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Carl Buchanan

  • Race Report - Jingle Cross

    Three days of racing were on the calendar for the 2009 edition of the Jingle Cross Rock in Iowa City, IA. Friday's race was also scheduled to be raced under the lights which brought in some interesting elements. The Cat. 2/3 field is one of the largest at JCR with [...]
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    Posted: December 01, 2009, 7:59am EST

  • Jingle Cross Rock - preliminary report

    The final 'Cross weekend of the 2009 season has come and gone for me. I'll need a little bit of time to collect my thoughts and get my actual reports written up. All three days featured some sweet courses that were a challenge for everyone on course from the beginners [...]
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    Posted: November 30, 2009, 8:31am EST

  • One to go

    One race weekend remaining on the 2009 calendar although, there will be three races to partake in. Jingle Cross Rock starts this Friday night in Iowa City, IA and it will definitely be a big one. One location with three different courses will make it fun for racers [...]
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    Posted: November 25, 2009, 8:00am EST

  • Race Report - Middle Park Madness

    Middle Park madness was the fourth and final round of the Quad Cities Cyclocross Series for the 2009 season. Going into the race I was sitting in 3rd spot overall with 90 points although I had a hard charging Kevin McConnell (ICCC) sitting only 10 points behind me in 4th [...]
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    Posted: November 23, 2009, 8:01am EST

  • Dual Race Reports

    I'll keep these short and sweet since they did me in pretty bad and my body needs some rest.

    Saturday 14 November - Iowa State Cyclocross Championships in Altoona, IA

    The Cat. 3 race was small but, there were some great riders there including Louis Dewild (ZOOM Performance),' [...]
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    Posted: November 16, 2009, 8:00am EST

  • Night Vision

    With daylight savings time over, my afternoon rides have turned into night rides lately. Sometimes I can get out of the house while it is still light out and finish my ride in the darkness although, the majority of them start in the darkness as well. Not a big deal [...]
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    Posted: November 12, 2009, 8:02am EST

  • Veteran's Day

    Do you know why you can do whatever you want when you want?

    Do you understand the sacrifices that have been made by so many Americans for your freedoms?

    Thank a Veteran. They helped make it possible.

    [...]
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    Posted: November 11, 2009, 7:27am EST

  • November?

    Temps this past weekend were definitely not your typical November in Iowa. With the sun shining and the thermometer reading 70F, it is no wonder that so many people were out enjoying the warmth. As for me, I spent Saturday in my basement tearing out carpet and cleaning up a [...]
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    Posted: November 09, 2009, 7:17am EST

  • Parts swap

    Had some time to myself last night as Amy and Rhea went to hang out with some friends for a "play date". I took the opportunity to get some things done on the 'Cross bike. Starting with getting 98% of the dirt off of it from last weekend's racing and [...]
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    Posted: November 06, 2009, 7:36am EST

  • Dusk Crit

    Yesterday's ride was a great one. I received and invite from J.Fry to join him and Bullerman for a little crit simulation at one of the cemeteries in Waterloo. Fast turns, couple of small hills, decreasing visibility as the time went on, and a couple of potholes made for some' [...]
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    Posted: November 05, 2009, 7:09am EST

  • No biking, just running

    Yesterday afternoon's plans included a 90 minute spin through the trails of Cedar Falls but, I called that one off on the grounds of the skies getting ready to open up with water so back home after a whopping 3.5 miles it was. Not a huge deal. I ended up' [...]
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    Posted: November 04, 2009, 7:29am EST

  • J-Pow's Office

    There are some sweet carbon fiber cyclocross frames out on the market, like the Ridley X-Fire that I rode last season, and their performance is awesome. I loved how my Ridley smoothed out even the roughest courses. Cannondale however, opts to stick with aluminum for their cyclocross frames and I [...]
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    Posted: November 03, 2009, 10:15am EST

