St. Patty's weekend

Hope everyone had a great St. Patty's day weekend, it definitely was one of the nicest ones in recent memory weather wise. I hope everyone managed to get out at least for a little bit. Talked the kids into a ride on Friday evening, the male child acted like he had never seen a bike before... whose kid is this anyway. :)





We almost never made it out of the driveway, between his seeming lack of ability to figure out how to propel himself forward and my laughing hysterically at him.






Ash on the other hand didn't seem to have any of the same issues and was off like a flash.






Rode down to the lake to see how the other half were living, I don't know if they are any happier but the view sure is better.






Made it out for a ride on Saturday as well, since it was fairly windy I decided to take the Anthem through Wilderness Park... getting there wasn't a whole lot of fun as it was straight into the 20-25+ mph wind. As you can see 8 mph was about all I could muster for the most part and even that was a struggle when the gusts would hit.






Found some new urban art while out riding, this one seemed to fit the wind, both were beasts!






Next to the beast was one of those cats that are all over town, only this one had a very, very long and talented tail, it could spell "meow".





Next to the cat was a hummingbird with what looked to be a top hat, I like the look of these three but they are obviously stencils so they would have to have points deducted do to lack of difficulty to produce. Park was in great shape, as long as we don't get any significant amount of rain on Monday they should be in really good shape next week as well. It's almost crazy how dry they are already for it being only March.






Noticed a new sign in the park today, didn't realize they were doing the adopt a trail in Wilderness, makes sense if you think about it since the trail isn't any different than the other city trails except it's not paved and if it helps keep the trails free of litter it's a win/win. Hope everyone had a great weekend, weather wise it's supposed to cool down a bit for next week... if you consider mid 60s a cool down but in all actuality 80s in March is a little too early for that kind of heat as far as I'm concerned.

Chasing my own tail...

Somewhere along the way I seem to have lost the ability to ride a bike, more to the point I am able to mimic the motions necessary to physically keep the bike upright and pointed in the desired direction but I have lost the ability to just "ride". It seems that no matter where I am going or what my original intentions are I always end up trying to get there as fast as I can. Which poses an even more interesting question, since I generally ride from my house in a loop back to my house... if I am in such a big hurry to get to where I already am, why leave in the first place! I always seem to be racing something whether it be the clock, the sun or the guy on the trail just ahead of me I subconsciously push myself to pedal faster so that I can pass the guy, decrease the time it took last time or increase the average... I used to be able to ride, hell I used to have to ride if I wanted to get anywhere. Did the end of the bike as my only form of transportation suddenly turn it into some sort of sadistic, self imposed, torturous training device that must not under any circumstances be ridden at any speed less than it's maximum? I thought the singlespeed would help since it's basically a one and done bike but it actually might have helped to make the problem worse.The problem with a singlespeed as it turns out is that it's all about maintaining momentum, maintaining momentum is much easier to do at a higher cadence, higher cadence means faster speeds... you see singlespeeds have a maximum attainable speed, you pedal as fast as you can until you can't pedal any faster, that's pretty much as fast as they will go without switching gears which on a singlespeed isn't possible without tools. The fact that they have but one gear really makes them fairly inefficient bikes, they are more difficult to start from a stop, they top out relatively quickly leaving you pumping your legs like hyperactive kid on a Pogo-stick, they suck on down hills because you run out of gear before you run out of hill, they suck climbing hills because you have to mash the pedals in an all out effort to keep moving, about the only thing they are good for is a flat surface with a tail wind or a slight decline. Why ride a singlespeed... well that's a topic for another blog. Maybe the key to relearning how to just ride and not always have to pin it is to find a group ride... unless of course they are all psychotically obsessed with seeing how fast they can push themselves. Maybe instead of just one gear I need to digress further into bikes of the past and go with training wheels, surely those things would cause you to slow down... they can't possibly corner very well at speed!

March(ing) through the park

Got out for a great little spin in the dirt at Wilderness Park, hard to believe that it's almost entirely dry out there this early in the season.





