damn

We didn't have a race today. Park manager was worried about the rain/snow that didn't materialize. Very disappointing.

There's talk or rescheduling - back at Tuthill. Different park manager.

I'm fine with that.

Winter bike

The threat of snow got me moving on my winter bike project. I've got the rear wheel ready to go and one of my studded tires. Need to start putting things together. Still to do, pull the crank and get the small chain ring off, put the brakes back together, couple new spokes on front wheel, maybe all, might need new brake cables. Gots to get my shit together.

And I keep thinking this is coming

Planning for next year

I'm trying to figure out what I want to do next year from a racing/biking perspective.

This was quite a year, as I've mentioned before. I did my first triathlon and ended up doing three, sprint tri's that is. I ramped up my running and did my first 10k and first half marathon. Did the Tour de Kota for the fourth year and my usual every day commuting. Then cyclocross came on and I'm planning to do my third race of the season on Saturday at Spellerberg.

By the way, I also rode with Lance Armstrong. Not sure if you heard, he was in town.

Trust me, I'm not bragging. I'm not fast. I'm not good at these things. I just like to do it and see if I can improve, maybe lose some weight. I like the bike. I like talking about bikes and thinking about my next bike. On that note, I'm in the midst of my winter bike project. Just ordered some of these Schwalbe Ice Spikers.



So that's coming along.

But what about next year. Marathon? I really don't think so. I like running but I don't think I have the time or the dedication for the training. Not really. And it seems silly to slog through it just to do it. I'd be pretty disappointed to not be able to run 3:45 or so and that would be pretty ambitious. I liked the half and I may do that again with a goal of breaking 1:40. That seems more reasonable and will help with the other activities.

I'm enamored with the triathlon right now. Particularly, I think I'd like to do an Olympic distance tri. Not sure which race would be best. The Hy-Vee in Des Moines is that distance. But it's a huge race and may not be the best experience for this sort of thing.

I found myself gazing longingly at a tri-bike on Saturday. It has a certain hook.

Anyway, that's what's on my mind.

Don't forget

Saturday, Nov. 13, is the last in the Sioux Falls Cyclocross Series. It's at Spellerberg Park. There are some rumors of some pretty weird shit down in that drainage pit the city built over there. It could be a radical little ride to the bottom.

Here are the details.

And the poster....

Leftover lance video

A little vid I had laying around.

The crowd

Some sense of it

Lance

My best pic.

The livestrong elvis

One of the odder moments of the day

Commuter challenge

This was the last week of Snakebite and Minus Car's bike commuter challenge. It started in March or April or something and it's contest to see who can ride to work the most and lose the most weight.

Every day I worked I rode. But I had more than the average amount of vacation in that time, which is going to hurt me.

I got fourth last year and I was hoping to finish in the money this year. My weight is good. Maybe 8 or 10 pounds down from this spring. All depends on the rest of the folks in the competition, of course, whom I don't know.

Weigh in is Wednesday at Monks. Come on out and see how it goes.

maybe a little obsessed

Maybe it's because it's all so new. Maybe it's the competition of it all. I don't know, but I find myself aimlessly wandering around the internet watching Cyclocross videos, thinking about the race next weekend.

That's right, the next Sioux Falls Cyclocross sponsored by Spoke-n-Sport is Oct. 23 at Tuthill.

I was told by a source close to the negotiations that the course has been mapped out and there is less hill in this version than Legacy, which really was pretty steep when you get down to it. That's good news because I can haul pretty good on the flat on the 1x1. In any sort of sanctioned event those 3 inch tires would be illegal. Thankfully we don't go for that sort of thing around here. Bad news - sand. I wouldn't put some mud by these people.

I'm hoping that we get a bigger crowd than last week. Not that 15 riders was bad but it would be fun to have a big pack. I think there's a lot of interest and everybody knows where Tuthill is so that will help.

Then Nov. 13 at Spellerberg should be a real adventure. Should be cold. Maybe snow. Sleet. That sort of thing.

Here's some of that Cross vid I was talking about.

SocalCross KROSSTOBERFEST 2010 Day 1 from mark colton on Vimeo.

Cyclocross revisted

Here's a whole bunch of photos that BriMan sent me from the Cyclocross last week. Remember, next race is Oct. 23 at Tuthill. More info here.











So you think this many pictures of one person seems a little self-obsessed? Well, you may have a point. But what else is this blog for after all.

Cyclocross results

I took fifth in the A. Held fourth for a long time but got passed after about 30 minutes by some young punk. Should have seen that kid leap those barriers. Hill was tough but I made it every time. I was OK with getting passed until after the rave when he pointed out hebwas on a single speed as well. His was a lot lighter though.

