The Life And Times Of Thaddeus Neil

The Big Sale Is On!

2008-06-30T19:36:00.002-05:00

Check out the big sale. Everything from race promoting gear to bikes to parts and much much more. Check it out here!

God Bless! Happy Shopping!

Trivia Day

2008-06-26T21:20:00.003-05:00

The three photo's below are of famous drummers. These three are of a few of my favorites. Trivia Time. Can you name the three drummers in the pic's. Good Luck. I may even throw in a prize for the first person to get all three right.

Double bonus points if you can tell me a band or artist these guys play/played with.

God Bless! Crank up the volume!

Been gone, back, for now....

2008-06-23T16:58:00.002-05:00

Haven't been around the old computer too much lately. I guess you could say I've been out enjoying life. A lot has gone on over the past couple of weeks and I don't want to bore you with all the mushy details so here's a brief overview of highlights.

1. Been going to the races frequently. Last Tuesday I got to see Kenny Wallace and Ken Schrader (both Nascar guys) race dirt cars in Fort Dodge. I went over with Mike and unfortunately the motor in his car blew up. A very expensive night. I went to Webster City on Saturday where they had double features to make up for the races that got rained out two weeks ago when we go the 6 inches of rain that caused them to cancel last week. I'm really getting back into this and getting my hands dirty working on the car.

2. Went to a street dance on Friday with Hansen and met up with several other people and even chatted with some I haven't seen in quite a while.

3. We had our contract negotiations meeting last Sunday and we (UAW Local 442) voted to ratify the new contract. It is a pretty good contract. There a a few small details but they are issues we all knew wouldn't go our way.

4. My grandparents surprised us all by showing up on Sunday. What a pleasant surprise to get to see them. It's been a while. It sounds like we all may go out to eat tomorrow in Fort Dodge.

5. I broke my snare head on the drum set so I haven't been able to play. However, I got that fixed and also have a new supply of sticks. I found a guy that plays guitar and he wants to jam sometime so, hey, movin in the right direction huh? Hopefully soon I'll be able to get a new set. The one I have is 20 years old and I need all new equipment. I've been surfin the web and have found exactly what I want to get. We'll see how soon I can get some cash rounded up to get them all bought. I might have to start selling some cycling stuff.

Thanks for checkin in. I'll try to update more. God Bless.

Random:
"Heaven and Earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away" Mathew 24:35

More Water! Stop!

2008-06-10T18:59:00.004-05:00

I went out and rode with Mr. Hansen tonite. I haven't riden with him for a while so that was kind of nice. He had been out for a few hours with Clark and Brian earlier. He needed a good recovery ride so, enter Thad. That's what I'm good for is recovery rides. I like to go nice and slow for about an hour. HaHaHa.

We decided to cruise around town and check out the flooding. The river is cresting today so everyone is sandbagging like crazy. I took some more photo's. Some the same as yesterday so you can see just how much it came up overnight.

Past the sewage treatment plant you can see that the river is flowing into the 7B Ranch.

Heading out of the city works area you can see that all of the river trailis under water.
This is the access road and the river trail. The water is all the way up to the railroad tracks.
This is the other side of the tracks where River St. should be. The water is all the way up to Ohio St. Many volunteers are out sandbagging.
This is the street one block to the west of River St. right behind the executive in. There is water from the swimming pool to about Webster St. and all the way up to the hill behind the liquor store.
This is where City Park Campground should be.

What I showed yesterday where the Electrolux trailer lot was. The gravel area is all now under water.
The ball diamonds at Nokomis Park is all gone now too.
The river is about to go over the road.

You can see by this photo how much higher it is today compared to yesterday's same photo.

I also recieved word from my Mom that my Grandpa's sister had to be rescued from her home near Waterloo. She lost everything. Her house, car, possesions. They were lucky to just get themselves and the pet's out.

Word is that many towns around the state are bracing for the worst. I know Des Moines, Cedar Falls, Iowa City, and many more are gonna get it. And to make things worse they are forcasting another 1 to 2 inches of rain tomorow for the WC area. Will it ever stop?

Thanks for looking in. God bless you all and I pray we all survive this ordeal. Please be praying for all of your loved ones, freinds, and everyone else who is being effected by this.

Flowers & Floods

2008-06-09T21:34:00.005-05:00

First off, flowers for the girls checking in :-) and to anyone else who likes flowers.
River St. in WC. The waters have gone down a bit since yesterday but, still way up. A guy I work with lives down this street and he's under water.
Jim Veach's place off of Bank St.

Park Ave. looking to the north.
Same location but, looking further east of the river towards the houses.
The race track from the grandstands. Don't think there will be races this weekend.
Another look from the front strait of the race track.
A look towards the pit area. You can see the porta-potties floating.

Another view of the track.
I can tell you that it's pretty deep out there.
A view of Maple Ave. a block east of Park Ave. They managed to sandbag around Don Bordwell's house. It looks like they may have saved it.
He's been commuting by canoe to dry land.
It got kind of close to the water treatment plant. Hopefully the rain will hold off for a while so this will recede a bit.

A look towards the west from the White Fox Rd. Bridge.
A look to the east from the bridge. To the left side you can barely see the entrance to where the Kendall Young Creek flows into the river.
The water is getting close to the bottom of the bridge.
Electrolux pulled all of it's trailers from the lower lot to higher ground.
The entrance to the River Trails by Nakomis Park.

Some less wanted, and less fortunate, trailers that got left behind.
Nokomis Park ball diamonds. Those of you who did the cyclocross race in WC a couple years back know this park as the park we raced in.
Looking towards the Railroad bridge in Nokomis Park.
Same shot as above.
The railroad bridge from the canoe access in Nokomis. The same park we races Cyclocross in.

