Bowl me over

I feel like I'm getting in a rut here just reporting the weekend news, but suffice it to say, other than just being generally busy, not much notable seems to have gone on during the week for a little bit. I haven't been able to get my outside riding in and that has contributed to my blah attitude as well. At least the weekends have been full of some good times.

Friday in the midst of the snowstorm I opted to hold our plans to get together with Pete and his daughter for a fun evening. We hit Hu-Hot for dinner and Miranda decided she'd like to tag a long since it's one of her favorites. Who was I to say no. Plus, it gave her the opportunity to get to know Pete just a bit as well since they really hadn't met. The food was good as always. Really though, if it isn't very good, you've just about got to blame yourself for making up some weird combo of meat, noodles, veggies, and sauces since it's all up to you. Pete and I each polished off close to two plates full before we decided enough was enough and closed out the tab.

You'd have thought the hour and fifteen minutes it took me to get from the east side to dinner on the west side would have been the eventful part of the evening. Or maybe it was hopping up on the median island to go around two cars stuck side by side going up a hill. Nope, the real fun began when we tried to hit our planned after dinner activity. We were going to take the girls to Glazed Expressions to try to get some craft time in and maybe have them make something neat for mom's for Valentine's day. Alas, we pulled up and a nice sign informed us they were closed due to weather conditions. Bummer. We floated the idea of hitting the inflatable indoor kids park called Jumpin Jacks and headed that direction. It was equally vacant. Finally, we settled in on bowling. Funny enough, that probably was the best fun we could have had. The girls had a ball, Pete got scolded for walking down the lanes after a dead ball, and we both laughed like madmen watching the girls.

The girls contemplating a split

Corley waiting for a 3 MPH ball to ease its way down the lane

Part of her victory dance when any pin was knocked down

Pete giving Ava a pointer or three

I can't quite tell if she like bowling or not...

Saturday was the return of Valentines. We opted to stay pretty low key this year. Sometimes we do a little more for each other and other years we just enjoy our time spent with each. As long as you show your partner on a regular basis how much they mean to you and you love them, do you really need a day where you pay homage to them by trying to outspend the next guy in line? Seriously, its such a farce to think that a single day of gift giving could make up for 364 days of not giving a rat's ass. OK, enough ranting for now. I hit a little over 2 hours in Lou's pain cave on the trainer along with Pete and Kris. I still wasn't feeling all that great, but I put in a decent effort. Saturday afternoon we found ourselves enjoying some time with my cousins who were all in town to help celebrate our grandparent's 60th wedding anniversary. It was good to see all the family.

Keeping with the low key theme, we rented a movie on Saturday night and snuggled the night away on the couch. I know I'm a bit late on the bandwagon here, but Iron Man was a pretty kick ass movie and will probably be one we add to our collection.

Sunday was an early up and meet a few other hearty souls for an hour of snow shoeing through the fresh powder at Denman's. Squirrel had been out laying tracks and Saturday and I definitely felt a tinge of jealousy knowing I didn't have time to get back out to enjoy some bike time on perfect singletrack. We did have a good time shoeing though and even crossed a few of the ice flows that were dotting Denman's due to the river backup. A scant hour later and I was on my way home to spend some quality time in the garage.

I have this engine project that has been ongoing for closing in on 3 years. A guy paid me to build a motor and transmission for his car and it took about 2 years to get all the payments in place. In the mean time, life got busy and shifted directions as well so I hadn't put it together yet. Well, it's finally time to pay the piper so to speak and I started in on putting it together. It's amazing how quickly all the little things come back on building these motors. There are just so many little steps that I developed as I learned how to build these and things I won't skimp on. So, it actually slowed me down a bit as I had to run and get a few various supplies that I hadn't had the need for in several years. I did get a small dent put in it and now I'm on my way to crossing another thing off my list.

