Branched Oak Area 1 Saturday - Gage County gravel Sunday

A small crew headed out from D Street on Saturday morning with Branched Oak Area 7 in mind. Three flats in town before hitting gravel put us behind schedule. Jeff, Jim and I got separated from the rest of the crew, so we ended up doing a lap at Area 1 at Branched Oak.

The single track is in need of some work at Area 1. Erosion, the windy weather, and horses have done a number on the trail. A lot of the old lines are gone due erosion and horse traffic. One tree and a very large thicket blocked the trail as well (see pics below). The tighter single track was in good shape due the to fact the horse can't ride through it because of the low hanging branches.

Pic of Jeff prior to him bunny hopping the down trees. Chainsaw needed for this pile.

Jeff also bunny hopped this thicket. A bulldozer or dynamite needed for this pile.

Sunday was PCL Tour of Dirt Roads recon part II. Found another dirt road in Gage County that we'll be hitting on April 11th.

Spotted several hunters out walking a field for pheasants. They kicked up a rooster which nestled in some brush next to the gravel road. We went down to investigate and found the pheasant sitting tight. Can you see it in the pic above? I got within three feet of it before it broke and ran into the field.

Lots of dirt and MMR's in Gage County. South 38th road in Gage County is bitchin'. Highly recommend.

Grill facial

This guy actually pulled up this close to Fob and I on Saturday at the Cortland convenience store while we were sitting on the sidewalk. Thanks buddy!

Sunday!

Another beautiful day on the bike. It's March, right? I don't ever recall having such a terrible sun burn this early in the year. Nate feels my pain. Aloe vera buddy.

Stoked to ride with a few buddies that I haven't ridden with for quite some time. Skip, Nate and Jesse were two for two this weekend as ride buddies. Great riding and chatting with you guys. Let's do it again next weekend.

Troy leading the charge before having to turn around for work. We hit another dirt road today on the way out to Wagon Train. Stagecoach road has a nice stretch of dirt that we'll probably ride for the Tour of Dirt Roads on April 11th.

Rode some dirt at Wagon Train and checked out a few new sections that Jim Craig and company have been working on. Sweet stuff. I'm excited to get out there more often this year. The trails were a bit soft today, but rideable.

Unfortunately, I was very disappointed to see that a horse(s) had been ridden on a majority of the trail when it was muddy. Two to three inch deep horse hoof craters littered the single track for a majority of the trail with some sections completely destroyed. The sweet spot is seriously messed up. Very frustrating to see this considering all the time and effort folks have put into the trails. Yes, the trails are multipurpose use, but common sense and a little courtesy to those who ride bicycles on the trails would be nice. I hope it smooths out this year.

Saturday!

Angry Cow Adventures Panama MTB Enduro

A small group rolled out on the crushed limestone of the Homestead trail after a cup of coffee at Meadowlark. We got rained on a bit on the way out, but made good time to Panama for the Angry Cow Adventures Panama MTB Enduro.

Objective for the day: Find the flags. Seven of 'em. Scattered across the countryside via gravel roads, dirt roads, and singletrack by Jim and company. Find 'em, punch your card, and be the first back to Panama.

Well, that was the racers objective....mine was to have fun and help anyone in need. Luckily, everyone seemed to be doing just fine and no problems arose.

Midwest Wheelmasters Cycling Team - Trevor, Troy and Schmidty
A very fast and classy group of guys who went on to win the team event with Jesse as the fourth man

KKS sportin' the new Cycle Works/Moose's Tooth Grassroots race team kit. Very sharp. Hats off to Jesse for the design. Kris and Kevin Berry teamed up for a two man team.

Third place finisher on the day, James Blake getting ready for the race. Great race James! Very impressive. You put the hurt on some folks today.

Hey! It's Kev and Nate!

93 folks lined up for the start today. Impressive! The race was stationed out of the Panama Fire Department. They had to move the fire trucks out of the building to allow for race set up. Thanks!

Neutral roll out out of downtown Panama

Professional photographers from NebraskaLife.com as well as Laurel Ahlman were on the course throughout the day snapping pics.

That's a long string of riders. A pic just before the end of the neutral roll out. Things got fast after this pic. Real fast.

One of the flags on the course. Taylor punching his card.

Hey! It's Kev and Nate! Again! Awesomeness.

Kris and Kevin heading into the singletrack on the West side of Wagon Train Lake. Jim and company have been putting in a lot of time out on the trails at Wagon Train. New singletrack! I'm excited to get out there soon and check 'em out.

The Master of Ceremonies - are you blowing me a kiss?

Troy displaying the Best Prize ever!

Rollin' back to Lincoln with a stiff tailwind. Wrapping up another great day on the bike. Two for two this weekend. Thanks for a great weekend folks!

The Force is strong in this one

Lincoln is a strong cycling community. Has been for many years. Ask folks that have been around and involved in the Lincoln cycling community and they'll confirm it. Conrad did a great interview with Coach in the new Lincoln Ve-Low which talks about the days when Lincoln had a very strong road racing scene. Will local road racing return to that level again? Who knows, but I do know that Lincoln has a very strong core of cyclists. Some ride road, some ride mountain, some ride gravel, some ride urban, and some do a mix or all of the above.

No, we're not Portland or Minneapolis, but we have a large population of folks who enjoy riding bicycles on a regular basis. And why not? The trail system in Lincoln is phenomenal and we have a bounty of great cycling shops to feed our addiction.

Today kicked off the Pirate Cycling League's 2009 calender of events. I didn't expect to see as many folks as I did today. Unofficial headcount was 40. Many new faces and riders of all abilities. It was an inspiring thing to see. Keep it up Lincoln! You're making Lincoln and the world a better place with every pedal stroke.

I love Nebraska gravel roads - even the shitty weather days are fun