11/1/11

Bobk and Kimc made me not do homework this afternoon. If I fail it's because of them.

They made me breathe in lots of dust.

They made me go up hills.

They made see two gravel lions! They weren't huge.

They made me witness the horrible beast on 25th!

Then kimc made me travel through the wildernest in almost darkness.

Now it's way too late to get back to homework. Way too late.

Oh Kimmy

Saturday morning, Kim was early. Roaring to go. Oh Kimmy.

After driving past Elkhorn she commented, "There aren't very many hills." Oh Kimmy.

She let me borrow some knee warmers. I realized I forgot my skull cap as soon as the race started. Brrrr... Probably why I'm sick today.

The first 20 miles was pretty easy. Joe the San Jose noticed the distinct gravel tracks of bikes where missing at one point so retraced and got back on track. Not a big deal. Probably less than a quarter mile mistake. For most of the beginning we could follow the string of riders and follow wheel tracks in the gravel. But after this offing, our group mostly looked for the tracks at intersections.

I got to the drop off zone at about noon. I had some food and changed jerseys, ditched some warm clothes and refilled the camelback. Kim was still roaring to go. Before we took off she had to comment on my choice of sunscreen. Apparently it did not accentuate my skin tone. Today my skin tone is Neopolitan (chocolate, pink and vanilla).

Ride ride ride, dirt dirt dirt, gravel gravel gravel and dust dust dust. (sorry mr. farmer)

We pass a tornado siren and I wonder who is around to even hear that thing if it goes off. There were some really isolated and quiet sections to this course. Kimmy saw the same siren and would tell me what she was thinking later on the trip.

Ride ride ride... we would yo-yo with a couple other guys riding. One was the course organizer and the other we will call Matt or Brad. Or just "guy."

We stopped just before turning on the co rd 26. Looking at our sheet, only 9 miles to go. "That sure went fast." Kim was already talking about where to eat afterward naming sammich shops. Oh Kimmy.

Turns out this was our first turn onto 26. We still have 17 miles to go. That doesn't sound too bad... if only the wind would die down.

Nope, we finally get to the homestretch with only 10 miles to go. Oh, it's paved? We cross a highway and then back to gravel. I imagine like we're heading back from Princeton. Just make it over this big hill and coast to the finish.

Okay, make it over this next hill. Okay, next hill. Okay, next hill... next hill... next, next, next... When I say hill, I'm talking short but steep hills. I'm in my lowest gear thinking to myself, "This is a pretty slow escalator." I pretty much keep my eyes to my front wheel looking for some kind of gripping line through the gravel. There's a line to the left but I'm not going to follow that near the apex.

At the top I look back to see if my compatriots are around. Nope, just the wind and the hills. Kim was running out of water and cramping up. I made it to the finish and saw a truck leaving to retrace the course. I asked them if they had water. They looked at me funny as if, "Why would people need water?" I started to worry that maybe Kim was stuck on the side of the road cramped up. Nope, she pops out onto Pawnee road not far behind me. She finishes and looks just as fresh as at the beginning. Oh Kimmy.

I, on the other hand, was beat. One more mile of hills probably would have dropped me. My legs felt like they were going to pop. I kept trying to stay under the stress limit but I didn't have any calories in them. I got motion sickness in the car, that or drinking a bottle of water too fast at the finish. On the plus side, I was able to eat and sleep after the ride. Something I couldn't do after GW. Was this tougher? Hmmmm... overall, no. Was it more brutal? Hmmmm... yes, after 95 miles, that 8 mile stretch of rollers into the wind was not kind.

Anyway, JackRabbit 2011, checked off. 9:23:11

look at my hundys!

Going to put on my cleanest hundredwear next weekend and gravel them up.

Maybe after the event I'll report how the rocky roads north of Omaha compare to the ones around here... unless no one is reading this here bloggity blog blog.

BTW, this is ironic. I know nothing about bikes and even less about jazz!

Y'all better be getting yer bike on

Ride a little ride for me.

I'm stuck with the relentless assignment after assignment routine.

Did get some miles in with the B and the K... no, not burger king...

In other news, I am glad to report that ring around the collar has officially been eradicated from mankind. Isn't that great?!?

What's up this week?

Did anyone exercise yesterday?

I exercised my right to watch How I Met Your Mom last night.

I think school is keeping me inside this week. Hopefully I can do something this weekend... but it's not looking good.

A venisonce festival

Dang, I just remembered Dale likes to eat the deers. I should have called him up to come and haul off the fresh kill.

In other news, HTML cannot be learned in 30 minutes...

Up, Down... waiting for the next Up now.

Welps,

Yesterday was the first day this year I felt like I had my legs. Every other ride there was either some twinge, some ache, some weakness or something just felt off. Finally, now that it's heading to the end of the year for long rides the legs come around. Dangit.

I got to say it was a nice ride yesterday. The only complaint I got is in my wrists. Those graded sections were fine yesterday but today... I feel like my hands are going to fall off.

Great party last night. Bummed I couldn't stay later. Got up this morning and checked the ol' school message board and yup, at 10:36 yesterday morning another assignment was heaped on to us. So now this week I have a paper, I have to create some webpages and now a group assignment. Blech!

Scent o'Carveth

I smell like a Carveth today.

How should I abuse this opportunity?

Anybody out there Major Tom?

Testing, testing... Does anybody look at this thing anymore?