Friday, October 26, 2012

Big Wally

My wife just informed me that Scott Wallerich, "Big Wally" passed away yesterday from a heart attack. Scott was one of my first bike buddies, like from about 40 years ago. We used to build bikes, destroy bikes, jump bikes, paint bikes, draw bikes, dream about bikes, rebuild other people's bikes, you name it, we biked it! Fork - inside - a- fork choppers...Did 'em. Drilled out chain rings...Did 'em. Huge powerslides...Did 'em. Strange to think how far back your roots go, isn't it? Strange to think some "born in the 80's" hipsters think they're into bikes, isn't it? Mortality is a bitch, isn't it? R.I.P. Big Wally!

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

On A Mission

I rode the Heart of Iowa Nature Trail today, from its start in Slater to one of the "ends" in Collins. I say one of the ends because there are sections where you have to ride on the shoulder of the road to get to the next section. It actually goes on to Rhodes and even to Marshalltown. The trail surface is mostly crushed limestone, which I love, since it is similar to gravel and makes noises as you ride over it. I had ridden this trail two weeks ago on a sunny but cool day, and took my camp stove along to cook some lunch. Today. I rode the same trail again so that I could retrieve the base stand for my stove, which I had left in a then-dry drainage ditch. Luckily I have a nearly photographic memory, and remembered the rock beside the trail where I had stopped. (How can I forget to pick something up immediately after using it, yet come back two weeks later and remember the rock at the side of the trail???) So there it was, sitting at the exact spot where I had dined, only today it was under three inches of water. No harm done, as it is mostly plastic.
One of the other missions I was out to complete was to hit the Casey's stores along the trail. A "Casey's Crawl" if you will. Slater, to Huxley, to Maxwell, and sadly no Casey's in Collins. This concept, of chaining together Casey's stores, is one that I am trying to "dry run" to see if it could become a riding event along the High Trestle Trail, or other trails. Casey's has said that if it proves to be popular among cyclists, and we wanted to ride a Casey's Crawl as a fund raiser for a charity, they will try to find a way to support it.
I can't believe I haven't posted an entry here for half a year! I promise I've been riding. Also dreaming about fatbikes a lot...maybe WalMart will start selling them for $299.96 someday soon;) Later!