This Weekend In Pictures

2008-06-09T13:32:00.002-05:00

The weekend started out with me heading to Fort Dodge with Mike and Bob (his Dad) to go race at the Mineral City Speedway. It was a big night as they were running late models too. Things went pretty well early on. I assumed my former role, from back in the day when I used to go all of the time, to being the tire guy. I check air pressures and heat in the tires after the run and then clean all round the wheels to get any packed mud out of the wheel itself and the fender well area. I then help out with fuel, chassis adjustments, and anything else until we get close to feature time. Then I will set the air pressures where Mike wants them. We always wait until the last second to do this because the track changes as other classes run on it. It can dry out, cars can lay down rubber, grooves can come in in different parts of the track, etc. Lot's of variations and we set the car up accordingly to get the most grip and get as much power to the track as possible.

In the feature things didn't go well. Right off the get go as the cars cam to take the green a couple cars near the back shot off the track and one of them hit the concrete wall hard tearing his car up pretty good. On the restart Mike was inside row two and as they came through turns three and four to get the green a ball joint broke on the right front. Mike couldn't just stop as it would have created a massive pile up so he tried to keep going and was waving his arm signifying to drivers behind that he was slowing. Fortunately only one car was effected near the back as everyone cleared Mike. We had to load the car on the trailer backwards with a wrecker and set it down on a jack stand because the ball joint was broken, the shock was snapped in half, and the A arm was mangled a bit. Good news is that they got it fixed for Saturday night in WC. But they got rained out.

I missed Saturday as my cousin Andy from Waterloo cam over and we went to Knoxville for the World Of Outlaws. We met up with my uncle Paul and my friend Randee. The races were the best I've seen in a long time. The feature was simply an amazing race with two guys battling back and forth til the very end. I got a few pic's from the evenings racing. Most are from afterwords when we went to visit the pit area.

The two drivers that battled it out. The one being interviewed is Joey Saldana from California who drives for Kasey Kahne. Some of you may know Kasey Kahne as the driver of the Budweiser Nascar Team. The driver in the background is Donnie Schatz from Minot North Dakota who drives for Nascar driver Tony Stewert. Schatz came from a ways back and caught up to Saldana and they raced back and forth until Schatz got away with about two laps to go.
Saldana's trailer. They loaded quickly as they where looking to head south quickly, like many others, to race in Sadalia, MO. on Sunday.
One of my all time favorite drivers drives this car. Jac "The Wild Child" Haudenchild has been racing for many years and has always been one of my favorites.

An up and close view of another one of Tony Stewart's cars. These things are nothing but motor (410 cubic inches), fuel cell (the back part of the car), a wing, and the driver. With no transmission or any other heavy items on these cars they average about 115 mph around a dirt half mile track. Very seldomly do they ever lift their foot off the gas pedal. It's to the floor all the way around the track.
A closer view of the very compact drivers compartment. You can't see it in this photo but the drive shaft runs through the cockpit between the drivers feet.
One of the all time greats (although I'm not a very big fan) Steve Kinser who has won the Knoxville Nationals many times. Paul is the blurred out guy in the background.
Me and 360 c.i. driver Natalie Sather from Fargo North Dakota. This gal is 23 years old and she is just a tiny little runt. and she muscled this machine around the track with the best of them. She finished 3rd in the 360's feature. Oh, she was standing on her tip toes and I was squatting for this photo.
Natalie's Car. This is one fast chick!

Apparently my camera only likes Natalie. I have no clue who the blurry person is. I thought this was kind of funny that it was all blurred except for Natalie.
At a quick glance we all thought Dad started a sprint car team (Bruce Racing). Tony Bruce Jr. has a very cool rig. I love looking at these haulers. There is so much money wrapped up in these things. They are regular old 18 wheelers like you see going down the highways except the trailers are all specially designed for the cars, parts, and extra motors, cars, wings, etc.
The World Of Outlaws souvenir trailer. This is one of the coolest designs I've ever seen. It looks just like it's been splattered with mud from the cars spinning it up.
Leaving the bright lights of the speedway behind. We then popped across the street to the world famous Dingus Lounge. Everyone who is a sprint car fan around the world knows of the Dingus Lounge. As long as there has been racing going on here the Dingus Lounge has been the popular hang out afterwords. Pop in sometime and sign the walls of the building. Look carefully, some of the greatest sprint car, Nascar, IRL, and many other drivers' signatures grace these walls.
Sunday we went to Waterloo for Grandma's (The old Fart) birthday party. It was a surprise party and she was very surprised to see probably 60-70 people awaiting her arrival at the VFW Hall. I was on grill duty with Paul. It was a very special day for grandma. She's 85 now and she acts, runs, and plays like she's still 30. I love this "Old Fart" with all my heart. She definitely is a great person that has touched so many people's lives in so many ways. She can always bring a smile to your face. I'm proud to be one of her four grandson's.

This weekend we got 6+ inches of rain in WC and the town is flooded pretty bad. I will post some more about this later. I plan to go ride the bike around town in a bit so I'll snap some photo's. I do know that many homes are flooded and it's the worst I've ever seen the Boone River. Pray for all of us up here. Not just in WC but all over Iowa as the flood waters are bad everywhere and all of us are in some way being or will be affected by this crazy weather.

Thanks for looking in. God Bless.

My brother has this quote that he uses that I really like and think it's very true. It goes like this: "If you can dream it, you can do it." I was reading and when I saw this quote from the Bible it kind of drew some similarities to his quote. I think this is also very good advice we should all keep in mind.

"If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer." Mathew 21:22

Jeff Beck with Tal Wilkenfeld at Crossroads 2007 Live

2008-06-05T11:45:00.001-05:00

So you think your a musician huh? Watch this. I hope you have a great sound system on your computer. I can't stop watching this. Unbelievable!

This group of musicians plays so well off of each other. Jeff Beck is of course a guitar great but I think that Tal Wilkenfeld's (she's only 21) unbelievable bass guitar playing ability and Vinnie Colauiuta's amazing drumming steal the show.

