Sunday!

Coffee and a donut at Tvrdy's in Valpo...not quite Pepe's

Another great crew this morning...Matt T., Wills, Bonsall, Jim W. (hope you feel better soon!), Troy, James, and Aaron (hope you feel better soon!). The ride took off an hour earlier this morning with hopes of hitting Pepe's for brunch, but once we got out on the gravel near Branched Oak Road the general consensus was to push on to Valpo.

There was a bite in the humid morning air. Lots of fogged over glasses and frost beards by the time we hit Valpo.

Troy before he cracked open the big dawg of JD at the Ceresco Squeegee Station...man, he sure got wasted!

Troy, James and I continued on after Valpo and headed East for Ceresco. Found some sweet new curvy gravel roads to check out in the future and also hit about ten consecutive miles of steep rollers. Great workout for sure!

Big wheels in the house!

James was on a borrowed 29er and sure did great today. I think we'll be seeing him on his own 29er soon. Am I right?

Fob joined us on 98th Street as we worked our way back towards town. The gravel got soft and sloppy at intersections and driveways when the temps creeped up. Had to spend another hour cleaning the bike after the ride today. Sure am tired of doing that every frickin' ride!

Your moment of Zen

Great rides this weekend everyone! Let's do that again next weekend!

Saturday!

Posse rolling by the Phallic Nebraska State Capital building

Large group this morning for the ride. Didn't get an official headcount, but I'm guessin' around 15. Folks are eager for the weather to warm up and even more eager to ride bikes.

CVO (snappin' a pic) and Ryan

The posse picked up a couple folks (Mr. Anderson and The Dark Knight) on the way out of town. By the time we hit the gravel on North 27th the sun was shining and the light breeze out of the North was warming up nicely. The group split up once we hit the gravel and several small groups formed. The gravel was in great shape. Dry and fast. We had a nice challenge heading North when we hit several long stretches of fresh white rock. Ugh.

Fob!

Valparaiso was the first stop. After a regroup and refuel, Fob, Butch, Shawn and I headed East. Shawn peeled off after a bit and headed home while Fob, Butch and I continued on to Wahoo.

Damn fine Mexican

Once we rolled into town we asked around for a good place to grab some lunch and had a few folks point us in the direction of Dos Margarita's. Yep, it was awesome.

Cheese cake!

We powered down a large lunch and then hit the local coffee shop on the way outta town for some espresso. Full belly, a boost of caffeine, and a tail wind. Ah yeah.

We took our time and enjoyed the cozy little town of Wahoo.

Whateva!

Still lots of snow

We ended up riding gravel South for a bit until we hit some wet peanut butter gravel. No thanks...let's take the shoulder on Hwy 77. The tail wind on the Hwy was wicked!

Since we weren't in a hurry, we hit the convenience store in Ceresco for another boost of sugar and caffeine. Aaron Pool was out on his road bike today and stopped into the convenience store while we were there. Great chattin' with ya Aaron!

Saying goodbye to my travel companions - Thanks guys!

Great day on the bike with my buddies. Looking forward to more rides like that this year. Chill pace and great company. Plus, today was probably the best weather day of 2010. Things are lookin' up!

More of the same tomorrow. Ride leaving D Street at 7 AM. At 10 AM hittin' Pepe's for some brunch and then off for some more miles afterward.

Winter...

Intersection of Pella Road and S25th Street in Lancaster County, Nebraska

When will it end!?!

Soon. The days are getting longer, the sun didn't set until near 6:15 tonight, and the temperature is forecast to be in the mid to upper 30's next week. That should take care of all the remaining snow. Or at least a majority of it. Unfortunately, the prospects of riding singletrack around these parts isn't looking very likely. We need some wind and sun to dry up the trails.

This looks like fun

Image pilfered from CTR website

The Colorado Trail Race. 470 miles with 65,000 feet of climbing. Denver to Durango. 300 miles of singletrack. Ah yeah.

The Colorado Trail Race would be a great event to try prior to taking on the monsterous Tour Divide (which I'd like to try someday). I'd love to give the Colorado Trail Race a shot this year, but being a flat lander from Nebraska and originally a native Ohioan, I'd be completely out of my element. And that could be very dangerous. Sure, I've ridden in Colorado several times, but not for days at a time without access to outside support. This may be a bit over my head. I wouldn't know where to start as far as gear and would have no idea what I'd be getting myself into. Time to do some searching on the net.

The Colorado Trail Race starts the day after the Laramie Enduro. Ouch. That'd be a rough, but fun week. Maybe...

Super important Guinea Pig update!

A good home has been found for the Guinea Pig. Sorry if you had your heart set on being the lucky owner. Maybe next time.

Pre-snow ride...get it while you can...also, FREE GUINEA PIG!

Rollin' outta town via North 27th

With the forecast calling for 3 to 6 inches of fresh powder later today through Monday, we had a large and motivated group this morning. Head count was eleven. Hadn't seen Paul, John (Happy Birthday!), Shawn and Kevin on a ride in a while. Great riding with ya guys!

