40 Tons of Rolling Canvas

Took the Cog out to Wilderness Park for a little more dirt this holiday weekend, it did not disappointed. Trails are in some of the best shape of the year.


I wasn't the only one out there riding today but with the temp at 61 who could resist.


The wheels on the train go round and round, round and round.


I know it probably drives the railroad companies nuts but I love seeing graffiti on the sides of railroad cars as they roll past at the crossings, might be the only thing that keeps people from putting the car in drive and ramming into the train as they sit and wait.

Love it or hate it, you have to admit it takes talent and a bit of Ninja skills to paint these and not get caught. It's not like you can take it off the track and hide it or have the train wait until you're finished.

Good way to start a Thanksgiving

Woke up at the butt crack of dawn to ride in my 2nd Turkey Ride put on by Swanson, not sure how many there have been but it's pretty awesome tradition.


Boogied out of the house about 7:35 am, hate being late to things in general but it's especially bad to be late for a group ride if you get left behind and have to play catch up. Met up with Jordan on about 9th and D so we rode the rest of the way together. Ended up being the first two people there but the group started arriving shortly after, quite a change from the last few Thanksgivings this one was a bit more chilly for sure.


Pretty good turnout despite the frigid start, not sure what the official head count was but I'd guess between 15-20.


Warming up wasn't an issue as the pace out was pretty quick, not sure my lungs have adjusted to the colder weather completely yet as they weren't sure they wanted to let me breath.


Had a few people drop off here and there, family commitments, but still ended with a decent sized group.

Once the ride was done it was time to head over to the Swanson's for some post ride refueling. The Swanson's are definitely good people, inviting over a bunch of sweaty, smelly bikers for some food and adult beverage.

My kind of parking lot.


Hoping someone tests gravity with a bit of food.

Sausage, mushroom quiche and bacon cinnamon rolls, beermosas and Irish coffee... they know how to keep the fat kid happy.


Bacon wrapped pretzels for dessert didn't hurt either. 

Saturday is for Spelunking

Twas an awesome November morning, that didn't feel at all like a November morning 50s at 8 am.


Just look at how gorgeous it was, not sure if it was dew or if it sprinkled last night but the cement was a bit wet this morning but nothing too bad.


Headed out to Meadowlark Coffee at 8 to meet up with M.G., haven't been out on much more than solo rides since the group rides stopped for the season so the company was going to be nice.




Got there a bit early, had no idea how long it was going to take to ride there for sure and figured early was better than late. Was a bit of a busy morning in the five minutes I sat there waiting, had two fire trucks go by with full sirens and lights and the life flight helicopter lifted off. It's kind of a shame a few somebodies were have crappy days already on such a beautiful autumn day.


Headed straight into a pretty brutal headwind on the way to Cortland, winds started out at 16 mph and just kept getting stronger. Riding into a wind that strong is like riding uphill for the 25 miles out and I was definitely feeling it today.


My view for a lot of the ride, it's pretty humbling when you're deep, deep in your pain cave, your legs are on fire, your lungs are screaming, you'd probably be screaming as well if you could spare the oxygen, it's all you can do to muster up the will to go on... and you look over at the guy you're riding with knowing that he could ride away from you like you were standing still any time he wanted to. Don't get me wrong it's definitely a very humbling experience but it's also the only way you get better at anything, getting your ass handed to you every once in awhile, while it sucks, also helps you improve in ways you never could on your own. There's always going to be someone faster, better, stronger than you are at whatever you do, that's just a fact of life but it's how you respond to the situation that either builds you up or knocks you down. The pain you feel today is the strength you'll feel tomorrow.

Deax Salsalista

Wasn't really planning on getting out for a ride, we are in the midst of a two day cold snap and I'm being a puss so I figured I'd wait it out until tomorrow when it's going to be warmer.


Then this happened, Cycle Works started carrying Johnny's Salsa in limited quantities. I have heard about it being really good but have never managed to get my hands on any so I wasn't going to pass up the chance to finally try some.


I was not disappointed, this is seriously some of the best if not THE best salsa I've ever personally had.