The first part has some amazing bass and Beck's unique style of play. The second part part features what I consider one of the best grooves I've heard in a long time with Vinnie and Tal driving it home.

OOOOOOOHHHHHHHHH YYYYYYYEEEEAAAAAAAHHHHH!

Tulsa Weekend Review - In Pictures

2008-06-03T14:42:00.005-05:00

If you wanna know how things went over the weekend, see posts below. If you wanna see some pic's from the trip, here ya go.

Ah yes, five miles out of town and boredom has already set in. Only 8 more hours to go! Yikes!
At a rest stop Ariel and I decided to take a photo and of course, Grandpa sees a camera and he just has to try to get in front of it. He almost made it.
My favorite city name. How many of you old farts like me out there actually remember the song titled "Peculiar" by Julian Lennon. Don't feel bad if you do, every time we pass this town I get that song stuck in my head for about the next 25 miles. STOP!
Finally, Oklahoma! Welcome to the Will Rogers Turnpike were we pay tax to drive. Oh well, at least their roads are nice and the speed limit is 75. Unlike some less fortunate places, like...........Iowa.

The coolest McDonald's ever.........if there is such a thing as a cool Mac Shack.
Saturday morning following the storm. These building were a block away and the clouds were so low that we couldn't see some of them. Very eery (sp?).
Turn 2 of the race course following the storm on Saturday morning. I'd say 2-3 inches of rain fell in about 20 minutes. Needless to say everything was shortened and delayed. They had to come out with not only brooms to clean the course but, shovels too.
Ivan "The Cuban Missile" Dominguez prior to the pro race. Everyone ran to the line to get spots. It was kind of funny, all of the Toyota riders hung out about 50 yards behind them all. The only rider they sent to the line was Henk Vogels.
After doing some crazy dancing on his bike, World B Champion Ivan Stevic stopped to chat. I wish I could have got video of him doing his dancing. They were playing some funky music and while everyone was at the line anticipating the start all seriously, he was riding around in circle behind doing some funky dance moves on his bike. Hilarious. Then it got even funnier as Hilton Clarke was hanging out in one of the officials golf carts only second before the race started. He was talking to all of the guys on the radio's. It was funny, they all started looking for him and when they all saw where he was they were laughing hysterically.

Henk Vogels controlling the front of the race early on. Toyota would later get a break of 4 established and take the top 4 spots. You could say they put on a clinic.
Sunday after the hurricane blew through. I got changed and went and walked around to see the damage. Firetrucks, ambulances, and police everywhere on the course, EZ UPs mangled into twisted balls of steel, porta potties blown over, trees down, power lines down, etc. It was a mess.
My nephew, Ethan. He's such an amazing kid. I'm proud to be his uncle.
On the way home we saw the University of Michigan's solar car team. pretty cool.
Terrible photography 101 continues. I tried to get a quick photo but didn't realize that I was still zoomed all the way in from the last shot. Nice solar panels!

Thanks for checking out the blog. Sorry I didn't get any more flowers. I will get more, I promise! God Bless you all and be safe in all of this crazy weather.

Keep this one in mind. I know this is even something that I need to work on more. Not that I disown him but, I need to acknowledge Him more before men than I do.

"Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven." Mathew 10:32,33

This one kind of goes along with the passage above. I think that we all need to really believe and not just go through the motions.

"Not everyone who says to me, "Lord, Lord," will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven." Mathew 7:21

Tulsa Tough - Day 2 - Mother Nature Wins!

2008-06-02T07:52:00.000-05:00

After Saturday I was ready to race again. Even though I was short a wheel and still kind of foolishly upset about it . So we set out to the race venue and it was pretty easy to get to. Getting around Tulsa is not that difficult,,, which is nice. Since everyone was slow to get up and the start times were earlier, Dad and I set off to go race.

My race was at 9:30. We were the third race of the day. As we started to unload the clouds started to roll in. The second race was on the course when the rain came. The women's cat 3/4 race became a concrete body sliding competition at the corner at the bottom of the descent which was more than a 90 deg. turn. One after another they came down the hill and crashed.

Then we were up after them but, we went to a rain delay because of thunder and lightning. So I headed to the warm up tent to get on a trainer. After the storm passed we got to get on course and do a lap. Then it was to thw line. The course was so dangerous that half the feild didn't show and then the promoter gave the choice to not race to anyone that felt uncomfortable riding on the course. A few took him up on his offer and they get free entry into next years race.

So with light rain falling and thunder and lightning in the area, since another round of storms was coming, we started the race. They told us it was going to be shortened and may be shortened even more. I think we raced 4 laps and the rain really picked up and the storm was rolling in. There were several crashes. I managed to avoid them all. We got to do one more lap and we were done.

Then the journey back to the van began. It was raining fairly good and I almost dipped into one of the many ez ups near the start/ fifnish line but, chose instead to head up the hill to the van. I was halfway up the hill when lightning struck somewhere in the immediate neighborhood. It was very close! right after the clap of lightning and thunder I looked to my right to see none other than Steve Tilford getting kitted up in the wonderful weather. He just looked at me and smiled. I think that summed up the entire day.

As I got closer to the van the skies opened up and dumped rain on us. I could barely see where I was going and the wind was realy starting to wind up. I got to the van and ot was blowing like a huricane so I didn't want to open it up cause I knew the inside would be flooded instantly. Then Mom and Ariel pulled up besidee us and tried to get me to get in with them but I was soaked and I couldn't leave my bike cause it would have been blown down the street.

I huddled up against the van with my bike and was holding on for dear life as the wind tried to blow everything, including me, away. Then tree limbs started falling and the rain was stinging my eyes. So I readjusted in time to see the big steel road closed signs, with sandbags on them, moving down the street. I had just gotten hit in the back of the head by a branch when The house on the corner opened up and offered me to come in. So I b lined to their garage and hung out there til it passed.

The entire time I could hear sirens going everywhere and alot of them were heading to the race venue. I don't know if anyone was hurt or not but, Once it passed, and we got everything loaded up and dry clothes on, Dad and I went to check out the damage.

