Sunday fun day!

Double pace lining the Homestead Trail south

Another good sized crew of folks met up at Meadowlark Coffee for an 8:30 departure. The wind was stiff all day and taking a turn up front was a challenge. We don't have mountains, but we have plenty of wind.

Barely visible cemetery

On the way to Wilber for brunch at the Wilber Hotel, Aaron, Jesse, Sydney and I came across an interesting piece of history. I think it was Sydney who spotted it. At the top of a small mound hiding in the tall grass next to a corn field was a 19th century cemetery. The cemetery is on SW 72nd Street between Ash and Aspen Roads.

Not in bad shape considering the age

The whole Marsh family is buried here. Another smaller enclosed cemetery (the Sykes family) is only a few feet from this one.

Here lies William Marsh

Can you figure out the inscription at the bottom?

This marker is the wife (first wife?) of William Marsh. Only 33 years, 6 months, and 16 days old when she passed away. Sobering reality of the life expectancy in a world without modern medicine that was just five generations ago.

I tried to figure out the inscription at the bottom. German is the language. The first word is misspelled. It should read, "Selig sind die im Herrn sterben". Using several translating websites, I believe it's most likely, "Blessed are those that die in the Lord"

Note the headstone in the upper left - Jasper M. Sykes

The pic above is of the second smaller cemetery which probably pre-dates the larger one. This assumption is based on the date of death (1878) on the largest headstone of Mary A (wife of Jasper).

Jasper M. Sykes - Civil War Veteran and Grand Army of the Republic member

This goes to prove that you can find just about anything on the internet. A very brief and interesting read of the life of Jasper M. Sykes. Civil War veteran who fought with General Sherman, stanch Republican, successful farmer, and husband to Mary.

Finally dry enough for harvest!

Hey fellas!

Soon to be harvested

Another great ride today. Thanks everyone! Looking forward to hitting more gravel next weekend.

Satur-Yay!

Gravel posse- great seeing everyone today!

Beautiful day in Nebraska. Temps reached mid 60's by the turn around point. Ditched the arm warmers and knee warmers for short sleeves and shorts by the end of the ride. Didn't quite make it to North Bend for a gravel hundy. The North wind was a bit more intense than the forecast had indicated. So Ceresco ended up being the destination. A nice 60 miler for the day. Nothing too crazy.

Rural gravel beauty

Yep, that's Nebraska gravel for ya. Endless possibilities for rides in every direction. No matter which way you go you'll hit a small town about 15 to 25 miles out of Lincoln. Perfect for 50 to 60 mile rides.

Good Problem

Post ride lunch at the ever popular Grateful Bread. Line out the door at this Freakbeat Vegetarian bakery/soup shop. Will they ever make the Amish Cinnamon Rolls again? I asked that question last week. The answer is no. Bummer.

Drop bar mountain bike lovin'

Went through Wilderness on the way home from work today on the Fargo. Glad I had my light with me cuz it got dark before I knew it. Keeping the light charged is gonna be a daily ritual from here on out until Spring next year.

Tonight was my first off road ride with the Fargo. I've taken it on plenty of gravel and crushed limestone, but no dirt. Just never had the opportunity. Well, after hitting the dirt I gotta admit, drop bar mountain bikes on flat singletrack such as Wilderness Park are quite amazing. It felt much more natural than a traditional flat bar and the fat tires chewed everything up. I pretty much felt invincible on that thing. To be fair, my perspective is probably a bit skewed right now since I ride cross bikes all the time. Anything with a fatter tire will feel better on singletrack. But it wasn't just the tires. There's something else that I can't quite put my finger on. I will say the bike fit really well and is obviously well designed. Kudos to Salsa.

Maybe this drop bar mountain bike thing will be the next new old school craze. Travis Brown rocked a drop bar on his 26 inch mountain bike for Leadville last year and did really well. He's convinced it's the way to go for a race like Leadville.

Wills you were right. Drop bar mountain bikes are wicked.

Sunday!

Meadowlark Coffee rally point. Matt, why so sad?

Ash road on the way to Wilber.

Aaron wants me to take his picture. Done.

Wilber Hotel for brunch. The "real" bikers beat us there.

