Dirt Coaster

Group ride was out at Lewis & Clark this week, I hadn't ever been out there so I wasn't sure what to expect. The views from atop the monument are pretty spectacular even on a hazy, overcast day. 
Pretty good turn out considering that L&C is a good 20 minutes or better from Omaha and the warmer temps from earlier in the day were fading fast. I think Feagan is telling fish stories here or giving flamenco dance lessons... could go either way.


Not knowing what to really expect from this trail I was nowhere near prepared for it, the camera never does justice to just how steep or twisty the trails are but this trail is literally a roller coaster from start to finish, at no point in the entire trail can you just sit and coast. The down hills beg you to just let go of the brakes and fly...  the tight, tree lined corners that seem to crop up out of everywhere quickly put an end to that exuberance.

I am sure once you ride this trail a few dozen times and learn the flow of it, it would be a blast to ride but riding it for the first time it was a complete suffer-fest. Dug into the sides of the bluffs for most of it, you are never more than a few inches away from potential disaster but not to worry, all those cushy trees would surely slow you down before you made it all the way to the bottom, and the hills; some are short and steep, some are long and steep and then others you think are going to be short and steep only to find out it's a false peak and it's really long and steep. There are those who say that breathing is overrated, I'm not one of those and truly enjoy every breath, this trail makes you take lots of them, mostly wheezy, shallow ones but it's all about quantity and not quality right? 
This was my view for the entire ride, Feagan would let me get just close enough and then take off again like a sadistic leprechaun on a mountain bike, I swear a couple of times I even heard him say "you'll never get me gold" as he seemed to effortlessly fly over the trail. Super leprechauny powers of forest flight is the only explanation I can come up with as to how he made it look so easy.  At the top of the trail was a pretty cool memorial to one of the founders of T.H.O.R., never met the guy myself but he sounded like he'd been a really cool guy to ride with. 

Officially met Randleman for the first time... on a singlespeed... seemed like a good enough guy or at least when you're not in his way, more on that in a bit. As I sat there trying not to cough up a lung the two of them chatted as if they'd just ran into each other in the grocery store, I suspect our levels of fitness and endurance were not quite the same.  We took off just a bit before Randleman as he was waiting for someone else, which is the only way I was ahead of him because it didn't take him long to catch us, I pulled to the side to let him pass... and then he proceeded to sneak out an elbow and knock me over on his way past. Nah, not really, somehow I thought it'd be a good idea to pull over to the side and do some sort of track stand on the side of the trail while he passed, the side was much softer than I had anticipated and I lost all momentum and over I went. First day riding bikes, new shoes, just a gomer, whatever you want to call it I ended up not getting clipped out in time took the rookie tip of shame. I guess you don't really break in a new pair of kicks until you get them all muddy anyway so I guess I did that.  On that note, shoes actually felt really good and performed awesomely even if they don't release as easily as my former shoes. As for L&C, I think it's a keeper, I'll need to visit it way more often to get to the point where I can use the downhills to my advantage for the uphills but even if it makes you pay for the slightest mistake it really is a fun trail. 

If A Tree Falls In The Woods...

Today was the first mountain bike group ride with the folks at The Bike Way as the trails were finally dry enough, as luck would have it one of my favorite trails, Swanson Park, was on the menu for tonight's festivities. I think I've ridden Swanson more times in the last 7 days then I did all last year and that's definitely a good thing.


Parking lot was packed with people tonight, always a sign of a great trail. There was even a Pyscowpath MTB Wagon sighting.


Mr. Feagan, working hard or hardly working, it's all the same when nobody is looking, I'm sure there was lots of high level strategizing going on right here that just looks like gum flappin to the untrained eye. All kidding aside though, he was actually working in a new reroute that should make this one screaming fast corner when it's done and properly burned in.



Calling for rain tonight and into tomorrow, hoping it's not enough to make these trails muddy just when they were getting really good.


This bad boy came down between laps and I can tell you for a fact that when a tree falls in the woods it makes a really freakin loud noise. Luckily nobody was under it when it decided to fall over or more to the point pushed over by the wind, can't really blame it the way that wind was howling today but with T.H.O.R already on sight I'm sure it's already gone.


Post ride chit chat session and cokes... soooo much Lycra you'd have thought it was a road ride, although I could just be jealous because I look like a ball park frank after it's exploded on the grill when I try to squeeze into one of those jerseys. Fat dudes in tight clothes and your grandma naked, two things nobody should ever have to see more than once in their lives, trust me on that gravity is friend to neither one. A great things about mountain bikers though is even if you don't know each other there's always plenty to talk about once the sweating is done.


While cokes are good, I had to indulge in a more appropriate post ride beverage after I got home... yeah, yeah, yeah it's no craft beer but I like it and I swear I can hear Jimmy Buffet singing inside the bottle every time I take a sip so what it might lack in cool beer snob points it more than makes up for in pure entertainment value.

Long Lost Friends Reunited... And It Made My Ass Sore

Finally after a good solid month plus a few days of not being on a bike of any kind I was able to get out last night to join the group ride from The Bike Way.


From the looks of the bikes I was thinking that they take their group rides serious around here, all around me were sub 16 lbs carbon fiber speed machines. The first group ride of the season is always a little sketchy not knowing if you put in enough miles over the winter, add to that a month long hiatus and a new group of people... made for an interesting few minutes until we got going.


I have to admit that matte black Venge was looking pretty sweet, figured I should snap a picture of it while we were all standing still... might not see it again all night except off in the distance.


There were a couple of Langsters in the group as well, hadn't seen this bike up close before now but it was pretty sweet looking. Bringing a single speed road bike on the first group ride of the year is always risky unless you've been keeping your miles up all year or you're some kind of super stud.


There was actually a really good turn out, probably 15-20 riders so we split into two groups, those that don't feel like it's been a ride until they puke, pass out or both and those who prefer to keep lunch right where it's at... I opted for the non-bulimic ride option.


I have no clue where exactly we were riding as I had no idea that there were bike paths in this area let alone ever been on them but for a slacker ride the pace was pretty quick, I'd hate to see what speed the other group was pushing.


Where ever it was that we rode, we paid homage to Shel Silverstein.

"There is a place where the sidewalk ends
And before the street begins,
And there the grass grows soft and white,
And there the sun burns crimson bright,
And there the moon-bird rests from his flight
To cool in the peppermint wind.

Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black
And the dark street winds and bends.
Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow
We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And watch where the chalk-white arrows go
To the place where the sidewalk ends.

Yes we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And we'll go where the chalk-white arrows go,
For the children, they mark, and the children, they know
The place where the sidewalk ends."

I'm not sure about all that peppermint wind and moon-bird jazz he's talking about but we rode until the sun went crimson and the side walk was no more... and then like any logical person we turned around and went back the way we came. Swung by the local Hy-Vee to pick up some post ride recovery drink in my favorite flavor, beer. Cheer and hope you got out and did whatever it is you do in the great out of doors when it's nice out.