Mom and ariel got out of there and headed home. On their way they saw flooded out cars and all kinds of damage. We walked down the hill and saw tree limbs everywhere, ez ups in twisted balls of steel, porta-potties tipped over, and power lines down. The fire dept. and ambulances were everywhere.

I met up with all of the LI guys there and we walked the course. We also found out that all the racing except the mens 1/2, women pro, and men's pro were cancelled. And even then they eren't sure if they would race either. So we loaded up and left.

On the way to Mom's there was damage everywhaere. They said that 60,000 people were without power.

Needless to say, it was a fun day. We spent the rest of the day with family which was very fun.

I have plenty photo's I'll post when i get home. Today is travel day, as we head for home. Sounds like there's more bad weather for he trip home today. Yeehaw! Good times. I guess we're all Tulsa Tough now.

Tulsa's Tough! Day 1

2008-05-31T15:43:00.000-05:00

Today is the first day of Tulsa for me. We missed out on the races last night. Our adventure here was, well, an adventure. We drove Dad's van and the a/c quit working which is real nice since it's in the 90's down here. and we got a flat tire. yeehaw!

today's racing was interesting. I had my warm upschedule right on schedule and then the thunderstorm of all t-storms came through. all racing was stopped and everything was backed up and shortened.

during the race I hung out at the back for a while until my legs got reopened. with 60 riders in the race it was kind pf sketchy back there so I went to the front and strung it out. After riding at or near the front for a while, i went to seek shelter til closer to the end. that's when some ding dong came screaming up on my outside as we aproached the last corner and rode right into me. we touched bars, i leaned on him and then he cut across my wheel destroying my front wheel. yeehaw!

after taing a free lap, i got back in and rode at the back struggling to stay on not knowing that my barke was dragging. then I popped and found out. they let me finish and didn't pull me so, that was good.

now I'm down to one front wheel and a bunch of rears. oh, joy! I wonder what tomorow will bring?

NEWS FLASH - What a busy week!

2008-05-29T18:22:00.005-05:00

Let me start off by saying HAPPY BIRTHDAY ARIEL! Today my daughter turns 12. One more year till she's a teenager. Yikes! I'm getting old!

This past weekend was so much fun! I saw all of my friends at some point of the weekend. Some I haven't seen in a while, others (Chris Hansen in particular) I see too much. HaHaHa!

The weekend started by taking in some sprint car racing on TV with friends and the old man. Then we went out to experience some live music at one of the local watering holes. Nothing better than a live band with good friends. I'll take the worst live band any day over a DJ or that ridiculous karaoke crap.

Saturday I went to the races and had fun watching my good friend Mike take 2nd place. I also got to do a bit of a running workout as I had to sprint through the pits to help with a tire change for Reid after he was involved in a crash. Good Times! Prior to the races though, I went out for a bit of a bike ride through town (see pictures). Beautiful, peaceful, and very mind clearing. Also some time to remember some very special people that are no longer with us.

Sunday Dad and I took of to go bike racing. We went to Muscatine and then headed up to Rock Island for Monday. It was nice to see all the bike racing folks. It was fun to hang out with the Pella crew, the DICE guys & gals, the all9yards gang, and see some other faces I haven't seen since cyclocross. Then, unfortunately, it was back to work.

How did the racing go? Well, lets just say I had fun. Sunday I was pulled (too slow) and Monday I did the masters race and saw lots of time at the front and off the front. It was extremely fun. The race Monday allowed me to ride with a bunch of guys I've been racing with for years. It was a good, clean, fun race, and everyone had great stories to tell afterwords. Unfortunately my result doesn't show my effort. They had a most aggressive rider award that they gave to the winner of the race but, several of the guys in the race said I should have gotten it. Oh well. I did appreciate all of them saying that though. It was cool to to hear so many people cheering for me. Thank you all so much, you know who you are.

Now, on to a bunch of photo's from the weekend.

First off, flowers for all of the women who read this and especially, to my Mom. :-)
My buddy Bryan Moritz racing the cat 3 race on Monday. Unfortunately he was taken down in a crash but I'm really proud of how this kid is riding. Keep it up Titties!
Another pic of Bryan on Monday. He spent some time off the front early on. Impressive!

Me riding through the cemetery on Saturday. Kind of a dorky but yet cool photo.
The avenue of flags. Really cool. This goes on for about 7 blocks.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to all of those affected by this crazy weather we've been having lately. We have more coming in tonight as well. yippee! I saw video from Parkersburg and there is nothing left. I've also heard some pretty amazing stories told and I'm amazed that only 6 people were killed. As the storm season gets wound up be careful and be safe.

Ariel, Dad, and I are going to pile into the van tomorrow morning and head to Tulsa. Mom, can you guess why I'm coming down there? Hhhhhmmmmm..........To see you, of course! I'm so excited and can't wait to get there and see my Mommy, step-father, brother, sister, sister-n-law, and to top it all off, I think my grandparents are coming over from Arkansas. I'm going to go to the Tulsa Tough bike races while we're there. I'll be racing two days. It should be really cool as they have a big music festival going on during the races. Oh, and the Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team is going to be there. And they're bringing their best riders. I can't wait!

Well, I'll update soon, maybe an update from the road. God Bless and thanks for reading!

Random, but good;

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened." Mathew 7:7,8

"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." Mathew 7:13,14

race weekend

2008-05-25T20:12:00.000-05:00

this weekend is one of the biggest racing weekends of the year. I was scheduled to be down to Burlington on Saturday to race the Snake alley Crit. But, after inviting friends over on Friday plans cahanged.

Friday a bunch of friends came over and we watched the World of Outlaws sprint car races from Charlotte on TV. after that we all went downtown to see a live band playing at the local watering hole. so after getting in real late, Saturday was out of the question.