I understand it's graffiti but seriously some of these guys have some real talent.





Nothing but dry goodness!






A few downed branches, all the wind is taking it's toll on some of the trees.





Even the low lying trails were dry, the only wet spots I saw were ones that often stay moist all year round.






Decided to take the paved route back home to get in a few extra miles and ended up getting stopped by a train, go figure. Supposed to rain tomorrow so I'm glad I managed to get out while the getting was good.

Just another Saturday...

Temps are starting to warm up again after a few weeks of colder temps, unfortunately the mornings are still as chilly as they have been but it won't be long now and warmer day will be here to stay.





Work on the new Pinnacle Arena is coming along, it's almost starting to look like something more than a pile of dirt.





Here's what it looked like back in July, tracks moved and dirt groomed.





Here it is in September, not much progress still just a pile of dirt pretty much.





Lots of work was done by December, it's almost distinguishable as what it will be. It's come along way in the last 8 months, aside from the insane traffic that it's going to create it will be nice to not have to go all the way to Omaha to see a decent concert. The arena isn't the new construction going on in the Haymarket, a new motel is going up as well but at a much faster rate. Lots of construction cranes in the downtown area for sure, the face of Lincoln's skyline is changing.





After breezing through the Haymarket I decided because of the wind to stay on the north side of town, heading east/west to try to avoid heading due north into the teeth of the beast. I have to say I remember them closing Holdrege rd. bridge in 2008 shortly after the massive bridge collapse in Minneapolis but I didn't remember seeing anything else on the bridge... apparently they decided to tear it down in 2009 and build a pedestrian bridge in 2010. I guess that shows how long it's been since I traveled the bike routes on the north side. The fairly new Holdrege rd. pedestrian bridge in all it's rusted glory.









I decided to take the John Dietrich Bikeway, which winds through northern Lincoln following the train tracks along Cornhusker Hwy for the most part.









It's a nice trail, almost as nice as any of the trails in town even those on the south side of town but one thing I have always noticed about the Dietrich is how devoid of traffic it seems to be every time I am on it. On the bright side it does mean less people dodging and nothing but the blissful hiss of tires on pavement, leaving you alone to clear your mind and hit the proverbial reset button.

On a side note, I picked up some new winter shoes and some Woolie Boolie socks from Adventure Monkey when they were practically giving them away. Between the shoes and the socks my cold feet problems are a thing of the past, I have to say cold weather riding is a lot more enjoyable when you can feel your feet.





Great pair of shoes for keeping your feet warm on the colder days.





Feed your Monkey!

Frosty Bike Ride

The ride was scheduled for two weeks ago but then mother nature stepped in and dropped a few inches of snow and ice on the ground postponing the ride until today. In the days leading up to the ride thanks to the ever constantly changing Nebraska weather it was a bit of a touch and go... might snow again, might rain on the day of the ride... nope now sunny and almost 50... oh wait, now sunny but only in the mid to upper thirties but chance of rain/snow the Thursday before. When it was all said and done there was no additional precipitation at all but it was cold enough that the snow stuck around from two weeks earlier but it was the FROSTY bike ride so the show must go on as they say. 

The skies were sunny, the paths were clear and even though it was a chilly morning it was a great day for a ride. There were 150+ registered riders so I opted to ride to The Fox rather than add to the parking lot congestion, even though the temps when I left were in the mid teens the sun and lack of significant wind made it feel a bit warmer.

Almost 11 miles later, the "start" of the Frosty Bike Ride... The Fox and the promised crowd.

 

That's my, it's super chilly lets go already, face; after riding and getting warmed up sitting in the parking lot cooling down was not ideal. 

My partner in crime for the ride, with that jacket I'm sure not to lose him. 

And were off once again and getting warm, ear to ear smiles! Actually it felt colder heading this direction than it did heading to the ride. Not sure what it is about this section of the trail but it always seems to be 5/10 degrees colder. 

While there was plenty of snow on the ground still the trails were mostly clear with just a few icy patches that were already starting to melt and turn back into water at this point. 