A warm wandering afternoon

The warm weather forecast for yesterday and the rest of the week had me worried that I might not get the chance to play with my new toys this winter. Being oh so fashionably late, I didn't order my new snowshoes until winter was pretty much over. On the plus side, I scored a pretty sweet deal with a 20% off sale and stacked another 10% coupon on that allowing me to buy a pretty high end set of shoes along with poles and a bag for less than the shoes normally retail for.

New shoes

Lots of grippy things (aka crampons)

The shoes are Atlas 1125 series along with Atlas collapsible poles. I went for something with a lot of grip in case I ever find myself scaling the hills of Colorado or more likely southern Iowa at our farm. They definitely work as advertised as I took off sidehill next to the levee trail towards the Denman's entrance. Sidehilling was pretty sweet as I barely slid at all. The only thing I really noticed right off the bat was these things fling snow. I mean like over your head if you get moving! I think it has something to do with the binding being set on a pivot point that is supposed to help pick up the tail when you walk. They definitely do that! I actually zipped my jacket up to keep any additional snow from shooting down my back. Beyond that small gripe, these things rock.

Don't you wish you were hot like me?

I tromped through the woods for close to an hour and worked up a nice little sweat. The one thing I noted about Denman's is that unless you see someone on the trail while you're riding, you really never get a feel for how close the various tracks run to each other. Walking through, I could hop from track to track to track and barely cover 50 yards of distance and in some cases much less. Once everything grows up in the summer, you'd never know how close that other track is. This is definitely a way to get a better perspective of the woods and the flow. I'll have to get back out there and do a little more off trail hiking/exploring this spring and summer for sure.

I ran across a structure I hadn't noticed before. This shelter is a scant 20-30 yards off the main track and I'm guessing must have been put together this winter. I thought it might be a bunch of flood debris from afar but as I got closer I saw this:

Are there tree spirits active in Denmans?

Apparently they like fires and sitting around them...

Still spooky looking

Maybe Squirrel or someone can shed some light on who put this thing up. Looks like it would be a great winter camp spot.

All in all, a nice way to kill off an hour on a warm afternoon. I've got to invest in some gators or snow pants as the snow flipping off the tail soaked the back of my legs from the knees down. Of course this might not be as much an issue in below freezing temps. The shoes worked pretty flawlessly other than that. Even the poles worked great. This was quite excellent considering I noticed I forgot to take off the plastic caps that cover the spikes as I was putting them away after my hike... Ooops. The poles are definitely a worthwhile add when buying some shoes though as they help to keep your entire body more active, plus work well for testing any possibly wonky areas you're getting ready to traverse.

I'm headed out for a couple hours tonight. The singletrack sure appeared to be rideable. I'm planning on giving it a try. There were even a few areas of bare dirt! Woohoo.

Weekend Recap

Whew, judging by the number of people that swung by yesterday looking for something new, I probably better get off my ass and put something together! Yes, I'm one of those incessant people that actually looks at statcounter just to see if anyone has the slightest bit of interest in what I'm saying. Funny enough, a few people do, so who am I to disappoint you.

Actually, it's not for lack of activity that I haven't put anything down. Somewhat to the contrary and add in a day that mentally tried to kick my ass yesterday and it just wasn't a good combination. In any case, its all good.

Saturday I was really trying hard to put together a group to hit Climb Iowa. Miranda had bought me an all day pass including some lessons, gear, and the whole shebang. I figured I might as well put it to good use on a day that would make most people huddle for warmth inside rather than attempting to get some time in on my back. Funny enough, everyone seemed to be in a pretty quiet state this weekend so I found the Livestrong event at Jordan Creek. 3 hours of grinding it out on my trainer with a bunch of like minded people, what could be better?! Actually, I had about as good a time as you can when perched on your bike going nowhere, yet sweating buckets for 3 solid hours. I picked a nice spot out by the ropes so I could keep an eye on the onlookers to make sure I wasn't going to be rushed by some hot mom that was so turned on by spandex and leg fur she couldn't resist throwing me down and having her way with me right there... OK so maybe I'm exaggerating just a teensy bit. Actually, I figured it would give me easy access to the outside world if I needed a short break and would let me watch the people wondering just what kind of crazy soul would torment themselves with this kind of idiocy.