I'm glad I stayed home. I got a good ride in and got to see the beautiful cemetary decorations that they do every year for Memorial Day. Then it was off to the races to help out Mike and Ried. I'm glad I was there as they both had great runs. Mike got 2nd place and Ried was up to 5th before he was taken out. We did a wheel change and got him going again, but, just disapointing to have a good run ruined. I'm really happy for Mike though. he's had a rough start to the seaon and needed a good run.

Now,, Dad and I are in the quad cities. I raced today and was pulled with 4 laps to go even though I was nowhere close to being lapped. what a waist of money. Gotta love racing in Iowa. Or maybe I should tran a little harder. lol. tomorow I'm racing masters with all the old guys so, maybe I can actually finish a race. we'll see.

A big shout out to Bryan Moritz who finished 6th on the Snake as a cat 3 and had astrong ride today too. He's riding very well.

Well,, I'm out,, God Bless, be safe and hopefully all this forecasted bad weather will blow over. ;-)

At The Races

2008-05-18T12:22:00.002-05:00

I went to the races last night and helped out my friends Mike and Reid. Mike is racing again this year after a year off and last night was Reid's first night out for the year with a brand new car that he built from the ground up. Mike's car is Reid's car from last year. Mike does all of his own lettering and also letters probably 10-15 other race cars.
Mike has always used the colors Silver and Red on all of his past cars so, no change in colors for 2008 but, it does look very nice though.
Reid's car looks new because it is. Last night was race #1 for this car.
On the track during a heat race. Mike ended up having rough luck in feature. He was racing his way up to a top 5 finish when he was spun out in one of the corners. He got going again and then drove the car too hard into one of the corners and someone got into him. Unfortunately, Mike's night was done. When he pulled in we noticed that the front stub was bent so, he was going to have to have the frame straightened. It should get done today and then they're off to Mason City to race tonight. I may ride along. Good Times!
Reid Started in the back of the feature and through attrition he ended up getting 7th. First night out and all, Reid didn't drive quite as aggressive as he usually does. I don't think he wanted to trash the car on the first night out. I'm sure within the next couple of nights out he'll be up there racing for the win.

We all hung out in the pits til nearly midnight. There's usually a crowd of 20-30 people that make there way to Reid and Mike's pit area following the races at Webster. Last night was no different as people came down out of the stands to visit. Good Times.

I kinda miss this stuff. With me racing bikes over the past years I haven't been able to go out and help these guys. I have been going to the races since I was in Kindergarten. I still enjoy it very much and hopefully, since I'm not racing bikes much, I can get out and hit the road with these guys and help them out. They race in Fort Dodge on Fridays, Webster on Saturday, and Mike goes to Mason City on Sundays.

Well, I'm out. Have a great Sunday and God Bless.

Random;
The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him. Nahum 1:7

A little Post

2008-05-17T13:31:00.002-05:00

That's right, a little post on the blog for your reading enjoyment. Thought I'd share a few photo's I snapped while taking a leisurely ride through the river trail on Thursday evening. I'm really enjoying this beautiful weather.

It looks as though Hansen has been riding this trail too. I found evidence.
Thought I'd get a bit nerdy and take some flower shots for Mom. I'm sure she gets tired of looking at pictures of bicycles all the time. ;-)

Crazy times we live in folks, crazy times. I've been reflecting a bit on all the news headlines of the past week/s and it's just crazy. All the bad weather incidents around the world, some in our back yards (Missouri, Arkansas, etc.). Stupid laws and policies that our nation and states are facing (gay marriage, labor bargaining rights, etc.). And those that we know struggling with health issues, and the day to day stresses of life (loss of jobs, etc.) I could ramble on and on and go into much more detail but, I won't. I was just thinking about a lot of these things this morning and just wanted to ask you all to really do some serious praying about a lot of this stuff because, it appears to me, that we all need to seek a higher power in these troubled times.

On to other stuff, I rode my bike a few times this week. It was pretty nice weather for it. I may get out today but, not sure yet. Apparently, some folks feel that I need to ride my bike more and get more involved with bike racing in Iowa (save this for another post).

I have been playin the drums quite a bit lately. In fact I have skipped a few training rides to play. I am getting the chops back and it feels really good. I should have never quit when I did, who knows where I could be today. But, it's not to late to try to get it back. Even though I won't have the same opportunities that I did back then, I'm sure I can find some other folks and make music.

In other news, I pulled a brilliant last weekend and put Ariel's cell phone through the washing machine. Looks like I'll be checking pockets a bit more now. hahaha! Good thing for cell phone insurance. It safeguards phones from ding dongs like me.

I'm off on a three day weekend this weekend. Production is going down so much that now we're cancelling shifts. I do not work on Monday. The Laundry Center line didn't work on Friday and I think the Washer line is off on Monday. Our dept. was cancelled for 2nd shift on Friday and day shift is working with a skeleton crew on Friday and Monday. Hopefully things will turn around. Get out and buy a top load washer! Thanks for your support!

Well, off to enjoy the day. I think I'm heading to the race track tonight to help out the guys. My friends Reid and Mike are both racing this year so, I guess I better get out and do what I can to get in the way and help out. Speaking of racing, there's a couple of big races coming up at Knoxville and we're going for sure. I haven't been to K'ville in a couple of years and I dearly want to get back down there. Sprint car racing is the coolest thing ever. Those guys that drive them things have more balls (pardon my french) than any other sport anywhere, hands down. Maybe I'll get some pics tonight to share.

Last note: A little update on Steve. He is home. He is defying what doctors told him. They said he shouldn't have made it. He did. They said he'd be paralysed. He's not. They said he'd be in the hospital for months. He's home. They said he'd not be able to walk on his own for quite some time. He is! Amazing! Praise the Lord! He's making a miraculous recovery. He still has a way's to go but, it looks very promising.

God Bless. Enjoy this wonderful weather. BE safe.

Random:

I love you, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. Psalm 18:1-2

Happy Mothers Day!

