Back to work for the council today. Boy Scout Day Camp starts on Saturday so I need to get a few things finalized before then which meens this could be a busy week. Looked at the schedule at the shop yesterday and noticed that my hours are increasing again. I can't work that many hours and still be at the scout camp, somebody is going to have to give here soon and it won't be me. I am not sure how to make it any clearer. I must get the hours in for the Boy Scouts in order to graduate.

Actually had quite a few people in the shop yesterday considering it was a holiday and all. Lots-o-phone calls with "Are you open today?". Only had one big sale though. Everything else was little stuff. We only had time to assemble a couple of new bikes.

The XTC is ready to roll. Freshly built FOX F80X. Limited time means that I will probably have to do some night riding. Cool.

I gotta go now,

-Peace.

Well I am back after spending the last week camping near Omaha for National Camping School. The week long course is required for camp staff directors and management to be certified in their particular area. It started out with me not sleeping very well the first night, but by the third night I was sleeping all the way through the night. No television, no radio, no computer, and a low battery on my phone allowed me to actually gain some peace within and I feel really good right now. I did miss having a bicycle to ride while I was there but, I got a lot of hiking in so the excercise was still there, just not as intense. Breakfast started between 7:00 and 8:00 each morning and the final section of class didn't get out until 9:00 or 9:30 in the evening. It was enought to wear a person out to the point that I was going stright to my tent a falling asleep within a couple of minutes. Even had a tough time getting up at 6:00 each morning.

I arrived back in Waterloo about 3:30 Friday afternoon and took the weekend to relax and get back to normal. I also did some shopping for new hiking boots because the hunting boots that I have are a bit of over kill and a new backpack. I love to go camping but my ideaq of camping is being away from everything and I mean a long way away from everything. Not the camping five minutes from home with a 19" TV and twenty other people. I enjoy hiking it in for half the day first. I also began looking for a new backpack and sleeping bag this weekend. Something light, small, and yet warm. I did find a few just need to raise the cash now.

I must attempt to change the fuel pump in the Exploder sometime today. I have to work at the shop this afternoon and then dinner with in-laws afterwards. Should do it right now but I am busy typing this. I did see hat my Fox F80X came in ti the shop on Friday, maybe get the XTC back together today too. That would be nice to have for transportation at the scout camp for the summer.

Not a whole lot more to say right now...Star Wars Episode III rocked by the way for those of you that are junkies like me.

-Peace.

For the next week anyway. I have to leave for Omaha this afternoon for camp school training and I will not return until next weekend sometime. I have no idea if I will have internet access or computer access for that matter so there may be a week of no updates. I know, I know, it sucks, but what can I do? I have to go.

Possibly no Giro access, no e-mail, no blogging, and the worst part...no bike. I just may go crazy. Hopefully the week flys by fairly quick and I can get back to my "normal" life.

We didn't leave the shop last night until 8:30 because we had a Scheels customer that was doing a price comparison and asking a ton of questions and there was also a person that just walked around in circles touching every road bike on the rack. A. Lo. told me that the person does not speak English which makes it difficult to sell him a bike. What do you do?

Well, unless I find a computer, talk at you next week.

-Peace.

I was out of bed by 6 am today to go ride with John Adamson and Jeff Yielding at GW. Intervals from one side of the park to the other was the plan which suited me today because I didn't have a lot of free time. Jeff "The Diesel" Yielding kicked my butt a couple of times and I was almost shelled off the back once. Definately an eye opener. If I do get a chance to race a Cat 5 race this year I know whose tire I will be sitting on, that's for sure. Anyway, the ride felt great and of course the Salsa is filthy with all of the wet pavement, grass clippings, and worm guts. Better get it washed off tonight.

I spent the entire day otherwise either riding in a car or driving one. Drove around the Cresco / Lime Springs area looking for donations to help support the Boy Scout council and give some of the less financially stable kids a chance to go to camp this summer. It's for a good cause and many people do offer up some type of support but there are always those who will not no matter what. That's fine, to each their own but, some people are just so rude it blows me away. I am sorry for wasting youir time dude. All two minutes of it.

Oh well, need to get some work done at the shop now,

-Peace.

