Sprague-tember

The calendar says that it is mid September but the heat on Saturday was hinting more toward the dog days of summer than the end of it. The warmer temps brought out the crowds though, I think at our height we had 19 riders and three new faces in Ted, Marya and Brandon; thanks for coming out and we hope to see you all again.



The plan was to head out to Sprague and a visit to the Randy stop sign to change out the RG sticker since the two year anniversary is on the 23rd. Had a bit of a scary moment on Coddington where I thought for sure this truck was going to take out Todd and Ted, tried to pass with traffic coming at him and had to swerve back into his lane to avoid a head on collision. Yes that is the trailer less than three feet from Todd and Ted and yes it is in between the two of them. I will never understand what if the world could possibly be so important that you're willing to put another person's life in danger just to save a few seconds out of your day.



Thankfully we all made it onto the gravel and lived to bike another day.




Heading south into the teeth of the wind, we felt every mile per hour of it and it had to be in the upper teens to lower 20 mph range.



We made it to the Stop sign but discovered that someone else had already beat us out there and not too long ago as the new sticker was in really good shape so I held onto the one I had brought out for another day.



A short jaunt down Sprague Rd and we stopped into Traditions Pub for a mid ride refuel stop.



With a healthy tailwind to our advantage the ride back was much speedier and before we knew it we were back in Lincoln and enjoying the game day atmosphere with a few thousand other people. A quick spin back to Cycle Works brought and end to another fabulous Saturday Morning No Drop Fat Bike Ride. Thanks to everyone who made it out, there will not be one next week so that we can head down to Beatrice and support the Homestead 100. Hope to see some familiar faces down south riding with us.

Fear and Loathing

It's been almost a year since Randy was murdered on Sprague Road doing something that he loved, on his way to meet up with the love of his life. On an arrow straight road on a clear, sunny, mid afternoon day a drunk driver, with malice in his heart, used his vehicle to run down a father, husband, son, friend; human being. On that day everything changed for the Gibson family but not much has changed for cyclists as a whole. It was amazing to see the outpouring of love, compassion, empathy and support that the cycling community showed during the Ride for Randy that was held shortly after Randy's death and then again in May during the annual Ride of Silence. We have so much capacity for love if we just allow ourselves to focus on finding commonality amongst ourselves.

After Randy's death several news stories followed and as is usually the case, reading of the comments should be avoided unless you're a fan of the worst that society has to offer as an example of humanity. Most of the comments are the same hatred toward cyclists, the same lack of compassion shown to those whose loved one was killed and the same victim blaming bull shit that happens in every article concerning a cyclist killed while riding on the road. The vile vitriol spewed in those comments is just disgusting and despite the first amendment, should not be allowed to sit out on the Internet for the world to see and give fuel to someone's anti cyclist view or fuel for someone else's anti automobile view. It doesn't do anyone any good and only helps to divide us as humans but it makes for good reading and translates to more views on the article and more traffic for the website; money over morality. In a world where traditional media outlets like the newspaper struggle to find their place in an increasingly non-paper world, they encourage this type of behavior because clicks, no matter how hateful or negative, mean revenue down the line, so the keyboard warriors of the world have a platform to express their hatred in relative anonymity. If you're a person who frequently engages in debate on these type of forums, choose kindness, choose positivity, choose words that unite rather than divide; be the example. It amazes me that we try to teach our children that bullying other kids that are slower, shorter, fatter, skinnier, a different color, race, sex, religion or just a little bit left of typical is wrong; yet some of those same people sit behind their keyboards and vomit hatred on the Internet, especially, it seems, on any article concerning cycling or cycling infrastructure. What is it about the bicycle and it's rider that causes so many people's blood to boil at the very mention of them?


I am a cyclist, I do not have a death wish, I do not think I can win a collision with a car and I don't break the laws of the road for the most part (there are times when the laws of automobiles put cyclists in greater harm than breaking them does) and I certainly don't break the occasional traffic law just to spite the driving population; that is not why I ride. I love cycling because it allows me to escape from the grind that is daily life, it gives me a sense of being free in a way you can't get while confined in a metal and rubber object, sitting in a long line of other like vehicles. I ride because it helps me to maintain a fitness level most folks my age don't posses and it's something I love and will probably do until I can no longer do it.


 I am an automobile driver, I do not have murderous hatred for another human being that just happens to be in the path of my vehicle because they are in my way. I don't intentionally swerve toward people inside another vehicle or outside of a vehicle, I don't accelerate rapidly when I pass or try to blow exhaust on others to teach them a lesson. I enjoy driving at times, it allows me to see friends and family in places that it would take me too long to get to by bicycle, it helps me to carry large amounts of "stuff" that I might need to move from one location to another and it's something I will probably do until I can no longer safely do so.