2008-05-10T20:09:00.003-05:00

Happy Mom's day to my Mom! I know she reads this regularly so, Happy Mothers Day Mom! I love you! Happy Mothers Day to my two wonderful Grandmothers as well. I love you all and can't began to tell everyone how special these three women are to me.

Tomorrow Dad and I are going to jump in the car and head to Waterloo to spend the day with Grandma. Should be a good time. We are having a cook out so hopefully the weather will cooperate.

I got out today and logged my third ride of the week. Too much stuff going on so I haven't been riding much. I hope to start logging some base miles to prep for the beginning of cyclocross training in June. I've also been battling lot's of little injuries this Spring that has really bothered me, so, I'm trying to work through that garbage too. I will be racing a couple of big weekends of racing which should be fun. Unfortunately, I have to keep my mind focused on having fun in these because I have no fitness right now. But, these races are very cool races and I just can't miss them. So I'll be racing Memorial Day Weekend in Burlington, Muscatine and Rock Island, IL. Then I'll be heading down to Mom's with Ariel and Dad to visit with family and race the Tulsa Tough crits.

Ariel got out with her friends today and got in some riding too. She's just like her old man. she'd rather go out in the rain and ride all day than ride when it's nice. Weird! She has a couple weeks of school left and she's really looking forward to Summer. She's doing well in most of her classes and I'm very proud of her.

In other news, there is a bunch of reorganizing going on at work again as production is going down once again. I am getting reduced off of my job which really stink. Ten years of and I'm betting bumped! The good thing is that I get to stay in my department and go to a different job on my same shift. I will be low senior though, so, any more reductions and I'll be gone.

I'm sure there's more to tell you about but, I have other things to tend to. So, have a wonderful Mothers Day everyone! If your within sight of your loved ones give them a huge hug tomorrow. And if your not within sight, do like I'm doing right now and send them a great big hug :-)

God Bless everyone and please be safe with whatever your Mothers Day activities may be.

With tomorrow being Mother's Day, I did some studying on the word Mother in the Bible. After reading several passages and studying some different books, I decided to post this scripture from Proverbs. It talks about both Mother and Father and goes on to talk about being enticed by sinners but, after meditating for a bit on these two verses, I decided that these two verses are kind of meaningful, to me anyways.

Listen, my son, to your father's instruction and do not forsake your mother's teaching.
They will be a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck. Proverbs 1:8,9

No Racing!

2008-05-03T20:42:00.002-05:00

That's right, no racing for me this weekend. I had intended to head over to Waverly and do the mountain bike race but, things change. I had an opportunity to get another weekend with Ariel so, how can I pass that up? I can't. There used to be a time when I could of but, not anymore. Now racing my bike takes a back seat to several other things which is a huge change for me and the way I've done things over the past few years.

In fact, I'm making a lot of life changes. It's actually something I should have done long ago but, better late than never.......right? I won't get into all the details now (and bore you). But, I do think that this year may be one of my last years as a serious cyclist. I think that in the coming years I'll probably be racing a lot less and focusing on cyclocross only. Not that that's not what I'm doing now but, I may scale back quite a bit as different things in my life begin to evolve. Obviously I'll always get out and do cross as it's the most fun you can have on a bike.

Well, I'm off to play some cards. Skip-Bo to be exact. To all of you heading to Waverly, good luck and travel safely. God Bless.

Random: This is a very good passage and very true. Give it some thought.
As water reflects a face, so a man's heart reflects the man. Proverbs 27:19

A trip to Iowa City to race and say goodbye.

2008-04-29T08:37:00.002-05:00

Sunday was a road trip to one of my favorite road races. The Old Capital Criterium. This is kind of a special race because a) it's the first crit/road race I ever did, and b) it was the first crit I ever won (the day after I won the road race). A little side note from that winning weekends is that I had one team-mate each day in the Cat. 5's. In the road race Jim Robidoux and I put the smack down at the end and took first and third in a late race break of three riders. In the Crit Kurt Hantelmann was on the front on the last lap and the pace had slowed a bit as it was starting to rain lightly, so I jumped out of line half way between the two hills on the last lap and powered up the hill alone and held it to the line.

A very cool thing about this year is that I ran into a guy I went to high school with and he had raced in the cat 5 race this year. Ironically, it was his first race ever and, he told me there was another guy that I went to high school with that raced too. Very cool. Both of these guys are older than me and I think it is so cool that they're getting into cycling. I believe they both live in the Iowa City area now.

I snapped a few photo's from the pro/1/2 race. Welcome to Terrible Photography 101;

The first time down the hill. Things were still a bit unorganized as everyone jockeyed for position. I believe the first Trek Midwest rider is Peter Boyd. The other Trek rider (4th guy) is Adam Mills.
The next time around this guy thought the picture of me was the money shot I guess. I think the Trek Midwest rider was Bill Stolte. Lane Anderson is the all9yards rider in green. They 6th rider back in black on the outside is Lou Waugaman (Rassmusen Bike Shop).
The third time around everyone finally got out of my way. I think the first Trek Midwest rider is Shadd Smith. I couldn't make out the all9yards rider. I couldn't tell if it was Jared Osterloh or Dave Lippold.
One last shot. this one was taken on the hill. The first Trek Midwest rider is Shadd Smith. There were tow guys that had rolled off the front and Shadd nailed it here and bridged up to them. They sat up once he caught on. I think the second Trek rider is Bill Stolte.