Funny enough, there were plenty of fellow idiots, err cyclists, just like me willing to sit and sweat for 3 hours. By all appearances there were 60+ of us packed in like sardines. The PRC girls were well represented and set up camp next to me which gave me some good conversation. It would seem I was the only guy racking the Death Squad Jersey, but at least we had someone there putting on a spectacle. I did manage just shy of 3 hours total time spent including a pretty killer 2 hour set followed up with a 1 hour zone 4 interval set. Ughh, I was definitely feeling cooked by the time I got done. A bottle of Heed, a couple hammer gels, and copious amounts of water barely covered the energy expenditure considering I skipped lunch due to the noon start time. Soon enough though we were done and loading back up. A good way to get a nice block of training time in for sure. It beat the hell out of forcing myself into the basement for yet another spin and netted me almost 60 miles as well.

Sunday was forecast to be another cold one and I really wasn't feeling the bike after Saturday. So, I hooked up with Pete for an hour jaunt through Raccoon River Park. We started off working the deepest snow we could find along the hiking trails. Luckily they were punctuated with a sweet fluffy layer of 3" powder from the night before and we weren't having to look too hard for resistance. On our first pass we joked a bit about walking out on the lake and Pete was pretty adamant about being able to do without that particular feat. Seems he's not the most comfortable on frozen water. I can't say as I blame him, but years of ice fishing must have tempered my fear a bit and I'm relatively comfortable on it. Even more so when we've had the temps as low as they've been lately and for most of the season. On the second pass we ventured out on the ice and captured some of the best powder, resistance, and pictures of our journey.

A couple hearty souls enjoying 8 degrees and -1 windchills!

Look ma, I'm standing on ice!

What, me worry?

We hit it relatively good for a solid hour before having to part ways. I had a driveway still calling my name while Pete was off to church. I bogged out on doing anymore workouts the rest of the weekend and carried that process right through yesterday. I did make it into the gym this morning, but yoga tonight is getting cut with nobody to watch little one. I should still get an hour+ on the bike tonight though after she hits the sack.

I'm off to land of northeast Iowa tomorrow (Dubuque) for work again and I hope I'll be back in time to keep up with my planned outdoor ride. At least the weather doesn't appear it will be working against me. Here's hoping.

What to do?

Well, with the snowshoe bug having bitten pretty hard I started scouring the net to feed a possible addiction in its infancy. Luckily for me, there are no shortages of places that sell sweet snowshoes on the net. Now the problem was lack of fundalation. Solution: sell shit I don't need. Mission accomplished as I quickly sold a race car bucket seat that I'd bought way back in a former life when I had visions of tearing up the asphalt in my gas powered beast.

So, flush with a little cash, I'm now left in a bit of a conundrum. Do I go ahead and buy the shoes, assuming that I'll be able to get a bit more use yet this season and then hang them up until next year? Or, do I hold the cash for another purchase I've been eyeballing/needing for the upcoming MTB season? I'm sure I could rent or borrow some snowshoes to get me through a couple more outings this year, but I'm the type that prefers having my own equipment once I'm pretty certain that I be using it more than once or twice. I'm thinking I probably should grab onto the new bike shoes (I'll need them this year for sure) and wait until the snowshoes hopefully go on clearance at the end of the season and get them at that point where I'd be closer to paying for both with the proceeds from just the seat. Hmm, decisions decisions. So what are your opinions?

Biking/Hiking/Snowshoeing

After enduring almost a week of super crappy temps and conditions, I think everyone must have been a bit stir crazy this weekend. There were no shortages of choice rides or activities to engage in.

