ThNNDRR - Every breath I take

Today was Thursday which meant it was time for another edition of the ThNNDRR also hosted by Cycle Works, the same people who bring you great rides such as the TNNDDR. Skies were gray and looked a bit like rain but the temps were mild and the forecast didn't call for any rain and luckily it stayed dry for the whole ride this time. I had contemplated skipping the ride, I'm still on the tail end of a cold I picked up while in Seattle last week but figured with enough snot rockets I could manage a few miles. Besides I'm sure had I stopped breathing someone else on the ride would have made note of where to find my body and report it when they got back to Lincoln... how hard could it be to find a blue dude on a black bike, about the only down side would have been some kids mistaking me for a Smurf, figured the odds of either happening were 50/50.

Dude brought his recliner on the ride tonight, I'm not going to lie he was fast on that thing and it did look comfy even without the ottoman. 

Rick either got a text or found his stem really mesmerizing... or maybe he was making a calendar reminder for the car show next weekend. 

That's a fancy Super Saver, I guess that would explain why their prices aren't really all that low anymore. 

Regrouped at Branched Oak Road, never been out this way on a bike, could have definitely used a bit more breathing ability on the roller coaster hills. Ride out was pretty decent with a tail wind, once we made the turn back south the headwind was not all that much fun. 

Next regroup was Malcolm, the smells wafting from this place were torture on the empty stomach. If I could have figured out how to carry some takeout home without making a mess of the pack I'd have done it. 

Settled on the Sac-O-Suds instead, might not have smelled as good but it's always a great place to stop. Someday some corporate douche-waffle is going to build a cookie cutter gas station/convenience store in Malcolm and this mom and pop store will be nothing more than a memory. 

Either these guys were having trouble getting the motorcycle started or they just like pushing it around Malcolm, well one of them pushed and one rode it. I think they guy in the yellow is either tired of pushing or mad because he had to wear the day glo yellow shirt. 

Smallish group tonight but a good group none the less, despite not being able to fully breath and the gray skies it was a really good night for a ride, not many of these left this year before it starts getting cold. In the end I'm glad I made it out.

ThNNDRR - What Rain

The TNNDDR was a no go this week, weather hasn't been cooperating lately for much dirt riding in Lincoln but that was Tuesday and last night was Thursday and that meant another edition of the ThNNDRR. Earlier in the week Thursday looked like the one dry day but as it got closer that seemed to change as the days went by. As Nebraska weather has a tendancy to do the forecast Thursday morning looked like it was going to rain a good portion of the day but they just kept pushing the rain back later and later as the day went on until the forecast showed that it wasn't supposed to really rain until well after 9 pm... or so they said.


I commute mostly by car myself but have a relatively easy and quick commute, I always look at all of the traffic backed up on the roads as I've already made it home, changed and am out on the bike before rush hour really starts and think to myself, better you than me. Clouds were already stacking up and starting to look dark off to the north but looked to be staying away from us which would make for a cooler ride and that sounded wonderful.


Made it to Cycle Works with a few minutes to spare so we all stood around and chatted for a bit... there's a trend that seems to be going on in the cycling community, if you look you'll see every rider is wearing what is traditionally called a mountain biking helmet because they all have visors. I have also noticed more than a few mountain bikers going the other way and moving away from helmets with visors. Not really sure what to make of that but in some regards visors to block the sun do make a little more sense when riding on the open road rather than when under the cover of trees on singletrack... but they are definitely breaking rule # 35 of the Velominati Rules.  You know, if you're so inclined to give a rat's ass about such things, for me it was just a random observation.


Rolling out from the shop we were treated to nothing but sun, so much different from how we would end the ride.


Things were starting to look darker already off to the north but didn't appear to be getting any closer... also looks like they are coming right along on the 27th St. overpass.

Either because we aren't very smart or because we like to stare thunderstorms in the face and laugh, we decided to head up Hwy 77 north and straight toward the darkening skies.


Almost immediately we had someone get a flat, I've noticed since riding more on the shoulders of roads that while they might look clear of debris from a car they are a veritable cornucopia of tire puncturing road hazards. Stop throwing shit out your windows people, a roadie might thank you someday or at least not curse you under their breath on the side of some random highway.

I'm not a farmer, I've never played one on T.V. nor did I stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night but from my less than expert opinion that's some nice looking corn right there.

