Deeter

This is Deeter & his wonderful wife (whose name escapes me). We rode into Deeter's place around 3 pm, ready for an ice cold beer. Deeter runs a giant group of greenhouses, so we had to scour the property to find someone. My first impression of Deeter was here was a man who has done physical labor outside all his life. This guy was in his 60's & still a madman. We asked Deeter if he wanted to drink with us & he politely replied that he'd wait until the end of the afternoon, but we were welcome to drink on his patio. Twenty minutes later, Deeter came by to check on us. When he saw we were drinking beer, he laughed & said he thought we were talking about "real drinking", & that he'd have a beer or two with us now. This should have raised a red flag, but we continued, unaware of the impending doom soon to greet us.
Fast forward an hour, & we have drank a sufficient quantity of beer (well, all of us but Deeter, who seems to feel no effects from beer) to feel like we can do anything. It's then that Deeter tells us that twice a year he travels to his hometown in Germany & brings back a special Schnapps (he called it Pear Schnapps) & asks us if we would like to join him in enjoying some. YES! Deeter brings out an exquisite hand painted decanter with matching shot glasses! He pours each of us a shot, & offers up a toast & KABOOM! This stuff goes down silky smooth & then in the next 30 seconds or so, your whole chest feels like its getting roasted. Deeter offers up a second round & KABOOM! An experience slightly different than the first shot: maybe not as intense, but still stronger than any other alcohol I've ever tried.
We tell Deeter that we're hungry & ask for a recommendation for a local steakhouse (one of the benefits of RAGBRAI is that you can eat almost anything & lose weight during the week). Deeter comes up with the perfect place, but offers a third round to anyone that's " brave" enough ( I think I would use the word foolish). For some reason known only to God, I accept the challenge. I'll finish this up on my next post.

RAGBRAI 2002: Cherokee

The KeRNeL had lined up places for us to stay all during RAGBRAI 2002. We had an address for a house in Cherokee, & after finding it, the adventure began. On the front door was a sign that said "Welcome, come on in", so we walked in & found a house with a TV (cable, so we could watch the Tour de France), a few pieces of lawn furniture & a refrigerator full of 2 cases of beer with another sign "Drink Me"! But, no one was home. So, we did the logical thing & started drinking beer.
Fast forward an hour & the phone rings: it's Dr. Tim (DDS) & he wants to know if it'd be OK if he stopped by (Gosh, I don't know- it's your house, your beer). Dr. Tim is on the far right of the picture above. Dr. Tim shows up (with 2 more cases of beer) & turns out to be a 100% character. Endless energy, endless stories. We had to ask about the stark furnishings in the house & he explained that he worked in many small towns in the area, & it was cheaper to own this house than to rent the occasional motel room.
The next installment in RAGBRAI 2002: Deeter- the Man, the Myth, the Legend.

RAGBRAI is 49 days away!

I went out for a little 35 mile jaunt early this morning on my fixie. Here's a pic of my favorite bike (excuse the mess). This bike has gotten me through two RAGBRAIs (soon to be three). RAGBRAI, for the unitiated, is a weeklong ride across Iowa, a Mardi Gras on two wheels. In the next couple of weeks, I'll share a few RAGBRAI stories.

Rebuilding the Flying Bike

"Ventoux", my Salsa took a little flight a couple weeks ago. I needed to replace the rear rim (Campagnolo Ypsilon) & have been having no luck on eBay. I just scored a wheelset from California, with the Campy rims & Bullseye hubs. As near as I can tell, Bullseye & Phil Wood both pioneered cartidge bearings in bike hubs (a very good thing). Now, to find a Campagnolo NR/SR front brake.

Group Picture

Here's a picture from the end of the brevet. From left to right, the KeRNeL, Steve, Larry, yours truly & Russ. Notice the look of utter exhaustion on my face, whereas most everybody else looks like they're ready to ride some more.

300k ride report

I woke up Saturday at 4:45 am. I rode my bike the two miles from my folk's house to the start point (Holiday Inn Express) in Fremont. I was greeted by Larry, the brevet administator. The KeRNeL came down from Sioux Falls, along with his friend, Russ. I looked at the bikes that everyone (a total of nine cyclists) brought & was surprised that most were riding state of the art racing bikes with minimum spoke count wheels. It was a hint of what was to come.
At 6 am, the ride began. Everyone else took off like a shot. We had a tailwind, so my group (the KeRNeL, Russ & I) were moving at what I thought was a pretty good rate (we completed the first century in about six hours), & yet the other group steadily pulled away. We arrived at Meadow Grove (turnaround point) tired, but still feeling OK. Once we turned around, the suffering began. We were riding mostly into the wind with the temperature steadily rising. By the time we got back to West Point, we were shot(mile 154 for me). When we rode into the Casey's (check point), we found Larry & his friend, Steve, waiting for us. They escorted us the last 35 miles back to Fremont, with their powerful lights blazing a path through a construction zone. We pulled into the hotel at 11 pm, 17 hours after we started.

The numbers from the Cateye:

miles 193.21
time on bike 15:18:51
avg. speed 12.62 mph

A special thanks to the KeRNeL & Russ for helping me to finish, and to Larry & Steve for guiding us home.

300k tomorrow plus an update

Well, tomorrow is a 300k brevet in Fremont. It starts in Fremont & goes to Meadow Grove & back. For those who don't know, a brevet is a ride that has control points, where you must have your ride card signed. It is time structured, with the control points only open for certain time periods. It is not a race, so slow guys like me can participate. I am not prepared for this ride. I've been very busy at work, so my training is way off schedule. This will be one of those "gutcheck" rides.
As far as the roofrack fiasco, eDBiLLy has been contacted by the roofrack maker & has taken our bikes to two bikeshops for estimates. This has been an interesting process, as my Salsa is outfitted with old school Campy components (not too easy to find). Hopefully, this situation will be resolved shortly.