Friday night I ended up staying at work until damn near 9 which sucked, but at least there was beer. Wow, amazing that Bud heavy will hit as hard as it does when you've been laying back just a little. I got home as the lingerie party was winding down and the ladies were all finished up. From all accounts it was a nice start to things and we'll see how the next real party goes since this was mostly a tester to get things straightened out. There's still time to get in on the next party for those interested, plus we're having a sale on a number of items including Valentine's stuff. Shoot us an email Miranda@thepossibilitiesroom.com if you're interested in coming or just want to check out the specials we've got going on. Most of our stuff is in stock so you can take it home or get it in just a day or two.

Saturday morning there was a group headed out to test the snowmobile trails at Big Creek. This seemed like a pretty good time from the other reports I'd seen so I headed out to meet up with the group at 9. Wait, scratch that, 10 AM was the new start time, but neither Sumpter or I had gotten the message. Ahh well, we pedalled off to find our own way around and got in close to an hour before the other guys started showing up. The first trail we hit started out as some steep ups and downs and I voted to bag it and head the other way thinking this couldn't possibly be right after climbing about the 3rd hill in a row. We headed to the east side of the lake and found some rideable trail over there. However, it wasn't long until we turned back west in an open section and were hit with major wind gusts and an open stretch that was drifted in. Scott was on a borrowed Pugsley and could only ride a portion, my skinny tires meant I was working on the hike a bike skill portion of snow biking. We pushed on for about a half mile or maybe more before I said screw it and headed back to meet the others at the truck. Scott turned back with me and was still riding much more than walking.

A few more showed up at 10, but the balance were running even later so the first group hit the trails, back into the hills. The downhills were a white knuckle blast, but walking up still sucked. They soon flattened out and I rode about 95% from here on out. I don't think the other guys fared as well since the discussion about bagging the trails got brought up pretty quickly. Fuller, Sumpter and I forged ahead of the main pack and made our way out onto the lake thinking we might ride across (my dumbass idea).

I smile because I have no clue...

Fuller and Sumpter wondering WTF am I thinking

I finally called it and decided it was time to turn back since I would have close to 2 hours by the time I got back and I had places to be. The tailwind once I turned south was pretty sweet, but even the upped pace still netted me an average of 6.2 mph for the ride! Talk about resistance work.

Tailwind riding on the way back was much more fun!

Sunday I had the idea to try out snowshoeing for the first time. Pete was gracious enough to let me borrow his spare pair. A couple other guys thought we might be onto something so 4 of us plus one happy little boy (Tank) took off for 45 minutes through Denman's. Talk about having a good time romping through the woods with 4 other guys and blazing your own trail. Man, I was having a blast. All too soon we headed back to the cars as some had church and others thought better of keeping little one's out much longer (definitely a good bet).

Denmans with Pete, Squirrel, and Marco w/Tank

Hmm, this is some fun shit!

Squirrel and I weren't ready to throw in the towel yet so we dropped Bianchi off at his place, reloaded on some water and headed off towards Brown's woods. I hadn't been through Brown's before so I was pretty stoked. We hiked a few hills and were thoroughly off the beaten path as we made our way to the river. We tromped around a bit and then headed back to the truck with another 45 minutes or so under our belts. What a killer way to get your morning workout.

Bigfoot!
Hiked back to the Raccoon River through Brown's Woods.

My legs aren't feeling too bad today. My calves are definitely the sorest, but nothing bad. I'm also feeling my hip flexors as well, but then again I topped things off with an hour on the trainer last night and hit the gym this morning too. I can definitely see some appeal for snowshoeing as a great alternate winter activity. You could definitely go shoeing in conditions that wouldn't be fit for biking (by most accounts). I'm all ready tossing the idea around of looking for a possible pair to pick up. I guess I need to unload some of my extra gear first to free up a little cash for that though. Anyone need a race car seat?