At the halfway point we were treated to some very warm, very delicious hot chocolate. Never has a paper cup of hot chocolate hit the spot quite like it did today. 

Felt kind of wrong laying the bikes down on the cold cement while we enjoyed our hot chocolate. 

Back at The Fox post ride it was beer, as the hat implies, and free burger and fries time!

All in all The Fox put on a good spread, it was a great ride put on by Spearman Adventures and best of all it was a great chance to get out for a casual ride with out the worry or prep time of a race. Guess we will have to get ready and do it again next year. 

This used to be my way home...

There used to be a time not to long ago when both of these bridges were open, there used to be a time when it also used to be my way home when I rode to work. A lot has changed in the years since I often traveled this route, it's funny how quickly things can change. I used to think I was happy riding this route, starting and ending in the house I knew as home, with the people I thought were in it with me for the long run. Gone is the house, gone are the people, gone is this route as "my" route... the bike I still have, bikes are ours to get rid of not the other way around. Time has a way of opening your eyes, bringing the perspective to our life's that we once could not or chose not to see at the time we were personally invested in the situation, when you are too close to be objective. Years have gone by since and many things have changed, heartaches have healed, tears long since dried and betrayals no longer as sharp; there was a time when it felt like the best times of life were slipping away. Fast forward a few years and I realize that those times and that place were not where I belonged and that in a weird way even the betrayals, in the long run, were blessing in disguise. Human emotions can and often do blur our perspective on reality. Today I might not have the same house, or the same way home or the same group of people but I think I am in a better place than I was back then. I have a new home, a new route and I have a new group of people surrounding me, that's not to say that I don't miss some of the people from my old life but over all I am in a better place... a happier place. I haven't been back there as it holds no place in my life or talked to that person as they no longer hold a place in my heart but I hope that who ever occupies that space can find more happiness in it than I could and that whatever she is doing now she too made the right decisions.

Sometimes I thank God for unanswered prayers
Remember when you're talkin' to the man upstairs
That just because he may not answer doesn't mean he don't care
Some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers

SNOW!!

Well it had been a pretty mild and snow free winter, that ended last night when it sounded like we might try to get our entire annual snowfall average in one weekend. As it turns out it wasn't quite as bad as they were saying it was going to be, we did end up with a very wet and heavy 10.5 inches of snow last I heard but the advantage of wet snow is that we didn't get the blowing, blizzard like conditions like they thought because the snow was too heavy to blow anywhere for the most part. I was supposed to be riding in the Frosty Bike Ride today but they wisely postponed it for another weekend due to safety reasons so that left me with a free Saturday. The snow seemed a little deep for biking and a little slick and deep for driving even so I decided to bundle up and walk around and see just how bad it really was out there.

Snow was a little deep in the neighborhood but I've seen worse, the snow in the road could only be described as deep slush. 

Breaking new trails in the snow. 

Surprisingly quite a few places were closed and traffic was pretty light. 

Red, Yellow or Green... kind of hard to tell. 

Snow was still coming down pretty good even though it didn't look like it up close.

Is this Huffy's new snow bike?

One of the great things about wet snow is the way it sticks to the tree branches, makes it look like a true winter wonderland. Just a few pictures... 

Couple of college kids decided to play a little snow football, brings back some memories of days gone by. 

Of course it didn't take long for the football game to turn into a full fledged snowball fight. 

As I decided to make my way back home wouldn't you guess I flatted... not really sure how it happened other than to say that the glue must have decided it had held long enough. I can't really remember how long I've had these boots but I can say with certainty that it has been more than 12 years, I guess one could say I got my moneys worth, first the front tread went and then the heel followed suit shortly there after. Walking home the last 1.5 miles with no tread on one boot was not what I would call the most comfortable walk I have ever taken but there wasn't really anything else I could do. 

When I left both boots had soles that looked just like this one...

The left one looked like this however by the time I got home, walking without tread was a bit interesting. Other than the blow tread it was a pretty good day and a pretty good walk.