Overheard on RAGBRAI

In everyday life you often overhear funny bits of conversation, and RAGBRAI is no different. Here are a couple I heard today:

Art of Arguing on Bicycle

Man talking on cell phone while riding a recumbent bicycle up a steep hill: "I don't know why you're even asking me. We had an agreement, now you're changing it, and I'm on a steep hill!"

Teaching Moments

Woman riding a tandem bicycle with her son in the neighborhood of six or seven years old, after riding by sign proclaiming Dubuque as Iowa's first city: "Did you know that Delaware was the first state?"

Son: "On earth?"

Project 365 Day 212: Two Rivers and 442 Miles Between

The journey is over, and I think we'll take the next week (month? year?) off as far as biking goes. It was quite an incredible experience to bike every mile through northern Iowa from the Missouri river to the Mississippi (where I dipped my front tire in this picture), and along the way we saw a lot of neat places and met some nice people. We'll probably go back to at least Clear Lake and Charles City sometime on our own to explore more, based on what we saw while spending nights there this week.

As for the future of our RAGBRAI careers, it remains to be determined when or if we'll do the ride again. We learned a lot about how to do RAGBRAI properly by doing it for the first time, learning from some mistakes along the way. Number one mistake: doing the whole week on hybrid bikes with plain old pedals. The majority of people with road bikes and clip-on pedals could go 1.5 to 2 times as fast as us, and we're in pretty good pedaling shape. Faster speed means less time on the bike, which means less aches and pain and more time to check out all the great communities on the route.

We'll give ourselves some space from this past week, and perhaps in a cold winter snowstorm sometime in January we'll start thinking about how nice it would be to ride on some county highways... on road bikes!

RAGBRAI: At the End

This banner was a happy site to see, marking the end of the journey. Luckily (sarcasm) I got to ride an extra 3 miles just to get to the parking lot where the Bikeworld charter was loading.

RAGBRAI: Pedaling to the Port

The end (of RAGBRAI) is near. In this picture I am pedaling through downtown Dubuque towards the port.

RAGBRAI: Potter Hill

The last day of RAGBRAI included the hardest climb. Potter Hill, about 8 miles outside of Dubuque, had an average grade of 10% and a peak grade of 19%. It was only a mile long, but I could only make it halfway up in my lowest gear before I had to stop for a breather, at which point I turned around and took this picture of everyone else struggling up. About half tried pedaling up and the rest walked. While my pedaling was not much faster than walking (if at all), I am proud to say I finished the hill on bike after my rest.

Project 365 Day 211: Biking Down Memory Lane

Today's route on the bike ride took me through Rowley, IA, my first hometown. I stopped at the street corner of this house, where my parents lived and raised me until I was one year old. Apparently I had a penchant for running out towards the busy street while my mom was hanging laundry, which I believe helped them make the decision to move to a more rural setting just outside of town.

On the way in I also stopped at a food stand selling Gatorade and candy bars to raise money for a school wrestling team. It was on the family farm of an old K-12 classmate of mine who I hadn't seen for 12 years, and as I pulled into the driveway he was there getting out of a truck. We caught up for a bit and agreed that it should hopefully be less time before we see each other again. Living in Iowa will make it easier to attend the occasional class reunion.

Amy pulled off the ride today due to nagging pains and numbness from the intense bike riding this week. Doing 50 to 80 miles a day for 7 days straight can really take a toll. Luckily we're on the east side of the state, close to both our families, and her parents were able to meet us near Rowley. We enjoyed some homecooked food courtesy of my mom, who brought it over to my dad's office, which also happened to be on the route near Winthrop. I was very happy to have Amy's company this past week, and hopefully both of us will recover from aches and pains quickly!

Tomorrow I'll ride to Dubuque, dip my front tire in the Mississippi, and then meet up with Amy for the bus ride back to Ames.

RAGBRAI: Waiting Out the Rain

We've had a rainy morning since leaving Waterloo, and it has only gotten worse as we got close to Shady Grove. Luckily there is a large machine shed on a farm for us to take shelter in while the storm passes. Here's a shot of a tractor and some random riders.