  • Race Report - Spooky Cross 2009

    Saturday, 31 October

    With the large amounts of rain that Iowa has received over the last 1.5 weeks, it was fully expected to have a wet, sloppy race on Saturday. Especially the sections that were surrounding the corn fields in the first half of the course. A short series [...]
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    Posted: November 02, 2009, 8:41am EST

  • Race Report - Psyclofest 2009

    The course at this year's Psylcofest was similar to last year's event in many ways but, the folks at DICE also threw in a few changes to make the course different while also adding some character. A couple of sweeping turns coming off of a nice downhill section kept [...]
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    Posted: October 27, 2009, 8:13am EDT

  • Race Report - Vande Cross '09

    The DICE Cycling four race series got started this past weekend with the first race being Old Towne Vande Cross held at Stephen's Park in Moline, IL. I opted for the Open Class race for a couple of reasons. First off, the races last for 15 minutes longer than the' [...]
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    Posted: October 12, 2009, 7:23am EDT

  • Mud Light

    Saturday's Dirty Wooden Shoe had a few spots of mud but, nothing crazy. Here is the X6 with a light coating which makes for pretty easy cleaning.



    Wednesday was a touch of singletrack, on the Scalpel this time, although the trails were just' [...]
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    Posted: October 06, 2009, 7:27am EDT

  • Race Report - Dirty Wooden Shoe

    First off let me explain one little detail about Pella, IA where Saturday's 'Cross, the 1st Annual Dirty Wooden Shoe, was held. Pella was founded in 1847 by Dutch Separatist's hence it has a very Dutch feel to it with the architecture, landscaping, and overall ambiance of the area. If' [...]
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    Posted: October 05, 2009, 8:00am EDT

  • Bliss

    Yesterday afternoon's ride was one of those that made me think back....way back.... to when I rode bicycles just to ride. You might remember those times. Back when there was no computer on the bike since the distance traveled didn't really mean anything. There was no real time limit other [...]
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    Posted: October 01, 2009, 7:42am EDT

  • Race Report - Capital City Cross

    The opening weekend of cyclocross racing in Iowa finally arrived this past weekend and although the weather was not necessarily "Cross weather" it was still a fun time at the two venues in Des Moines. Each of the two courses offered up some challenges in the form of runups, barriers, [...]
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    Posted: September 29, 2009, 9:04am EDT

  • Opening Weekend

    The first weekend of 'Cross racing in Iowa is officially in the books. I'll try to get reports and photos up later because right now my body is fried and I have to be at work at 6AM today. Saturday and Sunday's courses both rocked in their own ways and' [...]
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    Posted: September 28, 2009, 6:25am EDT

  • US 'Cross

    The 'Cross racing in the US continued on last night from Las Vegas, NV with Cross Vegas. It was being hailed as a pretty big race and looking through the start sheet confirmed that one. Pretty much every big name that you can think of in the North American' [...]
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    Posted: September 24, 2009, 7:30am EDT

  • The Pros are a Go

    All good things come to an end, or so they say, and I hope that this one is just temporary. I've been able to leave my car in the garage for the last 3+ weeks as I have been able to ride the bicycle to work with the perfect weather' [...]
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    Posted: September 21, 2009, 7:58am EDT

  • More singletrack

    There was an e-mail in my inbox yesterday from Cap'n Bob stating that he would be in town for the group MTB ride that takes place on Wednesday nights at 6:15pm from Bike Tech. Since I did not really have anything going on I decided that I would' [...]
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    Posted: September 17, 2009, 8:02am EDT

  • A little too close

    It was a pretty uneventful day at work yesterday, as usual, so I was looking forward to getting on my bike for the ride home. My ride was held up briefly for a train which didn't seem to annoy me as much as it did some of the automobile drivers' [...]
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    Posted: September 16, 2009, 7:28am EDT

  • Lil' dirt

    Here are some blurry pictures of some offroad riding via 'Cross bike from yesterday...







