if there is a next time, i'm staying on site... anyway, people were getting awards in costume, and much, much yelling was taking place between tables. a ruckus is a good term. a very funny ruckus. one kid had a mega-phone and quick wit to match, and he kept us entertained all evening. then there was the guy in the apron, and little else, who ended up streaking across the awards stage during the mens div 1 cross country awards. it was just silly. and words fail me, but a fun time was had. sadly, since we did not stay at the resort, we missed out on the naked crit to be held at 10.30 after the awards ceremony. so, instead we went over and joined the ndsu boys for a couple of beers, and planned a mutual assault on the upcoming road season, before finally calling it a night.

sunday morn we woke up and were on the road decently early, 7.30 i think. but happily we gained two hours with the time change, and day light savings time too! the trip back was similar to the trip there. silly.

its about time i wrap this up and finally figure out the pictures which are giving me no end of trouble. so, of nationals i have this to say...

it was awesome. and i hope i get a chance to do it again.

nats part 1

so john, jeff, matt and i rolled out of iowa city last night at about 9.30 pm. both matt and i packed in just under 15 minutes, as we decided a bit of dinner at the vine over-ruled actual preparation for this weekend. as a result, now that we're here, i realize i have left my camelbak bladder at home. that is no good. i would have been needing that tomorrow for keeping hydrated on the bike. now, as it seems i'll be having to use water bottles and cages. it should be alright as it will be stupid cold out...but that's a whole other story. perhaps i should start at the beginning.

it was dark. we picked up john at his house just a bit after nine. he was most upset that no one had called him to tell him it was snowing in pennsylvania (oh yeah, that's where we are, somerset, pa) and that, as such, we had abandoned plans for camping. he got over it, and re-packed accordingly. from john's we picked up jeff, and headed on our merry way. it was about nine thirty, and we were, by some piece of alleged good logic, about to thrust ourselves into anywhere from an 11 - 14 hour drive. needless to say, ridiculousness ensued. i can't really recall anything specificly amusing about our trip out here, but if you can imagine, 4 guys staying up all night in a minivan...well, stupidity and lots of laughing. a good time. we alternated drivers, and arrived at the ski resort, seven springs, where the events are to be held.

we explored a bit of the resort on our way to score our registration packets, and check out the 4 cross course. 4 cross, as i learned today, is a form of (my description) mini-downhill, in which 4 riders are pitted against each other at the same time. and in this case, those 4 riders are pitted against each other on a course entirely too small for even 2 to fight it out. we watched a good portion of the qualifying runs, individual runs to see who would actually compete in the 4 person heats later today. lots of falling, sliding, and pushing of bikes. perhaps that last comment warrants a bit of an explanation.

the rumors were true, it did indeed snow at seven springs, an alleged 6 inches of snowfall, has been rapidly melting to create a messy, muddy terrain. the snow / melt combination virtually destroyed the 4 cross course, rendering it more of a slow paced skid fest rather than a fast jump-worthy-mini-downhill course. tomorrows cross country race, while not quite as bad as the artificially built 4 cross, should be a mess.

q says: "brian's blog is stupid. like his face. after i kick it with my foot, in the face, with a foot."

upon finally tracking down the gal with our reg packets, we found out that we lacked a necessary eligibility form (read: proof that we go to iowa, and are not failing out). that would have been nice to know we needed to have before driving a ridiculous distance. hmm. oh well, we invaded the resort until we found a computer lab, and purchased, yes, purchased, 15 minutes of time to use the aforementioned computers. during which time, we printed off our 3 transcripts informally from the internet. took these papers to the lady. got our packet, by promising to send in an official eligibility form to them, from the university, within a week, upon our return. so, we get to race tomorrow. that should be fun.

anyway, we're in pennsylvania! and its beautiful out here! tree leaves are changing. the roads are cute little, quaint country lane-ish, often times with trees creating an archway over the path. its pretty. and despite the poor weather, it actually hailed on us for a bit on the way to the hotel earlier, this is a fun time. i mean, we're at nationals! and that is kind of exciting.

