Sunday, October 14, 2018

Everything's So Blurry

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Seasons, they are a changin and it's that time of year when those who don't ride fat all year but own one start to dust it off and get it ready for service. If you haven't pulled the trigger on one yourself this awesome machine is in the shop and it is so rad. It's like the SUV of Fat Bikes, surprisingly despite it's length it will fit on a regular hitch rack and maneuvers better than I ever would have expected. Even if you're not necessarily in the market for a fat cargo bike you should go ride it, it might just change your mind.

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Coincidentally, or maybe not so coincidentally, the girth of the tires on the Saturday Morning ride tends to become more portly as well. Great group for this weeks ride, mostly familiar faces but Jeff did come down from Omaha to join us this week.

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The plan this week was to take a spin out to Sprague and to replace the RG sticker that we noticed was getting a little weather worn the last time we were out there.

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While the sun was out and the temps were supposed to get into the low 60s later in the day, the roads were less than ideal and it was like riding on one long endless puddle of mud. Since I just cleaned up the Pugsley on Friday, it only made sense that it was going to get dirty the very next day.

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Because of the soft roads and maybe a bit to do with the reintroduction of plumper tires by most of the group, the pace was a bit slower and the regroups a bit more frequent on Saturday. I think one of the keys to riding Fat and not quitting on it is that you have to ride Fat. I know you're probably thinking "well duh" but I don't mean every once in a while but all the time. I would say to really get to a point where riding the larger tires seems easier, you really have to be riding a Fat Bike either exclusively or at minimum 85% of the time and you have to stick with it for a good 4 solid months and give your legs time to build up and get used to all that extra rotational weight and drag.

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I've never really been a big fan or riding Sprague Road, it's a bit narrow, without shoulders and has a fairly high speed traffic flow but it weighs a bit more heavily on my mind when I ride it now. Sometimes however you just have to put all of that out of your mind and do it anyway to get to where you need to go, Saturday was one of those days. Once at the intersection, we peeled off the old sticker and placed one of the newer updated RG stickers in it's place. I'm actually a little surprised when we ride out there that someone hasn't already removed it but it's always there waiting on us to visit again.

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Leaving SW 58th, we made quick work of Sprague Road heading into Sprague and a stop at Traditions Pub for a refuel before heading back to Lincoln. Pickle shots and even pickled eggs were on the menu for the stop, I tried that pickle shot and it wasn't half bad but did not partake in the pickled eggs. Sometimes when you're 25 miles away from the next bathroom, it's not the best time to try strange foods.

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Blessed with drier roads and a tailwind on the way back, the return trip was much quicker than the route out.

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And then we ran into a train, well not literally because that would really hurt, that slowed us down and we said our goodbyes to those who needed to head home.

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Several of us with some time to kill before meeting up at Copal for dinner decided to head to Kinkaider and check out their Octoberfest.

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I've never personally dressed up for an Octoberfest but always find it kind of cool to see those who do really get into it.

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After enjoying the beer and the festivities, it was time to head to Copal and meet up with the rest of the gang for some food. One of our group has a wife who is battling cancer and another one of our group of riders is out for a few weeks with his own health problems, so we decided to all try to get together for something we could all do, which is eat. One of the things I really like about this ride and this group of people is that you not only get a great bunch of riding partners but if you're part of the core group, you get a second family.

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