    [...]
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    Posted: September 14, 2009, 7:22am EDT

  • Product Review - Oakley

    2009 represents the second year that I have been back to wearing Oakley Eyewear exclusively and I have no complaints. With new sunglasses now in hand for the upcoming cyclocross season, I have decided to give my thoughts of what I have been wearing for the last year as well [...]
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    Posted: September 08, 2009, 12:53pm EDT

  • Blogging

    Yes I am aware that my blogging has pretty much SUCKED all year and no I do not have a great excuse for it. Every time I ride my bike my mind wanders through the air and I tell myself about all of the cool things around me that would [...]
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    Posted: September 08, 2009, 8:02am EDT

  • Race Report - East Village Criterium

    It has to be said. The East Village Criterium is destined to become one of the great, must do races on the annual Iowa road calendar. The course layout was sweet with five right-handers and one to the left. It also included a great multi-pitch two block climb opposite a [...]
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    Posted: August 31, 2009, 8:48pm EDT

  • Short climbs

    This past weekend was spent with Amy's family at Backbone State Park about 45 minutes East of home. The park itself is situated in a ravine which offers up some good opportunities for a few climbing miles on the bike so I took the SystemSix with me and got a' [...]
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    Posted: August 24, 2009, 11:14am EDT

  • Time to get the build on


    2006 Cannondale CX frameset arrived today...looks brand spanking new. Purchased from someone who just didn't need it. I have some parts laying around the house but, I will need to acquire a few before it is all said and done as well. It will be' [...]
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    Posted: August 20, 2009, 9:30am EDT

  • Two-a-day

    Yesterday afternoon was a perfect day of sunshine and temperatures in the low 80s here. When I picked Rhea up from daycare she stated that she wanted to go for a ride in the Burley and I was not going to argue with that so we headed home and hooked [...]
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    Posted: August 19, 2009, 7:35am EDT

  • Dusty

    The gravel roads around here are dry, dusty, and surprisingly smooth right now. Yesterday's ride included 2.5 hours of this.

    [...]
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    Posted: August 18, 2009, 7:39am EDT

  • Race Report - Grinnell Twilight Criterium

    Crits are perfect training for cyclocross season....aside from the weather of course. This year was the first, of hopefully many, criteriums in Grinnell,IA and hosted by Bikes to You. The course itself was fairly flat with less than 10 feet of elevation gain per lap. Most of the turns [...]
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    Posted: August 09, 2009, 4:20pm EDT

  • Weekend Race Report

    Saturday, 1 August - State Road Race Championships in West Branch, IA

    I had not been on a bike for almost a full week prior to this 54 mile race through the rolling hills North of West Branch. My legs were feeling okay and my initial plan was to [...]
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    Posted: August 04, 2009, 8:46am EDT

  • '09 TdF Recap

    Overall I have to say that the 2009 Tour de France was pretty good. I've been surfing through the road bike forums and it seems to be a little divided concerning this subject for numerous reasons but, a lot of the reasoning for disliking it seems to be coming from' [...]
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    Posted: July 27, 2009, 6:58am EDT

  • How am I doing?

    I have a short little rant here today. It is not directed towards anyone specifically but, it is just one of those things that is floating around in my head from time to time. Maybe it's because I enjoy statistics, results, and all kinds of other numbers or maybe I [...]
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    Posted: July 24, 2009, 4:03pm EDT

  • '09 TdF KOM





    Photo credit ©Sirotti

    Oh, and let us not forget the amazing ride by Thor Hushovd yesterday. The sprinter takes off solo on the second climb of the day so that he can pick up the sprint points that [...]
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    Posted: July 23, 2009, 6:52am EDT

  • Le Tour '09

    2009 Tour de France

    In my opinion it has been pretty good up to this point. Some of the key highlights that I have enjoyed include the breakaways that stay away as well as some of the riders that win those days. Thomas Voekler winning Stage 5, Niki Sörenson [...]
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    Posted: July 20, 2009, 7:15am EDT

  • Still racing?