76th annual fall gala

our friends courtney and angie threw together one of the finest shindigs to ever grace i.c.'s hallowed streets. it was, a wine and cheese party. complete with formal attire required. bring your own wine approach, they provided the cheese.

so, matt, janie, john, and i got all dolled up, and ready to go. matt and i decided this would be the perfect opportunity to drink up our home brew. so we loaded up a couple of cycling club bottles. threw the rest of our back up wine into our bags, hopped on our bikes, and headed over. we got there, and were happy to see that our attempts at dressing up were not in waste...everyone was in formal attire. one guy even had a full suit on. i was by far the least dressed up. i guess that comes with the territory when you wear cut off army pants...i wasn't about to ride the fixie in dress pants and muck 'em all up with chain grease.

the party was a hit. my compliments to the girls, they know how to throw together a good time. john is a good drunk. he danced and danced and danced and danced. he finally earned that sugartoes nickname that has been on my phone now for quite some time.

we watched the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy movie last night...it's awesome.

i finished housekeeping today. it was quite good, and that is an understatement. although, i feel i missed out on quite a bit by reading it relatively quickly, and in many small bits and pieces, rather than slowly in long, quiet draws. anyway, i liked it, and think i may have to read it again, eventually, when i can dedicate more time to it.

friday night fix & burlingtoners

so the burlingtoners came up for the last friday night fixie ride. and it was raining! i was looking forward to it all day as a result. here's a quick mathematical proof to explain.

fixie + rain = awesomeness

i opted to not skip the ride as a result, by all logical analysis, i should have...2 assignments suffered as a result. too bad, by my analysis, a bit of fun was more important than a couple of points in class. now, that, is some fine logic.

so, amanda, tracy, and dennis came up for the fixie ride. dennis even rocked a fix. and a fun one at that. the evenings cast of characters would include paul, 2 michael's, fritz, me, and the burlingtoners. we rode out to north liberty for some dinner at iguana's, and had all sorts of good skidding times on the way. nice meal, suzie even said hello, although sadly was not our waitress. returned to iowa city, and commenced with the foot down. several games. dennis faired quite well. tracy and amanda also proved quite adept at our little game. me, on the other hand, just couldn't stay on the bike...so i got a lot of picture / backward circle practice time. proof:post foot down, tracy and amanda, and michael k. headed home. leaving fritz, me, paul, michael, and dennis. the parking lot was empty so we decided to have us a pair of pursuit races. paul vs. me. paul wins. dennis vs. fritz. dennis wins. the oval we used was too tight for fun. or it could be just that i am not that good at cornering at speed. probably the latter. oh well. then we opted to take more advantage of the empty lot with some sprint races. we started at one end of the lot, from trackstand, and sprinted to the opposite end. paul dominated. he took the first two heats, and dennis took the 3rd. i came in right behind those jokers each time, i think. oh well.

we headed off for some DQ to finish up the night down by the river. all in all an excellent fixie ride, as per usual. although sadly i'll be missing this week's ride, as we're leaving for nats on thursday evening. pennsylvania here we come.

collegiate mtn conference championships

lawrence, kansas
oct. 15-16, 2005

matt, john, and i headed down in a minivan again. arrived on saturday, about 2 hours before the dirt crit started. ndsu, ksu, kansas, isu, nebraska, and us. (i think that was all that showed up) pre-race, and all weekend...everyone was awesome. there was a kind of fun, easy-going atmosphere going on. everyone was more chatty and friendly than we all have been at prior races. anyway, it was a nice improvement. not to say that anyone was unfriendly before, but it just seemed like at this race everyone was real nice-like. carrying on, we got ready, and headed over for the dirt crit. there was some concern about people being able to figure out the course, which in retrospect, was well marked and i thought clear. so after a few attempts to describe it, which ended up just adding more confusion...someone suggested a practice lap...so sure enough, we had us a giant group ride around the ~1/2 mile course. nice course. nicely laid out, fast bits, and a couple of climbs. not too terribly technical, but just nice, a great course for a crit. 30 minutes + 1 lap was the order of the day. we ended up doing 6 (possibly 7) laps. yerke 5th, me 6th, john 7th. a good race.

the xc race was sunday. so after the crit we headed into lawrence to try to find a dinner joint the kansas boys suggested. we failed, so just picked a bar for some burgers and it turned out to be nice. interesting decor...dollars bills used as wallpaper, decorated over the years by patrons. i thought it was a fun idea. we sat at a table which coincidently had an IOWA dollar up near it. downtown lawrence is a lot like i.c. only bigger. all sorts of fun. post dinner we retired to set up camp and get us a good nights sleep.

