Big Wheel Keep On Turning

I like bikes, I've bought one or two of them during my time on this planet but because I'm old and cantankerous, I am often reluctant to jump onto the new fad bandwagon as quick as others. I was late to the 29er party, late to the single speed party, so late to that party in fact that it's no longer "cool" to ride a single speed and I'm kind of that one guy that just won't let it go now, and somewhat late to the fat bike party as well. Of all of the "fads" that I've resisted I think the fat bike one might be the one I was actually least resistant to so it has also been the one I've jumped on quickest. While still not as mainstream as the 29er or the 650b, fat bikes are certainly not the niche they were a few years ago now that everyone and their brother is making one and of all the bandwagons I've eventually jumped on it's also the one that has been the most fun.


Met up with Tyler at Walnut Creek yesterday for a little single track and then some gravel over to Nebraska Brewing Company. Not sure what it is about semi secluded wooden areas that brings out the freaks but they do, ran across these two women having an odd photo session out amoungst the mud and dead grasses... the one getting her picture taken wasn't wearing much more than a pair of socks and a sweater that barely covered her lady bits, yes I looked... two or three times actually, who wouldn't do a double or triple take when there is a woman out in the woods, in the middle of winter, dressed in only a sweater? I know beavers don't mind the cold but even they usually stay in the lodge when not looking for food.





After two laps at Walnut Creek the single track started getting a little soft so it was time to hit the gravel. Big wheel keep on turning, poor thighs keep on burning and we're rolling, rolling rolling on the gravel.

Two laps at Walnut Creek, the gravel and the SMNDFBR on the previous day made my legs super happy to see the Nebraska Brewing Company as it meant less pedaling and more lounging. Watched the end of the Packers game, had a beer and ate some wings before limping home, more in survival mode than anything, legs haven't been this worked since last summer. Fat Bikes are a ton of fun to ride but damn does that extra rubber take a little bit more effort to keep rolling at speed.


It's been really cold around here lately, forecast is saying that at least for the end of this week that's going to turn around just a bit, supposed to be almost 50 on Saturday. The warmer temps will be nice but it also means all the good dirt will be bad mud this weekend, luckily the Fat Bike chews up the gravel as well as it does frozen single track... not a bad problem to have.

SMNDFBR Part Deaux

Had another good turn out for the Saturday Morning No Drop Fat Bike Ride, considering the chill and wind I would say it was a really good turn out. Bar Mitts were everywhere today, even pulled mine out of semi-retirement. The extra protection was worth the extra time it takes to wrestle them onto your bars, although MG has a pair of the newer Extreme Bar Mitts and they seem much roomier and easier to attach.




Wind was pretty stout coming out of the south, getting to Wilderness was a bit of an adventure but once we ducked into the trees the Park was perfect.


Playing with the video feature a little bit on the camera, was a bit surprised how well it came out considering I was moving and recording the group coming out of the trees at the same time.


Regroup and impromptu bridge inspection, all cables were found to be at the proper tension.

Bar Mitts, Fat Bikes and phone checks at the halfway point.


Decided to take the new multi-use trail on the way back to the Haymarket, should be a nice addition to the Lincoln trail system.

Speed picked up once we hit the cement so I am not sure if these were smiles or grimaces at this point... heck who am I kidding the pace was pretty quick the entire ride, trails were in such good shape they just begged you to open it up.


Made another post ride pit stop at Crescent Moon Coffee for a little warm up, doubled our coffee group from the last ride.

Taking pictures while riding a bicycle isn't an easy task, add gloves to the mix and it can sometimes be darn near impossible. Luckily digital "film" is cheap, lots of shots on the B roll today.


Beautiful shot of the top of the helmet, complete with racing stripe.

I guess because I didn't quite get the top on the last one I figured I needed a second, mad skillz.


Check out those Bar Mitts and that Bluto, no helmet this time so there is that.


See, what had happened was... nope, I've got nothing for this one, abstract art I suppose. 

New Years Day Ride

Joined up with the guys and gals from the Great Plains Bicycle Club yesterday for the annual New Years Day Ride, I believe this is the first one of these I have done.


Drove over to Gary's at oh my god it's early on a holiday o'clock to meet up with him and Janine... we rolled on to A St. and picked up Kyle on the way to the Zoo. It was down right cold to start this ride.


Despite the cold there was a really good turn out at the Zoo, this was one of two larger groups that would rendezvous at the Village Inn for breakfast.


Leaving the Zoo and heading to VI, the bike paths were in fairly good shape for the most part.



More cyclists showing up at VI.


Huge turnout for the ride, I believe the total count was right around 30 people... out waitress was fantastic given the large group but for a moment it almost looked like the manager was going to have a stroke when we all started pouring in. It was literally like a bus full of people just showed up at your business looking for breakfast.


After warming back up and filling ourselves with eggs, bacon, pancakes and coffee we suited back up and rolled on to Holmes Lake, lake was mostly frozen but didn't look frozen enough to ride on unfortunately.

Since we couldn't go across the lake we had to go around it.


Riding up the side of the damn was not at all easy, just enough snow to make traction hard to come by, lots of walking up it that day. Barely made it up myself with the fatty, once your rear tire started to slip you were done for.


Once the official ride was over Gary and I decided to roll on down to Wilderness and get a little snowy single track. Headed down the Rock Island trail and came upon this guy, he looked like he was having a blast playing in the snow. Amazes me how quickly most animals accept and adapt to many of the handicaps that they are faced with.


