Pocketful of Sunshine

It's been a little bit since we've had a Saturday Morning ride that left from the shop so I stopped and grabbed some donuts on the way in to kick things off. Nothing says welcome back like round sugar cakes topped with more sugar.




At the beginning on the week it was about 50/50 on if we were going to get rained on, on Saturday but as the week progressed the chances of rain diminished. Saturday was an absolutely perfect morning, zero rain, zero clouds and it would get up into the mid 80s. It was far and away the nicest and warmest ride we've had this year.



Nice weather brings with it some nice numbers in rider turn out as well, was a good group for Saturday. We even had a new rider this week, Christine, this would also be her longest ride ever by about 23 miles.


The plan was to head out of town heading west and then loop north to Malcolm, we did have to switch it up a bit from our normal route because of flooding to the Bison trail. Did you know that there is a cross walk "beg button" at Pioneers Blvd and Hwy 77? Me either but Pat found one, would be fun for someone with a physical disability to get to it for sure but you know, handicapped people never go outside... right?




We weaved our way through on some less used side streets and eventually made it to Claire Ave and the gravel. Despite all of the rain we have been getting lately, the gravel is really fast and dry right now. I'd suggest getting some mile in before the county decides to drop a metric poop ton of white rock all over.



Of course we made a stop on the bridge over I-80, one of my favorite spots to stop, enjoy an adult beverage and regroup. Folks traveling through the state seem to really get a kick out of seeing cyclists on the bridge for some reason, lots of waving and honking.





Spin out to Malcolm was pretty quick and we sort of split into two groups at this point. Those who had things to do back in town stopped at the General Store and those not in as big of a hurry stopped in for some Que at Lippy's.




With the sun bearing down on us and bellies full of BBQ, the pace slowed a little bit on the way out of Malcolm and even managed to find a nice shady bridge for a little Tea Time. Thankfully we picked it up in Malcolm so it was still fairly cold when we opened it up, warm tea on a hot day isn't nearly as nice as cold tea.




The Twisted Tea must have been refreshing because the pace picked up a bit after lighting out from the bridge. We surfed the gravel waves of McKelvie and it wasn't too long before we were making the final turn on N. 1st street and heading back into Lincoln.


Ride officially ended in the Haymarket but everyone decided to unofficially end it with a cold drink at Method. Picked myself up an iced chai latte that really helped to cool off a bit before making the trip back to Cycle Works. Good group for this weeks ride, looking forward to getting a few more of them in here soon but next week we will be in Grinnell Iowa for the Prairie Burn 100, another tour style gravel ride that should be a lot of fun. They have live music and other activities planned for the folks after the ride, kind of looking forward to this one and I'm hoping that the tour style of events catches on and there are more options next year. If you're also heading to the Prairie Burn I hope to see you there, if not keep your eyes peeled for the next in town SMNDFBR which should be at the end of the month after the Solstice 100. Once we get through June the rides were be a bit more regular than they have been this month or last month so don't worry, we still have plenty of summer rides ahead of us.