Out Of Business

After much ribbing from the rest of the bloggers, I've decided this blog is out of business. A blog can easily become a full time job! I don't have time anymore to keep up so I've moved to FB.

You can find me on Facebook under Pete Basso (Des Moines).

Turkey Day Ride

Thursday - Nov 27th, 2008
(8am to ??)

The Center Trails -
Meet in Pool Parking Lot

Even this turkey is going to be there...

A pre-ride meal, gobbling up
snow during last year's ride!

Do You Need An Appliance?

Check my Swap Meet Blog for some great deals on kitchen appliances. We just finished remodeling the kitchen at the house and need to sell our existing appliances. They were all new in 2004 and in good shape. Take a look!

Finally...The Media Presents the Facts

Obama Win Causes Obsessive Supporters To Realize How Empty Their Lives Are

"Exercise the Demons"

In your highest pitched Robin Williams voice repeat after me, "It's time to exercise the demons". All year long I ride Denman's and pass a specific tree that is down just towards the end of Denman's. It is the one that you ride through, (it has been cut so you can ride through it), that has a trunk that is about 30+ inches thick. That damn tree has been taunting me for about 3 years!! It keeps eye-balling me and calling me names like, "pansy", "yellow bike bitch" and "Obama supporter". (Ok not the last one, I just made that up because I knew Bratz would be reading). Anyway, there hasn't been a single ride that I have passed this tree without thinking about the day that I will hop that thing and "clean it". So far there are only two guys that own the rights to the that tree; one of them is Pottorff and the other is John Conlan. Two dudes that know how to handle their bikes. I've tried it about 4 times in the past couple of years but never successfully; always ended up on my back.

Well tonight the temp was a perfect 76 degree, tons of sunshine, leaves on the ground with vibrant colors all around me. The vibe was right. Riding this time of year isn't about speed or training, it is about fun and improving your bike handling. This is the time of year that you should be pacing through the woods leisurely practicing your turns, carving through the tight stuff, improving handling skills over obstacles and getting more confident while straddling the steed. This is the time of year you should be falling every once in a while trying something that pushes you out of your comfort zone. That's when you get better as a rider. I love this time of year!

Tonight was perfect, everything was clicking and I felt like I couldn't miss . My lines were great and the efficiency was tight. Riding with ol' Capt'n Lou and Collier we were just cruising having a great night. Coming to the end of Denman's I spotted that tree looking at me out of the corner of its downed trunk. This time, however, he lunged at me as if he wanted to pick a fight! I became enraged and decided tonight is the night I'm going to own him!! I paced up to it and at the last second had a little reservation creeped into my head causing me to get distracted. I popped my front tire up and lifted with my rear. The bike went over but I didn't manage to get my rear end back far enough...over the bars I went.

I dusted myself off and looked back, that damn tree was now laughing at me. I jumped back on the bike immediately going back for a second run. Lou was mumbling something from the other side of the log but I was focused and heard nothing. I was locked in on clearing this thing. I picked up a little speed, checked my confidence level and pulled the front tire up while jerking the rear end of the bike up. I pushed my bars forward and allowed the seat to slide in front of my crotch. Both tires landed equal..."cleaned it" and I let out a scream even Howard Dean would have been proud of.

As I rode away I turned and gave the tree the peace sign, he smiled back knowing that we both just became better friends. That demon no longer lives inside me, mission accomplished!

Now, I don't care who you vote for tomorrow,
just make sure you get out and vote!!

State Cross Race Recap

2008 Iowa State CX Championships

Carl Buchanan, (Rassy Teammate on the run-up)

All 9 Yards hosted the State CX race yesterday in Altoona, IA. What a perfect day it turned out to be; temps in the 60's and the sun was bountiful. They had some great food on hand and great music. If you haven't ever heard Chad Vandelune's wife, (Dorothy), and her band, (The Rubber Tramps), play then you are missing out. She has an amazing voice to compliment an equally great band. Check them out sometime. JJ Bailey was there with camera in hand interviewing various racers, check out the video. The vibe was the usual fun atmosphere with great people and competitors everywhere. Even Thad Neil and his Dad came to the race. Good to see you both. Thad get on your bike and join us next year! I'm convinced that the IA CX scene is constantly growing and getting better all the time.

