Peeps time

I've heard a rumor that the next Monday night ride will end at Kimc's abode with multiple beerskies she is trying to unload. But then again, it's supposed to be in the 90's. Perfect Marg drinking weather. Come along and find out how this night concludes.

Hidelly Ho neighbors! -- does anybody read this anymore? Should I post more regularly? Does Gravy still have Road Steel? These are the questions one must ask...

Pirates ho?

The wind was outta the SSW... so this whacky pirate headed into the gails, SSW. Oh, a pile of dirt, up hill, and into the frost giants breath?

Hell yeah!

No yard birds were found but two hell hounds abound.

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?

Sad news.

This is the father of one of my students.

news story

He passed away last night. Maybe I should stop soft-shelling it.

Shackleton Shackleton Shackleton

Hello to my little fwends!

I bet you want to know what I've been up to...

Assuredly, you are assuming I'm on wild adventures, galavanting with kings and queens, taking trips to the upper atmosphere and exploring the marianas trench... well no.

The answer is school. I'm being forced to read, at grade point, about an explorer who went to the Antarctic to reach the South Pole. He made three attempts and never reached it. What he is famous for is on his third attempt, getting stuck. Whoopie... well, I have to read this book to learn about leadership. Seems strange, but I guess this guy is admired because he and his crew were stuck for two years and none of them died. Nice story... but the admiration for this fella is over the top. It's like he invented leadership in the eyes of the author. There are actually institutes dedicated to his teachings... I should get an award for having to move my eyes over the words in this book. I should get an institute named after me for surviving this tortuous undertaking.

Well, that's where I am, in a literary wasteland.

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?

Tour de Nebraska Pics

I just got back from TdN, so I thought I would upload my pics and do a quick ride report. Daily stats:

Day 1 - Clay Center to Minden - 61 miles, 16.2 mph avg.
Day 2 - Minden to Cambridge - 80 miles, 18.1 mph avg.
Day 3 - Cambridge to Alma - 61 miles, 17.6 mph avg.
Day 4 - Alma to Red Cloud - 60 miles, 17.5 mph avg.
Day 5 - Red Cloud to Clay Center - 55 miles, 16.0 avg.

On days 1 and 2 I rode primarily with Bruce and Alisa S. and Jordan and Angie M., which made it easy to form an echelon and fight the crosswinds. Day 1 was a pretty brisk cross/headwind. We were fortunate on day 2 as it was the longest day and we had a slightly helping crosswind. Days 3 and 4 had light crosswinds and very hot temperatures (it reached 100 degrees each day). On day 3 we had a nice rotating paceline going with the same people as days 1 and 2, with the addition of David R. On days 4 and 5, we had a light crosswind until we turned north, and then had to fight a pretty good headwind for the last 20 or so miles. Those last two days I rode with Jordan and Angie, the tandem towing company, as David either rode with Martha or took off into Kansas to get in a century.

Here are the pics, starting with Rich's opening instructions:


Once on the road we formed up our line to fight the wind - it was a pleasure to ride with such good cyclists.


Day 4 was supposed to be a short day (48 miles), so we took a detour and did a nice 6 mile climb out to the Willa Cather Memorial Prairie - which also put us right on the Kansas state line.


It is interesting what you can see on the road. Here the base for one of those big windmills gets stuck as it tries to make a turn and can't clear the RR crossing sign.

The community lunch stops are usually either hosted by some organization or the town bar opens up for us. It is always a welcome time to refuel, get off of the bike for a minute and stretch, and meet some new folks.



It can also be fun to check out the different towns as we pass through them. We found this sign in Oxford:


As a musician, I enjoyed this one in Funk (sounds like a good band name from the '70s, I think):


My only mechanical incident happened in Oxford when I somehow lost two screws from my cleat and I couldn't clip out. I had to take my foot out of my shoe and wait for the Bike Rack truck to come help.


After showering, post ride activities include finding a good spot for the tent:


The search for a bar with lots of unhealthy fried appetizers:



Exploring town and looking at all of the shops and buildings:


We couldn't figure out if this sculpture was a bike rack, an ad for a dentist office, or an ad for a proctologist. Bruce helped us visualize the possibilities:


In Alma we walked down to the Harlan County Reservoir - it was nice to see that it has filled back up.


Once back at the campground, there is always good conversation at the tents:


Or maybe a nap:


Or a card game:


Several of us on the tour are friends with a Lincoln musician who also has a nice little house in Cambridge. We gave her a call and she invited us up to have a drink on her deck:


I'm tired, sore, and happy to be home, but it was a great time.

Packing

Today I will spend packing for the Tour de Nebraska - tomorrow morning I will leave about 5 a.m. to head out to our starting point at Clay Center.  Hopefully we are done with the rain and will get nothing but sunshine and tailwinds.  

Thanks to everybody (Julie, Nicol, Jordan, Jen, Kevin, Janna, Megan, Conrad, and Rachel) for the nice ride and the post ride birthday festivities last night.  That was a blast!

I'll post pics here as soon as I get back.