Halloween Ride

Saturday was the 4th annual Halloween Ride and the third one I've been involved, somehow I completely missed the one in 2016. Huh... maybe I was living in a cave that year.






Halloween is my favorite non-holiday, holiday; it's almost like the adult version of Christmas for me. The plan was to head to Saro Cider, Code Beer first for some socializing and adult beverages. While it was a Husker home game, which might have kept a few riders from coming, the weather could not have been better for the ride.








In fact it was so nice out that we opted to sit outside on the patio while the weather was still nice enough to allow for it. Looking at the forecast for this week, this might have been the last really nice Saturday for awhile, the snow is already in the 10 day.


A special thanks to Saro Cider and Kevin for hooking us up with discounted prices on their delicious ciders, things always taste slightly better when  you're not paying full price.



Code Beer Co. was a split stop with Saro Cider so several of us spread our time between the two, being only a block and a half from each other it was very easy to do. If they could get a distillery and wine bar to move in on the same block, you'd have the start of a really fun adult beverage district.



On our way out we noticed a group of GROMs and regular motorcycles stopped at the light, Captain America challenged them to a race. This of course caused all sorts of hooliganism as engines were revved, tires were smoked and a few wheelies were pulled on their way through the light. Sometimes Super Heros get up to no good too, don't believe the hype.




Did I mention that it was a gorgeous night, because it was. All the changing leaves really adds a beauty to the world for the 2-3 weeks the leaves stick around before heading into the brown season.



This might have also been our first ever tunnel beer stop.



The next stop on the ride was Moran's Liquor Works, always a fan favorite since they added the taproom a few years back.



I also learned that Surly Junk Straps make a really good machete holder if you ever need to carry one for trail maintenance or your name is Jason and you're heading to the lake. I would recommend a sheath if you're carrying a real one but for a plastic replica it did the job way better than expected.



Standing room only but the selection is always on point, they even had the Glacial Till Caramel Apple Cider on tap. What more could a guy ask for.




The final push of the ride was down the Rock Island to White Elm where we would judge costumes and decide who the winners for the night would be. Although if you ask me, everyone who showed up and shared the night went away as winners.


Before the judging we grabbed a bite from Porkcentric show setup a food stand in the corner of White Elm. I'd never had them before but the nachos were phenomenal!



We lined them all up, convinced three patrons to judge the costumes and winners were announced.


Dave won best costume that included the bicycle, Sarah won best female costume and newcomer Josh won for best male costume. Congratulations to all the winners.


Each winner walked away with a gift card to Cycle Works, a sticker and a gift card to White Elm at roughly a value of $50 combined. Not to shabby if you ask me.



That officially ended the ride, Todd and I wound our way through downtown, which was still hopping several hours after the game was over, on our way back to Cycle Works. Crazy to think how insane it must have been three hours earlier. Thanks to everyone who came out, it was a great night with new friends and new, that fantastic weather didn't hurt either.

Into The Dankness

The forecast for Friday night showed some light showers possible overnight with little to no accumulation, ending around 4-5 am. Which of course naturally meant that there was still water on the ground hours after "little to no accumulation" was supposed to have passed. Weather forecasters, what good are they anyway?


Despite the moisture still on the ground we had a pretty good turn out for the ride, mostly familiar faces but a few we haven't seen in a while and a new rider, on a fixie of all things!






There was a bit of a longer ride on the docket for Saturday, heading out to Hallam for a cool 50+ miles. When I planned the route the forecast was clear all week so I figured the gravel would be dry and fast. The pavement was just that on the way out of town.



The gravel however was neither dry nor fast to begin the day, a fast rolling route was not to be.



We even had a little synchronized tire repair early on in the ride, hopefully it was not a sign of things to come.


Joy had the raddest laser cat kit and yes it does say "suck it" inside the green on the pockets.






What would a Saturday ride be without a ditch beer? This week I picked up the always delicious, seasonal Caramel Apple Cider from Glacial Till, if that wasn't quite up your alley there was also a Casual Friday and Fluffaluffagus to be had.






Thankfully the MMRs were just dry enough that we could ride them without kicking up too much mud, there is always a way around them but they are definitely more fun if you can ride them. We did have a few of the skinny tire folks who decided to take the reroute option though rather than risk sinking. Wider is better when it comes to soft dirt, well, if you ask me wider is better all the time.


With soft gravel it does take a little more umpf to keep things rolling, I was pretty glad to see the water tower of Hallam.



The Hallam Steakhouse is always a great stop when in the area, cold beer, good food and one of the few buildings in Hallam that was lucky enough to survive the tornado 11 years ago that almost destroyed the town. While we were eating we noticed another cyclist show up outside, not unheard of but rare to see someone else riding this far from Lincoln by themselves. As it turned out it was a rider that was supposed to be joining us but showed up a few minutes after we left the shop, so rather than just go home Gabriela decided to chase us down. Kudos for that and it was nice to have her company on the ride back.


After lunch and a quick seat adjustment from Todd, it was time to head back to Lincoln.




The gravel was considerably drier on the return trip but with a fairly stiff head wind greeting us as we turned north, it might not have been much faster.





Despite the soft gravel in the morning and the headwind in the afternoon, the sun kept it warm and it ended up being a fantastic day to be out on a bicycle.


As we were regrouping near Wilderness Park it was fun to watch this rafter of turkeys crossing the road ahead of us. 5-6 of them would scurry across, the rest would wait a few seconds after the first group made it across and then 5-6 more of them would go until the entire group made it across. It was almost like watching a tactical military unit crossing an open field, I don't think I'd ever seen turkeys crossing that way before.



One last regroup and a stop at White Elm brought the SMNDFBR to an official close. Thanks to everyone who came out and rode with us today, it was a long day in the saddle but it was also a lot of fun.


Oooooh yeah, there was also a rare Gary on foot sighting on the way back to the shop. Groovy!

No ride next week due to the Halloween ride that will start at 4:45 pm from the shop, hope to see you all there. Details on that ride can be found HERE!

Also, if you've ever wondered what all the hype is about surrounding smart trainers and programs like Zwift; you're in luck, we have one setup in the shop. Come on down and give it a spin, all the cool kids are already doing it.