    I wasn't really planning on going on the full group ride last night since my legs were still a little heavy from the weekend but, with J. Fry, Bullerman, Kevin, Will and a few others in attendance I could not pass it up. I was really expecting the race pace' [...]
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    Posted: July 15, 2009, 7:19am EDT

  • Race Report - Clear Lake Road Race

    The BBQ road race had a few new faces in it on Sunday morning and four of those were my teammates including Chad Mason, Tony Muse, Jason Alread, and Dustin Mars. With five of us in the class we had a pretty good chance at controlling the field as well [...]
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    Posted: July 14, 2009, 7:00am EDT

  • Race Report - Clear Lake Crit

    First off, this is one of my favorite venues of the season for a couple of reasons. I enjoy both the crit course and the road race course that North Iowa Spin put together as well as the atmosphere that the town has for the races. The have a [...]
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    Posted: July 13, 2009, 6:52am EDT

  • Race Report- 2009 Iowa State Crit Championships

    Beautiful weather with temperatures around 80F and nothing but sun from the sky was on tap yesterday in Cedar Rapids for the 2009 Iowa State Criterium Championships presented by HBA Racing. We arrived at the races at around 10:30am to hang out with some people as well as give [...]
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    Posted: July 06, 2009, 6:53am EDT

  • Working the draft

    My plans for the group ride last night were very simple. No work unless I was with the group on the final stretch home. Oddly enough, it worked out that way too. I wanted to use as little energy and possible in order to save myself for the State Crit [...]
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    Posted: July 03, 2009, 8:24am EDT

  • Almost go time

    Afternoon temperatures this week have been in the 70-80F range which has made for some great after work riding. The other side of that though, is that morning temps have been down in the low 50s. Still great temperatures for riding but, it has me back into arm warmers, cycling [...]
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    Posted: July 02, 2009, 8:07am EDT

  • New faces and higher paces

    Last night's group ride was yet another great for the year. We had a couple of guests in the form of former local Kevin Temple and Bikes to You racer Will Greenwood was also there. Add to these two, most of the local fast guys were also in attendance [...]
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    Posted: July 01, 2009, 8:13am EDT

  • Ink work

    The redness was gone within a day or so and all of the scabbing is gone from my new tattoo so here it is. It was done by Greg Taylor and Say10Tattoo in Chandler, AZ last week during our brief visit. I dropped off some magazines to give him a [...]
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    Posted: June 30, 2009, 7:14am EDT

  • Back into gear

    After last Thursday's very poor performance at the group ride, I pretty much road like a brick, I went out Friday afternoon for some hill repeats in an attempt to throttle the legs back to normal. The climbing was actually going pretty well and so after about a dozen repeats [...]
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    Posted: June 29, 2009, 8:01am EDT

  • Hot and sticky

    Yesterday's ride was my first ride in ten days, although I needed the rest, and it was also my first ride of the year in high temperatures with high humidity. Needless to say it did not go very well. Things started out fine and my legs felt strong and full [...]
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    Posted: June 26, 2009, 7:59am EDT

  • Time to get back at it

    The Tour de France is just around the corner with a start date of Saturday July 4th and the Liquigas team looks to be coming into form at just the right moment. First there was Pellizotti finishing in 3rd overall at the Giro d'Italia, then Szymd wins the Mount' [...]
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    Posted: June 25, 2009, 7:57am EDT

  • Monday Briefing

    We spent three days in the Phoenix/Mesa/Scottsdale, AZ area and like last time, it was a great trip. Beautiful 95F weather the whole time that we were there and not a drop of rain. Our plane left Cedar Rapids, IA on Thursday in the rain and we returned on Sunday [...]
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    Posted: June 22, 2009, 7:56am EDT

  • Just like getting traded

    So since I haven't raced for a while and my blog is getting a bit stagnant, I'm going to go a little outside the rink for a second.

