Last ride of 2010!

MG and Wills leadin' it out

Hit the park with a small crew this morning with the ice and snow falling. Yes, it was cold, but as long as you kept moving the digits stayed warm. Frost beards were in full effect. The trail was a bit slick in spots and we all had a few "oh shit" moments, but I am happy to report that no one went down. It was the perfect way to end to a fun and challenging 2010.

Oak, Janna, Wills, Aaron and MG

Hope everyone has a fun and safe New Year's celebration. Thanks to all the folks who made the last year one of the best in my life. I looking forward to more fun in 2011. Keep the good times rollin'!

Icy gravel fun

Bruce leading the charge on West Claire Avenue

A few brave souls met up this morning at Cultiva Cafe for some Christmas Eve action. Lincoln got some ice last night, so at the last minute I slapped on the spare wheelset with the Nokians onto the Karate Monkey. Sure am glad I did.

Clint rode awesome all day on non-studded tires and with 42 x 18!

The roads in town weren't bad, but once we hit gravel things got sketchy. Most of the time if it's icy in town the gravel is fine. Not today. The gravel was more ice than gravel. Traction was sparse. Even with studded tires I found myself in the gutter most of the time trying to find something to bite into.

Rolling up SW 98th (Gravel Worlds course backwards)

Things got better as the ride progressed. By the time we hit the Malcolm General Store I felt comfortable on the gravel. The ice was beginning to melt, but the roads were still maintaining their integrity.

Winter bike - Surly Karate Monkey SS (34 x 16) with fenders and Nokian Gazza Extreme's

Ran into Darin at the Malcolm General Store who was out for a run

Making it to Malcolm was a victory. Not the longest ride, but enough to feel like we accomplished something today.

More fun tomorrow morning! Meet at D Street at 8 AM for waffles and coffee with the ride taking off at 9.

Sunday!

Rode this...

...with these folks

Let's get physical...

8 AM meet up at Cultiva Cafe for some breakfast

Olivia was heavy in the Friday night rotation according to the barista

A lot of Cycle Works/Moose's Tooth riders flying the rasta colors today. Had to get a cheesy photo.

Gravel was in great shape on the way out of town.

Janna with a flat on the county line. Bruce and Butch with the assist.

After the county line things got real sketchy

First ice gravel ride of the season is always unnerving

Frozen deer leg lying in the middle of B Road

High five!

Double donut and 16 ounce "coffee water" recharge in Valpo....$2.15

Heading home and loving every minute of it

Great ride today folks! That was so much fun, let's do it again tomorrow. How about same time, same place. Meet at Cultiva Cafe at 8 AM for coffee with a roll out around 8:15.

Unplanned weekend off

Well, my quest for 12,000 is put on hold due to a nasty head cold I managed to get this past weekend. I haven't been on a bike since last Thursday and I must admit I'm going stir crazy. Hopefully be back on the bike soon.

So since I couldn't ride this weekend I worked on several bikes that were in need of some lovin'. Wrenchin' on bikes can be fun, but I prefer to ride bikes. If I hit the lottery or strike it rich some day I'm hiring CVO as my mechanic. Yeah buddy!

I spent several hours on three bikes. I always over estimate my efficiency while wrenching. Something that I think will take me an hour might take four. The more I do the more I find to do. Kinda reminds me of a saying that I heard in the medical field, "You can't shine shit. The more you rub the more it falls apart."

Indy Fab will be completely broken down and built back up

Long Haul Trucker with new rubber in back. All cleaned up and ready to go for winter commuter duty.

The Roger might live again...I can ride with a slightly cracked chain stay on gravel, right?

Fast twitchin'

A crew of Lincolnites went up to Omaha last night for the Green Sprints by Green Street Cycles. Wow, it sure was fun. These sprint events are a great melting pot of all that is good in the local cycling scene. Definitely a bike culture experience that all cyclists should embrace. Last night's event was very well organized and attended. Great to see folks that I haven't seen in a long time.

As far as the actual sprint is concerned, the fast twitch fiber folks dominate. The bikes have virtually no resistance so it's all about turning the cranks over as fast as ya can. It's amazing how shelled you are after going balls to the wall for 500 meters.

