It Was A Perfect Day For The End Of May

The cold is tough on people but it is also tough on machines and equipment, it reared it's ugly head on Saturday and Doug's car was the victim. The plan was to meet at The Hub prior to the ride to grab a little breakfast but I got a text from Doug shortly before I was to arrive at The Hub that the hearse was DOA in south Lincoln. I quickly rerouted to go grab Doug and his bicycle while he made arrangements to get the hearse fixed. Since it was also a Husker home game we decided that we would never make it to The Hub and then to Cycle Works on time so plan B was Amigos. Not quite on the same playing field as The Hub but they had donuts and donuts are a decent consolation prize.


It was a cold one on Saturday for sure, winters icy grip had descended on the mid west last week and let us know that while not officially winter yet; it is just around the corner. Temps at the start of the ride were only going to be about 21 above zero but with a pretty stiff wind that was going to make it feel considerably colder. I was pleasantly surprised to see that we had a group of 13 riders for the first truly cold day of the fall.


After four years wearing the OG Wolvhammers it was time for some new boots and Saturday was the day. I opted for the the Red Wind/45NRTH special edition boots that they put out last year, not the ultra new Hammers with the BOA but they will work for me and I kind of dig the lighter colorway. If you're looking for a warm winter boot that you can use with cleats, you really cannot get anything better than 45NRTH right now. Yes they are pricey and I know a lot of people who get boots that "are almost as warm" as what 45NRTH is putting out but when it comes down to it, do you want to spend a few dollars less and get almost as good or do you want the warmest boots currently on the market and find out that good enough isn't good enough on those really cold rides?





With the bitter cold sticking around most of the day, Wilderness Park was the plan for the route. It was pretty cool seeing all the pedicabs out on the chili day.


As mentioned above, with the right gear it's not impossible to get too warm even in the coldest weather and Todd was dropping layers by the time we got to Wilderness. Sweat is your worst enemy in the cold, dressing too warm and you'll get sweaty quick and when the sweat starts to freeze is when things get dangerous.



Hadn't been into Wilderness in a bit so I was surprised to see the entrance had been graded and covered with limestone. While this section was pretty eroded, I hope it's not a sign that the city wants to put more limestone trails over the top of existing single track. If you ask me the second picture looks perfect, who would want to mess with natures perfection?













Wilderness was in good shape for the most part, not a lot of snow but they freezing temps helped to keep the track solid and rolling good.



We did have to get a little creative at Pioneers but it looks like the work there is almost done so things should be back to normal soon.





The most amount of snow we saw in the entire park was on the bridge across Salt Creek.



Did a quick regroup under danger bridge before deciding to head back as some folks were getting cold and others had things they needed to do yet today.







The ride back seemed much quicker than the ride in, once out of the Park folks started splitting off and heading home ending another SMNDFBR. While natures colors are drab this time of year, it seems that everyone's winter clothes are all the colors of the rainbow. It's like a rolling Skittles bag!


The rest of us miscreants with nowhere to be ended up at Method for more shenanigans.


I even opted for a coffee on Saturday, that warm cup helped with the chilly hands and the warm coffee helped to warm the soul.



It wasn't all coffee though, we were all meeting up for gravel 2019 planning and kept sliding down N Street on our way there but before getting there, those tasty Hot Apple Ciders at Saro were calling our names.


The day ended with pizza, salad and plotting and charting all of the various gravel races that are near or not so near Lincoln for next year. Probably the most productive part of the weekend if not the funnest part but I think we have the scheduled nailed down, so there is that. Saturday looks to be a bit warmer than it was this Saturday but there are also some 50 degree days in the forecast late in the week so we can always hope those 50s will slide right into Saturday.

Now I Smell The Rain

Saturday was one of those touch and go rides, the rain forecast swung from definitely rain to maybe rain and then the percentages of rain kept teeter tottering up and down most of Thursday and Friday. So, the fact that anyone showed up at all was pretty amazing but they did and the ride was on, as it turned out we had one or two instances of spitting rain but never really got wet and there wasn't any real rain all day.


Initially there wasn't going to be a route since it wouldn't be known if it was going to rain for sure until the morning of, if even then, but requests were made for a route so one was made... and then the requester didn't show. I guess it could have been a rhetorical question. Funny things about route planning, most people seem to want one in advanced but only about 30% of people who show up ever look at the route and even less have the route on the day of the ride but try to be spontaneous and you've unknowingly committed a cardinal sin. Oh well, it's always good for a laugh or two.