As for my race. I wasn't expecting too much. Last year I started training on January 1 and came into this race almost ready to peak. I was in the top 10 all day and a last lap mishap that saw a rider hit a hole and shoot out in front of me forcing me to brake with one corner left before the sprint took me out of what I thought would be around a 5th place finish. This year I got a good start and was in 6th of the 41 riders at the bottom of the hill. Thank goodness because there was a crash mid pack that caused a split. I rode comfortably in the front the first 5 or 6 laps and then I began my fade. I finally fell so far back and just couldn't do anything on the climb. I gave the crowd a show though. They were trying, with the help of Kim West, to get people to ride wheelies on the climb. Nobody but me gave them a show. I gave them a solid bunny hop one lap and the next I gave them the worst wheelie anyone has ever seen. They cheered me like I had won the race though. The next time through the finish I was pulled. I did 10 of the 20 laps and didn't feel that bad about getting pulled. I was cooked and scored in 20th place. My legs progressively got better but my lungs got worse. It was fun and I dodged all the crashes. There were 5 crashes in our race and I was right behind one of them. They included a collegiate category with our race and many of them were not to good technically speaking. In the end 15 riders remained as everyone else was pulled. And the print finish between the 8 guys off the front ended with a big crash at the finish line. Glad I got to watch that one!

My Highlights from the day at Old Capital (in no particular order);
1. My team-mates that raced. Ryan Legg finished in the pack in the pro/1/2 and Chet Henry raced collegiate in the Cat. 3 race and finished solidly in the pack. Good job guys!
2. Bryan Moritz and his breakaway companion put a minute and 5 seconds on the pack. They were only 30 seconds from catching the group. Unfortunately Bryan lost in the tow up sprint but, he was very impressive.
3. Sidney Brown lapped all but two women in the Women's Pro/1/2/3 race. WOW!
4. Hanging out with the Pella crew. It was good to see Doug and everyone again.
5. Frankie Deirking trying an early break on lap 4 of the pro/1/2 race an then going later on in the winning group of three and killing them in the sprint.
6. Kim West on the hill in the early races. "Ride a wheelie" during the Cat. 4 race and for the women he had a "Queen of the Mountain prime" on the first lap. A one dollar prime in which some girl in the front part of the field snagged the bill and tucked it in her skinsuit without loosing any position. Nice!
7. Steve Robinson! No explanation needed!
8. Shrek's last lap tactic to shake the one rider off his wheel. he asked a tag along rider if he would let him take the spot or if he was going to race him for it. The guy responded by saying he was racing so, Shrek sat on his wheel for the first time in many laps and shot out wide around him with tow corners to go and took it to the curb. the other guy jumped out onto his wheel, hit the curb and crashed. Best tactics I've ever heard. Bruyneel aint got nothing on you Shrek.
9. Hanging out on the Hill with very cool people.
10. My bunny hopping abilities, during a race, on a hill, with many fans cheering, $30 well spent. Thanks for the encouragement folks!!!

As for the saying goodbye part; I parted ways with my Ridley Supercross on Sunday. It's going to a good home though. Doug Klahsen will be riding her from here on out. That bike has a lot of history and memories. My first cx win at State championships when I destroyed the field. Several wins and series championships. Three National Championships. It's been to Rhode Island, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and all over Iowa. She's seen mud, rocks, snow, ice, sideways snow, wind, and all kinds of crazy courses.......sometime too close. She's a bit beat up but solid. I'll definitely miss that bike. I think she may have actually started the Ridley craze in Iowa. Always showing off!

Random;

Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones. Proverbs 3:7-8

Rewinding, Reflecting, and Looking Forward.

2008-04-26T14:02:00.005-05:00

It's been an interesting week here. Lot's of things going on, some good, some bad, and some....just plain interesting. I'll share a few things with you and show you some photo's that I snapped over the past week. Enjoy!

Last Sunday I got out on the open road and rode for about 2.5 hours. It was so nice....and windy.
I was styling, as usual. Kidding. There's nothing styling about me but, the all white does look good though.
I was having so much fun that I got excited and couldn't keep my tongue in my mouth. I felt kind of like a dog chasing a firetruck. Without all the drool, of course.

Monday night was the big concert. The Nadas, Parker House and Theory, and O.A.R.

My friend Randee and I before the show.

The village idiot before the show. Just kidding, that's Chris, and the silver bullet.

We sat up on the side while the Nadas played. This was my first time hearing them in person. They are pretty good. Them being from Des Moines also made it kind of cool too. They were giving out sample CD's as well, not bad. I would have gotten photo's of PH&T but we rushed the stage and I couldn't get my hand in my pocket to get my phone out if I wanted too. Oh, by the way, in case you really love my terrible photo taking, I'll be teaching a class at Beach Street University this summer - Terrible Photography 101. O.A.R. takes to the stage. I really like these guys but, this particular show was kind of a let down. This is the first time I've seen them in concert and unfortunately, I have to say, the opening groups were better. Oh well, it was still fun.

This week started with the concert on Monday which meant skipping work, of course! I got out and went for a ride on Wednesday which was nice. I had some serious problems with my PowerTap not working right and when I went out on Wednesday, it worked just fine. Weird!

Thursday we battled some rough weather. I used my storm spotter skills that I learned as a firefighter and watched the storm evolve. I watched as I thought we may get to see a funnel cloud but, it never evolved. It did, however, evolve once passed W.C. and a tornado was spotted on the ground roughly 9 miles east and 10 miles north of W.C. Several funnel clouds were also spotted east of here. We dodged it......for a while anyway. Later that night at work lightning struck the building around 3 AM shutting the place down for nearly 2 hours. SWEET! That was a great way to end the week.

Unfortunate news also came in on Thursday night. Ariel's sisters' Dad was involved in a serious accident late Tuesday evening. He was traveling home and lost consciousness for some reason or another and crossed the road and flipped into the ditch. He was ejected from the vehicle and is lucky to not have been killed. Luckily another oncoming vehicle saw the entire thing play out in front of them so they called EMS right away.

Steve has a rough road ahead of him. He was flown to Methodist Hospital in DSM and was just released from ICU today. He will be in the hospital for quite some time however. His injuries are extensive including breaking 14 of 17 vertebra, collarbone, pelvis, among other things. He's really lucky to be alive.

I know from my experience as a firefighter that most times this scenario of an accident doesn't usually end well. Most ejections usually result in a grave outcome. Thankfully emergency crews responded quickly and did their job successfully.