On to racing - I upgraded earlier last year as a Cat 3 roadie. I thought that Cat stood equal for the CX season, but when I went to register yesterday for the Cat 1/2/3's it was then I realized that I'm my racing license says "Cat 4" for CX. Had I known this I would have raced the Cat 4's yesterday. Oh well, gotta race with the big boys sometime.

I took some time to survey the course with Carl Buchanan, (recent upgrade to Cat 3). We took our time to figure out the lines and see where the challenges were going to be. This course was a drastic difference from last weeks course. Mostly a grass course with a few tight turns and some pavement. Two barrier sections and a very small amount of loose gravel. Definitely a roadie course and very little technical stuff. I liked the course but it wasn't my favorite and didn't play to my strengths. Wouldn't matter anyway.

The race started at the bottom of a short paved hill allowing for the race to sort itself out a little bit. We got to the first barrier and it bottle necked quite a bit. Steve Robinson was to the left front of me causing me to hit his back wheel as he brought the bike back down from lifting it thru the barriers. Then we jumped on the bikes and I was locking up with Steve Bullerman through the first 180. Rob Versteegh and I were side by side going thru the second section of loose gravel. Thru the backside of the off camber Ryan Legg was trying to pass but having some difficulty. Ryan finally got around me only to lose a rear wheel in a slight wash out. He regained his composure and jumped back in with us. I noticed that Brian Eppen, (Mercy), was off his bike and having some wheel trouble. As we hit the first grass climb Eppen went by me like I was standing still, man that guy is strong. Eventually Ryan caught up again but this time went into a corner hot and at the wrong angle. This time the wash out put him out of the race with a bent rim. Me on the front of the course but off the back of the peloton

Through the back of the course and up the second grass climb I gave up another spot but remained in the top 8 or 9. I was feeling pretty good going through the start/finish. Lap two was pretty felt good but towards the end my stomach started to have some problems. It slowed me down pretty quick and the rest of the race I just faded. For a minute there was a voice telling me to stop and go to the bathroom but I wasn't going to do that. Once you stop you never seem to get going again. I just wanted to fight through the issue and keep the bike rolling. Somewhere around 2 laps to go I got my legs back and things started to roll again. I was able to catch a couple of people but only because they had popped themselves.

Meanwhile, there was a serious race going on up front. Tony Nichols and Brian Eppen were fighting it out head to head. On the last lap I moved over to let them by, I wanted nothing to do with getting in the way. I was watching them trade off corners and seeing if one of them was going to attack before the finish. Neither could get away from the other. As I approached the run up I stopped at the top to see the finish at the top of the next hill. Eppen led out and Tony attacked at the bottom of the hill. Brian held strong and managed to keep Tony at bay by a wheel length. What a great race that was. I finished out my lap and ended up in 13th out of 23 racers. Surprisingly there were five DNF's that night. Congrats to Oakley Rob who had some problems early on in the race. He rode really strong and caught back up and passed me in lap 4. He went on to take 7th overall. Nice job!!

Thank you again to Amy and Adam Buchanan for the hand-ups, you guys rock. Also, Pig for robbing a vehicle to get a water bottle, setting off the alarm, and not letting that stop him to get me some water!! Nicely done! To all of you guys cheering us on as we suffered through the race. CX is really cool because you can't just stop, there's too many people watching you!! Its a great motivator. I think I'd rather come in last then quit a race.

Great job to Paul Jensen and A9Y group for putting on the race. Glad to see that Lane is healthy and back on the bike, (he was in the hospital last week with an infection).

Not sure what other races are left in our area but I'm thinking about going down to KC on 11/16 for their Cat 4 Kansas State Championships, anyone interested in going? Let me know.

