CWAJGA

Hit up Wilderness this morning with the leaves changing colors it's pretty awesome out there right now. Ran into a few crabby people out there this morning which is a bit unusual, gave them a hearty good morning and not so much as a nod in return... curmudgeons the whole lot of them. Can't we all just get along?


Dirt's under there somewhere.


Lectric company has been busy cutting down trees and making paths.

Life isn't all that bad right now, not bad at all. 

Day of Rest

Felt good to get out on the bike for a ride today, really needed at least twice the 46 miles I got in to make a dent in the calorie intake over the last few days but it was a decent start.


Harvest is in full swing right now, lots of dust in the air.


If you could put up with the dust though the solitude of the gravel was nice, not having cars whizzing by you at 65 mph was also nice.


Ran into M.G. at the Malcolm General Store, chatted for a bit before he headed out for some more miles while I headed home with the tailwind. Really like the looks of the Singular Gryphon.


Decided just to take HWY 34 back into Lincoln and was treated to some nice grooved pavement, always a good time... not!

Octoberfest and the Death of a Liver

There have been a lot of great beer events in Lincoln the last couple of days, I think I have drank more beer in the last week than I have in the previous month.


Today was the Octoberfest hosted by Henry's on South and Leon's Gourmet Market, between those two you knew the food was going to be at least as good as the beer.


The brauts are the same one's you can get from Leon's and the did not disappoint, the kraut had pieces of bacon and potatoes in it and was amazing all by itself.




The pretzels were from Henry's were good, the ale, stone ground mustard really sealed the deal and had a great spicy flavor. The Apple Struesel was very very delicious... it's events like this that have helped me cure my anorexia problem, got that going for me I guess.


Speaking of Henry's and great food, I ride by this place all the time and had no idea it was even here.


A quick look at the menu and I'm definitely going to have to come back, food sounds amazing, the smell were awesome and the prices were very reasonable.


Speaking of great food at reasonable prices we ran into these guys at the Octoberfest, if you've never been to Sips 'n' Subs you should give them a try as well, some of the best sandwiches and burgers in town all homemade like your moms used to make.

If you paid your $3 to get in and were of age you got one of these on your hand and one of these...


...enabled you to buy one of these.


The mugs were $16 a piece FILLED, beer was $6 for a regular glass and this held two glasses of beer so really you only paid $4 for the mug. I'd expect to have paid at least $16 for the mug by itself at a store without the beer making it a great deal.

Probably not how Osprey ever intended it's Viper 10 to be used but since we rode down to the event we had to improvise with what we had. It actually held quite well but they were heavy, even empty they were probably 3-4 lbs apiece hanging off of the pack.

Brownville...

Took Friday off from work which left the day wide open, we decided to head down to Brownville to the Whiskey Run Creek winery and to check out the changing leaves.


I'm not what you would call a wine connoisseur by any means so I was just along for the ride for the actually tasting, I did take small sips from the GF's selections however. I think I'll stick with beer for now but Brownville is a cool little town and the scenery was a nice change of pace.


The barn where you can buy and taste the wines was original built in the 1900s, they definitely don't make them like this anymore, even if you aren't a wine person like me you can definitely still appreciate the architecture of a barn like this.


Second time I've been out to Brownville but the first time that I was able to go into the cave at the winery, it was closed the last time I was out. The entry looks a little creepy but would make an excellent Halloween party room.




The way I understand it the site of the winery was originally one of the first breweries in Nebraska and this cave and a much larger cave that has since been closed off was where they would store the beer after brewing before there was refrigeration. The larger cave still exists but sits under the parking lot of the current winery, in order to reopen it the winery would lose their parking lot but they have contemplated someday looking into how to reopen it as well. All the history that much exist in that cave would be awesome to see.


Even if you're not into wine Brownville is full of history.


Instead of tearing down all the old buildings and rebuilding new ones like many town have done, Brownville has embraced it's history and many of the buildings in the town have been there since the early days of Brownville.


If you like wine, history or even just small quaint rural towns that remind you of times long gone you should check out Brownville. Only being an hour and a half from Lincoln and slightly less from Omaha it's well worth the trip.

Down the Deschutes

Last night was the Deschutes Pub Ride hosted by Cycle Works, Moran's Liquor, Dempsey's, Doc's Place and Yia Yia's Pizza, bikes, beers, bars and pizza... what else do you need?


First stop was Moran's Liquor for some beer tasting and Yia Yia's pizza, and this really big Deschutes keg affectionately known as woody.


Ed, Gary, myself and Shawn (a.k.a Bubbles) from Deschutes, Shawn basically tours the country with woody dispensing yeasty goodness to the masses. Best Job Ever!


Mmmm... beer...




Never been inside a 3 ton keg, expected it to be a lot more full of beer but it was still pretty awesome.


When in Oregon you are supposed to be nice, I guess all bets are off when in Nebraska but perhaps he was just pointing out the sticker.

Lots of people inside Moran's and one creeper outside taking pictures of them.




Everyone getting ready for the ride to Cycle Works.

En route to Cycle Works, was a bit dark for decent pictures but we got more than a few sideways glances from people as the large group rode by.


Sweet Huffy, seriously though it was a really nice looking set of wheels.

Second stop was Cycle Works, the amount of people that came out and rode was impressive.


Unique bike helmet, never had to buff my helmet with leather conditioner... I might have buffed my own helmet with Jergens but never leather conditioner.


Ed with a flip phone and a banana in his pocket, the jokes just wrote themselves on this one.

Dempsey's was transformed into a biker bar for the night, I am sure the usual patrons were more than a little confused by all the bicycles and riders that suddenly swarmed the bar.

M.G., Krampus (Chase) and Mukluk (Drew) grabbing a beer and some food... three really good dudes right there.


Gina (Deschutes photographer) and Alix having a great time at Dempsey's, all of the Deschutes crew were awesome people.


Gina had some nice equipment, only other thing that makes me geek out as much as bikes is photography equipment.

Not everyone was having an enjoyable night however, not sure what caused the accident but the car looked pretty messed up.


Doc's Place, it was my first time being here, not a bad little bar down in the Haymarket might have to stop by again sometime.

Gary, Bubbles and Alix downing another fine Deschutes beer at Doc's. Shawn was a really good guy, had some interesting stories and even partakes in Cyclocross, just goes to show that bikes and beer just go together.


Last stop on the pub ride was Yia Yia's...


...that meant it was finally time for a little food to go with all the great beer.

A great time was had by all, or at least everyone I encountered had nothing but smiles on their faces and cheer in their voices, I even managed to score some free Deschutes swag. Much thanks goes out to everyone involved in putting on such an awesome event, all their hard work let all the rest of us enjoy the great food, great beer and the comradery of the awesome cycling community that Lincoln has.