Kudos to Green Street and all the participants/spectators. There are several more Sprint events lined up this Winter by Green Street as well as the KC Sprint crew. If ya haven't checked one out yet put that on your to do list!

I'm thinking of a number...

That number is 12,000. My mileage goal for the year. After last week, I'm about 300 miles from reaching that goal.

Tracking miles is something I had never done until recently. My motivation was not bragging rights, but rather a system to prevent me from riding too much. A few years back just prior to the beginning of cross season I had some terrible fatigue, high resting heart rates and no power on the bike. It was very frustrating because I felt like I had made some good gains in fitness over the Summer, but I had no idea why I felt so crappy for such an extended period of time. A friend pointed out all the big rides and races I had recently participated in over the Summer prior to the onset of my funk. It finally dawned on me that I was doing too much. It took almost a month to feel "normal" again. I was overtrained.

So I started tracking all the miles I put in. All of them. Commuting, racing or just plain old riding along. It all adds up in my opinion.

The first year I kept track I was able to log right around 10,000. Last year was around 12. For no good reason I had a goal of 15 this year, but quickly realized I would be defeating the purpose of tracking the miles in the first place. I figured 12 seems to be a nice even number that is obtainable and won't wreck my other cycling endeavors for the rest of the year. So now I'm super excited to reach this milestone again this year. Barring any major catastrophes I should be able to get it done within the next two weeks. Then a new year begins.

Bitter cold, but super good

"Cheesy photo time. Smile everyone!"

The wind wasn't as strong today, but it sure was cold. It felt much colder than yesterday even though the wind was only 10 mph. Seemed stronger than 10 at times. Lots of cold hands, feet and faces on the ride today.

Old missile silo location on NW 12th and Little Salt Road

Original destination plan was Valpo, but the bitter cold rerouted us to Ceresco. It was much closer than Valpo and gave us a break from the headwind.

Wills with the wicked frost beard and Janna sportin' the Hannibal Lecter balaclava

My weak ass frost beard

Mmmmm, MMR

Hit some great MMR on the way to Ceresco. There's a lot of it around the county line. Might hafta use some of those roads for the PCL Tour of Dirt Roads IV this Spring.

Takin' over and gettin' comfortable

Refuel and warm up at Ceresco was a nice change. Haven't been to that Squeegee Station in quite some time. Of course our presence amused and bewildered some locals.

Double down on the day old donuts with a cup of the House Blend coffee water

Gravel is in great shape. We're lucky.

Wrappin' up the ride with a bowl of soup from Grateful Bread

It's better than riding on a trainer...

8 AM gravel crew assembling at Cultiva Cafe

Yeah, it was cold and windy today, but that didn't stop the gravel posse from heading out. Stiff wind from the NNW at 25 mph meant Valparaiso was on the docket. After some coffee and discussion on how we were gonna get to Valpo the crew bundled up and headed out of the warmth of Cultiva and into the frigid morning air.

Grinding it out on 27th Street

The wind really kept the pace to a crawl most of the way to Valpo. I even considered shifting out of my big ring, but quickly put that thought to rest. Shifting to the little ring means you gave up.

Strength in numbers

It felt like Winter today. Wind chill was around 10 degrees when we took off and didn't warm up much at all during the ride. I kept warm except my toes for a short bit. The efforts on the climbs got the blood pumpin' and warmed everything up. Even my toes got toasty after hitting the rollers with only Pearl Izumi Barrier shoe covers over my regular mountain bike shoes. In hindsight, the Lake Winter boats would have been a better choice.

MMR goodness of B Road near Valpo

We were able to hit several stretches of dirt today. Since we haven't had much precipitation in the past month all the dirt roads were in great shape. B Road is in exceptional shape.

Refuel in Valpo

The ride to Valpo was another "character building session", but the reward of a day old donut and a cup of "coffee water" for 95 cents was well worth it. The ride home was a bit easier than the ride out and we were able to converse without yelling at each other. Ahhh...good times. More of the same tomorrow, but the wind will be much more timid at 10 mph.

Only at D Street....

...you'll find a bike with a cigarette butt hanging from it. DK spotted this last week. I had to share.