Christmas Suprise

Wow! I am still reeling from one of the gifts that I got for Christmas. This gift was one that was made by someone. It entailed a lot of blood, sweat, tears, and tire goo on the carpet. It was several months in the making but it turned out to be the most awesome present ever. A new road bike for me to ride. This bike will not be used to haul the trailer with all of my stuff to work. This bike will be used to ride the bike trails.

Thanks Steve for this wonderful bike. Thank you Debbie for putting up with the bike mess as Steve built it.

All I can say is WOW!

Been a while

It sure has been a little while since I have written anything.

I am not biking as much due to the weather starting to get colder (today is an exception - 45 degrees at 5:30AM) and the sun is not around as much. I am trying to bike to work as many days as possible. During the month of October I finished with 92 miles. That number is down 13 from last year but half my mileage in 2008 was from riding an exercise bike.

Everyday I bike saves a little bit of gas and time getting to work in the morning. I am able to ride right to the front door of the library with out having to locate a parking spot.

Pullman, Football, and Back

Rode to Philip's football game in Martin Stadium in Pullman yesterday. I do not know how hard the wind was blowing but it was pretty blustery. I expected Piglet and Pooh to go bouncing by at any moment.

The trail to Pullman is pretty nice but the scenery leaves a lot to be desired. I really enjoy the ride to Troy over the one to Pullman.

The games where running about 30-40 minutes late so we ended up watching the end of one game and another full game. The game is comprised of two 26-28 minutes halves with a 2-3 minute half time.

I got to watch Philip's game from the sidelines while working the down marker. It was a very interesting vantage point. They lost the game 20-0 but I think Philip still had fun.

The ride home was a quick one. The wind was at my back and it sure made going home a lot easier.

MS150 Ride – Day 2: Bridge Trolls

There had been a light rain during the night. Clouds hung in the sky with a hint of rain still in them. Steve and I were undeterred in our quest to ride that day. We got dressed and headed off to Camp Pinewood for breakfast and the start of the second day of the ride. We went in to get our breakfast only to find a couple of bowls of oatmeal awaiting some attention. We pondered the bowls for a moment and somebody else grabbed them. I guess breakfast was not to be for us that morning. Being the resourceful people we are we would just have to forage for food along the route. I of course realized that I had forgotten my Leatherman, so skinning something would be difficult. Then I remembered that there would be rest stops along the way that had snack stuff and water.

We got on our bikes and headed to the starting area for the ride. We listened to some last minute instructions about some dangers along the route. We then got into the main pack for the start and headed off down the road past the cemetery. We headed on out to Highway 55 to get to Elo Road (used to be called Farm to Market Road). Steve had already gone out ahead of me. We approached the first hill that wanted to make us regret doing this ride. It failed in the attempt to persuade us to give up and go home. I got caught in a slow moving group but finally made it to the top. The other side of the hill was a chance to get going a little fast. The next hill came up and tried to do the same thing to me. At no time did I think of being back at the house in bed. The hill fell at my wheels and I conquered it with a vengeance.

After making it to the top I knew that it was pretty much level ground the rest of the way to Tamarack. I made my way towards the first rest stop at Jug Mountain. I saw Steve coming down the road out of the rest area and he told me that it was not setup yet. I turned around and hit some gravel and laid my bike down. I got the bike back up and noticed that I did not scratch my knee up even though it did hit the pavement. I caught up with Steve. We rode together the rest of the way to Tamarack. Several places during the ride added some interesting points to the conversation. There was the road construction in Donnelly that made the road a little impassable for road bikes with all the gravel that was laid down. We stopped at the rest stop in Donnelly to get our “breakfast” to eat along the way.

There is a metal grated bridge over a part of the reservoir that they put somebody at to tell you for the riders to go down the left side. I can tell you that with the wide tires I have it really doesn’t make a difference. This time however it was locking of brakes time as the guy practically wandered out in front of us to tell us to go down the left side. I was thinking about just running him over but the brakes on the bike worked the way they should. We went around him and continued on our way.

We finally made it out to the turnaround point of the ride. We grabbed a few more things to snack on and started on the way back. Steve and I rode together all the way to Donnelly and a few miles beyond before I fell back and just let him go. It is nice to ride alone for me since it gives me time to think about different things. I do enjoy riding with people but there are times when it is nice to just have free moments.

As I approached the old Finnish Church I felt a bug on the back of my knee and shook it off. After it flew away I felt a little sting in the area where it had been. I stopped for a moment to look at it and noticed a spot where it stung me at. I went ahead and got back on the bike. It hurt but I was not going to let it stop me from getting to the Jug Mountain rest area. I was going to have somebody there look at it just to make sure that it was all right. I made it to the rest area just fine and one of the volunteers checked it out and saw that there was no stinger in it.

The rest of the ride into McCall and to the area where the lunch was being held was pretty nice. Steve was at the lunch waiting for me. He had already eaten but waited around for me to devour the pulled pork sandwich (without the bun), coleslaw, beans, brownie, and Fat Tire beer. Oh, boy did that taste good. This was a well earned lunch after the 50 mile plus ride.

I will be doing this again next year for sure.

Thanks go out to everyone that supported me on this ride. Your generosity really helps to further the assistance and research that goes on.

Accident on the corner

Car vs. bike, not the thing you want to see when you go see what all the flashing lights are about. Run a stop sign on a bike without looking and it is accident time. One that I hope to never see again. The young biker was talking so everything seemed okay. The driver was visibly shaken and there looked to be two young kids in the back seat.