Good race.

See you at Tuthill on the 23rd.

Cyclocross tomorrow

Hot cyclocross action tomorrow. Legacy Park at 9 a.m. See you out there.

Don't call them Twinkies.

If you're a Twins fan, you'll like this.

Watch "Dexter and the leash" on YouTube

We're experimenting with a leash to let Dexter experience the back yard.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtube_gdata_player&v=XkCGz7q7Dlc

Now that's a par 3

Kind of hard to get the effect from this pic but it's a par 3 at the Highlands in Red Wing. Maybe a 200 foot drop. I hit an 8 from about 167.

On vacation

I've had a nice few days riding the city and running. Trying to recover from long weekend of golf in Minnesota with about the best friends a dude like me can have. Rain today is messing things up though. Maybe a nice swim.

Moving on to cross season

My summer started with a 10k and on Sunday I did the Sioux Falls Half Marathon. In between were three triathlons and a Tour de Kota. It's been quite a year. A lot of fun and some great experiences. Finishing that half was something else though. Lots of friends encouraging me on. That was fabulous.

I was happy with the time so I'm not sure I really want to do it again. Ran three today and it was still pretty painful. In places where I'm not used to pain, like high hamstring.

Now looking forward to a three-race cyclecross series here in Sioux Falls. No details yet but I think it would be fun. I'll need to figure out a bike. Maybe I can rent/borrow one. Probably not.

Had to take the Cross-Check in for some service. I have a tick in the fifth and sixth gear that I can't fix. Erik thinks it might be in the hub. We'll see. In the meantime, I've had to sub in a new commuter. First day went with the road Bianchi and a backpack. Love riding that bike. Hate that backpack. Today went with the Big Dummy. Nice ride. Just a little slow but no backpack. Think I'll stick with the BD for the week and see how that goes.

In other news, it looks like the Corps of Engineers, while messing up pretty much every alternate route I have, are getting ready to pave the north levee on the skunk. This area has not previously been paved but it's a great route into Midtown if you're brave enough to jump on the Westward Ho bridge. TEchnically, it's probably their property but the former mayor once told me not to worry about it. So I don't.

Here's a shot from the levee.

Road bike

I haven't been riding my road bike much, really at all. Since Tour de Kota, I did the triathlons but I think that's about it road bike wise. Need to change that. I ride nearly every day but if you don't get out and roll for long distances you lose the ability a bit I think.

The next stage

I've had a pretty active spring. I've done a 10k, my fourth Tour de Kota and three sprint triathlons since April. I think I'm breaking down a little bit. Good thing I'm going on vacation next week so I can heal and gain about 10 pounds.

The benefit of all this activity is that my weight is down to what it was many years ago. It's generally been the case that I get lighter after TdK and such and then start gaining back during the summer vacations. Thus is the natural cycle of life. I'd like to avoid that this time around. That probably means doing more running during the vacations, which is a tough thing to maintain.

But the big question is what to do next. There are some tris coming up but they're mostly in towns a bit of a drive away and I'm not a big enough enthusiast to spend the night in Watertown or Chamberlain just to do a tri. I'd rather go on the coffee and donut ride or the Something for Everyone ride.

There's a half-marathon in Sioux Falls in September. That seems like a decent goal but I have to see how it works with the golf trip schedule. So many social engagements... Training for the Half would be good though, as it would keep me engaged and really work that weight down.

I also have another bike project in mind. I'm probably going to tear down the Xtracycle and sell the free radical and then rebuild the old Boardwalk into a single speed or maybe internal three speed for tooling around on the train and such. I've got the Big Dummy now so I don't need the Xtra and it's unlikely that anybody would buy the entire unit.

Anyway, lots of things to think about.

Cheers.

up at Elm Creek

Good ride today in the Elm Creek Park nature area in Champlin, Minn. It's a fabulous area with great bike trails and hiking area and some single track. I need to bring the 1x1 up here some time.

Here's a couple vids....

Did my first triathlon today. It was a short one, 300 yards swim, 9 mile bike and 2.25 mile run. Still, I can see why it can be addictive.

My goal was to finish in under an hour. My transitions were horrible, which didn't help. Thought I would be strongest on the bike, which didn't really pan out. Here's the breakdown if you're interested. I wasn't horrible on the bike but I didn't hammer it either.

I ran hard the last mile or so to make the sub one hour and ended up at 59:46. Very pleased with that. But I can see where it's possible to find time to get that down to near 50. I believe that's possible between transitions - essentially having the right gear - and making something happen on the bike.