sunday's race was nice. the weather was good. it was held in a different part of the park, so we packed up and headed over. again, same nice atmosphere...made for pre-race time being real nice. we warmed up a bit, did a very brief bit of trail exploring, got a glimpse of the rocks that would kick my @rse for the remainder of the race. at the start, i got cut off and out gunned by a kid whom i knew to be a bit slower than me, so as a result i got stuck waiting it out with john until we could find a spot to slip by this joker. the course was punishing. at least for me. i'm still new to rock gardens and they do a number on me. (read: darn near stop me) so i lost the boys relatively quick, but happily caught a few glimpses of them up ahead of me in switch-backy sections. pretty quickly the field spread itself out. john and matt quicker than me as usual put a bit of a gap on me, and i in turn put a nice little gap on the rest of the field. not to be passed again until the local experts started racing. those boys were fast... there was a one mile section of the 4 mile course that was dubbed "mad mile" or something like that. and i say, it was an appropriate name. not quite as rocky as tour de lizard, but still pretty tough. stopped me a couple of times on later laps when i was a bit tired. at one point an isu kid showed up from out of no where. don't know if he was an 'a' racer or 'b,' but passed me briefly when i got stopped by some vicious rocks. caught him right quick like on the next climb and left him for the rest of the race. 5 laps. 4 miles. lots of rocks. some real nice quick sections. with a bit of nice climbing mixed in. i liked it. i would have liked it more if i hadn't exploded a gu packet all over my right handle bar at the end of the 2nd lap. oh well. i had a super grip for the rest of the race...that stuff is STICKY!!

john made an impressive showing for himself, taking a solid 4th. matt took 6th. i caught a glimpse of him right toward the fast bit that finished up each lap, he noticed...needless to say, i didn't see him again until the end. he admitted afterward he didn't want me to beat him, fair enough, i would have taken the chance if i could have!

a nice little awards ceremony. they even gave us some medals. and we qualified as 1st team for nationals this coming weekend. 2nd team overall in our conference. i even made 4th in the individual competition for conference....solely because i did all the races and quite a few quicker guys finished below me because they skipped a race or two. (matt and john included!) still, i'd be lying if i didn't say i was a pretty proud of my finishes. good times...looking forward to this weekend!s

friday night fixie mall crit

last night we had us our weekly friday night fixie ride. we opted to head out to the mall, as michael needed a leash for maggie. whom, i also saw earlier yesterday. puppies...they grow. she was still a bundle of energy and adorableness. anyway, while michael fetched himself a new leash. we opted to have the...

pseudo-first-annual-small-enough-to-still-be-gaining-credibility mall crit

the rules were simple. one lap around the mall. beginning and ending at target. direction toward scheels. "any way you can get around the mall"

i managed to get to the front after scheels, and figured if i turned left and stuck to the pseudo-road that circled the mall, the others would follow. i was wrong. i turned left and the entire pack just blew right by me, straight through the parking lot. i cut my little detour short, and starting trying to bridge back on. i guess they were serious when they said, "any way you can get around the mall." passed some gal on her cell outside of the movie theatre that hollered at me, "is there a race going on?" to wit, i replied "hell yeah." managed to catch the paul and fritz out front right before we turned by best buy, and somehow squeaked past them to take the lap.

right quick like, michael showed up, having been successful on his leash mission. he said it looked like we had fun...thus we opted for lap 2, now that michael could join us. another lap, but this time, i was on to 'em... blew right through the parking lot just like the rest. again, i managed to take the lap, but only by a bit. paul and fritz had their second sprint finish of the night right behind me.

return to i.c. for some mexican at el ranchero. which, was most excellent. and we called it a night.

and now, i HAVE to do a spot of dishes...as the sink is full of dishes...most of which were put there by me!


p.s. we're going to conference this weekend!
oh boy oh boy oh boy

i (heart) fall

fall is great. i went for a most excellent ride today. 2.5 solo laps at sugar. mostly no black loops. just a nice quick pace. i chased lots of bunnies. i saw jami. i rode with a bottle for the first time since i got the camelbak, it was nice. i made it last for the first two laps. a quick refill, sugar bottom water isn't very good at all.