Had I not ridden the El Mariachi to pick up the salsa, I probably would have snagged more than the one jar, Roasted Red Pepper, but I had limited space in my Mountainsmith Tour bag. Not sure where this falls on the cannibalism spectrum but riding a Salsa to pickup some salsa you intend to eat has to be at least a co-conspirator to if not an accessory to commit cannibalism on the bikes part.


Peek-a-boo says the sower. It was more than a little chilly for the ride but after tasting the salsa when I got home it was well worth the trip. You should get yourself some before it's all gone but don't forget your cash.

Last of the color

The last of the leaves are falling off the trees out in Wilderness Park, right now the landscape is ablaze with color.




Trees are bare of leaves but the ground foliage is still holding on.


Usually can't see this huge pile of debris because of all the leaves blocking it from view but right now with the leaves on the ground it's clearly visible. Always amazed at the might of large amounts of flowing water, none of the stuff in that pile is exactly light, including the white and rusted fridge.


I know I've complained about this bridge being closed a few times since it was closed in 2010 when they said it was unsafe but there is a reason. If the bridge is unsafe and could collapse at any moment and the city knows this yet they have continued to let it stand for another 3 years and someone gets hurt on it, even if they intentionally cross the chain link fence, they would be in for a huge lawsuit. To me that means that either they never got the inspection and they don't know for a fact that it's unsafe or they did get the inspection and know it's not unsafe and they are just keeping it closed for as a precaution despite the inspection. I would guess the latter is true, if it were about to fall down wouldn't it have already done so since it's been neglected for 3 years plus if it were really that unstable the city would have had to have at least taken it down by now... right? I've never seen a city say that something was such a hazard that they needed to condemn it but then leave it standing in an area that is uncontrolled, it'd be days before they knew someone took the fence down again... heck if you look a the picture close enough you can see that the "deer" have figured out how to pull enough fence back to get past it. Anyway, I guess it doesn't matter because the city isn't going to reopen it and it's going to be years before it's replaced, if it gets replaced at all. Just seems a shame.

Bikeless on Saturday

Had other plans today that meant no biking, no biking meant sleeping in... if you consider 9 am sleeping in but it was nice to not be up before the sun.


Decided to head out to the shotgun range at Pawnee, the boy had never shot a shotgun before and with the Zombie apocalypse seemingly just around the corner I figured it was time to rectify that. Of course with his constant groaning and sloth like movements it's possible that he could be confused for a zombie if it ever happens.


I've always thought this was a pretty serious muzzle brake, not really sure why they have spikes on it but it does make putting the thing in a case very interesting.


After showing a few melons who was boss we decided to check out the lake for a bit since we were there already, it didn't disappoint with all the vivid colors.


In the waning light of this autumn day even the crapper looked a bit more majestic.

It's been a few years since I've gone fishing in Nebraska but I certainly don't remember the fish just throwing themselves on land, I sorta recall it being much more difficult.

Falloween

It's that time of year when riding outside can be a hit or miss affair with the weather seemingly changing almost hourly at times but when the weather cooperates and you can get out for a ride it is a truly amazing time to be outside. Saturday looked like a much more promising day than Sunday so decided to get out on Saturday for some decent miles.




One of the best parts of living in an established neighborhood is all the color from the older trees.


Decided to head out on the Jamaican North/ Homestead trail to Cortland. I'm a big fan of the rails to trails concept, definitely wouldn't have bridges like this one if they weren't built decades if not a century ago for the railroad. I understand that building a bridge like this takes money but some of the bridges on this trail are well over 110 years old and they are still standing. By comparison several of the bridges inside Wilderness Park built not even 20 years ago have either collapsed or are closed because they could collapse at any moment according to the city, just seems to me like doing it right the first time would be more cost effective. Anyway...


Roca Scary Farms unwanted pumpkins left to die in the same fields where they were born, oh Great Pumpkin won't you come save them?

Cortland transportation mode, crossing HWY 77 on a riding lawn mower takes some good timing because speed is not on your side.


Saturday night was time for adult Halloween, complete with live bands and lots of adult beverages.

This dude showed up and partook in the adult beverage, Lumberjack or a really bad Zac Brown with an ax,  take your pick.


Had an old Sensei show up...

GF went as a person "under arrest", you have to know how to read sheet music to really appreciate it but it was a clever costume idea.

Tricky Dick was there in spirit.


Even the beer cooler came in costume as and old washing machine.