Last night had to be one of the top 10 fall riding days ever, temps were in the 70° range, the wind was minimal and not a cloud in the sky. It had been a while since I had joined the OMGravel crew, oddly enough the last time being almost exactly three months ago on July 19th, so I decided to tag along and what better place is there in all of Omaha to start and end a ride.
Had a small but great group of riders last night, one thing that these rides have done for me is to help me get more familiar with Omaha and especially the downtown area. When I lived in Lincoln we would occasionally come up to the Big O but generally those trips were to go to specific places and do specific things, so exploring wasn't really in the cards. As I learn more about the downtown area the more I realize it's not as spread out as I once thought it was, I used to think that the river front and the Old Market were miles from each other when in reality they are only separated by about a mile.
These rides have also shown me where the hills are in Omaha, Council Bluffs and the surrounding area. 2nd & Hickory Streets is one of those hills, sure there are steeper hills or longer hills out there but around here a climb nearing 20% is a decent climb, my lungs and legs can attest to that.
We took a well earned rest at the top of the climb, in a drug free zone even... which was good because the area looked like it might otherwise have been victim of some drug activity. Thank goodness for signs. Brought the Fargo thinking it would be a better bike than the Pugsley but the skinnier I go, the skinnier the group goes it seems; in both bike tire and rider.
We sort of meandered south past the Henry Doorly Zoo and onto Bellevue Blvd before heading west on Harvell Dr., not one of my favorite roads to ride for sure but it was a brief trip to Fort Crook Road. We did ride through "little Mexico" on 24th St., which I had no idea was even there but there were so many great smells on every block that it will definitely have to be on the list of places to go back and visit soon.
Stopped and got a quick shot with Fargo and the Buffalo... even got a little bit of the First National Bank Tower. A little back story on that, a few years back I was downtown taking pictures with a buddy and we were going to take some of the fountain in front of the tower, a security guy on a Segway comes flying out of the building telling us we aren't allow to take pictures of the building. Dude had his panties pretty tightly wound so we decided not to push it and just moved along... a block down and then commenced to get the pictures we wanted. Any who, no wedgie having, scooter riding, rent-a-cops were encountered last night but I am sure my summons to appear is in the mail. Speaking of photos, the quality of pictures took a bit of a hit as the G15 is down and out right now. While in Poosey, a chuck of the memory card broke off and is still lodged in the slot preventing a new card from being inserted. The G15 is going to the Dr. here soon but in the meantime I am using a more traditional point and shoot that I had prior to the G15 but it doesn't take as good of pictures so bear with me.
The final stop of the night before parting ways was a refreshment and food stop at LOCAL Beer in the Old Market and sat outside by the fire. Always good beer and great food, one of my favorites down there for sure.
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