Haven't been down the Rock Island trail in sometime so it was a bit of a surprise to see that it was closed, I originally thought that perhaps it was the beginning of what has to be a lengthy closing when they start the bridge construction on Sheridan Blvd. Luckily it was something else that caused the closure and a short detour got us back on track.


Wilderness Park itself was in pristine conditions, snow on the ground and just enough bike traffic that the trails seemed almost groomed and riding them on a bike with almost 4" wide tires was considerably more enjoyable to pedal than a normal narrower mountain bike tire.


I've been through Wilderness a few times since the bridge deconstruction/reconstruction began but it's always been in a much larger group so I hadn't had an opportunity to see it in person. Coming along nicely, not sure if the bridge is going to be all one piece or not but I am hoping so otherwise it could be 2016 before it's ridable.


Lots of cool construction equipment at the job site which makes for some good photo opportunities.


The down side, if there is one, is the new super highway down the middle of what used to be single track. The park will recover though, so in reality it's just a minor issue that will be gone a few years once the construction is done. Had a great time hanging out with the guys and gals from the GPBC and seeing that many dedicated people come out for  a chilly ride, hopefully 2015 will bring a lot of these types of great rides.

Inaugural SMNDFBR

I had been toying around with the idea of getting a "snow" bike for years now, back before they were as mainstream as they are now, but I was having a hard time reasoning why I needed a bike specifically made for riding in snow. There are years that even here in cold ole Nebraska we don't really get much in the way of snow, this year being a prime example, so it was always difficult to justify purchasing another bicycle that as name implies would potentially sit for at least 6 months on even the snowiest of years. I think one of the main reasons that fat bikes have really taken off is that companies have removed "snow" from the name and replaced it with "fat" and then started marketing it more as a do everything, go anywhere bike. I don't think that fat bikes have become popular because all the big companies are making them, I think all the big companies are now making them because once people realized that they could ride their fat tire bike all year round the popularity skyrocketed, the once hard to justify "snow bike" now became just another must have mountain bike you could ride year round; this one just has really big, bouncy, smile inducing tires. I recently joined the fat bike club and am very happy that I did, they are really amazing bikes that have opened my eyes to some of their possible applications that do not include any snow at all... although snow is still one of the things they do really well.

Yesterday was the inaugural Saturday Morning No Drop Fat Bike Ride, luckily for me the great folks at Cycle Works have allowed me to hijack their Facebook page from time to time and use it to organize these types of group rides and reach more people than I would otherwise be able to; because bikes are always more fun with friends. We started the ride with 6 and picked up another 3 on the way, I was super stoked to have that many come out, wasn't sure what we might get for turn out being Christmas weekend, I was more than pleasantly surprised.


Temps were in the 20s at 9 a.m., the sun was out and we even got a light dusting of snow, conditions were almost perfect for riding fat tire bikes through Wilderness Park.


Fat Bikes probably won't make you any cooler than you already are but they certainly won't hurt either as seen here by this "cool like the other side of the pillow" lean. I can attest that they are conversation starters, while they might be well known in the cycling community (love them or hate them) they are still relatively unknown to the non-cycling population, people just seem to be in awe of all that rubber and will often ask you about the bike or want to take a picture of it to later show their friends.


Rolling through the Haymarket 5 Fatties deep, it was kind of cool listening to the sound all those knobs rolling on the pavement as they echoed off the urban canyon walls.


Getting to the park was more treacherous than riding in it as some of the streets were slick from the freezing drizzle that started before the snow, had myself a pretty good wipe out going around a corner just getting there. It doesn't look like too much from this picture (and I'll save you from seeing the one on my hip) but it definitely got my attention, today they are less sore but a bit more stiff after having 24 hours to set in.




For the most part Wilderness Park was in great shape, the light snow covering the frozen mud helped considerably with traction but it also helped to hide some of the ice spots underneath, by the end of the ride I was not the only person to become reacquainted with the ground.

The snow did not help on the wooden bridges at all, especially this one, the going was pretty slow and slick, even walking up that slight incline proved interesting.


It was touch and go there for awhile but we all made it to the other side in one piece. Whew!


The two water crossings on the back side were a little sketchy but they were tame compared to the swamp section, the almost frozen water/mud combo was probably the most unnerving... well except for these two crazy fools. The rest of us opted to play it safe and walk along the edge, I'd already had my spill for the day and wasn't looking for another and bringing a muddy bike home to an apartment will sometimes get you killed. Looked like fun though, actually the entire ride was a blast and save for a one or two other people we pretty much had Wilderness to ourselves. Our timing was perfect as well, even though the temps were still well below freezing at 11 a.m. the sun was just starting to make the trails a little soft when we finished up, the fat bike gods were smiling down on us this day.


As is usually the case once the ride was over everyone scattered in the general direction of their perspective homes, Tyler and I decided to stop in at Crescent Moon Coffee on the way back to Cycle Works for a little warm up and some delicious coffee, an excellent choice.

Also decided to take a little Memorial Stadium detour as well, not a bad place for a picture if you ask me and Tyler's Mukluk matched perfectly with the motif of the stadium.

The ride was definitely a blast and the second installment is already posted as an event for the 10th of January, not sure how many of these we will be able to get in this winter with it being so unusually warm and wet. With any luck we will be able to parlay the winter rides right into the usual summer time group rides without missing a beat.