Fairfield, Iowa - 2nd best place to bike?

Featuring the diversity of our group, as reported by our local Danish bike ambassador to Fairfield regarding health, food and exercise;

"You should know that most Danes do NOT EVER use their cars if we can bike the distance, hence we grow up biking at least 15-30 miles/day from the time we begin school. No self respecting Dane would EVER give his/her kid a ride to school. From the time we turn 7, we're just handed our rain gear and off we pedal in the sun, the rain and the snow. We're Vikings, after all."

Copenhagen Cycle Chic

"By the way, the current Danish Prime Minister is a keen competitive biker who aims to bike at least 50 km/day (with his body guards, naturally). It creates quite the stir among foreign heads of state when the Danish contingent arrive in cities like Brussels for a NATO meeting and then take off on their fancy racing bikes after the meetings.

Copenhagen's Best City for Cyclists goal - BBC link

No wonder the Danes are such happy people with all the biking we do....

Oh, and I should add that the daily biking is not the only thing that keep the Danes so happy. With all the biking we do, as well as the yummy chocolate and pastries we consume on a daily basis, you will rarely see a fat Dane as we're always out there burning calories on our bikes."

Bike On,

Kristina aka "The Dane"

Thanks to Greg and Kristina for their contributions to this post.

Feist 200

For the last 18 years our fearless leader has orchestrated a bike odyssey of a double century ride on a dedicated route from Fairfield, to turn around near Bushnell, Illinois and return to Fairfield. Supportive riders join in at Denmark for The Middle One Hundred miles, to escort the core group through Ft. Madison, Dallas City, La Harpe and Good Hope. The ride begins at 3:00am and sometimes does not end until midnight that day. Truly, not a ride for everyone.

Rather a spiritual journey possibly only comparable to a ritualistic native American peyote ceremony.

Reported this year;

"Despite a demoralizing headwind, a t-storm, incessant showers, a torrential downpour in Dallas City, a near capitulation right then and there, flat tires, slow leaks and the usual will-sucking power of the double century itself, the sole proprietor of Feist Bikes and myself finished in the midnight hour w/ flair, style, panache and a bellyful of Clif Blocks.

None of this would have been possible for Jeff and I without the steely resolve of Gordon Shackleford and his superb stoker, Jenny Ravey, who pulled us back into the game and took the heart out of the middle century. Thanks to the 'terrible two on the Trek T2000 tandem."

Mark A. Smith

"p.s. Jeff claimed this was the best ride ever, but he always says that. Hyperbole aside, the man looked strong, felt strong, smelled strong...great job, Jeff!"

Performance

With the aerodynamic build of a hockey player, I'm a bike geek, yo!

It's all about Performance!!



Tom

video noted by Tim

Bicycle Timelapse

The Road Guide

I completed the first part of my national book tour this morning, and
can report overwhelming success! The Road Guide is now available at
these locations:

Revelations
AJ's Bike Shop
The Meredith Hirsch Salon (61 Broadway, Suite 204--upstairs)

Looks like everyone is selling it for the same price as 21st Century,
$14. So buy a copy for yourself, a back-up copy (you can never be
sure what might happen), stocking stuffer copies, birthday gift
copies, bathroom copies (those are a must-have), etc. Remember, I'm
making a ton of $ off this, so help support my now-defunct 403b
retirement plan. It's a really good cause.

I may or may not ride this weekend. I'll likely be in Chicago
prepping for the Oprah show, which kicks off the national tour that
starts next week. You'd think I'd be excited, but all this national
attention and success is going to kill my training program. So will
it be worth it? Only time will tell. Right now, the cramping in my
hand from signing autographs is killing me, so I have to wonder. I'll
keep y'all posted.

Pasta lumbago!

Greg
July 28, 2009

RAGBRAI 09'

Several of us are planning to ride with RAGBRAI next Friday and Saturday.
Here is the proposed schedule.




Friday, July 24. Depart from BP Amoco at 8:00 AM and ride to Packwood where
we will meet up with RAGBRAI. Then we go with RAGBRAI to Mt. Pleasant. We'll
hang out for a bit in MP and then cycle back to Fairfield. Total distance is
approximately 90 miles.










Saturday, July 25. Depart from BP Amoco at 7:30 AM via car and drive to Mt.
Pleasant. From there, we'll cycle to Burlington and then back to Mt. Pleasant. Total distance is approximately 90 - 100 miles.


photographs by Carolyn Waksman

Six Hour Centuries

So guys,

The weather today was perfect for a fast century ride. Sunny, mid 70ties with a cool breeze all day. Jim, Sol, Jeff, Joe Dowd & Tom got everyone organized and working together. We hit some heavenly smooth roads, and the thought popped into my head "we're biking in heaven".

Pedaling along at a fast clip, working together for mile after speedy mile, Jim called out that we were hitting 19.9 MPH. Bless his constant inspirational talks. With all the bikers hunched over their handlebars, concentration etched on everyone's face, Jeff admired the newly adjusted height of Sol's handlebars, when suddenly, Sol's voice rung out: "Hey, Chaz. How do I look on my bike? Does my ass look good?". I gagged on my water laughing so hard that I almost drove into the ditch.

Joe Dowd spend the either ride either pulling an echelon setting a lovely, fast pace, or, rushing half a mile ahead of the first riders and doing serpentines, playing like a kid on his bike, or driving along my side, singing. Now, Coach Jim mentioned that if he heard chatting, we were going too slow. The rest of the group was busy breathing in and out, getting oxygen into our cramping extremities, never mind having the energy to chat. We were peddling at 19MPH and here was Joe, singing.....

Yes, Jim, we need a bit more discipline staying tight in the echelons both up and down the hills for the duration of the entire century ride, but each time we ride, hopefully we get a bit better....

All in all, I'd say we did pretty darn good pulling off a century ride in 5:18 hrs. Thank you for pushing me to do this. The ride today was fantastic!

The Dane