    Ice Hockey. Outside of cycling, it's the greatest sport on the planet. I love the sport and can watch almost any [...]
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    Posted: June 21, 2009, 2:10pm EDT

  • Cannondale Rize 3

    During my last business trip to Florida I was unable to take my own MTB along so I had to make arrangements for a temporary one. Thankfully, the great staff at The Bike Shop in Winter Haven, FL were able to help me out by setting me up with a [...]
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    Posted: June 20, 2009, 7:12am EDT

  • More fun in the sun

    Heading back to Arizona this morning for a few days of visiting family and such. Always good to see them and pretty excited to be making my second trip this year. Two trips to Arizona in one year are pretty good considering I had not been there in the 20 [...]
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    Posted: June 18, 2009, 7:01am EDT

  • Ready for some Hup Hup

    The Cyclocross bug is already starting to nip at me this year, almost to the point where I wish the season started now. I'm pretty excited about the fact that this will be my first full season racing 3s and in Iowa that means that we race with the 1s' [...]
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    Posted: June 17, 2009, 7:59am EDT

  • 4-man Gravel TT

    Last week's riding, especially the group rides on Tuesday and Thursday, left my legs pretty tired and even the ride to work and home on Friday was tender. That meant that Friday and Saturday were both immediately tagged for off days from any biking to give the legs some rest. [...]
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    Posted: June 15, 2009, 7:03am EDT

  • Random Bits

    My legs are throttled after last night's group ride. They were still not really recovered from Tuesday's slugfest and last night destroyed anything that was left in them. Still feels better than sitting on the couch though. :)

    Liquigas rider Sylvester Szmyd took the stage 5 win yesterday, [...]
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    Posted: June 12, 2009, 8:29am EDT

  • Boo!!!

    No it is not Halloween in June but it is a short one today and I think it's funny. I was on my way to work this morning aboard my 'Cross bike and cruising along on one of the recreational trails that has a full canopy of trees over it' [...]
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    Posted: June 11, 2009, 8:08am EDT

  • J.Fry off the front....again

    Talk about a great interval session. Last night's group ride saw yet another small group make it out for the fun. Six of us left Bike Tech at 6:05pm for some fun in the sun along the Dike-Hudson loop. The speeds ramped up pretty quick from the start and' [...]
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    Posted: June 10, 2009, 7:10am EDT

  • Feeling a little heavy

    Last weeks riding was hard enough that my legs were not the happiest on Friday morning. They still felt okay but, they needed a little rest so aside from the commute to and from work on Friday I stayed off the bikes until Sunday afternoon. I did drive over to [...]
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    Posted: June 08, 2009, 7:15am EDT

  • Relentless

    Had six riders make the trip out for the group road ride yesterday afternoon. Temperatures in the mid-70s, a sky full of sun, and a nice breeze from the South-ish greeted us and promised a nice smooth ride...for the most part. We opted for one of our longer routes which [...]
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    Posted: June 05, 2009, 8:01am EDT

  • On the commute

    Riding a bicycle in the early morning. There really is no better way to start the day than by pedaling to work. Now granted, I do not ride to work as much as I should but, I am trying to change that, especially since it is less than 5.5 miles [...]
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    Posted: June 03, 2009, 7:06am EDT

  • Weekend Update

    It was a pretty typical Midwestern weekend around here, for me at least. No riding on Saturday since I had to work all morning and we had things going on in the afternoon. Sunday was a little different. I was able to get insome interval work early in the morning [...]
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    Posted: June 01, 2009, 7:56am EDT

  • A+B=3C

    72°
    Sunny
    Less than 10mph breeze
    Group Ride......3 people total. Two for the "A" ride plus one for the "B" ride.
    Craig, Chris, Carl......3 Cs

    Still had a pretty nice time rolling tempo with Craig E. and Chris R. Chris is normally a "B" group rider so he sat [...]
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    Posted: May 29, 2009, 8:03am EDT

  • The Green Machine

    Liquigas had three riders finish in the top 10 on today's Stage 17 in the Giro d'Italia. The 17th stage featured a massive climb for the final 23.5km of the stage which put somebig separations in the field. Franco Pellizotti took victory on the Backhaus with Ivan Basso [...]
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    Posted: May 27, 2009, 12:31pm EDT

  • Rain - Love/hate

    I'll keep it short today.