Project 365 Day 210: Dining in Luxury

During RAGBRAI we have found that gas stations are one of the most reliable destinations for our culinary needs. Take the Kwik Star we stopped at in Parkersburg today for example:

1. They have Diet Coke (from a soda fountain, not a can or bottle).
2. They have tasty food items from hot dogs and brats to salads and fruit
3. They have instant shakes in a variety of flavors

What more do you need? Nothing.

Only two days to go...

RAGBRAI: Funny Shirts

On RAGBRAI we have seen many funny shirts and bike jerseys, most of which are unsuitable to repeat here. This guy was wearing a good one however. The team name is "Team Iwanna", and then each person has a different subtitle of what they want, such as a Dove Bar or a Taxi. This guy wants to "know whose idea this was."

In our case, Amy has often reminded me whose idea this was (hint: not hers).

As far as I know, no divorce papers have been filed yet.

Project 365 Day 209: Art in Chucktown

We had a good day, thanks to a shorter distance, cooler weather, and somewhat tempered headwinds. Last night we got to experience our first very loud lightning-filled thunderstorm while sleeping in a tent, around 2am. The storm pushed through over about an hour's time, and probably helped cool things down for us today.

We finally made it into Charles City (aka Chucktown) at 2:30pm and were pleased to find Bikeworld had a campsite near the entry into town, instead of the usual spot near the end of the entry route.

We used the extra time today to check out what was going on in Charles City and found this impossible-to-resist photo opportunity of Amy next to a giant statue of a girl reading a book. Notice that Amy's expression is a bit more positive than in the last one. Clearly, it was a better day!

Tomorrow will be the longest day of the week, heading into Waterloo. Luckily the cooler weather should stick around. One day at a time!

RAGBRAI: Swaledale

Here is a photo of the early morning scene after we had just arrived in the first pass through town of the day, Swaledale. That may be one of the coolest city names in the entire state!

When entering small or medium towns, most riders end up dismounting due to traffic coming to a standstill from the congestion. It makes for a good photo opportunity though!

RAGBRAI: Fixing Some Bad Luck

Here is what was left of my handlebar-mounted mirror after some local punk in one of the pass through towns apparently pushed my bike over while I was temporarily away disposing of some trash. Amy saw it happen, and the guy likely had been enjoying a beer tent a little too much.

After riding for a few days with a broken mirror that sort of worked I finally took advantage of some extra time last night to pick up a new replacement from one of the mobile bike shops. Hopefully this will prevent the possibility of 7 years bad luck (or 7 days in the case of RAGBRAI).

Project 365 Day 208: Facilities

For an outdoor expedition, I've been impressed with the hygiene facilities available. The port-o-potties are pretty standard, but there are a lot of them, the TP is generally stocked, and they have hand washing stations outside with soap. The water is operated by foot pump.

Also available (but not pictured) are portable shower facilties operated by third parties. They cost $5 per use, but after a hot day like this one, with a heat advisory, we'd probably pay $50! The water is actually hot, as well.

We've made it through some challenging days of hills, long distance, and heat. Tomorrow will be the shortest day so far ("only" 50 miles) and hopefully cooling off.

One day at a time!

RAGBRAI: Smoooooothies

We have been blowing straight through a lot of pass through towns, since many just have a beer garden and DJ, which isn't really our thing. We couldn't pass up the lure of smoothies today, though, in Britt, IA, I think it was. Pineapple juice, strawberries, bananas, and ice, blended into a fine fruity drink. Even the Old Spice Guy would find it refreshing!

Project 365 Day 207: Our Experience So Far, In A Nutshell

As usual, a picture is worth a thousand words. In this case, Amy told me she would put her best face on for the self-portrait. If this photo were going to be part of a curated special exhibit at the American Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC, it might be captioned "I used up all my vacation time for THIS?"

We have learned that 90% of the riders are on real road bikes (think skinny tires and curved handle bars, i.e. what Lance Armstrong rides). This, along with the clip-on shoes most of them wear, is what enables them to pass us on our hybrid bikes, going uphill, seemingly at twice our speed.

Salvation of our marriage may depend upon acquiring a tandem roadbike sometime in the next few days...

RAGBRAI: Improvised Clothesline

Our camp this evening is in Algona, IA, near the YMCA. Just behind our row of tents is not a body of water, but instead a cornfield.  Luckily the ears of corn on the stalk make good hooks for hanging wet clothes on to dry. Hopefully I remember to get those in the morning.