The gravel was actually in really great shape considering the fresh snow we got the other night. There were a few icy ruts, but nobody went down to my knowledge.

Jeff likes bananas, Wills likes cheese sticks, DK likes hot dogs, Troy likes...?

Valpo was on the menu again today. We've been there a lot this year. I'm sure Tvrdy's enjoys the extra income. I went for the 16 oz. coffee and the day old donut...90 cents. Ah yeah.

Lining 'em up outside Tvrdy's

Had a motorist shake her head at us today while heading towards Valpo on Main Road (gravel). Yeah, we're nuts....or is it you, Miss Motorist, who is crazy?

Heading home via the St. Mary's Cemetery road

The group splintered on the way back to town. That's pretty much the norm nowadays. Unfortunately, the NW 112th Street Border Collie wasn't home today. Next week buddy!

Who wants this Guinea Pig?

So, the other night I was eating dinner and watchin' TV. Ruka, the D Street Queen, was freakin' out at the living room window. She does this all the time. She'll see another cat, raccoon, dog, squirrel, or whatever and sprint from window to window getting a look. She'll even scratch the window and hiss if the critter hangs around for awhile. Well, this was the case on Thursday. She was scratchin' at the window for 20 to 30 minutes, so I finally decided to take a look. What did I see? A half frozen guinea pig huddled against the brick wall of the apartment complex next door paralyzed in fear.

I knew it wouldn't survive the night with the all the cats in the hood and with snow in the forecast, so I went out to rescue the critter. The little guy came right to me when I knelt down and put my hand out. The thing was shakin' little an old Maytag. Poor little guy.

So now I've got a guinea pig that I gotta get rid of. Signs have gone up in the hood, but I haven't gotten a call yet. I asked a resident next door, but no luck.

Did someone let it go or did it escape? Maybe it's got lice or it bite it's owner. Who knows. All I know is that I'm not much of a guinea pig kinda guy, so if I don't find a home by Monday it's going to the neighborhood Animal Rescue. Unfortunately, no one on today's ride wanted it. Maybe John would like it for his Birthday!

Seriously, if you want it, shoot me an email. He/she is super chill and poops a lot.

Surprisingly, the gravel was great today

Matt, DK and Troy pushin' up a gravel roller on the way to Valpo

The 6 AM crew rolled out around 6:20ish cuz I overslept. Sorry guys. After yesterday's messy gravel ride I wasn't expecting ideal gravel riding conditions today. Fortunately, the gravel was dry and frozen all the way to Valpo. It was all good.

Two thumbs up! Double plus good!

We parted ways with Butch in Valpo. Good luck with your new life up North in Valpo Butch! Be sure to write!

Rollin' home

Since we wanted to see Butch off this morning we headed North with a tail wind. So that meant head wind on the way home. Riding into a headwind on the way home is never fun, but luckily the wind was tame (less than 10 mph). Awesomeness.

The NW112th street Border Collie

Our Border Collie friend was waitin' for us on NW 112th street. That dog is rad. He joined us for a bit and was keepin' up just fine. Eventually she/he got bored with us and turned around and headed back for home. Good doggy.

Alright, I need a nap.

What a great night.....and morning

Gravel is kinda sucky right now. Oh well, at least it's not a trainer.

Thanks for the party Thad! That was a blast!

Lincoln Ve-Low Par-tay! Cyclists can really cut the rug!

Three Lincoln burritos...dinner at 1:30AM

No Leadville? Who cares! The Laramie Enduro is better.

Heading into some singletrack during the 2009 Laramie Enduro

Yeah, that's right. The Laramie Enduro is way better than Leadville 100 MTB. Why? Simple, it's got actual singletrack! The Leadville 100 MTB, at least the 2007 edition, didn't have one bit of singletrack. And no, I'm not upset for not getting picked in "the lottery" for admittance into Leadville. I'm just stating the facts (sprinkled with some biased opinion with a hint of bitterness). Laramie may not be as long as the Leadville event (111k versus 100 miles), but it's just as tough because added difficulty of the singletrack.

Another gold star on the side of Laramie is the cost difference. The Laramie Enduro only costs 60 bucks. Leadville is almost 5 times as expensive (factoring in the 15 bucks for the lottery). Sure, at Laramie you don't get a nice shiny belt buckle for finishing, or get the chance to race with the living legends Dave Wiens, Floyd Landis or Lance Armstrong, but you do save a bunch of money that can be used for gas, lodging, food, or even bike parts. Plus, you get to race with folks like...some dude riding a sweet whatever, that one guy on the SS, what's her name from where ever on team something or other, and of course all the other folks that didn't get into Leadville. So as far as value, Laramie tops Leadville.