There is a law in Idaho that allows bikers to yield at stop signs. This makes it easier for them to go through an intersection if it is clear. The problem is some don't even make an effort to slow down, they just keep up their speed even if a car is coming. Naturally assuming that the car will stop for them. However, it is the biker who should be stopping.

MS150 Ride - Day 1: No Deer Left Behind

Prelude to a ride:
Friday was spent waiting for Philip's football practice to get done so that we could leave for McCall. We had everything ready to go. All that we needed to do was get the bike on the carrier (thanks Geoffrey) and head out to my mom and dad's house. It was going to be a late night and an early morning.

Day of the ride:
Got up the next morning after a mildly peaceful nights rest ready to go. I quickly got the Idaho Vandal jersey on with my tight biking shorts. Since the weather was warmer this year I did not put on the socks that I cup up last year to wear on my elbows and knees. Only thing left to do was fill up water bottles and head out. Steve (my brother-in-law) and I rode the short distance from my mom and dad's to the start of the ride at Camp Pinewood. I got signed in and we had a nice little breakfast. After breakfast we waited around for my sister Deb to come over with Philip and Victoria. We got our bikes as it started getting closer to 9:00. The team that Steve rode with was the second group to go so I was able to tag along with him and start out earlier. We headed out from the start past the high school and down to the main highway. We road towards and turned onto Warren Wagon Road. I have ridden on this road many times when riding around the lake in the past. I would not be able to do that this day since there was an ascent that needed to be done. As we progressed along the route I realized that I was traveling a lot faster than I had the year before. I felt great and and the bike felt great (thanks to Paradise Creek Bicycles for the wonderful fix up job). The pack started to thin out as some sprinted forward (Steve was one of these) and others fell back. I kind of stayed in the middle and followed two guys with Primal Wear skeleton jerseys on. We went past the 10 mile rest stop. They moved out ahead of me as we wondered along the road. I finally caught up to Steve when I got to the 20 mile rest stop. Got something to munch on here and then headed out with Steve towards the summit. Steve again decided that he wanted to race somebody so he took of up the hill. I remembered last year when I just accepted this and tried diligently to see if I could keep up. I failed at keeping up but that was quite alright with me, however I was reminded of something Rachel always says to me, "Dad you fail at failing". She is a funny duck sometimes. I finally made it to the summit and started the speedy trek (34mph) down the other side. Finally made it to the Burgdorf "Y" and got somemore somethings to eat. This year they did not have a packed lunch up here so it was get something and get back on the bike type of stop. Steve and I started out again to head back to McCall. 30 miles had tried to defeat me but it failed miserably.

Steve again wanted to catch somebody that passed us so he rode out ahead as we headed back towards the summit. I again did not mind as I wanted to see all the people that came towards me. There was one that really made me think about things. I thought, was that his IQ he was showing me as he passed by (yes, he did flip me off and yes, it was a 2C license plate). I thought, oh, well.

It felt great to get to the summit because I knew that it was a downhill trip from here. This is where I began thinking of deer. Deer that jump in the way of unknowing and unsuspecting bikers. I was lucky this time as no deer decided they wanted to have me smack into their side. The deer that I nearly hit last year must have warned all the others about the crazy person on a bike. I ended up making it to the 40 mile (20 mile) rest stop unscathed after reaching speeds over 38 MPH. I never really thought about what would happen if I had a blowout but I am glad I didn't because I probably wouldn't have dared trying it. I caught up with Steve again at the rest stop. I grabbed something quickly here and we were off again down towards McCall. Steve stuck around for awhile and then started cruising again. I marveled at how neat the area looked as I went by the Upper Payette Lake.

The ride from the lake to McCall was very relaxing. I kind of set into a grove and kept a pretty good pace. The after race lunch was being served at the McCall Brewery so I decided to ride to my mom and dad's house to grab some money for a beer. The meal was free but the beer wasn't. Oh, well. When I arrived at the brewery I wandered in to find Steve. We drank and ate and then headed to the house.

That evening we went to Camp Pinewood for dinner and presentations. We ended up getting dinner and a massage. The dinner was lasagna and the massage was wonderful. I really can't stress how wonderful the massage felt. We ended up heading back to the house after the massage and relaxed that evening.

While waiting for the massage I met a lady with MS that had volunteered to help out with the ride. We talked for a while as she shared about living with this disease. It is really hard to put into words how I felt after talking to her other then that I was renewed in my effort to help out.

After the massage that was so wonderful we went back to the house and rested for the next day.

Wednesday Evening Ride

Thank you so much Paradise Creek Bicycles for getting my bike running like a champ. It made the ride to Troy so much more enjoyable. I left the house at about 4:50 and headed to the trail. Saw a few other bikers along the way.

As I came upon the intersection with the transfer station road I noticed a young couple having some interesting difficulties on the trail. I decided to let them keep going with their difficulties as I don't think I could have helped very well.

There were quite a few grasshoppers on the trail. Some of them decided that they did not want my tires to hit them so they hopped out of the way. Others, however, decided that the tires looked really cool and wanted to get a closer look. Some of them even wanted to see what the spokes where all about and bounced off of them.

The chipmunks along the way kept their distance from the rotating grasshopper killers.

I arrived in Troy at about 5:30 and noticed that the reader board by the ball field said that the temperature was 96 degrees. I thought it was warm but did not realize that it was that warm. Thank goodness for two bottles of water.

The ride back to Moscow was filled with lots of little bugs flying right directly at me. Annoying is the word that I can think of only because it sums up the whole situation. I covered 26 miles an hour and a half. Not bad for eating 6 pieces of pizza earlier in the day. All in all it was a very good ride.