RAGBRAI: Hamballs in Plover

The church grandmas in Plover made hundreds of these hamballs as part of a fundraiser for getting the church roof repaired. They were excellent, and the wording of the road sign advertisements were also well done: "Welcome to Plover, where the men are good looking and the grandmas have balls."

RAGBRAI: Slipin' and Slidin'

We came upon this giant slip-n-slide at a farm where Mr. Porkchop and some other food vendors were set up.

Project 365 Day 206: Hardest Day Complete (We Hope)

One major aspect of RAGBRAI that we knew we would not be used to was riding in large groups. We quickly became familiar with the importance of signalling your intentions for stopping and pulling off to the side or getting back on the road in the stream of bikers. These are done by yelling "Biker Off!" and "Biker On!" respectively.

And sometimes, the group ahead of you is slowed or stopped for some reason and you need to be prepared to do likewise. Here is a picture of such a situation just outside the Farm Boys food stand, which I mentioned in an earlier post.

We made it through what we've heard was the hardest day of this year's ride. Lots of hills, especially long and steep ones, but we rode all and didn't walk a single one. We had some fun on the corresponding downhill slopes, reaching speeds around 35 MPH. It was a challenge, taking us most of 12 hours to go 68 miles, but there was a lot of stopping, resting, and eating involved as well.

Here's hoping for an easier Tuesday!

RAGBRAI: Farm Boys

We saw a huge crowd stopped up on the highway about 15 miles out of Sioux City, and found that it was because many were stopping for some Farm Boys (that's the vendors name) breakfast burritos in a farmers yard. We joined them and enjoyed some shade with our meal. I also had my first cornfield pitstop, if you know what I mean...

RAGBRAI: Tire Dipping in Missouri River

We were fortunate to be camped out just next to the official tire-dipping site on the Missouri River. Back tires have been dipped, now only 7 days and about 450 miles before the front tires go in the Mississippi!

RAGBRAI: First Morning

A misty fog greeted us today on our first RAGBRAI morning as we awoke from our night's rest, which was only interuppted by occasional cricket chirps. Oh yeah, and fireworks too.

Project 365 Day 205: A Million Spokes

Tonight we saw an interesting documentary premiere called A Million Spokes, which covered RAGBRAI 2009, mainly featuring a number of personal stories. We laughed, we cried, and we got a good taste of what we're in for this week. The film is being shopped around to various cable networks. Hope it makes it somewhere!

RAGBRAI: No Locks Required

Definitely couldn't get away with this in DC... in fact, I didn't! An unlocked bicycled wouldn't stay put for long in many cities, but it's refreshing to see so many unlocked bikes in one place with no problems. As one of the RAGBRAI guides said, everyone has a bike or is supporting a bike rider; they don't want yours.

RAGBRAI: Starting Off Right

Our campsite is set up (thanks to the Bikeworld charter we're on), and now we're wrapping up the next most important part: food! This Famous Daves seems to be a popular stop. As they say, "Nothing Runs Like a Deere"

RAGBRAI: Home Sweet Home

Here's our mobile home for the week. Just enough room for an air mattress and us!

Project 365 Day 204: Mysterious Message

While walking around downtown to get dinner at the fabulous Olde Main Brewery, we travelled past the window of the Skunk River Cycles bike shop. There, by chance, was this mysterious message: "Are you ready for the big ride?"

Why is it mysterious?

How about the fact that it ends at 3 days left on the right side, even though RAGBRAI is in fact 1 day away!

How about the fact that it looks like it was created by a madman psychopath who used an old Apple IIe to print the message out banner style, and then separated the 8.5" x 11" sheets before posting them on the window.

Mysterious, I say.

Anyhow, on a lighter note, we'll be attempting to take pictures in as many of the towns, pass-through and overnight, as possible, and we'll post them when we can. We'll be limited to either Verizon Wireless' cell phone network to upload from our phones, or local libraries with computers if we should be so lucky.

See you on the road!

Project 365 Day 203: Salsa Anyone?

Success! We have proven that we are capable of growing these red things on the green leafy things that we bought from Earl May, who got the whole things started in the first place.