me+fall+bike+ipod=nice.

calc finished. nice and quick. exam this morning. could have gone either way. studying would have helped. you will have that. volunteering today was good. i have worked with one kid now a few times, he's all sorts of fun.

desperately looking forward to kansas race this weekend. my legs are actually a little sore. that good kind of sore.

volunteering

that's chloe, and i love her. 1.25 hours until free parking opens up at the bank downtown. i don't feel like riding my bike, namely because i feel like wearing my clogs. and i have learned that riding with any form of sandal is a bad, potentially painful, idea. so, i'll wait it out until free parking, and then commence the studying for tomorrow's exam. stat...eww.

re: subject of this post.
i've started volunteering at an i.c. high school. i get to go in tues and wed weekly, and work in a sort of guided study hall classroom. we get kids who need a bit of guidance, and encouragement to work, and we do just that. so far, i've only done it twice, but its all sorts of good. you have to be on your toes, as you could end up helping (or attempting to) in any subject. so far i've dealt with american studies (why don't they just call it history anymore?!), and english. mostly why i like it is the kids. they're great. i've met about half of them in the class, and will try to get a chance to work with all of them as i continue helping out. its making me busier..but i've decided that i actually do better when i'm busy like this. makes me manage my time a bit better. i was chatting with the teacher who runs the class, and mentioned my being a math major. she encouraged me to contact the math dept too, if i was interested. i decided i was.

thus, she gave me the appropriate names, and i contacted them. now i on tues after i get done in her classroom, i spend time in the math lab, helping students as needed. today was my first day, and i spent it working with 3 guys, doing their calc homework. i was curious to see how i would fair with older subject matter...but i guess taking calc three times paid off, as it came back quite well.

anyway, i'm volunteering quite a bit now. 4 hours a week sometime. and working less. as a result. which is a good thing.

still 1 hour until free parking downtown. snack time? yeah.

namesake...

isu race

isu hosted thier mtn race yesterday. dave, ryan, and i drove out for it. we were going to take a van, but the gals in the business office forgot to submit our request in time. so we drove out in our own cars.

a couple of gripes.
1. the course was crummy. flat. no fun. boring.
2. the directions were wrong. flat out. wrong.
3. it wasn't the iorca race.

a bit of elaboration, i am super sad that the isu race didn't team up with the iorca race this weekend. the people running the iorca races are super nice guys, and would likely have been more than happy to have the collegiate riders join in. then we would have had a whole weekend of great racing, instead of just one really bad race. the iorca race had a tt, and dirt crit on saturday, followed by the xc race on sunday. all of which i would have done if i could have...and thus qualified for overall consideration in the iowa series too (i needed 2 more races). instead, we had a race on a saturday (seriously, who hosts races on saturday?!).

so we rolled out of iowa city at about 8. directions in hand. upon reading them, i was concerned... and as it would turn out, my concerns were not unmerited. they were the single worst directions i have ever followed. (matt says i should be cleaning my room. he's right) i had to ask twice.

finally, about the race. worst course ever. 5+ miles. flat. boring. lots of gravel road intermixed with some singletrack. dave and i raced A class, for 6 laps of this punishment. punishment from boredom, from having to pedal the entire time due to the flat, from the fact that the course was no fun. ryan raced B class for 4 laps. i finished 6th, dave 8th. ryan finished, i didn't check his standings. but that alone is a feat, considering he still very new to riding. way to go, pal. on the last lap, the one guy i wanted to beat, who had been behind me the whole way, caught me right as the lap began, and managed to put a 2 minute gap on me. i wasn't really hurting, but i wasn't feeling really good either. bottom line is that he is stronger than i am, but i am still a little disappointed. oh well. that happens.

why i do NOT love des moines

so, this past sunday yerke, jeff, and i headed to des moines for a cross race. we arrived a little later than we would have liked, but still had plenty of time. the race flyer directions to the park must have assumed that we already knew where the park was and knew how to get around des moines intuitively, because it was a sheer piece of luck that we found the place. but find it we did. with about half an hour to spare before the race was to begin.