    Group ride started with seven riders last night. Went down to three in our group as we turned West towards Finchford and J. Fry picked up the pace, rode tempo with J.Fry and Bullerman for the next 45 minutes or so to Janesville and' [...]
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    Posted: May 27, 2009, 8:13am EDT

  • Smooth riding

    Pretty low-key around here for the last three days. I opted out of any of the racing festivities and got a few things done around the house as well as some riding in. A couple of hours of tempo riding on Saturday was in order which included a couple of [...]
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    Posted: May 26, 2009, 7:31am EDT

  • Choo-choo

    Walked out of the door at home at around 17:30 and worked on getting the bit of the residual heaviness that was remaining in my legs from Tuesday night's ride. About 30 minutes of easy spinning was just enough to get my legs back in check and I made my' [...]
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    Posted: May 22, 2009, 7:59am EDT

  • Cross-training?

    Ever since Kerkove moved to Colorado I have been without a regular riding buddy. Sure I have some great people in the area to ride with and I have done so on many occasions with Blue, J.Fry, Mike, Houlihan and others although, no one with as much consistency [...]
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    Posted: May 20, 2009, 9:45pm EDT

  • Temps in the mid 80s

    Looks like the warm weather has finally hit Iowa for 2009 with the temperatures yesterday around 85F and not a cloud in the sky. I was pretty excited for the group road ride since I was in Florida last week and was unable to attend the rides. Last night saw [...]
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    Posted: May 20, 2009, 6:56am EDT

  • Late again

    The trip home from Florida on Friday afternoon was another test of my patience. After all of the delays on the way to Florida I was pretty much expecting more but, Northwest Airlines did a great job of really outdoing themselves in the delay department (that was a sarcastic comment). [...]
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    Posted: May 18, 2009, 7:59am EDT

  • Leaving my mark

    Is someone trying to stop me from enjoying a little bit of fun in the Sunshine State when I finish my work for the day? Maybe I'm just missing the signs or maybe I am ignoring them. I am starting to wonder though.

    Monday: Get into town two hours' [...]
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    Posted: May 14, 2009, 7:12am EDT

  • Raining in the Sunshine State

    Yesterday's plan following work was to take the Cannondale Rize 3 for a ride at some local singletrack but, Mother Nature had other plans. As soon as I began the drive back to the hotel from work I saw the dark clouds in the distance. Sure enough, the skies' [...]
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    Posted: May 13, 2009, 6:27am EDT

  • 30 minutes here and there

    I'll be in Florida all of this week to do some training at the company plant in Winter Haven. I've only been to Florida once before and I'll be honest, that it isn't really the place for me. I am hoping that this trip will be a bit different so [...]
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    Posted: May 12, 2009, 1:20pm EDT

  • Race Report: Finchford-Roubaix Road Race

    The first road race of the 2009 season, for me, was this past Saturday in Finchford, IA. Finchford is only 12 miles NW of my house so in essence in is my "home race" of sorts. As of two weeks ago I was still undecided as to whether or not [...]
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    Posted: May 11, 2009, 6:24am EDT

  • New cog

    Last night's group ride was a no-go for me. I missed the chance to ride on Wednesday and so I opted to get out for a tempo ride yesterday afternoon to get the legs back in line in anticipation of racing the Finchford-Roubaix on Saturday. Historically this race has' [...]
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    Posted: May 08, 2009, 7:36am EDT

