Wilderness!

The park was bitchin' this morning. Jim hit the park early and laid down the virgin tracks. The first pass through the park was really tough. Lots of dabs and detours off into the brush. Four inches of fresh powdery snow made it tough to find the line. I'm pretty sure we all went down at least once.

Hi Troy!

Stopped and took some pics in our favorite section of the park (the long straight away through the trees after the bridge on Pioneers).

We've come up with a new definition of "going down" (no, not that going down). At least one elbow and one shoulder must hit the ground for a crash to be official. All others are just "dabs". I went down twice today. One soft and one bone jarring body check.

Hi Jim!

Picked up Jim prior to the creek crossing. Thanks for laying down some tracks Jim!

Hi Matt!

Drop bar fixie in four inches of snow on single track. Totally rad.

Hi Kev!

Linked up with Kevin near the half way point and rode out to Pioneers. Much better going back through on our previously laid tracks. Tomorrow should be great. We'll see if my knee and hip feel better by tomorrow. As of now, I probably need to take a day off and heal up.

Killing you softly

Bad news for all drinkers out there. A recent study conducted by our cousins across the Atlantic has linked alcohol consumption with cancer later in life. This even includes "casual drinkers" (one to two drinks per day). New research indicates even one drink per day significantly increases the risk of cancer in women. Any alcohol (beer, spirits, and wine) was associated with the increased risk of cancer.

How about the cardiovascular benefits of alcohol? Heart disease is the number one killer of Americans, but since cancer is a killer in my family...I'll abstain from a daily drink for now.

Cheers!

Buzz Killington

Not your typical gravel ride

Not your typical MTB set up

Billy Wolfe trail headin' east out of town.

The Good Life gravel goodness

Lots of dirt east of town.

Tractor up!

Not your typical destination.

Another Saturday

Bitterly cold. Blustery NNW winds. Milford. 89 RC Cola's. Awesomeness.

Obligatory post

Thanks to those that stopped by this morning for the ride. Great crew. Even picked up a new face (Alex) out in the park. The snow was a lot fluffier than expected and provided quite a challenge. I went down once really hard and had more dabs than I'd like to tally. Also had several detours off into the bushes during the ride. My front wheel would hit a berm and take me off on a bushwhacking expedition. Did a lot of cursing and laughing at the same time. It was a lot of fun. We'll see how this afternoon's melt treats the park.

Ran into several skiers out in the park. Snow must have been perfect for the XC skiing. Hope all skiers had a great day. Also hope we didn't mess up any ski tracks.

Troy and I hit gravel for a bit. The melt had begun and it was sloppy. Ran across this Husker formation near Denton road.

More of the same tomorrow. I'd like to hit some gravel tomorrow. The park may be ridable as well. Coffee at 7:45. All are welcome.

Sunday

Found this sign on the Lancaster County line Southeast of Lincoln

Several new faces (Ryan Legg, Trevor, and Aaron G) stopped by D Street this morning for the morning ride along with the usual suspects. The pace was a bit more mellow today which was well earned after yesterday's big mileage. Ended up doing a 50 mile loop out the Mopac through Palmyra and back into town on Saltillo road.

It's great to see such a large group of folks gathering for a ride in February. Definitely a testament to our strong cycling community. The rides are always a great way to keep in touch with your fellow cyclists. Thanks again to all that came for the ride(s) this weekend. More of the same next weekend.

Saturday Gravel

Another great crew showed up this morning for the ride. DK counted 18. Picked up Schlake North of town to make 19. Had a few of folks show up for their first 2009 Saturday morning ride this week, Aaron Pool, Jay Thomas, and Jon Vondracek. Good to see you fellas again. Wes even stopped by for a bit to let us know that Wilderness wasn't ridable. Thanks dude. Hopefully we'll see you again soon for a ride.

It was a beautiful day to be on the bike. Aaron, Troy and I made it to Brainard to check out the Raskey Honda shop. Cool stuff. We ventured back on the crushed limestone trail from Brainard and jumped on gravel in Loma (which isn't even on the Google map). The Bohemian Alps were tough, but were much more fun with a tail wind. Another pit stop in Valiparaiso was in order as rolled through town. Ended up hitting the same convenience store that we hit earlier. Just can't get enough of those 89 cent RC Colas.

Thanks again to all that came along. How about a shorter one tomorrow? Weather is forecast out of the East. Palmyra?

Lotto

I'm finally going through all the Nebraska Lottery tickets that were purchased for The Good Life Gravel Adventure. I apologize for not getting to it sooner, but I know we didn't hit the big money because no one won that weekend. Hopefully I'll find five numbers somewhere in this stack. I wonder how long these tickets are valid?

Sssssuper Sunday

Had a smaller crew this morning. Seven of us rolled out of D Street around 8:15 and headed North to link up with Darin. Original plan was Valipraiso, but that got shot down. As we headed North the general consensus was Ceresco. Paul had the sweet route and we ended up on a nice dirt road with a couple of fun rollers.
Old school concrete marker near North 40th near Ceresco. There are several of these markers surrounding Lincoln. I know of two others Southeast of town. Has anyone spotted one to the Southwest?
Tornado damage from last year near Ceresco. Lots of debris still hangin' around the area.
Refueled at the Squeegee in Ceresco. They didn't have any RC Cola. What's up wit dat?
Rolled a bit to the East and came back on 84th and eventually 70th street.

"Grrrrrrrr"

Need a rocket engine? Look no further. Once an ICBM, now can be yours! There's a whole slew of practical uses for a rocket. This guy once had it strapped to the back of his fifth wheel for better gas mileage. Now that gas is under 2 bucks he decided to part with it. I'm sure it won't be there by the end of the day. Someone is gonna snag that bad daddy and have some fun.

I asked him how much he wanted for the warhead, but he said he was saving it for the Fourth of July. That will be quite a show!