Saturday morning ride sponsored by Troy and the Cookie Monster

Troy roasted up some beans last weekend and dropped them off on Sunday. DK made a big dent in the coffee during the week, but there was plenty left for Saturday morning. No more Folgers instant!
Butch, you are truly awesome. He called me on Friday evening and said he needed to drop something off for the Saturday morning ride. He shows up with fresh from the oven cookies and some coffee from The Coffee House. Then he commences to tell me that he probably won't be able to make the ride in the morning. What a great guy. Butch, you have a special spot in Bike Heaven.
Another great turnout this week. The final headcount was 16. In alphabetical order...Bryan, Bonsall, Chapman, Chris, Coach, Cornbread, Craig, DK, Fobben, Gast, Gersib, MA, Troy, Wes (thanks for the donuts by the way), Wills, and Winkepleck.
The roads weren't too slick as we left town. Gravel was dry in the morning, but soft on the way back. Rear fenders were beneficial with all the gravel flyin' today. I definitely got my Recommend Daily Allowance of Nebraska gravel this morning.
Rolling by the Denton dirt track. At one time there were MTB races on that track. I've never ridden it, but I hear it's bitchin'. Maybe someday it'll open back up to MTB's.
The group splintered into three groups. One went to Crete, another went out West in search of an illusive stone marker (I wanna see photographic evidence!), and the third group (Craig, Gersib, Troy, Wes and myself) went onto Wilber for Kolaces.

The Wilber Bakery has great Kolaces for 75 cents. Unfortunately, the Casey's in Wilber has the expensive ($1.49) RC colas. What's up wit dat? Price fixin' at all the local convenience stores?
Two of the groups met back up between Crete and Wilber. We all rejoiced, passed out hugs and promised to never leave each other again.
Mark enjoying the day on Nebraska gravel.
On the ride back to town we came across an odd site. Eight to ten animal carcass's. Possum's, raccoons, skunks, and even a couple of badgers (see above). They were spaced equidistant in intervals of 20 yards along the side of the road. Weird. Someone is one sick puppy.
It's January, right? Beautiful blue skies, great group of folks, mild temps, and a tail wind. Yep, pretty good.
Almost home and a slight bonk settling in. Time for recharge!
Troy and I ended up heading down to Roca to reach our mileage goal. We ended up overshooting by several miles, but it's all good. Besides, it's 53!

Thanks to all that rode today. More of the same tomorrow? Maybe a little shorter? Fifty to 60?

Carpe Diem

A colleague that I worked with for almost ten years passed away last weekend. He retired the first of the year and was less than a month into his retirement. We were all obviously in shock on Monday morning when we heard the news. Most of us were at a loss for words. It just doesn't seem fair. The man worked all his life to reach retirement and in less than 30 days he was gone.

He was a great man in every sense of the word and made innumerable sacrifices to go above and beyond to care for folks in need. He saved a lot of lives and also changed a lot of lives for the better.

It reminded me of the importance of living life to the fullest, cuz you never know when it will end.

Have no regrets. Live it up. Enjoy it.

"The bike house"

A friend was telling me that the neighborhood kids refer to the D Street Hotel as 'the bike house". Most folks in the neighborhood know us as the bikers. Kinda hard for folks not to notice when anywhere from 5 to 20 cyclists show up on any given weekend morning.

We enjoy the rep. One of the perks are the bikes left in our yard in the wee hours of the morning. This is the second bike in two months. Sure, it's Roadmaster missing a front wheel, but it's perfect material for my tall bike project. Tall bikes will be the new fixie. Mark my words.

Sunday

Six headed out this morning from D Street. James Blake made the ride as well as Craig. The temp was around ten degrees warmer this morning compared to yesterday. Hands and feet didn't freeze today. Ski goggles were a benefit again today.


Craig on the 29er. The big wheels were advantageous in the snow and ice. The larger contact surface created by the larger diameter wheel/tire keep you going where you wanna.


James lost a pedal on the first section of singletrack before the first bridge. The pedal spindle was still there, but the pedal body was M.I.A. If you find a Eggbeater in the park, give James a shout.

James didn't let the lack of a pedal ruin his ride. He rode all the way through the biker side, through the EP side and back to 14th Street before heading home. Well done!

We stopped at the old RR tracks near Hwy 77 to regroup and I snapped some pics of the pseudo-political graffiti.







The biker side of Wilderness is in great shape. Several icy patches, but for the most part it's ripper fast. The snow is light enough that it doesn't offer too much resistance. I rode the 29er today and was able to keep the tempo and bike up. Troy rode his cross bike again today and did fine. There were only a couple of crashes today.


The EP side is really fast. I didn't see any ice. Should be great the rest of the week. Night ride this week would be sweet. Any game?

Three hours of frigid fun

We went to Milford for expensive RC Colas

Base heads

It's only January, but with gravel grinders on the docket for Spring 2009, it's time to get the gravel base miles in. We had a good sized crew show up this morning at D Street. Even had a new face show up. Glad you stopped by Wes. Hopefully we'll see more of you on Saturday mornings.

After a week of frigid temps, the mild temps today were welcome. We ended up making it to Valparaiso and hit the convenience store for a quick recharge before heading back to Lincoln with the wind at our backs. Made it back in town before 12:30.

Troy and I had some time to chat about Dirty Kanza. I'm stoked to have Troy on board for Kanza along with fellow Nebraskans Skip, Rick, Oly, Ben, Eric, Jim, Aaron, and Steve (am I missing anyone?). Nebraska is gonna have another great showing at the DK200.

During the ride today we chatted about tire selection, gear, hydration and nutrition. There's a lot to learn in an endurance event such as DK200 or Trans Iowa. Trial and error isn't the best method for events such as those. Troy, below is the bag I was talking on the ride.

I picked up one of these after reading about Jim's recommendation on the Heartland Racing website. The bag by Epic Ride Research sounds like a very practical and functional bag. One hand open and closure, light weight construction, and conveniently attaches to the stem. I'm excited to try it out and should be a great addition to my current set up (Jandd frame bag, Jandd saddle bag, and Jandd handlebar bag) for Trans Iowa and Dirty Kanza. I'll post some more regarding the bag after I have a chance to try it out for a couple of weeks.

Farewell 2008...hello '09

2008 was another great year for myself and my bikes. We went all over Eastern Nebraska, Northeastern Iowa, central Kansas, and Crested Butte. After tracking my mileage for the first time ever, I managed to get just a hair under 10k miles in for the year. That's not bad, but I remember reading in Landis' book that he once tallied close to 25k miles one year. That's about 70 miles a day on average. That'd be a full time job for most of us. Good thing he's a pro.

The body needed a break around the beginning of November. Recover and recharge. Regain the passion. I'm happy to report mission accomplished!

I'm very excited about 2009 and look forward to the Ouachita Challenge, Trans Iowa, Dirty Kanza, the local PsycowPath series, the Platte River Marathon, Laramie Enduro, Dakota Five-O, The Good Life Gravel Adventure and other PCL events, the local 12 Hour race put on by Jim Craig and company, Crested Butte vacation, Ponca Ride, Sunday morning Bacon Rides, possibly Leadville (may sit this year out in order to go back to Crested Butte), and a few other events that are on the radar for '09.

Kris and the rest of the Cycle Works crew has graciously supplied me with a beautiful cross bike to travel the gravel roads of Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas and whereever else I may venture in 2009. Thanks again!

Saturday morning rides leaving D Street have begun! Hope to see you early on Saturdays! 8 AM from the D Street Hotel.