  • Giggle alert

    Time away was in order so we left for a long weekend in Arizona on Saturday morning and returned home Tuesday afternoon. We went to visit some of my family members and get away for a few days of relaxation. Temperatures in the Mesa-Phoenix area were in the mid to [...]
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    Posted: May 06, 2009, 7:00am EDT

  • New Tool

    I was unable to locate one of these tools at home so when I saw one resting on a hook in the tool section of Paragon Cycles in Mesa, AZ I was quick to snatch it up. The Headwrench should fill in the hole in the steerer tube [...]
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    Posted: May 04, 2009, 10:11pm EDT

  • Downtime

    Taking a few days off to fly to Phoenix to visit family and work on my tan. This will be Rhea's first time on an airplane and she seems pretty excited. Said she wants to drive the plane herself. We'll be back on Tuesday afternoon just in time for the [...]
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    Posted: May 02, 2009, 10:25am EDT

  • Overcooked

    Weather was not looking very inviting yesterday afternoon when I was getting ready for the group ride. Dark grey clouds were lingering in the sky and they did not look to be moving very quickly at all. I checked the radar and it looked clear so I suited up and [...]
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    Posted: May 01, 2009, 7:59am EDT

  • Almost clear

    There was a threat of rain almost all day yesterday but, I was able to sneak in a short easy ride to get the legs back in order after being throttled on Tuesday night. Yesterday's ride was very low-key and I pretty much stuck to the bike trails through the' [...]
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    Posted: April 30, 2009, 7:05am EDT

  • Breezy break

    Partly cloudy skies and temperatures in the high 50s greeted 14 riders that gathered behind Bike Tech in Cedar Falls for our version of the TNWC. The "No Mercy" crew was in full force which meant that the pace would definitely be up there and they would not wait [...]
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    Posted: April 29, 2009, 7:01am EDT

  • Tour de Romandie

    Pro Road Cycling is in full force and so far in 2009 we have seen some sweet racing in the Spring Classics and some of the short stage races. Speaking of which, the next stage race is on tap to begin today in Lausanne, Switzerland. The Tour de Romandie [...]
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    Posted: April 28, 2009, 7:30am EDT

  • Waterlogged weekend

    The forecast for the weekend was for rain, and lots of it. The Decorah TT mountain bike raced was on Sunday and I had originally planned on attending. However, there were a few things that I needed to take care of in town here and I was leaning towards skipping [...]
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    Posted: April 27, 2009, 8:01am EDT

  • Exploring the pain cave

    Yesterday was an interesting day around here. I'll spare you the details, mostly so I don't have to relive them. It was a high stress day and I was in need of some relief so I had it in my head that I would skip the group road ride and [...]
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    Posted: April 23, 2009, 10:39pm EDT

  • A gentle breeze

    The SystemSix came out to play yesterday afternoon since the X6 is still sitting in the repair stand at home. The new derailleur clamp arrived at Bike Tech yesterday so I should be able to get the X6 finished up with the double chainring in the next couple of [...]
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    Posted: April 22, 2009, 7:58am EDT

  • Bike changes

    The plans for the weekend were to get some much needed maintenance work done on my fleet. The X6 was scheduled for it's dual chainring setup install and a bath, the SystemSix was scheduled for a new chain, and the Scalpel needed to have the Lefty reassembled and installed. Nothing' [...]
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    Posted: April 20, 2009, 10:02am EDT

  • Still running the thick tires

    Thursday night group ride started out with 10 or so riders and with the wind coming out of the SE we were guaranteed a headwind on the way home regardless of which route we took. We opted for the New Hartford loop starting out by heading West on 27th Street [...]
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    Posted: April 16, 2009, 10:27pm EDT

  • Rally for cyclists' rights

    There was a Rally for Cyclists' Safety yesterday afternoon in Desmoines and I decided to join in for a cause that effects not only those cyclists that live in and around the Des Moines area but, it effects all of us in the state of Iowa. There have been way' [...]
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    Posted: April 16, 2009, 8:15am EDT

