Just an update

Hey guys -- just an update. I haven't been biking much -- just commuting. The road bike hasn't been off the hook in the garage this year. Just haven't had the desire and have had other things on my plate.

One of those things is I'm playing in a cover band. We had our first two gigs last weekend down at Bob's Tavern in Havelock and it went pretty well. Just a few rough spots. It's a 6-piece band (two guitars, bass, drums, two singers). I play mainly rhythm guitar. We're having a lot of fun playing rock/blues/soul stuff. Fun music most everybody knows -- and enjoys dancing to.

We're off for a few weeks then will start booking regular gigs. I'll keep you posted, if you want to come check us out.

Anyway, been running a few miles during the week instead of biking. Doesn't take as much time and is a good cardio workout. Hope you guys are all well -- miss the camaraderie and margaritas.

Later!
Kew

Random stuff

I had another couple of great rides this week. Last night's teamFIRE gravel ride is quickly becoming a regular favorite - it's a fun social ride with great people. It was nice having my friend Scott come along - he did a great job on his first group ride and had a great time. This is a good ride for introducing people to group rides - I hope we see some more new faces joining the familiar ones.

My daughter has been at dance camp at UN-L all week. As part of the team bonding, the seniors on the squad chalked our driveway and decorated her car. My oldest son, who is home from Oregon for the summer, is a little reluctant to borrow her car now that "Hotties on board" is painted on the windshield. He mentioned to us that he feels like we are all suddenly living inside the Disney Channel. It is an adjustment for the three males in the family to get used to all of this girly stuff.

Speaking of Oregon, we are heading out to the coast this weekend to pick up my son's car to bring home for the rest of the summer. We should get some good touristy stuff in as well - a visit to the coast as well as visits to Crater Lake and Redwood National Park are in the plans. I'll post some pics here when I get a chance. My main worry while gone is keeping track of which stages of Le Tour to dvr so I can watch some of them when I get back.

Speaking of the Tour - I have been thinking of having a little get-together at my house to watch one of the late mountain stages when we get back from Oregon. July 22 is the climb of Col de Tourmalet - should be the final defining day in the mountains and the last important day before the final time trial. We could do the regular Thursday gravel ride and then meet at my place for food and drink and watch the tour. Let me know if you'd be interested.

Duathlon and teamFIRE rides

On Sunday I woke up to the sound of hard driving rain at about 5:30 am - I was scheduled to ride in the Nebraska Triathlon Club Duathlon out at Pioneers Park at 7:30 a.m. Believing that it would be cancelled or postponed, but not willing to give up totally, I threw on my bike clothes, put the bike in the car, and drove out to the park to find out what the organizers were going to do.

Unfortunately, as there was no lightning, they decided to hold the race. The rain continued to fall throughout the whole race, causing the road to be covered in large puddles and streams of water all along the course. This made for nervous descents and turns at the bottom of the hills - but as far as I know there were no crashes.

Peter and I were beaten out of first place by a couple of 20-something co-workers of Peter's (they work at the Oven where Peter plays guitar on Thursdays and Sundays). We did get second place, although we were a few minutes behind where we finished last year. I averaged just under 19 mph for the three laps, which I'll take given the bad weather, hills, and complete lack of any warm-up. We told them that when they get to their mid to late 40s, and they ever get diabetes and cancer, then they can talk smack about their win.

When I got home, I put the bike up on my rack to oil the chain - and heard a loud sloshing of water in my rear tire as I spun it. I took the wheel off and removed one bead of the tire, took out the tube, and poured out about a cup of water out through the valve hole. No wonder the bike felt heavy on that last lap :)

I have had some nice teamFIRE rides this week - although not on the official Wednesday ride, which may or may not still exist. On Thursday last week, I headed out with Adrian and Jace and a couple of friends on the Jamaica trail for a nice ride, and last night several of us (Kevin M., Nicol, Jen, Conrad, and Rachel) took a nice short ride to Sprague, followed by a quick visit to the team clubhouse (Janna met us there after finishing her teaching ride).


Sounds like the Monday teaching ride is going to be a regular thing - an opportunity to introduce newbs to group riding. After watching people struggle into the wind during TdN while riding 20 feet behind people riding the same pace, this is something that could really prove to be useful. Jen can always demonstrate the proper water bottle techniques:

Challenge

Anyone want to do the TDF Versus Challenge this year?