Way busy day yesterday. At the Scouts by 8:30 to go up and get a tour of where "my area" will be at Camp Ingawanis, back in Waterloo by 10:45, off to the Post Office by 11:00, leaving Post Office at 11:30, stop at Europa to talk to Ted and the boss man, then on to UNI to speak with my advisor about a few details for the paperwork required every two weeks for my internship, and then I had a couple hours to my self so I thought to myself, "What would Kerkove do?". That's right folks, I jumped on the Salsa and out the door I went. I rode from Waterloo through Cedar Falls to Union road and then went north, through Finchford, over three-tier-hill and on to Janesville. This whole section actually went very fast with the 20 mph tailwind, around 24-27 mph once I got out of Cedar Falls. Heading south from Janesville on old 218 was a different story though. I was trying to push 15-17 mph as I was heading south and I must say that it hurt...a lot. I actually saw 11-12 mph on my computer a couple of times.

My house to Finchford and then Janesville = 19 miles in 58 minutes

Jamesville to home = 14 miles in 59 minutes

As I was riding past Phiffer Park in Cedar Falls I saw another cyclist coming down the road and it looked to be mister Saul. Then I heard the squeeky brakes and thought "there was no way that can be Ron." Of course about half a mile down the river trail he catches up to me on his fixed-gear and tells me to slow down. Ron, buddy, squeeky brakes? Not a big deal, it made for good conversation to finish my ride. Thanks for the ride and the talk Ron.

After that I went back to the Scouts at 5:30 for a district meeting but was given another project and the option to skip the meeting, which I did. I brought some paperwork home and spent five hours cross-referencing camp application hard copies with a computer print-out trying to find discrepencies. I found a few in the hardcopies in the five hours and never did get to the computer part. I guess I will do that tonight.

I will be spending to whole day at the camp in Marble Rock today and then it is off to the shop for the evening. Need to make some adjustments to the Salsa (it is developing a creak somewhere) so it will be there if Yielding happens to swing by.

Okay, time to get ready to leave,

-Peace.

Spent the whole day working in the office yesterday seperating supplies that go to each of two camps for this scouting district. It has been fairly nice so far, definately a change of pace from the previous job. It's not the same old stuff over and over again. It still has that new job feel however. The welcomed change but at the same time the feeling of not knowing everything that needs to be done. All in due time.

Today I will go up to Camp Ingawanis to familiarize myself with the area that I will be in charge of and determine what types of things I will need to prepare for. I know the camp pretty well already but it will be nice to get a refresher of where everything is at and how much room I will have for the supplies that need to be brought to the camp. I also have a district meeting to attend tonight from 6 until 9 o'clock. Makes for a long day but I really am unclear as to what a "normal" day or a short day are like anymore. Since I was suppossed to work at the shop tonight I went and changed shifts with Whizbang (Thanks Buddy!!!) last night and he will work tonight. I did no wrenching last night while I worked in my "business casual" attire that I must wear to the scouting office. Kerkove and I figured that I could pretend to be the night manager at Europa when I am dressed like that. I can have the pleasure of taking care of all of the disgruntled customers.

The Trek Madone SL 5.2 that a customer ordered back in November finally arrived yesterday. The Shimnao Ultegra 10-speed gruppo and the new Bontrager Race Lite wheelset are both sweet but, the triple chainring...yea, I don't think so, not in this state, not for me anyway. Well, maybe in 50 years or so. The color does not really do it for me either but it's a lot cheaper than a SL 5.9 with full Dura-Ace so you really cannot complain. Could have gone Project One maybe? Of course the prices on some of their colors is absolutely crazy. Well, hopefully the guy loves it because in the end that's all that matters.

That's all for the moment,

-Peace.

POS had a "going away" party for my on Friday like the do for all of their employees that leave them. It went well, I was ablre to talk to almost everyone in the building foe a couple moments. Most people stated that they would miss me and I do believe quite a few of them. There were a few that wished me "best of luck" although one of those people in particular is probably overjoyed that I am leaving because I know that I was a pain in their side. Oh well. I hope that somebody else stands up to be the "outspoken one" so that they do not get taken down the wrong track.

I spent most of the day on Saturday at the Cub Scout camp near Marble Rock (WSR) helping to set up for the upcoming summer. Putting cots at the different camping areas, cleaning out the closets near the pool, and the majority of the day was spent setting posts and constructing a new fence around the archery range. All in all it was a pretty good day of manual labor. I have been behind a desk for the last seven years so the manual labor part is actually welcomed. I have to work at the office here in Waterloo all day today and then I am back to WSR for a day of work on Wednesday. Having spent the last four years getting out of bed at 5 o'clock in the morning to go to work, I just woke up at 6:30 today with no alarm, way weird.

My plans for yesterday were to go for a ride with Kerkove in the early am but, I was late getting to the meeting place so he went alone. I wussed out of the cold weather and went back home. I just haven't been feeling it lately. Too much going on elsewhere has kind of pulled my mind out of the riding focus. I then spent the whole afternoon working at the shop listening to customers tell me that they can get bikes cheaper at Scheel's, What am I suppossed to do about that? It's out of my control. I know what I would do about it if it was in my control but I cannot say that here at this time. I am sure that most of you know of the giant changes that I would make.