I ask that you all would keep Steve in your prayers as he has a long road ahead of him and will need all the prayer and support he can get. There's no doubt in my mind that with the Lord's healing power that he can make a full recovery. Please pray for him!

Ariel is over this weekend and will be leaving this evening. She and her sister are going to DSM tomorrow to see Steve for the first time since the accident occurred. They are pretty shaken up over the entire thing. I pray they will be the strong kids I know they are and handle it well.

Another kind of funny thing that happened today was that I got woken up to something very interesting today. Normally Ariel will never wake me up in the morning, even if I tell her to. Anyone that knows me knows that I'm anything but a morning person. This morning I woke up to Ariel coming into my room and calling out my name as if something was wrong. I immediately woke up and asked what was up? She proceeded to inform me that she had made a simple mistake and that we had company coming.

She was trying to access her voicemail on her cell phone and unintentionally hit the speed dial for 911. She immediately hung up. They called her back and verified that she was OK and that they were sending an officer to verify as well. So, messy hair and all, I awaited officer friendly to show up and do a well being check. Well, we're OK and nobody went to jail. Ariel will be watching closer what buttons she's pushing on her phone and I'll try to NOT invite the police over again anytime soon. lol

Tomorow Dad and I will be heading out to go to Iowa City. I'll be making my Iowa racing debut at the Old Capital Crit. Don't expect much though. I'll be out there but, the fitness is nowhere near where it needs to be to be competitive in this race. I'll be giving everything I have and using it as a training race.

Maybe we'll see some of you there. If you raced today, good luck with the wind. God Bless you all and travel safely. Peace.

As I searched for scripture and was thinking of Steve I found only one that I could post. I know I have posted this passage before but, I feel, given the circumstances, that it needs to be read again. The Healing Power of Prayer;

Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is any one happy? Let him sing songs of praise. Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. James 5:13-16

It's Tuesday? What happened to Monday?

2008-04-22T15:44:00.003-05:00

Another weekend has come and gone. Dad and I jumped in the car on Saturday and went to Omaha, via Des Moines, to hang out in the bike shops. We stopped and saw the gang at Rassy's before proceeding on to Omaha to pick up my new cross bike at Highgear Bike & Outdoor. We hung out and chatted with Mark Savory and discussed new products coming down through the pipeline and how the fallout between Trek and Lemond will affect our team next year and the Trek product line. It should all be very interesting if some of the stuff Mark said does play out.

Sunday I got out for a little ride. It was such a beautiful day and the wind was brutal. I loved it. I was supposed to have a somewhat easy day on the bike but, I got out there and beat my head against the wall riding into the wind. Good Times!

Monday was the big concert. It was very good. I'm glad we went. All three acts were great and we had a good time. I did however realize that I have no place trying to fight my way to the front of a general admission crowd. little ole' me throwing elbows and pushing people around? We made it through Parker House and Theory and once O.A.R. came on I was worn out from pushing people around and hotter than all get out. Randee was pretty cooked too so, we bailed and retreated to higher ground. It was way cooler and much more relaxing. I actually could enjoy the music a bit. Not that being right down there wasn't fun but, man, oh to be 21 and full of energy and whatever else they all had in them.

I'll post some pics in the coming days. Till then, take care, God Bless, and enjoy all life has to offer.

A couple of passages that I felt I needed to post after witnessing some racist remarks made to a friend of mine yesterday and, also just because we all need to hear these passages from time to time to remind us that not one of us is better than any other and that the only one with the right to judge us is our Lord, Jesus Christ.

You are all sons of God through faith in Christ
Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed
yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free,
male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:26-28

also

Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who
speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges
it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in
judgment on it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able
to save and destroy. But you - who are you to judge your neighbor? James 4:11,12

Oh, and one last really good one that we all should practice;

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and
with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest
commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as
yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two
commandments." Matthew 22:37-40

Happy Rainy Day To You All

2008-04-19T00:41:00.003-05:00

Just a quick poke for ya. Not much new here. Got in a solid week of training this week. I'm working through a bit of a knee injury. It's heeling up OK though. Hopefully I'll be back to 100% in another week or so. It's not slowing me down for training though. I think I had my best week of this year this week.

I'm not the only one fighting injuries. Ariel is working through a sprained ankle. She rolled her ankle the other day. Her first real good sprain so she called and told me about it right away. Poor kid. The funny thing is, that, she'll recover quicker than I will. lol

The short track race scheduled to take place at Seven Oaks today is cancelled so, I now have my weekend free. I doubt I'll go to Eagle Point but, never say never, right? Probably hitting the road today for Omaha to go get my other cross bike. I'm really looking forward to cross this season. Everything I'm doing right now and do this Spring and Summer is all building blocks for cross. I have a feeling it's going to be a good year. The support system is in place (team, family, friends) and I feel really positive about this year for some reason or another. Probably because of the great support cast I have. They are always encouraging, helping, and pushing me to do well. And this year, it seems as though everyone is on board with my goals. Should be fun!

I know Pete Basso and some others are wondering when I'll be making my racing debut in Iowa. It looks as though (unless I get a wild hair this weekend to go to Eagle Point) it will be Iowa City next weekend. I'll be doing the Old Capital Crit for sure. The road race........I'm still up in the air. I have Ariel that weekend and we'll just have to see how things go.

Monday is skip work day. We're (Chris, Kelly, Randee, and myself) going to see O.A.R. (Of A Revolution) in concert. The concert is in Cedar Falls and there are three opening acts including the Nada so, that should be very cool cause they're a great band from Des Moines.

Well, until next time, God be with you and enjoy life to the fullest. Oh, and ride your bike!

Random;
"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze.
For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior" Isaiah 43:2,3

Enough said! Remember this passage the next time you experience hardships and/or fear of anything. Let Jesus Christ be your guiding light and lead you to happiness, success, and victory. TN