What a difference a week makes around these parts, last week we were struggling to even make it above 10° and this week we might hit 60° before it's all said and done. The warmer temps had everyone doing the Bobby Wintle at the shop.
It was nice not needing to navigate slush piles and play is it water or clear ice on every puddle. With the ten day forecast going up and up, an uninitiated person would think that Nebraska is just going to skip the rest of winter, all of spring and start right into summer. That could very well happen but around here just because the ten day looks good doesn't mean it won't whop you with a blizzard on that 11th day. I'm really hoping things are on the up turn for good but I'll still toss back that salt over my shoulder to ward off the bad karma for at least a few more weeks.
Saturday was our first real gravel of the year and since we were literally under several inches of snow last Saturday it was anyone's guess how good the roads were going to be but they ended up being spectacular, better than I could have hoped for really. I threw on the fenders to prevent the skunk stripe but maybe could have gone without them, the roads were that dry.
The plan was to try to get in a decent pile of miles, nothing too daring or over zealous but in the upper 30s or so and so to Eagle we headed. Rumor had it that the new Casey's was completed so you know you gotta go check that out and we did and it's super duper nice. Thanks to the mayor of Eagle for that little tidbit of knowledge.
Also discovered that the grill of a Chevy Black Widow is approximately one Sarah high, hope to never meet one of those up close and personal on the bicycle.
As the saying goes what goes out to Eagle, must come back... or something like that... so back we went after a quick snack at the uber fancy Casey's.
Since it was so nice, there was not just one bridge stop but two. Bonus bridge beer are even better than the regularly scheduled bridge beers by a factor of ten, minimum.
Rolled back into town and ended at the shop with just a few miles short of 40 with some tired legs from not being used to the miles as of late but the smiles were from ear to ear and since it wasn't freezing, you could even see them.
Post ride it was time to whip up something tasty in the kitchen. This week I went pretty simple and grilled up some turkey and pastrami sandwiches with onions and cheddar on toasted jalapeno cheddar bread and some smoked salmon and brie on crackers to snack on while the smells were killing me during the sandwich prep.
Up next week is the 3rd (?) annual Washington Jefferson ride down in Hanover, Kansas. Roads look pretty awesome and brutal all at the same time, plan right now is to load up Carlos Ventana and make the early morning trek down to give it hell.
No comments:
Post a Comment