Mr. Yielding stopped in yesterday for Kerkove to do some minner adjusting on his Raleigh Professional. He also did the James Bond thing and took a few spy photos. I didn't even see the camera come out. He is super sneaky so be sure to be on your best behavior when he is around.

Well I need to get in the shower and get ready for my new job (still sounds kind of weird). I have to be all GQ today because I will be working in the office. I have a very limited selection of dress clothes so it will not take long to go through my entire wardrobe. I should spend the majority of my summer outdoors so it will not matter too much.

That's all,

-Peace.

It is officially my last day of employment at POS. I have a bit of a weird feeling in me today, walking away from a job after 11.5 years will do that I guess. Many of my co-workers have stated that they do not want me to leave or better yet...they want me to come back as a supervisor. Pretty cool feeling really.

The poor weather this week has kept me off the bike. By the time I get home from work it's either raining or windy as all get out. Yes I do realize that I could ride in some of these conditions anyway but, I am just not feeling it. The Salsa has a small rattle coming from the front end in the handlebar area. I could not for the life of me figure it out...until Tuesday night. My right STI lever has the infamous Shimano rattle between the shift levers. I taped them together to test my theory and surely enough the rattle stopped. A bit annoying but at least I know what it is now. All of the bolts and screws are tight so it will probably just be one of those things that I must get used to.

Sure do wish the XTC could be reassembled. Waiting for my F80X but Fox has a great product so it will be worth the wait.

That's about all for today, I'll think I will sit here and do nothing for a while.

-Peace.

Happy Thursday to everyone on this fine morning. 44 °F, windy, overcast, it would be a great day for some training miles right Kerkove?

I have very little to write today - busy,busy,busy

Baden Cooke had a pretty gnarly crash at the finish line in the Giro yesterday. Bettini actually had the win stripped from him and he was put into fourth place for "pushing" Cooke into the barriers.

I will take this time to welcome the newest member of the local blog community. You all know him and love him. He is the one, the only, the greeeeaaaaaaaaaaaatttttttttt GUITAR TED! He is pure entertainment, very insightful, full of cycling knowledge of all aspects, and he's a pretty darn good wrench to boot. Can I get a big round of applause to welcome Ted?

clap,clap,clap,clap,clap,clap,clap,clap,clap,clap,clap,clap WooHoo!!!

okay back to work,

-Peace.

Weeks already half over. Time flies when you're having fun, eh. T-storms woke me up a couple of times last night so my sleep was not "quality". If the weather continues like this all day, which it is supposed to do, the TT may be a no go. That's really too bad because there was a pretty good turn-out last week.

The Fassa-Bortolo train was derailed yet again yesterday. This time it was the Liquigas-Bianchi express transporting Danilo Di Luca to victory and putting Dario Cioni in the mountains jersey. Seems to have been a pretty good day according to the "live reports" on cycling news and velo news. Looks like all of the Pro Tour teams are helping to make the Grand Tours...grand. Now if only Americans as a whole could understand. It's also about time that Paolo Savoldelli gets ready for his turn to shine at the Giro and represent the Discovery Channel in all their glory. (Even though their team kits are blah. In my opinion of course.)

I walked into the shop last night as Kerkove was walking out. He did not look to be as chipper as his normal self. Hopefully he will be better today. I am betting that the group ride was pretty good last night with the nice weather.

The XTC is hanging from the rafters at the shop like a side of beef. Cold and lifeless. It's amazing how not having your favorite bike for a couple days will actually make a rider sad. I miss it.

Gotta go,

-Peace.

I have a meeting with the Boy Scouts today to get all of the paperwork for my internship in order for them. It's finally starting to sink in that I am leaving POS for new adventures. They will be having a cake and going away "party" at for me at POS on Friday the 13th. Most of the people here didn't know that I was leaving so they are all in shock. They must have thought I was a lifer. HAHA

Went for a ride on the Salsa last night in those great winds out of the SW. Headed out on 27th street in Cedar Falls at about 15 m.p.h and then went North through New Hartford to Shell Rock at about 25 m.p.h. It was a pretty interesting trip. 57 miles total in 3 hours and change. Legs were not happy with me when I got done. Originally I was going to go out for an easy spin, keeping the heart rate under 145 bpm, but the wind changed that and I decided to do the Shell Rock loop so today I will pay the price and be a little tired. I actually fell asleep on the couch at about 8 o'clock last night. I haven't done that for a long time. I'll take today off to rest and consider doing the TT on Wednesday night. (Still waiting for the website to be updated from last week so I can compare my time to Adamson and Boller) Last TT until the fall, better get out there and do it Ron.