so, we got all registered up, into our kits, and decided it just might be a good idea to do a bit of warming up before the race. we rode around the course a couple of times. me, unintentionally being a bit of a twit, didn't realize the race was about to begin, went out for another pre-lap, and ended up holding up the race for a few minutes. but they were nice enough to wait for me.

a bit about the course. they laid out the course in a big oval. downhill, and then back up. gravel downhill, a barrier at the bottom, and three at the top. a long, windy climb inbetween. i'll just say the climb was painful. i was going slow enough that my glasses were fogging up. that = slow. oh yeah, thankfully, it rained on us lightly during the race. i say thankfully, because it kept it from being terribly humid, like it got for the rest of the races after us!

matt was loving his flat bar set up, and he and jeff ended up finishing together. i ended up finishing a bit behind them. i got lapped. i was sooo happy to see the leaders catch me. in my mind, getting passed = one less lap of this murderous climb that i had to do. to inject a bit of perspective, yerke grannied the hill in his 30x27. i was stuck in my 2 to 1 ratio. still, worth mentioning, the rest of the singles won, and finished highly in the race. how these guys do it, i don't know. perhaps i need to gear my monstrosity of a race bike up like these boys.

we elected to stick around and watch the gals race. lindsay put the hurt on the women's field, and took first. way to go!our trip out of des moines went worse than the trip in. we stopped at a pizza buffet and i made a pig out of myself. then we tried, rather unsuccessfully, to find the interstate. we figured the detour signs would lead us to it. 20 minutes later, and at least a few miles in the wrong direction, the detour led us to the interstate finally. we would have been much better off getting on the interstate in the wrong direction, and turning around at the next exit, rather than going through town to do essentially the same thing. stupid des moines. it's sure got nothing on iowa city. but we had fun. then return to iowa city to begin this, what is to be a long and busy, week. not a very good post, i know. that's all i've got.

iowa city...i love you

i love this town. it's true. yesterday morning my 9.30 class was cancelled, so i had an hour to burn between the others. i was feeling sort of crummy, a bit of a coldish thing coming on i think, combined with a 1am night thurs in a last ditch attempt to finish my stat homework are to blame. so, i headed down to the java house for some soul warming coffee. (that's right, i'm working on developing a taste for coffee. i can see this one happening however, unlike trying to develop a taste for beer..bottom line is that stuff still tastes bad) i pulled up, roped my bike to my tree out front. yeah, i like the attention. the rack out front is always jammed full, and i'll admit, i kind of think the fixie looks neat roped to a tree out front of the shop.

a nice couple got out of their car, and noticed the bike, and i got yet another complement on my bike. which, is always nice. then i noticed that the line for coffee was extending out of the front door just a bit. consider my curiosity piqued. i've got the time...might as well wait this business out and see just why so many people are interested in coffee at 9.30 on a friday morning. don't you people have jobs!?!?

then i saw a flyer up on the wall, it looks like the java house is playing host to an iowa public radio show, something about coffee and conversation, featuring a cowboy author character...forgive me for forgetting his name...and william elliot whitmore! i've been hearing this guy on krui for a while now, and have been meaning to go pick up his album. john has seen him and told me a bit about him, so i've been wanting to see him play as well. lucky me! this shindig was supposed to get underway at 10am and with the looks of this coffee line, i'll be just in time.

so i got my coffee, and headed toward the back room, where they had set up for the show. waited for a few minutes and was pleased with being tall, as i could happily stand behind a crowd of nice, little old ladies and see the whole room.

right quick like they got the show underway, and lucky for me, they started with will playing a song. and john was right, he's fun to watch. a yound, skinny little white guy, playing guitar and singing like a grizzled old man.

i got to listen to a bit of the show, and then had to cut out for my next class. but, iowa city...you made my day...iowa city...i love you.

night riding

last night andy took me night riding. he let me borrow one of his lights, a helmet mount, 10w bulb. it was awesome. the trails become something completely new. i picked lines, i like to flatter myself into thinking, i wouldn't even consider during the day. trees take on a whole new meaning, shadows dart across the trail. the trail itself appears and disappears at will. we rode one whole lap (minus most blacks) in the standard direction, with the intention of riding another backwards afterwards. sadly my light puttered out at the end of the first. my elbow was hurting a bit, so we called it a night and packed it in.

verdict: i need a light system!