So, now that we're headed out on RAGBRAI for week, any suggestions on what we make in a day with a bunch of tomatoes that will still be good after a week, refrigerated or frozen? We had thoughts of doing some canning, but we don't have time to figure that out before we leave.

Maybe we should take them down the street to the El Azteca restaurant and donate them to the greater good, as ingredients for their tasty salsa.

Project 365 Day 202: Four Bags, Fifty Pounds

The charter we're taking for RAGBRAI has given us a luggage weight limit of 50 pounds per person, and they recommend splitting that up into two bags per person. So here's a picture of our . bags and our stuff (at least most of it). After packing what we have ready to go, the total weight comes to roughly 40 pounds, so we apparently need to find 60 more pounds of stuff to take to get our money's worth!

Let's see, what else could we take?

1. My collection of Prince albums (there's probably at least 30... twice that if we're talking bootlegs)
2. An electric guitar and amplifier No, someone else on RAGBRAI will probably actually do this...
3. 60 lbs of Fareway potato salad

I think (3) would go over great with the masses, at least while it stayed fresh. I suppose the transport trucks aren't refrigerated though...

Project 365 Day 201: Tree Debris

On our walk back from Dairy Queen (hey, RAGBRAI is only 4 days away, we're in the final training stretch -- no biking, all eating), I took this picture of some neatly piled up tree limbs from the neighborhood. A similar scene exists all around town as a result of the 70 MPH winds from the weekend storm. The city is working their way around town to pick up the branches, and actually had to put out a warning that scammers are out and about trying to charge for debris removal, when the city is doing it for free.

Storms like this have us re-thinking the let's-plant-a-shade-tree-near-the-house-and-deck idea...

Project 365 Day 200: How Many Computers Are Too Many?

Answer to the title of this post: trick question! There's no such thing as too many computers, at least not in this house of geekery and nerdom. Thus I present the newest addition to our collection, an Acer Aspire One netbook freshly taken off the hands of a local Target store.

I have been thinking about getting a new portable computer for myself recently, especially since I am often borrowing Amy's MacBook Pro which sometimes causes her to make the Sad Pouty Face (SPF) at me. Since I am a weakling when it comes to the SPF, I decided to keep my eye out for a new computer toy I could call my own. Then I saw the deal of the day on Woot.com today was this very netbook, only it was a refurbished model. Some of the people posting comments mentioned that Target stores had the same model, new (not refurbished), for slightly less on sale this week, so I took a leap and am typing today's post on it.

Oh, and for perspective, that is my left foot in the picture. For the record, I wear men's 10 1/2, though that size is either my left or right foot, and the other one is approximately a whole size larger or smaller. I forget the details, but the friendly shoe salesman at the mall in Portland explained it to me after he took my measurements. So if I was pretending to be an engineer, I might say the foot in the picture is size 10.5 with a tolerance of +/- 1 US Men's Shoe Size Unit.

Project 365 Day 199: Stormy Weather

Early this morning marked another milestone in our new home: our first trip to the basement for severe weather. I woke up around 3am to the sound of loud thunder and bright flashes of lightning, as well as the sound of our sump pump kicking on. I noticed Amy looking at her phone, after which she said she thought we should go the basement.

We camped out downstairs on our old couch (in fact, our basement very closely resembles our last little apartment in DC, most of our old furniture is down there with my home office), found that the Satellite TV wasn't working so well thanks to the storm, and proceeded to get updates via radio and the weather applications on our smartphones. The most helpful tool ended up being the weather apps on our phones. We could view the radar maps in nearly realtime to see when the worst of the storm had past.

Today while running some errands we noticed this stretch of fence that had been blown over on Bloomington Road, just a little ways northeast of our house. We also saw many trees around town with large limbs down on the ground. It was a good reminder of what summer severe weather can be like in Iowa, and we hope Mother Nature gets it out of her system this week so next week's RAGBRAI ride is full of clear blue skys.

Project 365 Day 198: Streaming Entertainment

Thanks to our newly found unlimited broadband Internet, courtesy of Mediacom (whose third party contractors will hopefully find the time in the next month or two to bury the cable that's currently laying in our yard), we decided to sign-up for Netflix once again, knowing that we could stream movies to our laptops and desktops over the Internet. We also knew that our Blu-Ray player had a built-in capbility to play streamed Netflix movies on our TV, but that wouldn't work until we got a really long network cable run from the basement to the living room, or got a wireless adapter.