Results Found Here

Back By Popular Demand

A Good Ol' Fashioned Race Report

We interrupt this educational week of political dialogue to bring you a Spooky Cross race report. JJ Bailey and Tony Nichols hosted another spooktacular event at Living History Farms.

Saturday Spooky Cross Race Report:Hollander doing his best Nancy Pelosi impression

After talking Pig and Kris "Kunze-by-Ya" into racing CX a couple of times this fall, we landed on doing the Spooky Cross event. Carl Buchanan has been having a really great CX season so we wanted to show our support for him and Louis DeWild. Due to the fact that I have had no high intensity training, (or much of any training for that matter), as of late I decided to enter the 3/4's race to limit the amount of suffering to 45 mins rather than an hour.

Rich Wince and Kris Kunze leading thru the Bean Field

The course was pretty wet due to all the rain on Wed, Thursday and Friday. Saturday brought about some perfect 60 degree weather. By mid-afternoon the course was beginning to dry up and get a little easier.

The starting line was 40 racers strong sporting some pretty strong talent; Ryan Legg, Carl Buchanan, Jerome Rewarts, late comer Mike Morrison and many racers from Nebraska. The first lap was a "prem" lap with Oakley Jackets as the reward. Well that's worth more than first place payout so I decided to go out hard to win the prem. Apparently I wasn't the only one with that idea; Ryan Legg, (strong Cat 2 on the road), went out fast. I stayed with him through most of the first lap but towards the end of the lap he began to get about 5 seconds on me. I made a decison at that point to pull back and try to recover so I could finish the race. Ryan went on to take the prem and I got first loser! With the first lap behind us, I throttled back and tried to recover while Carl Buchanan, (Rassy's), Mike Morrison, Jerome Rewarts, (A9Y), and a few other guys passed me through the top grassy field area. Once we dove back into the woods I attacked on the downhill hoping to make up some ground. At the bottom of the hill you take a left and begin to ascend up a sweet little climb with 2x4 barriers. The first part of the hill was rutted out, if you didn't carry momentum then you were dead in the water and had to run the rest of the hill. I found a nice line up the first part of the hill, passing a few more racers when suddenly I saw what I thought was Richard Nixon in a thong!! Seriously!! Back from the dead and dealing out $1 bills.

Squirrel making everyone laugh on the climb

Laughing at the creative genius we all affectionately know as Squirrel, I regained my composure and began pushing to the top of the hill. (By the way, it wasn't Nixon handing out the money, it was GW handing out more tax cuts...thanks for the reminder Andy). The next few laps were spent trying to recover and laughing as Squirrel consistently tried to feed me beers as I was climbing the hill.

Most of the race I was riding with Brian Abbott and Chad Bishop. Chad managed to get away from us on the second to last lap and was riding really strong. This guy has been amazing to watch this year, he has come from being a beginner to being a very strong, smart rider. Brian Abbott and I traded off the last two or three laps pulling each other, however, going into the last lap I was going to try to gap him on the hill. He was running the hill every lap which allowed me to put a few seconds on him. We went into the downhill with Brian leading, as we hit the bottom I knew I had to cut inside to keep my momentum to carry the first hill while squeezing Brian to the outside. As I cut inside I ran over a fairly large rock hiding in the leaves and instantly flatted. With half a lap to go I just rode the front flat to the finish and placed 9th overall.

Thanks to everyone cheering on the hill, Squirrel for distracting me with his awesome costume and not allowing me to think about suffering while climbing the hill, Lou Waugaman and Amy Buchanan for their tenacious hand-ups, Paul Buchanan for being my favorite Republican in attendance this weekend, and everyone else for the encouragement. It really helps to hear everyone screaming at you climbing the hills.