Since we already had a route planned and nobody was particularly fond of riding wet gravel and taking the chance of getting rained on again, we stayed on the city trails. In most cities that would be pretty restrictive, however Lincoln's trail system is not your average trail system. We managed a bit over 32 miles and didn't even begin to touch all of the trails that are available to folks in Lincoln.





We mostly stayed on two loops on the edges of town, despite the chill and clouds, it really wasn't that bad of a day to be out on two wheels. Saw some geese and the new super huge Scheels store, there might be a future ride that involves riding the Ferris Wheel as part of the festivities. Weird to think that they put a Ferris Wheel back in the store, if you remember right they had one in the original store but it was removed after a year or two in favor of that large, fake pine tree that was in the store until the end.


Since there weren't any ditches on Saturday's ride, there were no ditch beers. Cheap beer is almost never good and good beer is almost never cheap, at .$67 a can those Mountains of Busch might not be all this beer makes you run for.


Despite being all in town, there was some decent elevation and you can actually get a decent climb. The two miles from 56th to 84 along Old Cheney is almost a constant climb and your quads feel it a bit by the time you get to the top. The east side of Lincoln makes up for the relative flatness of the west side of town.






Murdock Trail paving is coming along very nicely, looks like they are almost done from what we saw, we didn't ride on the section through Havelock but rode near it on the neighborhood streets and spied on it a couple of times. Then continued to wind our way through the neighborhoods and East Campus before finding ourselves at Cultiva.




Cultiva was always going to be on the route no matter which way we went but since we stuck with the in town route it was on our way back to Cycle Works. We ended up getting to Cultiva right around 12:30, I was hoping that it would be a little less crowded because of the football game but I guess the East Campus students aren't as giddy about attending Husker games as those West Campus folks. Luckily we managed to find a table right inside the door that would accommodate all of us, food and coffee were both fantastic.



Cultiva officially ended the ride but as it usually the case, those that wanted to were welcomed to join in the extra curricular portion of the ride. Since we were way ahead of schedule as far as the usual SMNDFBR time frame went, everybody decided to stick it out a bit longer.




We "motored" over to Method for some adult beverages of slightly better quality than the advertised ones we had seen earlier and even ran into a few of the racers from Lincoln's CX races out at Pioneers Park on Saturday. This guy is Travis Loewens, he took second in his category, but more of you might know his brother Tyler who was one of the original regulars of the Saturday morning rides. That was before he went insane and sold his Fat Bike and started focusing on Cross and MTB racing instead... nah, we all wish Tyler the best and would love to have him back for a ride anytime he can fit it into his schedule.



After Method we rode up to the corner to check out ChezSoDo, which opened earlier this year in the space that used to be Cottonwood at 440 S. 11th Street. Looking at the menu and prices, it seems to be mostly brunch stuff, burgers and sandwiches that aren't your typical sandwich. Prices seem decent to boot, this will definitely make the short list of places to stop for food after the Saturday rides.


Also on the after route, was Saro Cider (pronounced as if you were going to say Sarah but instead of ah it's O) Todd our resident cider lover had never been there so it just seemed fitting to stop on in so that he could change that.



If you go, and you should, make sure to check out both sides of the menu. The front side lists all of the available ciders but the back lists some other drinks including a Bloody Mary made with Saro's Zamora (Jalapeno) cider and an excellent Hot Apple Cider that you can get with Pyrat Rum or Templeton Rye, on a chili day such as Saturday that hot cider with Pyrat Rum hit the spot.



Todd and I took the Ural sidecar motorcycle for a test sit and our bad influence might have started a trend as others followed suit, however we did get permission from the owner before we sat upon the motorcycle.


Saro pretty much ended the after ride, ride as well and it was just a matter of getting back to the shop; looks like new apartment/condo type housing is going in on the N Street Cycle Track right around 21st street where Fisher Foods used to be. For all those naysayers that say that the N Street Cycle Track was a waste of the cities money, look around at all of the new businesses and housing now going up either on N Street or just off of N Street in areas that had sat dormant and undeveloped for decades. Coincidence, maybe but not likely, this type of infrastructure has proven to be beneficial to cities in the same ways that it is now transforming this part of Lincoln. Thank you to the city planners and city council members who saw past all the negativity and helped to get N Street done, sit back and enjoy the changes you all have helped to make happen. This area of downtown might not be recognizable as it is now in the next 10 years, and it's not just along N Street but is also extending to areas around Union Plaza's Rock Island Trail.


I suppose that's enough soap box for one blog but it's happening and it's fantastic for cycling and fantastic for Lincoln. With that Todd and Doug rode off into the dreary, dismal clouds and the end of the ride, the after ride and the after, after ride. Thanks to all who came out and to all who continue to make these rides when they can.