So it was a nice surprise when we found that Netflix sent us a special disc for our Nintendo Wii, which already has a built-in wireless adapter, that would play streamed movies on our TV. When the disc arrived Friday, we gave it a try and watched a so-so documentary called In Debt We Trust and then an episode of '90s MTV sketch show The State.

It's nice to know that any given night when we feel like watching something from the "Sentimental Romantic Action & Adventure" category, it's just a Wiimote click away!

Project 365 Day 197: Early Harvest

Thanks to one of our potted tomato plant's propensity for falling over in even the slightest of breezes, I recently collected an early harvest of the fruit that had leaped to the safety of the ground from the tipsy plant. As you can see in the photo, this particular plant produces smaller teardrop-shaped tomatoes, some of which ripen with a yellow color. We sampled a few ripe ones and they are indeed edible and taste like tomatoes -- a good sign.

Project 365 Day 196: Bonding over Bianchis

Early this evening we took a short bike ride out to Walmart on Duff Ave (the Supercenter, not that piddly little old school Walmart on the north side; that one doesn't even have a McDonalds inside, can you imagine!?). After finishing our shopping we walked over to the bike rack outside where we had locked up and saw another gentleman who was getting ready to ride away on his bike. He paused and then asked if we liked our Bianchi (that's the brand of Amy's bike and she does), and mentioned that he bought his in Colorado but rarely sees them for sale around Ames. Trek seems to be the most popular brand around here, but he was glad to see another Bianchi, which we explained came with us all the way from DC last summer.

I then decided that if this guy had, like us, ridden his bicycle to Walmart, then he must be an avid/crazy cyclist and there was a high likelihood that he'd be doing RAGBRAI. I asked and his very enthusiastic response was something along the lines of, "Oh yeah, it's the thing I look forward to the most every year!" He then related that he had been doing the ride every year with his uncle since sometime in the 90s, and his very first experience was not a good one because he didn't do any training or preparation, but since he started taking appropriate steps to get ready every year he's been having a blast. Last year he met some Australians on the ride and said he had a good time talking with them. I imagine there was also a healthy amount of beer drinking that contributed to their fun.

He approved of our pie-eating practice at Perkins the other night, and mentioned that the food on the ride is awesome, which we of course had heard and are looking forward to experiencing ourselves.

Eight days and counting...

Project 365 Day 195: Christmas in July

Santa truly came early this year, bringing the gift we've been waiting for since we moved back to Ames last summer: Mediacom high-speed cable Internet, yay!

No longer will we be subject to Verizon Wireless overage fees for exceeding their 5GB data transfer limit per month. Now we can stream YouTube and Netflix videos, play Wii online with friends, and download bootlegged Prince concerts from the 80's (Amy will probably pass on that last one).

Bonus RAGBRAI training update: tonight we decided to forego bike riding and instead took a trip by car to Perkins to focus on another important RAGBRAI skill, pie eating!

Project 365 Day 194: Shoelace Tying 101

First of all, yes, those are indeed my sexy, hairy, farmer-tanned legs. But more importantly, do you notice anything different about my shoes?

How about in the shoelacial region?

(hint: laces)

(even more specific hint: the shoelace knots)

Well, if you haven't been paying attention to my shoelace tying habits, then you wouldn't know that I have apparently been tying my shoelaces wrong for only the past 25 years or so! While cruising some posts on lifehacker.com, I came across a topic called What Have You Suddenly Discovered You Were Doing Wrong, and much to my surprise I have apparently been tying my shoelaces using a "Granny Knot" all these years, which (as I can attest) is prone to coming undone.

To find out if you too need to re-learn how to tie a properly tight shoelace, check out this very informative page at Ian's Shoelace Site.

And now, I write a letter to the Internet:

Dear Internet,

Thank you.

Love, Adam

Project 365 Day 193: DQ To Go

Continuing with the bike-riding trend lately, today's post shows that we continue to practice all aspects of RAGBRAI training. After a relatively short ride to the library, we stopped at Dairy Queen for ice cream and (in my case) a chili dog. As you can see in the photo, Amy's water bottle holder also makes a good soda cup holder. For the record, this was actually my soda and I had Amy give me her water bottle so she could safely transport the soda home. I'm a cheapskate, couldn't bear to throw it away...