I'm excited for Laramie this year and will try getting into Leadville again in 2011. Unless I hit the Nebraska Powerball this weekend which will allow me to enter the Leadville Training Camp (cost is 1200 bucks!) which guarantees a spot in the 2010 Leadville race. Then I'm in!

Leadville 100 MTB - Not this year!

2007 Team Rasta (Cycle Works/Moose's Tooth) Leadville Recon Trip

Well, I just received an email from the Leadville 100 MTB promoters letting me know that I didn't get chosen in the lottery to participate in the race this year. Bummer. Fob just sent me an email indicating that he didn't make the cut either. The good news is Kris Sonderup (Cycle Works head honcho) got picked as well as a couple of Omaha folks.

So who else from Lincoln/Omaha got in?

Super fun, sketchy and sopping wet Super Bowl Sunday ride

Nice pile!

Great crew this morning for the ride. Several new faces (Ryan, Emily, Kim, and Lis) and several familiar ones that we haven't seen in awhile (Sydney, Jay, and Dane). Welcome and welcome back!

Dane rockin' the 52 x 17 fixie with slicks!

Traction was an issue today. Just like yesterday, on departure the temperature was below freezing, but as the ride progressed the melt ensued and things got interesting.

Moment of Zen

Got another dusting of snow last night or early this morning. More snow forecast for tonight and tomorrow. Enough already! I wanna ride my cross bike.

Rolling to West Claire Road via the Bison Trail

Bike trails were good, but will probably be slick for tomorrow's commute to work. Studded tires highly recommended!

Almost to gravel!

Darn snow kept coming down for most of the ride. By the time we got to Cortland most of us were soaked from head to toe, but on the bright side, we're complete bad asses for riding our bikes today.

Cortland refuel

Rolled out of town via West Claire Road to SW 40th to SW 42nd to West Apple Road on into Cortland. The ride to Cortland had the wheel sucking icy ruts claim several victims. Luckily no one got seriously hurt.

Regroup!

Most of us rolled back to town via S25th with a few folks opting for the highway. The highway was probably the smart choice. Gravel got slick and sloppy as the temperature rose.

Frickin' Ouch

On the ride back to town Troy hit a rut and had his front wheel wash out on him. He hit the dock hard. Real hard. I saw it coming and had enough sense to punch it and get out of the way. After getting a safe distance ahead I looked back to see Troy rolling over to his stomach in that familiar "this one really fookin' hurts" position. That was a bad one. Glad you're alright buddy.

Rocket Fizz!

Hit up Rocket Fizz on the way back through town and picked up a couple Sprecher Cream Sodas. My new "thing". So good.

Coach!

Ran into Coach on the ride home. Snapped this FB profile pic for him. Good seeing you out Coach! You need a War Axe fork for that bike.

Prune hands!

Five hours with wet gloves = prune hands! Anyone else get prune hands? I'm betting on yes. Great ride everyone. Thanks for riding your bike today. Be proud. More of the same craziness next weekend.

Slippery and sloppy

Rollin' on gravel North of town

Great crew for today's Saturday morning ride. Temperature was below freezing on departure, but creeped up above the melting point as the ride progressed. Super slick and sketchy getting out of town to gravel. Even the gravel was sketchy. The studded tires really hooked up well on the gravel, but weren't so awesome on the pavement.

Regroup

The best part about riding with the Lincoln crew is we always regroup at some point. There's always a few folks who go off the front, but eventually someone stops for a nature/safety break.

Beautiful morning in the country

Had to stop and get of pic of this road. The melt over the next couple of days will get most of this snow, but more snow is forecast for Monday. Damn it!

Malcolm General Store

Hit up the General Store in Malcolm for day old donuts (3 for a buck!) and a soda. Things were starting to get really sloppy by this point.

Post ride Yia Yia's

Butch, Fob and I got some extra chamois time by hitting up Cycle Works for an hour or so to fix my bike (BB completely f'ed!) and then onto Yia Yia's for a recovery slice and beverages.

Post ride post Yia Yia's Meadowlark coffee

Riding again tomorrow at 8 AM from D Street. Expect another slippery and sloppy ride. Gonna freeze tonight. South wind tomorrow. Probably Cortland.

Good dog - Round Two

Troy and I hit some gravel tonight and while chattin' about Troy's dogs I spotted a dog running next to us in the darkness. Another case of a dog just wanting to go for a run. We eventually stopped after getting a mile or so from it's farm. We got lots of love from the pup when we stopped. We each took turns petting and scratchin' it's ears. What a great dog!

After unsuccessfully trying to out run the dog and not having much luck with telling it to "Go home!", we turned around and headed back to the farm in which we thought the dog resided. The owners were a little surprised to see a couple of lycra clad cyclist ringin' their doorbell with their dog in tow. Ha! Good times.

This dog definitely gives the Border Collie from Sunday a run for the money on the coolest dog I've encountered on a gravel ride. Well, those two and the Messerschmidt Farm dog on the way to Ponca.