Make sure you check out Kerkove's blog today. He has some pictures from the killer climb at Sugar Creek last weekend. It actually looks like it could be kind of fun. There were only a handful of people that were actually able to ride the whole climb.

Stage 3 of the Giro d'Italia should be on cycling news in about an hour. It's been pretty good so far, three different stage winners, three different race leaders. Intense finishes the last two days too, especially yesterday with Robbie McEwen taking the sprint win and the jersey. It's always good to see more than one racer having success in the Grand Tours. Just imagimne the frustration that will ensue if the Fassa Bortolo train cannot gain control for Petacchi. Could be interesting I tell ya.

That's it for now,

-Peace.

5 days of employment at POS remaining. Almost twelve years of my life and it is time for a change. I am excited while at the same time a bit nervous of leaving the "comfort zone". It will be worth it, I hope.

Mad props go out to Jeff Kerkove for his second place finish at the 12 hours of Sugar Creek. Way to start out the official endurance season buddy! Sounda like it was a pretty good race, make sure you check out his write up, it's just like being there with all of his golden words.

Spent the entire weekend working at the shop. Saturday was fairly busy at times but not too bad. Sunday was boring from the get go. Yielding stopped in to get a few things on Saturday and we had a brief talk. He keeps us all posted on the local road race scene and has all of the inside information. I may try a road race sometime later this year just to see how it goes. Yielding seems to have a pretty good team to ride for, looks like they do a lot for promoting the sport.

I did hit up a couple of graduation parties on Saturday afternoon/evening for those persons graduationg from UNI. I had something like two pitchers worth of beer, tasted pretty good too.

Not a whole lot of anything going on today really. Nothing to do here at work yet. I need to clean out my desk sometime this week but, I rode the Ducati today so I have no way of taking things home right now. I don't really have too much to carry actually, maybe I can get it all home. Shoes, CDs, CD player, and coffee mug, that's not too bad really.

Anyway, if the rain holds out I will get back on the bike tonight. I have not ridden since Wednesday because my body needed a rest. I feel great right now so it must be time to get back on. Need to work those beer calories back off.

That's all for now,

-Peace.

ATTENTION DIRTRAM: This one is for you. According to Salsa Cycles, the largest tire that a person can run on a Salsa Campeon, such as mine, is a 700x25c tire. I have always ran 700x23c tires because the shop seems to be out of 25c's whenever it is time for me to install new ones. Well I am nearing the time to replace the tires that I have and we have 23c and 25c tires in stock so I decided to try a little experiment to check tire clearance.

Here is a picture of the Salsa with the 700x23c tire that is presently installed:



Larger picture can be seen here.

and here is a picture of a 700x25c tire installed on the Salsa:


Larger picture can be seen here.

Pretty close, eh?

Still plenty of clearance and I will probably be installing 25c tires but, Slade told me that Dirtram would probably get a kick out of the clearance. Maybe a picture with a 28c would be interesting. Might have to check into that. Slade also has an action photo of yours truly in Decorah, check it out.

Nice weather this morning, had to ride the Pasta Rocket in to work. The ride seems so short when I ride that thing. Weird.

-Peace.

I sure do. I think everything is in order as far as school goes so I shouldn't have to go back there until the first week of the fall semester. I'll have to do a presentation about my internship at that time to officially complete my degree.

Participated in the road TT last night in Cedar Falls. My body is still not at 100% so I probably should not have done it but, I wanted to go out there to see how Slade does and ended up doing it myself anyway. My finish time for the ten mile TT was 25:54 which isn't too bad, it isn't my best (25:30 in 2002) and is nowhere near the record for my age group (23:01) so I have my work cut out for me and I will be gunning for the fall TT session in August/September. I need to lose some weight because I am 15-20 pounds heavier than I was in 2002. I'm not making excuses, just stating facts.

Somebody left the coffee maker on all night here at POS so it exploded and there is coffee all over the coffee maker, the walls, and even the sign that reads "Please turn off coffee pots at the end of the day & weekends when done using". Kerkove might even think that this incident constitutes "java-abuse" and should be punishable by law. Maybe he would be correct in that belief also, who knows.

Nothing else going on at this time, lots of work to do,

-Peace.