Sunday Spooky Cross Race Report:

Today's weather started out at 54 degrees and quickly dropped to 50 by 10am. The wind picked up with gusts reported to 45 mph. The wind helped to dry out the course and make for crazy conditions. Tony and JJ switched up the course today. Instead of going left at the bottom of the downhill and going up the climb, you went right, dismounted from your bike jumped the barrier, ran across the bridge jumped another barrier and started a muddy incline. At the top of the incline was a nice dry gravel road. With the wind at your back you almost didn't have to pedal. From here you dumped into a nice little technical section and up two pretty good climbs. Finishing through the woods and into an open field. The open field section was harder than any of the climbs because we were traveling into a slight cross wind that was raging up to 45mph.

After walking the course I decided to race with the understanding that I was just going to ride this as a "Sunday Ride". No pressure just have fun. One thing for sure - no hard first laps!! I wanted to race my own race and not worry about the others.

We lined up and I looked back to see what looked to be the same group as yesterday. Kris Kunze, Louis DeWild, Carl Buchanan, Bruce Reese and Steve Fuller all showed up in their DS5000 kits. It's always great to see so many teammates pimping the Rassy name!

An we're off! The start was fairly mellow as I found myself sitting somewhere around 6th or 7th going through the barriers and up to the bean field descent. It dawned on my that I was feeling very good today. I was thinking to myself, I have more than what this group was offering at the moment so I punched it through the rutted out bean field, (its easier to ride hard through this stuff then to go slow). I got to the bottom and looked back to see a small gap opening. I attacked the downhill and opened up a bigger gap. Then came the gravel road where I was passed by Jeff Kluck, (winner from Sat). I was repremanding myself to stay disciplined by not trying to ride Jeff's race instead race my race. For the first three laps I rode in second position until Tim Yuska, Jerome Rewarts, (A9Y), and Geoff Perril, (Specialized Mercy), passed me. I kept Jerome and Geoff in sight the rest of the race but knew that Chad Bishop, (Harpers), and Carl Buchanan were right behind me. Other than watching Kyle Sedore shove Slim Jim's and Beer in my face on the climb, (making me laugh to the point of losing focus), nothing out of the ordinary happened till the last lap.

Climbing the back hill to the gravel with Carl Buchanan right on my tail

I looked at my watch and figured we'd have two more laps to go but crossing through the start/finish area the time board said "1" to go. I hunkered down and decided it was time to catch Geoff and Jerome. I was feeling good and felt that I could step up the tempo a bit, however, I wanted ride carefully in order to avoid a flat or mechanical. Through the downhill and over the bridge I kept looking back watching to see if Chad and Carl were gaining. They were keeping me in sight and not letting off the gas. Finally, on the last two climbs I tightened the screws and found myself gaining on Geoff on the first climb. Just as I was getting cross-eyed but catching Geoff, Sedore throws beef jerky in my face, I almost puked. Regaining focus and drilling the second hill I caught Geoff but Jerome had motored ahead. Chad and Carl not too far behind so I let Geoff lead through the single track. Geoff was showing some signs of fatigue and I didn't want to get caught by Chad so I went around Geoff. Geoff then drafted me through the crazy wind until about 100 yards from the finish where he made his move. I tried to match it but had given it my all in order to catch him. I just didn't have enough left to win the sprint.

Geoff Perrill edging me out on the sprint

Great job to Geoff for smart riding! I finished 5th on the day and in the money. I loved every minute of the race and the course. So glad I decided to race today rather than just going for a ride.

Thank you again to JJ Bailey and Tony Nichols for putting on a great event, great schwag, great people, and great course! Sunday's course was even better then Saturday's with a very mtb bike feel to it. The crowds on the hill were reminiscent of Snake Alley and really help to fuel the legs. Thanks to all the vendors, Rassy's, Elder Corporation, Oakley Rob and much more for the schwag. Also, thank you to Steve Flood for the hand-ups, I very much appreciated your help! I've caught the cx bug and hope to race next weekend at the State Cross race in Altoona, IA.

Pics ripped off from Squirrel, Julie Sedore, Andy Lueck, Blue Colnago and Bike Tech's blogs. Thanks!