 For some people it's not an either or, for some of us it is both the bicycle and the automobile, cyclist and driver in equal parts; double agent to neither cause. Cyclists are not some uber green fascist group trying to save the planet or some highly organized anti establishment group scheming up ways to steal your roads or waging a War on Cars. What we are is a group of people who utilize the infrastructure provided for both of us to share, operating a much smaller vehicle; a mode of transportation that is simple, inexpensive and allows us to enjoy our surroundings in a way you cannot in an automobile. Above all we are not just cyclists or bikers or any other terms spewed with venom or typed with hatred on some random article or forum to try to vilify us because you chose not understand us; we are human beings the same as you, nothing more, nothing less. A bicycle doesn't hate the automobile and the automobile doesn't hate the bicycle, neither is aware of their own existence let alone the existence of the other. We are more the same than we are different and I refuse to believe we cannot find compassion and respect for each other, to get past getting hung up on what vehicle we chose to use and instead see each other as mothers, sisters, daughters, fathers, brothers and sons. We can be better than this, we need to be better than this and I believe at our root we are better than this.

Traditionally Traditional

Yesterday was Saturday, which of course meant that it was time for the Saturday Morning No Drop Fat Bike Ride. Cooler temps seemed to have brought with them bigger crowds, I think this was one of the bigger rides we've had this year... we shall see how those numbers hold once the chill turns into cold here in about a month or less.




With a 2:30 pm home game, we figured it would be safe to cruise through the downtown area, it wasn't too bad but just because it was still 4 hours to kickoff didn't mean it wasn't already teeming with people. Unfortunately we didn't time it optimally and nobody had their tailgating grills going just yet, those smells are pure heaven to ride through when they are up and running.


Ordered a new seat post clamp in lime/sour apple green to offset the purple of the Fargo and it had just come in that morning so I swapped it out quick like before we took off from the shop. Even though I used a piece of electrical tape to mark the seat height before making the change, I must have been off by a few millimeters and had to Todd it at the bridge by Van Dorn as the seat height was just a tad too low. For those not in the know, to "Todd" something means to constantly fidget with it while on a ride, especially seat height, angle or fore/aft position. Love ya Todd!




A quick turn of the wrench and we were back on track, as the weather starts to cool down I have been noticing that the girthy tires are starting to outnumber those more svelte.






The route for Saturday was pretty simple, head out on W. Claire Ave to 40th St and then ride that out to Sprague Road. As a bonus the winds were gentle and the temps mild for a change so it wasn't a bad day to be out in rural Lancaster County spinning on some gravel with friends.


We weren't the only ones having a good time out there though, not exactly sure what these guys were up to but standing on a metal roof with a decent pitch, possibly still covered in morning dew sounds like a heck of a good time to me, what is the worst thing that could happen.




42nd and Saltillo Road is a great place to regroup, grab a refreshing beverage or if you are so inclined, it's also a great place to lose your Lippy's BBQ I found out in August. I wouldn't recommend that last one but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do and that day Pablo had to do it.


Big man with a big can.



Generally we turn east on Martell Road and then come into Sprague via S.W. 29th and Sprague Road but Saturday we had a special place we needed to stop first so a slight reroute from the norm was in order. It's the first time I've been out to SW 58th and Sprague Road since that awful day in September and it was a little odd being there. I'm not sure what I expected to see but it remains an unsuspecting intersection on a rather ordinary county road, evil was there on 9/23 but there was nothing of the sort out there Saturday; just a stop sign and a junction box where we left a little something to remind people about Randy. Not that the cycling community will need reminding but maybe, just maybe someone driving will look at the stop sign and think about cyclists on the roads.



Traditions Pub was the next stop on the route, we lost a few for the lunch stop but that seems to be the norm for those without the extra hour to commit to the ride. Food was good and the beer was cold as usual, even if we did get there before the bartender.


Still need to get my thoughts out there about the Fargo but the personalization process has already begun as bits of green start to pop up here and there. Fun bike to ride and a great midwest gravel eating machine, Pugsley might have to be a little worried.



Post lunch ride back is usually a bit slower as everyone is digesting food but that was not the case on Saturday. It took up about an hour and 50 minutes to get out to Sprague but made it back to Lincoln in an hour and 15 minutes, guess there was some extra energy in those drinks but we aren't quite at the end of the tale just yet.





Bennet Road is one of my favorite parts about heading out to Sprague, it's a little dicey at the east end but it's almost perfect dirt on the west end.



Took the Jamaica Trail and then the N Street Cycle Track back into Lincoln ending the official portion of the SMNDFBR.



A few of us not quite ready to head home just yet ended up at Method, where I spotted what has to be one of the most grotesque contraptions I've seen as of late. A blue box for collecting cigarette butts, a clear box that is with a blue frame, so that you can see the nasty little things hiding out in there... eww.


Much less gross and more interesting was this couple on a side by side tandem complete with the larges bike horn I've ever seen.


We didn't stick around all that long though, definitely wanted to get out of dodge before the flood gates down the road let loose and all those people started filing out. 11:50 left in the game with the Huskers up 21-17 seemed like a great time to call it a day.


Joe and I were the last two remaining souls heading back to Cycle Works. Thankfully football minutes aren't anywhere near normal minutes, I was able to load the bike up and get back to Omaha before the overtime kicked off so even I was not spared from the OT debacle.

No ride next weekend but look for us to return the following week and as always, thanks to all who made it out.