11:45 a.m. UPDATE: I had a really cool disagreement with an individual this morning concerning bicycles on the road. This person believes that there are plenty of sidewalks in the area and that bicycles should not be allowed on the road. This individual also stated that if bicycles are out in the country that they should be required to use a "Slow Moving Vehicle" sign similar to those on the rear end of farm machinery or the little orange flags they put on mopeds. I was also informed that this person WILL be writing to his Congressman to see about setting these ideas in motion. This person was being very vocal about his dislike of having to slow down for "bicyclists that ride down the middle of the road". Just imagine, every bicycle on RAGBRAI with an orange moped flag. Wouldn't that be cool?

Food for thought for my loyal readers. Have a wonderful day!!

I rode the Ducati to work this morning and froze my behind off but it was worth it. With all of the work/school/training lately I haven't had a whole lot of time to ride the motorcycle at all. I even went the speed limit all the way to work. Mostly because my fingers start freezing at speeds over 55 m.p.h. even with gloves on. I even saw a Harley rider this morning with the signature Harley bad boy look going on - lack of a helmet. Guy looked like he was freezing but I am sure he was still too "cool" for a helmet. I will never understand the thought process with that one.

Fox fork is coming off today to be sent in for repairs. Hopefully that won't take too long. I really love that bike and that fork a lot. Hate to see it hanging in the back of the shop in pieces.

TT is tonight. I am still unsure if I will be participating or not. Legs are still a little "jittery" from last weeks adventures. TT doesn't start until 6 p.m. so maybe I will feel better by then. I really dig riding the Salsa. It would be a tough call between which of my bikes is "the bike".

Salsa,Giant,Salsa,Giant,Salsa,Giant,Salsa,Giant.

Decisions, decisions,

Hey, I know. Maybe The Man will let me do the TT on the Ducati. I'll bet I could break the record with that. Maybe I'll give him a call.

OKay, that's all, lots of work to do today,

-Peace.

Today I have to take a final test for my Research & Evaluation class. This is the last final that I am required to take for my major and I think that it is finally starting to sink in that I am almost done. The test shouldn't even be very difficult so there is no stress involved today. Yes, I am pretty stoked about that. (Hey, I used the word "stoked" in my blog - that's cool.) Just a couple more little things to take care of at the financial aid office and the registration office and all is in order for the summer internship.

Went to the shop last night to pick up the Trek Fuel. I need to send my FOX F80X fork that is on the Giant XTC in for an overhaul so the Fuel is coming back out to play for a while. Other than that I will riding a lot of road on the Salsa. I am still unsure as to if I will ride in the TT tomorrow night. My legs are still not so happy right now. I will probably go out there at least because I think Slade is on track for a good performance and I would like to witness it.

It may be a quick summer because I will be working in a new environment but on the other hand I probably will not be able to race again until Labor Day weekend in September at the 24 Hours of Boone. I guess I will have plenty of time to train for that if nothing else. It is a pretty nice course, lots of climbing and a pretty cool layout especially in the dark. The volunteers also do a great job to make it all enjoyable for racers and pit-crews alike. Definately looking forward to it. Half of my pit crew is getting married the weekend after that so I am not sure if I will even have a pit-crew for the race. I better look into that pretty soon.

I need to study a little tiny bit before I head off to my final final.

-Peace.

Went out for a 25 mile road bike spin with Kerkove on Saturday afternoon and felt really good afterwards. I felt that I was ready for the MTB race at Camp Ingawanis on Sunday. I signed up for the Expert class which was listed as 27 miles but at the finish my computer read 29.89 miles. Close enough I guess. It was cold, windy, a bit of snow off and on, and some really great racers were there too. I felt pretty good after lap 1 until I realized that I did not have my Hammer Gel with me which meant that I had no fuel source except for a bottle of water and a bottle of electrolyte drink. There were two stream crossings which meant I was soaked up to my knees six times during the race along with everyone else. At the start of the third lap the lack of fuel started to tear me up. I couldn't think of anything else and I ended up running myself into the ground and just turning over the pedals as I counted the miles. It hurt, that's all there is to it. I messed up with my preparation and paid the price. I probably should have pulled out after lap two but I couldn't push myself to stop so I just rode on through the woods alone for the last ten miles. It's peaceful when I am alone but I still wish I could at leas t see one other rider at times. I couldn't even feel my toes by the time the race was over. Finshed the race 13th out of 14 finishers and 18 starters. Not a great performance but I gave it a shot.

Today my ankles hurt like none other and I am not sure why. Probably pushed it too hard. I think I will take this week off from riding except for maybe the road TT on Wednesday night but even that is not looking good right now.

Okay, time to get some work done,

-Peace.