  • Ride Smart

    Time was of utmost importance after work yesterday. I had 30 minutes to get Rhea from daycare, drop her off with my Mom, and get to the garage for an oil change in the VW. That all went rather well. Then it was back home to get ready for the [...]
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    Posted: April 15, 2009, 7:37am EDT

  • Time for a rally

    For those of you that have not heard, Des Moines cyclist Doug Smith was involved in an incident on Saturday when the driver of a truck pulling ammonia trailers decided to run closer than need be to a group of eight cyclists and Doug was unfortunate enough to be drag [...]
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    Posted: April 14, 2009, 8:02am EDT

  • Long weekend = more riding

    Having and extra day off gave me the chance to log a few extra miles over the weekend which also means I took a few extra pictures. I was able to get out on the 'Cross bike all three days away from work which also gives me my first full' [...]
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    Posted: April 13, 2009, 7:02am EDT

  • 2nd Amendment

    This video was sent to me by one of my friends who is figuring out that I am not alone with my thought process. Ted Nugent is smarter than most of the politicians in the USA, the guy has a great head on his shoulders and knows how to use [...]
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    Posted: April 11, 2009, 12:52pm EDT

  • I think I can, I think I can...

    Last night's group road ride pretty much turned my legs into mush. There was a group of 10 that started out the ride with the two newest faces of the season being Doug Eilderts and Mike Johnson, both fast guys. With the wind coming from the NE we went for' [...]
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    Posted: April 10, 2009, 9:25am EDT

  • Need more gears....eventually

    Tuesday night's group ride was quite a bit better than Thursday of last week. We had 13 riders show up on Tuesday and there were even some new faces there which was good to see. The wind was from the WSW at around 18mph so we opted for a mostly [...]
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    Posted: April 09, 2009, 7:57am EDT

  • It's all about location, or is it?

    Okay. There has been a ton of discussion concerning Cannondale's future on the cycling forums over the last week and I have received a few e-mails about it all asking for my opinion. Unfortunately, I do not think that anyone's opinion really matters at this point, many people seem to [...]
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    Posted: April 07, 2009, 7:07am EDT

  • Lots of racing, none of it mine

    As many of you may know already, we had a winter storm roll through this are on Sunday and it was kind enough to drop about 4" of new snow. It just so happened to be the very wet and heavy snow as well. Under normal circumstances I would just" [...]
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    Posted: April 06, 2009, 7:57am EDT

  • Lots o' thinkin'

    Thinking, thinking, and more thinking. That's what I have had the opportunity to do over the last week while I have logged some gravel grinding miles aboard the X6. Blogging, riding, training, racing, gravel, singletrack, working, pictures, scenery, and a few other things float around in my skull as I [...]
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    Posted: April 04, 2009, 2:00pm EDT

  • Sufferfests are in motion

    Okay. I've decided to keep it going. Thanks to all of you that chimed in, I appreciate it. I will be working on an upgraded look over the next few weeks and possibly even a new location so stay tuned. I have a ton of things that I would like' [...]
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    Posted: April 03, 2009, 9:34am EDT

  • ??????????

    Murphy's Law can be found written in many different ways but fot the most part it states something to the effect of: "that which can happen, will happen.". Well as luck would have it, that's exactly how my weekend went. Last Friday I had made the decision to cut my [...]
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    Posted: March 30, 2009, 9:11am EDT

  • Throwing in the towel

    Well folks, I'm calling it quits. I'm not going to sit here and give you some total bullshit excuse about how it takes too long to blog or that I need more time for training or anything else like that. Fact of the matter is I'm just not in it' [...]
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    Posted: March 27, 2009, 7:30pm EDT
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Carl Buchanan

» http://carlosdajackal.blogspot.com/

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