Oh, and we've gotten a 44-oz'er to fit in there. Seriously. With a long enough straw one simply bends forward in mid-ride, or perhaps more safely while stopped, and takes a swig. It's like a beer hat, only for bikes, and filled with Diet Coke!

Project 365 Day 192: Oline Picnic

This year's Oline Picnic out on the farm was another rousing success! Food was eaten, beer and pop were drunk, kittens were adored, dogs were loved, and family and friends caught up with each other. Good times!

Project 365 Day 191: Story County by Bike

Today we adventured out onto the county highways of Story County, and made progress in our RAGBRAI preparations. Having never ridden long distances on county highways without bike lanes before, it was a little nerve racking at first, but turned out to not be so bad. Most drivers were polite enough and generally gave us a wide berth as they passed. Only two drivers honked at us, but we will just assume those were honks of solidarity in the fraternity of wheeled transportation.

Well, that may be a stretch, but we did get a friendly wave from an oncoming motorcyclist (seriously, a real wave, not a middle finger).

Our route took us 55 miles total, starting at our house in Ames, with an obligatory fuel-up stop at Perkins in town, followed by a trip through Nevada to the east, then Maxwell to the south, where we stopped at the Casey's pictured above, and hydrated and snacked while enjoying our view of the Maxwell Public Library and City Hall across the street. Then we rode west to Cambridge, and finally back north to Ames.

We are happy to say this has eliminated one more item (i.e. highway bicycle riding) from our fairly long yet-to-be-experienced-experiences list for RAGBRAI. Still to come: camping, showering in car washes, and eating pork chop on a stick.

Project 365 Day 190: Hawaiian Friday

How does this grill spatula relate to Hawaii, you may ask?

I will tell you.

In a little bit.

(it's just one of those lazy Fridays...)

Ok, I'm ready now.

I fired up the Smokey Joe grill on the deck tonight and we cooked some yummy Hawaiian Burgers from Fareway. I guess they are considered Hawaiian due to the pineapple chunks embedded in the patty, but they definitely taste good--pork, pineapple, soaked in some kind of tasty marinade, and I think they stick some smoked flavor in as well.

Thanks to my cousin Danny's bachelor party, I was introduced to the unique burger during the cookout phase, and I have been a fan since!

Project 365 Day 189: Not Keen on Wet Keens

Today's photo demonstrates another trend of late on this blog: taking pictures of objects that happen to be resting on our garbage container in the garage. Two days ago it was Amy's bicycle seat, tonight it's a picture of my almost-dry Keen shoes. I apparently am a fan of the Keen brand. You might even say I'm Keen about... oh forget it, that joke is far too easy and I've used it at least twice already.

So during my attendance at the 80/35 Music Festival in Des Moines on Sunday, I experienced some pretty substantial downpours, and foolishly forgot to pack flip-flops to wear in the elements. Instead, these casual shoes, which are definitely not water-proof, were my footwear by default, and I have learned a few things:

1. It takes at least four days for these particular shoes to get close to dry
2. If left to dry in the dark, humid confines of the garage, they start to become covered in a substance which may possibly be mold
3. The mold-like substance can be wiped off with a paper towel
4. Did my shoes just seriously grow mold on them!?!?!

For the record: I will be applying my standard rule regarding a mold-like substance appearing on stuff, and will not be eating these shoes.

Project 365 Day 188: Keen About My Keens

With our bike ride across the state of Iowa coming up at the end of July, the ratio of bicycle-related posts here is probably going to increase like my heart rate when we try to pedal up the Hyland hill in Ames (it's a steep one!).

So here's another one. These are some shiny new biking sandals I got recently to match a pair Amy got over the weekend. One tip she picked up from the RAGBRAI web forums was that getting a good pair of sporty sandals with proper toe protection can help one avoid the need to pack socks for the week and also lessen the misery of the inevitable rain by taking wet socks and shoes out of the equation.

Bonus for me: The bike shop only had sandals with built in pedal-clip connectors, so if I ever move beyond the recreational-amateur phase of biking to the crazed-speedfreak phase, I'll have the right footwear!