Slim pickins by the time we show up. Fresh biscuits, eggs and coffee soon followed this pic. Score! $5.95 per plate. The new off-season Bacon Ride.

Homeboy in the background isn't too impressed with our cheesy pose.

Good dog. Didn't bark at all. Just ran along with us for a bit and then stopped and headed back for home when I told her/him to "Go home". Oh, getting pics of dogs chasing on gravel is my "new thing".

Ran into this skinny transient on the way home. He asked us for money. I gave him some pocket change.

The colors are peakin'. Beautiful day on the bike. Got up to 72 degrees. Might be the last really nice one of the year. Hope you got out and enjoyed it.

We be rollin'......they be chasin'

Buses

Beagles

Black dogs

Rural traffic

They can't stop the gravel posse

Important Cornbread updates!

Wow, a lot has gone on since my last post. The Big Wheeled Ballyhoo got hit by a freak snow storm and I got hit by a head/chest cold. Bad timing on both accounts. Even with the bad weather MG and company made the best of a crappy situation and appeared to still have a great time.


I made an attempt to get out to Brady for event (see photo above), but ended up bailing at the Goehner Exit due to white out conditions. No sense dying on I-80 when it's obviously not gonna be ideal riding conditions. Besides, I was in no shape to be riding a bike. So things just weren't meant to be for the BWB this year, but hopefully next year things will be better. Folks that made it out to Potter's Pasture on Friday night were raving about the trails. Hopefully I'll be able to make it out there either this year or early next year for a long weekend of epic mountain biking.

Last weekend I flew home to see the family. My Dad's health has been declining recently. It's tough to see a proud and strong guy like my Dad so weak and in constant pain. The worst part of it is we have no idea whats wrong with him. So that made for a tough trip home. Also seems to put a lot of things in perspective. Everything else really doesn't seem to matter much right now. Especially bikes. Hopefully we'll find out soon and he'll start feeling better.

On Thursday night, Race Across the Sky was playing at South Point. The movie chronicled Lance Armstrong's battle against Dave Wiens ( 6 Time Winner) in the Leadville 100 mountain bike race this past August. Dubbed the most difficult mountain bike race in the world, the Leadville 100 travels 100 miles (duh) and climbs over 14,000 feet all above 9,000 feet of elevation. Yeah, it's tough. Lance credits the 2008 race with rekindling his desire to race bicycles again.

The theater was packed. Lots of Leadville veterans and a horde hopeful future participants were in attendance. I busted out the buckle for the movie (above). And why not? I'm proud of my finish in 2007. 8:56:14. As far as I know, I'm the only Lincolnite to finish under 9 hours. Now, Omaha has several folks that have cracked the nine hour mark (Kent x 3, Jarret x 2? and Limpach x 1). Mark Merritt of Grand Island has also collected a Gold Buckle. I'd like to see another Lincolnite get a Gold. We've got a very talented group of riders and I'm sure Lincoln will have great representation at this year's event. The Cycle Works crew is fired up and ready to go. How about you?

Today I got out on the bike for a bit of gravel with Jim (The Fob). My first real ride in over two weeks. The head/chest cold, trip home and bad weather have cut the miles down this month. I'm over 700 miles off my usual pace for the month. Definitely won't be cracking a grand this month. Oh well, I needed a break.

And finally...CVO, is back in town!

Cross and the Fargo

The only pic I took from the Omaha Cyclocross Weekend

My first cross races of the year are in the books. Yep, it hurt...a lot, but was also a lot of fun. Had a weird mechanical on Saturday. My tire came off the rim after going through a small sandpit. First time that ever happened. Had to run it for a bit to get to the pit to get it fixed. It was an easy fix and I was able to continue the race and go on and finish. Unfortunately, I got lapped by the top three. Bummer.

Sunday was a bit better. Managed not to get lapped by anyone! That's my goal for this year. Not to get lapped. Baby steps. Next year maybe I'll try to crack the top seven.

Needs more headtube...kidding

Got the Fargo built up this weekend too. Thanks to MG and Salsa for the frame and fork. Thanks to Vomitron for the wheel build. The bike turned out pretty nice. It's ready to go just in time for the Big Wheeled Ballyhoo! I'll be leading some gravel rides on Saturday and Sunday. Come on out to Potter's Pasture for a celebration of big wheeled bikes!