Yep, pretty damn good day

Started the day like this...

Ended it like this...

That was a great Monday. Thanks to Kevin for putting together the WWASH shindig. Genius. Pure genius. Can't wait for the next one. Except next time I plan on taking Tuesday off of work so I can stay a bit longer.

Another great day on the skis

Super fast tracks

The tracks are very well defined and relatively smooth heading South towards the 14th Street entrance of Wilderness. Some hikers and plenty of deer have also been on the tracks which keeps you focused on staying upright.

We had another good crew this morning (about half the size of yesterday). Went through the Park from Old Cheney entrance to 14th Street and back on the horse/bike side. Good stuff. I must be getting a little better cuz I only went down about 10 times today.

Skiing is a nice change of pace, but I really miss riding. Gonna hafta get out on the bike this week.

Old school Channel 10/11 Off the Beaten Path - Off Road Bicycling

Channel 10/11 Off the Beaten Path - Off Road Bicycling from Cornbread on Vimeo.

Sorry for the bad quality video. Had to take actual video of the TV to capture it. As a result, you gotta turn up the volume to hear this one. This video stars some of Lincoln's cycling legends including: Brian Kelley, Daniel Kelley, Trevor Norland, Lance Voyles, Mark Savery and Matt Gersib. This video is circa 1992 I believe. Thanks to DK for the video.

The snow is still great for XC skiing! I'm sorry bicycles....

Had close to a dozen folks out at Wilderness this morning

It's the off season, right? Good, that way I don't feel bad for neglecting my bicycles and skiing a bunch. Gravel sounded really good last night and I intended to hit some gravel this afternoon, but after a 3 hour XC ski session all I feel like doing is relaxing. That sure was a great workout today. Thanks to everyone for coming out and enjoying the beautiful day.

Butch and Wills did the ole ride, ski, ride deal today

I'm still not sold on the idea of riding to the skiing spot. It sure is nice hopping in my car after skiing for 3 hours. Even though the ride to and from Wilderness would probably be a great warm up and cool down. Hmmm....

Butch descending the hill from Cornbread on Vimeo.

Jeff descending the Hill from Cornbread on Vimeo.

Looking forward to 2010 - Ouachita Challenge

Rocks, rocks and more rocks

Well, it didn't take long for the Ouachita Challenge to fill up. Registration opened on December 14th and closed shortly after opening. All 250 spots for the Tour on Saturday and race on Sunday are spoken for. If you didn't sign up in the morning, you missed the boat.

I don't know if anyone else has noticed, but Endurance MTB events have been getting much more popular in the recent years and as a result, much more difficult to get into! Maybe it's the Lance effect (via the Leadville 100) all over again. Like when Lance won his first Tour. I remember road bikes were flyin' out the door at the shop.

Speaking of Leadville, I'm sure getting into Leadville this year will be a challenge in itself. I've decided to throw my hat into the ring again for 2010. I'm also looking forward to several other regional MTB races. Definitely need to be thinking ahead if you wanna get into these events.

Back to Ouachita....unfortunately, the 80 miler is gone for 2010. So I guess only 60 miles will hafta do. Bummer.

2010 will be my third crack at Ouachita. Historically I've had a rough time down there in Arkansas. 2007 was the year of the massive bonk coupled with crippling cramps. Last year I endo'd into a rocky stream and banged up my right knee around mile 30ish of 80. That was a long day.

It took 6 weeks for the swelling to go down

Hopefully 2010 will go a bit smoother. It'd be great not to do something stupid like get hurt.

2007 - Hey, is that Sydney?

Thanks to my good buddy CVO for hooking me up with a entry for Ouachita. I'm looking forward to a great weekend down in Arkansas!

XC skiing is a blast!

Saturday morning crew!

I picked up a XC ski package on Thursday on the way home from work and couple of hours later was hitting up Wilderness with the homies for my first cross country ski experience. It was tough and I fell a lot, but it was more fun than I expected. I'm still getting the technique down, but had several "moments" during this mornings session. Now I'll be stoked to see snow in the forecast.

Monday Morning Motivational

Almost virgin tracks on the Rock Island Trail by the Lincoln Zoo

Out the door and on the bike by 4:30 AM. Quick coffee stop. More riding at 5 AM and then more coffee at 6 AM.

Roads were great this morning

Studded tires work really well. Super stoked. Hopefully they'll keep me upright this year.

More snow forecast for tonight and tomorrow. Boo.

Pre-snow ride through the Park

EP Bridge break & regroup

A small crew of five met up at Meadowlark this morning for a quick jaunt through the Park. The Park is perfect right now. Hardly any ruts or other obstacles. Plus it's as smooth as silk. The best it's been in a long time.

Frozen already

Winter is definitely here. Seems like this time last year we were still riding with our Fall gear. The forecast is looking pretty shitty over the next few days. Time to bust out the winter beater bike.

Schmidty!

Mystery bottle

Anyone missing a Gary Fisher water bottle? It's been sitting on the EP bridge for a couple of days now. Based on the graphics I'd say it's about 7 years old.

Rural graffiti - those crazy kids

Yep, it's winter alright

Caffeinated and ready to go

Nineteen brave souls headed out from Meadowlark this morning for a quick trip to Cortland via the Homestead trail and a bit of gravel. Departure temperature was around 25 with a sub-twenty degree wind chill.

Large group today with some new faces!

Butch put the hammer down early and lead the charge most of the way on his fixed gear Surly Cross Check. Dude, you were killin' it today!

Headin' back on South 25th Street

The group really splintered after Cortland. A small crew grouped up and rolled back to town on gravel and eventually the Homestead Trail. The tailwind was great. Several of us rolled through the park on the way back to town. Wilderness is still in amazing shape. Hopefully the snow in the next few days won't ruin it.

Great ride today everyone! More of the same tomorrow!

Full Moon ride!