Project 365 Day 187: Pain in the Seat

After two-plus years of riding around on our bicycles, Amy's seat, pictured here, decided that this week was the one to start give us problems. No longer locked into a single position, it now decides to seesaw to and fro as it sees fit. But hey, no big deal, it's only a few weeks before RAGBRAI, right?

Despite my best efforts to apply superhuman force to the bolt that is supposed to keep the seat in position, it still manages to work itself lose, especially when we go over particularly large bumps. Hopefully one of the local bike shops has some special bolt-tightening techniques or a realllllllllly long hex wrench to apply some extra-super-leverage.

Project 365 Day 186: Planning for Canning

This magical device known officially as a "Sauce Master" is our newest kitchen implement, purchased from Theisen's with a gift card we had from Amy's parents. We walked into the store not knowing exactly what we'd end up walking out with, and honestly, it came down to choosing between this and a funny little fake-rodent-looking-thing that stood about 12 inches tall, and wiggled and rotated around on a tiny platform. Apparently it is intended to be used by hunters to draw wild animals out into the open at which point they are introduced to Mr. Rifle. I imagine it works on even the more intelligent animals who, like us, see it and know it is obviously a fake, but can't help walk it up to it thinking "What the...!?"

We decided the Sauce Master would be a more practical use of the gift card, and we hope to have a bounty of tomatoes this summer with which to produce various salsas and sauces suitable for canning, and then enjoy them throughout the winter months.

That little wiggling rodent sure was tempting though...

Project 365 Day 185: More Music

I spent a rainy afternoon and slightly less-rainy evening taking in more music at the 3rd annual 80/35 Music Festival in Des Moines. While yesterday's music was in the jazz vein, this one was about indie rock, which I have developed more of an appreciation for over the past few years. I heard some great bands that were new to me, including The Walkmen, who were attempting to perform in the picture above when the rain was not blowing directly on them and their equipment, and popular indie rock band Modest Mouse closed out the festivities. Congrats to Des Moines music organizers for creating an awesome music festival for central Iowa.

Project 365 Day 184: Iowa City Jazz Festival

Today's picture comes to you live from the City of Iowa City (it sounds funny to me too). We've enjoyed coming to the Iowa City Jazz Festival for many years since college, though we took a hiatus while in DC from 2005 - 2009. This is the twentieth year of the festival, and we have heard some great music today. The "jazz-i-ness" of some of the bands is more of a loose concept these days, such as this group, Public Property, who were more of a reggae band with a lead singer who also played ukelele. But this is fine by me, there's plenty of straightahead jazz to take in as well, so the variety is nice.

It's also pretty cool to have great music groups from New York City and elsewhere around the country continuing to come to the midwest for these types of festivals. We're pretty hip, folks...

Now that we're back in Iowa we're looking forward to attending many jazz festivals to come!

Project 365 Day 183: You Know You Live in Iowa When...

...The large empty lot in the neighborhood that is owned by the school (potentially for building a new elementary school someday) has had the super long grass cut down and baled.

Trivia Fact: Did you know that round hay bales were invented here at Iowa State University?

Project 365 Day 182: Knee High by 1st of July

While out for our evening jog we noticed a few interest items in the neighborhood.

1. The corn in the field just north of our neighborhood is indeed already knee-high, and it's not even the 4th of July yet. Not too surprising in this day of agricultural engineering, seed biology, and secret planting methods passed down from generation to generation of descendents of the Cornstalkeans of Middle Earth.
2. The water tower that used to say "AMES" in big bold letters is now as empty as my brain when I see one of the latest Terry Branstad or Chet Culver campaign ads for the Iowa governorship.
3. Another house is under construction, and directly behind me as I took this picture, yet another house is under construction! This is good. The more potential Mediacom customers there are in the neighborhood the more likely Mediacom is to come back and finish hooking up the neighborhood's cable broadband internet.
   
   Hello, Mediacom, are you listening? Mediacom?
   
   More customers = more $$$, and you like $$$!
   
   Please deliver us from the broadband wastelands and I promise not to complain too much when our service inevitably cuts out while I'm in the middle of conducting a training webinar from the home office...