About the time we made it to just outside of Waverly the sky was getting really dark and thunder could be heard in the distance and the not so distant distance as well. It was time to high tail it back to Lincoln and hope we didn't get drenched in the process.


However just because you might be running for you dryness doesn't mean you completely abandon pics for the blog... haven't been out to Waverly much in the last few years, it sure is growing and getting all fancy like.

Porn Barn!! There be them nekkid women in that building on weekends, but since it was only Thursday, we were all sweaty and still running from the storm we decided to bypass the stink of the pink.


Look at that pace line... time to haul butt.


Off to our north or right, if you are compass directional deficient, this bad boy started to form and pick up speed. It looked nasty and angry... so angry, can't we all just get along.

Made it back to Lincoln without so much as a drop falling on us yet, it was at this point that I knew we were doomed as one of the group spread bad juju on us all with the simple phrase; "Oh look, it's going away... were not going to get wet.". Noooooo... you can think it to yourself, mumble it under your breath if you are brave but you never, ever, ever say it out loud; the clouds have ears. These clouds were no exception and of course shortly after it started to rain, not much just a few drops here and there at first but you could tell it was coming. We sort of all scattered at that point to head to where ever we called dry, all in all it was a great ride and I only got mildly wet as I was able to get inside about 5 minutes before the rain really began. I am going to count my blessings on that one because when it decided to come down it came down with a fury,


This is just a picture of the rail yard off of N. 70th St. and really has nothing what so ever to do with the rest of the story but I liked the pic and it's my blog so I threw it in. Deal. 

One-speeding to the land of Cort

So... I have this bike, it's sorta, kinda a road bike but it's also sorta, kinda like a cross bike but it's not really either; it's actually probably close to a commuter but it's got these skinny tires, although not as skinny as the ones it had on it when I bought it used a few months back. I got it at a heck of a deal on it for a bike not from Wal-mart but I just haven't really been able to figure out what to do with it, so I figured I'd take it out and see how it did as an open road bike. Not wanting to be too adventurous on my first outing I decided that Cortland would be a nice enough distance without being too far. Having only one speed I wasn't sure how the hills were going to be, they turned out to be fine as long as they weren't accompanied by a 20 mph headwind.


Not really sure if runners are out every Saturday at 7:30 a.m. en masse but they sure were today, had to be almost 30 or more of them on the Rock Island trail.


Truth be told in all my years here in Lincoln, I've never once ridden on Hwy 77 so I was tad bit apprehensive.


Once up to speed and a few miles behind me it actually wasn't too bad, as long as you didn't linger on about those 2,000 lbs+ hunks of metal screaming by only a few feet away from you at 70 mph. You really do have to put your faith in the guy behind the wheel because if they were to veer off the road at the same time they were passing you my guess is you probably wouldn't even hear them until they were sending you flying skyward.


Princeton seemed to come up much quicker than it does via the Homestead Trail.


Roughly an hour and a half later the water tower came into view, to be honest I can't say that I've ever been there before today... drove by a few times but never stopped.


Lucky for me they had a sign up letting you know how fast you were going, I'd hate to get a ticket for speeding on my first visit and get off on the wrong foot.



They were either having a tractor show of this is just how they roll in Cortlandia.


This is also how they roll apparently, so if you're ever need to get your picture taken in a large cat box you now know where to go.


Town greeter?!?

The way back completely, totally, unequivocally sucked donkey balls, big, fat, hairy, juicy ones. The wind wasn't supposed to be howling through the prairie quite so quickly until later in the day but just to be nice it decided to come early. I can't really say for sure how strong it was but my best guess from riding in wind before is that it was at least 20 mph, it took everything I had on the uphills to try to maintain 9-11 mph; 12-15 on the downhills was even a struggle. I do have to say though it was nice to be able to jump on the bike and pedal non-stop for 22 miles straight without needing to stop or dodge pedestrians, so I guess you take the good with the bad as they say.


Dude must have been late for the tractor gathering, as slow as he was I'd bet he was still going 2-3 times as fast as I was; lucky bastard had the tailwind.


I've never been so happy to see this turn off as I was today, after struggling with wind for the better part of 2 hours I was spent. Even the little relief of turning slightly out of the headwind felt like heaven. I'm not going to turn in my baggy shorts and mountain bikes anytime soon for a lycra bodysuit and sub 11 lbs carbon fiber road bike but I definitely will probably give this ride a go again on a day where it's not quite as windy.