I swam well I thought and I lost a little time passing people.

The only person who passed me all day was right out of the transition to the run and after about a half mile I passed him back and never saw him again.

All in all, very happy with today's performance with identified areas of improvement.

Qik - Mobile video by Patrick Lalley

Qik - Mobile video by Patrick Lalley

A pretty good day

I haven't been taking many pictures or making video lately. That's because it's been pretty normal riding and living for me. I got in about 46 miles today, all urban touring on the Cross Check. That's not all bad. Worked in there was a complete loop on the bike trail. Technically, you can't do that right now and probably won't be able to in the near future, but today you could, if you were willing to bounce through a little debris and such. It wasn't bad. Pretty good actually. Chilly in the morning but it got better. Nice lunch with Ms. Hyphenation, bike club newsletter meeting and other adventures. But pretty mundane really. Just the way I like it.

Not sure about that

Spent the day riding and running. For whatever reason, it was difficult. Ran six miles and struggled the whole way, nearly 10 minute miles. Took the south loop of the trail home. The good news is that it was mostly passable, though dicey in a couple spots. The bad news is I felt like I was pulling cinder blocks behind me.

That's bad because I'm supposed to do a sprint tri in about a month and I don't feel like I'm in any shape all of a sudden. Couple weeks ago I started to feel like things were coming together. Guess not. I think part of the problem is just a lack of bike miles. I've been running some but I've gotten into a bike rut of going to work and home and that's it. 10 miles a day every day. Gotta do more than that. It's time to get on a better schedule.

Try again tomorrow. Maybe do five with noon group if I feel OK.

Hope to get the road bike out tomorrow or Thursday. That will help. 25 inch tires. Just think about it.

That's that.

I'll see you out there.

Qik - Mobile video by Patrick Lalley

Qik - Mobile video by Patrick Lalley

A little MPLS sojourn

Quick trip to Minneapolis gave me a chance to cruise the famed lakes region and Midtown Greenway. And I got a fresh back of stickers from the C-r-C. I've posted a bunch of vids from my day. Thanks for playing and all that. I'm back in the big town and ready to ride, though I'm playing golf tomorrow cause the courses are open and I'm off and that's what I do.

Qik - Mobile video by Patrick Lalley

Qik - Mobile video by Patrick Lalley

Qik - Mobile video by Patrick Lalley

Qik - Mobile video by Patrick Lalley

Qik - Mobile video by Patrick Lalley

Good riding

Looking forward to tomorrow. Mid 50's, light winds and I'm in minneapolis. Put the summer tires on tonight in the hotel room. Felt like I was sneaking in with my bike to the room on the 7th floor.

Bummed I missed Tour de Kota party today. Sounds like it was good time. Sorry I missed you guys. Next time.

Qik - Mobile video by Patrick Lalley

Qik - Mobile video by Patrick Lalley

Qik - Mobile video by Patrick Lalley

Qik - Mobile video by Patrick Lalley

My week off

I'm off work all next week, which means I can't access my work blog. You fortunate few here will get the exclusive look at the videos and other bits from my biking adventures over the next several days. Oh joy.

And this really is a horrible mustache....

firstshot

Qik - Mobile video by Patrick Lalley

Qik - Mobile video by Patrick Lalley

Better days

Things have been improving dramatically out here on the plains. Temps regularly above freezing melting the snow. Streets are clear. I'm going for a ride I think.

Turning the corner

I have a sense that things are beginning to get better for bike commuting. I don't need to tell you it's been brutal, what with the snow and the ice and the ice and the snow.

I've been able to ride one or two days a week but it's been tough to get any rhythm going with all the snow. I'm going to ride tomorrow, at least I plan to, the beginning of what should be the next phase.

This is my favorite weather site, by the way. Hour by hour breakdowns of all the major climatic influences.

We'll see you out there.

B-n-S

Live video

I'm working on broadcasting live video using Livestream. That's what you're seeing in the window above the posts. That's an autopilot video I put up for the time being but I'll be breaking in with updates from time to time as I get this figured out.

Thanks for watching. And if you have any suggestions, don't hesitate.

A new experiment

If you've wandered in here you probably already know me, but if not, welcome.

This is a place for me to experiment a little bit off the grid of my public life. That said, if you've made it here you know my public life so it's not like it's a big secret. The thing is, there are times when I want to say things that aren't appropriate in other venues. Or there are times when I want to try something technically that other blogs and platforms do not allow or accept, particularly when it comes to video.

I'm working on doing some livestreaming through my phone that would be great for publicizing local cycling events. So watch for some of that.

In the meantime, cheers.

B-n-S.