Year In Pictures:Week 9

56:365 Ice

The outdoor skating rink is now open. I celebrated by skating by myself. It's amazing how difficult it is to find someone to meet you at the skating rink at 6 AM.

57:365 Dinner with Mom & Dad

My Dad and Mom were in town for dinner on Saturday night. We went to Cafe Di Scala where we enjoyed ourselves greatly.

58:365 Puzzle

While skating on Friday morning I won a gift basket that included a puzzle. I had been trying to put it together all weekend. John sat down and completed it in his first try. I was more than a little jealous.

59:365 Plans

60:365 Tacos

It was 29 degrees last Tuesday night. I drove to taco night. John rode his bike. He's a little crazy.

61:365 Pumpkin Pie

I tried a new recipe for pumpkin pie this year. It was delicious.

62:365 Whipped Cream

Whipped cream and a Star Wars guy. How can you beat that?

Year In Pictures:Week 2

7:365 Tacos

Friday night was a bonus taco night at the Cumming Tap. John and I biked out for dinner. It was a great way to start the weekend.

8:365 Burning Bush

The burning bush in my front yard is just starting to turn. It is so beautiful in the fall.

9:365 Fall

On Sunday John, Emily, Jeff and I went to the Farm Crawl south of Knoxville. It was a beautiful day and I took a lot of pictures.

10:365 Guilty Pleasure

On Monday I finally made it to the grocery store. I was in a rush and hungry when I got there. I could not pass up one of my favorite cereals.

11:365 Late Night

On Tuesday I didn't get home until 8:30. I'm glad my Tuesday night class is now over so I can have a little bit more time at home.

12:365 Friends

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Once a month I get together for dinner with friends from my old gym. We met through a running group. When I signed up to train for my first 5k I had no idea I was going to make three of the best friends I've ever had.

13:365 No Touchy

I was able to meet my Mom and Aunt Kathy for lunch on Thursday. After lunch we headed to Java Joe's for coffee. They humored me and posed for a photo. Kathy and Mom are always good sports about posing for photos.

Cumming and Going

Yesterday John and I rode to Cumming with Jeff. It was a beautiful day. Once we got to the Tap we enjoyed some Fat Tire while watching football.

We didn't stay too long because we wanted to get back in time to see the Iowa game.

On the ride home John's bike hit 10,000 miles. Luckily I had my camera at the ready to capture the moment.

The weather was perfect for the ride. I don't remember the last time it was that nice out. Knowing how the Iowa vs. Iowa State game went I could have kept riding. It wasn't too much of a game.

Q: How do you keep a Cyclone out of your yard?

A: Put up a goalpost.

Taco Tuesday

On Tuesday John and I rode to Cumming to check out Taco Tuesday at the Tap. It was a beautiful evening for a ride. It wasn't too hot, and we missed most of the rain.

I haven't been biking during the week this year. It takes up a lot of the night when I ride, so I have been sticking with running mid-week. Only one thing could get me to ride 30 miles on a Tuesday - free tacos. I won two free tacos from a contest on Twitter, so I figured some tacos and beer would be worth finding batteries for my bike light.

These weren't just any tacos. These were the best tacos I have ever had. We're talking hand pressed corn tortillas with vegan chorizo (pork shoulder was also an option) and slaw. They have ruined other tacos for me. I hope to spend many Tuesdays at the tap enjoying these tacos. Do yourself a favor and go see Sam for some amazing tacos next Tuesday.

Flooding and Biking

It has been a rainy summer so far. The rivers are up around Des Moines. When the rivers are up the trails are under water. A couple of weeks ago John, Foster, and I decided to bike to the tap even though my favorite way (the Bill Riley Trail through Waterworks Park) was under water. Normally I would avoid biking through downtown and on busy roads on the south side, but I had really cool new UNI bike socks and I wanted to try them out.

See! They say GO PANTHERS! on them. Wouldn't you want to ride?

It was a fun ride. We rode slow so we could catch up. When we got to the tap we split a couple of pitchers of Boulevard and some salted nut rolls (my official candy of riding bikes).

Foster tried on my sunglasses and proved that he can pull of any type of sunglasses.

It was a wonderful way to spend an afternoon. I hope it cools down enough to get out again this weekend.

Bambino's and the Cumming Tap

Last night we ventured to what was once the town of Orilla, which is located between Cumming and West Des Moines. There isn't much there, other than Bambino's , a delicious restaurant. I've heard of Bambino's for years, but I had never been. It exceeded my expectations. They make their pasta, rolls and salad dressings from scratch, yet it's affordable. It's worth driving a half hour for food that good.

We had dinner with TC, Melissa, Ryan, and Allyson.

After dinner Melissa headed home to relieve the baby sitter. The rest of us headed to the Cumming tap for some cribbage. Allyson helped TC out, as he hadn't played since college. Ryan and John beat TC, Allyson and me 2 out of 3 games. I've been loosing at cribbage a lot lately. It does not make me happy.

Thanks Mom & Dad!

For graduation Mom & Dad gave me some money which I used to buy a bike computer. It's awesome. It tells me my miles per hour, distance, time, and most importantly cadence. It has made me a much better rider.

Don't worry, I still manage to have fun. A few weeks ago I went on a ride to Martensdale with Steve and Becca. On the way back we stopped at the Cumming Tap for refreshments. I tell you what, on a 90 degree day nothing feels better after 2 hours of biking than a beer and a Gatorade.

It ended up being the longest ride I've ever been on. As I pulled up to my house I'd gone 48.2 miles. Not one to quit that close to a milestone I rode around the neighborhood until I reached 50 miles.

I can't say enough how much I'm enjoying my new bike. I never thought I would be in to riding 5 or 6 days a week, but now if I miss a day I really miss it.

Flashback at the Tap

Last weekend I rode to the Cumming Tap with my friend Spencer. Spencer and I stay in touch on Facebook, and had talked about getting together for a ride for about a year. But I'm really good at putting things off and never making plans, so that didn't happen. In fact, I hadn't seen Spencer since we worked together at camp in the 90s.

It was a great time. Allyson & Stimmel met us at the tap. We finally left when we were running out of daylight.

It turns out we didn't really have to worry about daylight on the way back, as we made excellent time. We ended up going over 20 mph on trail back.

After the ride we headed to Taki for some sushi. Then I fell asleep on the couch watching cartoons. I lead a pretty exciting life.