Busy weekend

If it wasn't for work I'd almost be looking forward to the week so I could take it easy, had a pretty jam packed weekend.


Rode out to Branched Oak Lake Saturday morning, it was a bit breezy and chilly at the beginning but warmed up pretty quickly once the sun got up higher in the sky. Views like this made it more than worth whatever struggle it took to get there and with the summer season being over I had the lake almost all to myself.


Made a pit stop in Malcolm on the way back, try to hit up this place every time I'm out that way. I'd probably greatly improve my time if I just bypassed it but it always reminds me of when I was younger growing up in Montana and all the little stores like this we would stop at while traveling.


Saturday afternoon we took the spawn out to Platte River State Park for a little hiking.




Always a good time with plenty of things to see.


They seem less than thrilled but that dude in the back looks like he's having a great time. Getting too cool to hang out with the old man.

Wrapped up the weekend with a late Sunday ride through Wilderness Park, this section of the trail was really over grown, used to be a fairly popular and clear route but just hasn't been the last few years.


Might be one of the last rides through Wilderness with the monocog for the year, I absolutely love the versatility of the Small Block 8s but one of the things they don't do well is loose debris and leaves on top of hard pack. Tried running the Nevgals last year on the cog but they just suck so bad on pavement and that's a good portion of what I ride in the winter. Might just have to use the El Mariachi for spins through Wilderness until spring.


After all the riding and hiking this weekend, this is kind of what my legs feel like tonight. Thankfully the National Bike Challenge party is tomorrow and rain is in the forecast so I'm not tempted to ride.

This is a near perfect ending to a near perfect weekend, beer is a really good recovery drink IMO.

Temporary is a relative term...

I have to say that I am absolutely loving the weather that we have been having here lately and I for one hope it stays around as long as possible. Hard to believe that we are steadily in the upper 60s to lower 70s in October or that this time last year the temps were in the 20s and there was snow on the ground already! I managed a ride through Wilderness Park last night and to be honest I can't remember when the last was that I was out there, it seems that it was always muddy when I tried to go so it just became habit to ride elsewhere. I am glad I made it though it really is one of the best rides in Lincoln and the trails were awesome last night; I am amazed that I almost never see more than a couple of people out there at one time.

Looks like the ONLY bridge that connects the Pioneers entrance to the rest of the park is still closed "temporarily"... it says so right there on the sign after all, however since it's been closed for over two months now temporary is becoming a relative term especially for something that was supposed to take two weeks. They really have fortified the blockage now because the only thing worse than having a blockage is having things escape around said blockage. This is the first time I have been out there since it was closed on Aug 17th but according to the article in LJS it seems that there were several people who decided that the bridge should be "temporarily re-opened". I hope they get it inspected soon and either make the repairs or deem it safe for use, it really does cut out a huge section of park if you come in from the Pioneers entrance.

It is possible of course to either skip this section or ride it as a loop and then use the Jamaican trail to link up with the rest of the park, I contemplated just turning around and heading back home after being effectively stopped up by the blockage but decided to forge on instead and I was not disappointed as the rest of the park was in great condition as well.

I veered off at the Rock Island bridge/YMCA entrance since the daylight was beginning to burn out and I still needed to get back before dark. It seems that while the city hasn't been inspecting bridges punctually for structural integrity they have been eradicating all the graffiti they could find by smearing what looks like left over rectal blockage on the urban art that used to be on the bridge.

Its kind of a shame I thought the colorful graffiti made the bridge much more interesting than the poop brown they chose to paint it but what do I know.

 

I guess some of it could be that they have placed new signage on the trail below the bridge concerning the eleven people that died there and as everyone knows death and graffiti just don't mix but death and poop often do. I guess I can only hope that the weather holds out a little longer and that the city can put down their paint brushes and chain link fencing long enough to get the bridge inspected and reopened sometime this year.