pay back...

The set-up was perfect. Light winds forecast out of the South building to mid teens by noon. I took a chance & dressed pretty light to start the day. Perfect...mid 50's as our ride evolved, the light winds increased as we reached the southern edge of our ride & we got a great push home. New MMR everywhere down in Gage County. Aspen Road South of Cortland, suh-weet! 38th heading North from Pickrell Road, 3 straight miles of dirt. Just 3 of us today on this amazing day, Rokke was with us earlier but bolted early to do his own thing. Below: MW tells C-bread how its gonna be.
Cornbread contemplates the esssence of gravel...

MW mumbling something about gravel & the sound of one hand clapping...
5 & change, 78+, yesterday's suffering long forgotten. 200+ gravel miles this week, damn!

Later,

TK

lucky, I guess...

Fargo praying the levee holds, KS getting a ton of snow, & the SE getting inches of rain with tornadoes (sp?). Us...air temps in the 20's with 20-30 mph winds straight out of the North. Our plan, ride right into the teeth of it to BO & check out the expanded Area 7 Trails. My cheeks & jaw were hurting, my eyeballs were stinging, & my forehead was aching...we hadn't even left town yet! I flatted in Roper park on the way out of town & then MA flatted twice & we were only to Kawasaki at this point. Below: myself & pool n' spa hiding from the wind at Hwy 34 & NW 27th while MA changes his second flat. From this point on we would be out on open gravel, completely exposed to the wind & cold. Lucky were riding, right?
Unsure what this misfire was...

We did make it out to BO. Our group got separated along the way. It ended up being myself, MT, MA, & Wes (don't know him real well, makes D st. every once in awhile). Met up with Craigio & Mr. Hansen who had driven out to do some more trail work. C-bread, pool n' spa, & FOB were somewhere between Raymond, Area 1, & us at Area 7. We did one lap of the circuit, discussed our plan & voted to start the cold journey home. Sure we were going to have a tail wind heading South, but cross-head all the way back to Lincoln. Yep, it was tough...made tougher because MT was setting a blistering tempo. Below: pit stop in Malcolm on the way home, home of the Clippers.
I'm guessing the other crew never made Area 7? I traded phone calls with C-bread & last I heard they lost FOB in Area 1. As our group approached Lincoln we thought we might have seen him over by Hawks Field? Not sure.

4 hours, just under 60. I'm a wreck. Lucky?....hell yeah, it was sweet!

More of the same tomorrow.

Later,

TK

the northern passage...

Its become apparent, I'm on my own program. Gravel, gravel, gravel. Yesterday's journey...recon the first leg of the Northern passage (gravel ride to Norfolk) & search for the fabled Northern chapter of the PCL. Below: 252nd & W. Bluff, just outside of Seward.
Never been here before...Garland, NE. Left town headed East on Old Mill Road, never been on that road before either. Still searching for any sign of the Northern PCL.

Son of a....maybe the rumors were true! I'll be back.
4 & change, 68+, all good.

Later,

TK

ok, I'll get started...

Last evening after the tornado sirens stopped I ventured out to the garage to start my '09 road bike build. The bike-build fairy had not come so I guess I'll get it going. Put on the der hanger, cable guides, & cut the fork. These Gary Fisher Arc Pro's are our Team Issue this year & I really like the looks of them. Not as light as my Carbon Zurich from last year but not bad. Aluminum with carbon rear, still pretty light.

Reusing some bits from last year...
Project ends, missing parts...

Later,

TK

a day of discovery...

First enlightenment...Jamaica/Homestead ends at Cortland. I kind of new that but never really confirmed it. I know it picks up again at Pickrell but this section is a little wooly (primitive). I eyeballed it but opted to head East. Next stop Panama using Gage & Pella & 148th then into Bennet.
Discovery number two...hey C-bread & PC, check this out. 20 cents cheaper than RC. Label says since 1935? From the maker's of Dad's rootbeer out of Jasper, Indiana. I'll categorize it in the Dr.Pepper/Mr. Pibb family, more Pibb than Pepper. Not great but the right price.

Discovery # 3...coming into Cheney a tic after 5:00 I ran into Cornbread. Hooked up & rolled in together.

4 hours on the dot, 66 miles Oh yeah.

Working Sat/Sun, maybe see ya out there. Have a good one.

TK

runway wednesday...

I have to work both days this weekend, pretty rare. Respecting the state of the economy & its impact on where I work as well...I've opted to get out early a couple days to offset my weekend hours. Don't get me wrong, I would love to rack up a bunch of o.t., but that doesn't make a lot of sense right now.

New kit & new helmet, all good.

Ran into Craigio east of Eagle, so I took a picture of my finger.
Second attempt. Yep its Craigio, he's rockin' the new threads & helmet as well & yes another bad picture.
50 something miles. Good afternoon. As I rolled back into Lincoln a little after 5:00 I remembered WNW was probably just getting going. Road bikes...hmmm? I think I remember riding one of those last September. Unsure, its been awhile. Skinnier tires right?

Later,

TK

monday, day of rest...

To top yesterday's nasty gravel 70 mile TT, we rode down to Panama for a "MTB" Enduro. I put mtb in quotes because it was really a gravel road race with a couple gooey, short single track sections. Good fun, good vibe, hard effort. Below: random walnut grove pic.
New team mate Trevor, Craigio, & myself picked up JP at the event & formed a four-man team. Our foursome ended up victorious. Below: Craigio post ride...
Bad picture of Trevor, but good picture of PC. Trevor...he's crazy strong, good riding with you man.

PC, Coach, & Mr. Blake all participated in the solo category. They worked each other over the whole event with PC nipping Coach at the line & Mr. Blake right there with them. Our foursome had the catbird's seat (have to look up that expression) rolling in right behind the action. Great effort to all three of you!! Below: Mr. Blake's new kit, KAOS in blue hmmmm? Have to get used to that one.
team mate for a day...

Coach pours a round...My winnings. I don't drink but my wife does...


Add on another 70+ yesterday when it was all over. Huge weekend. I'm done.

Have a great week everyone,

TK

LMSML...rogue mission

First of all, like 40 people showed up for 2009's first PCL, damn! I heard the actual # was 36 but I'm calling it around 40, damn! Pictured below is just a portion of the attendees. Omaha in the house, like 5 or 6 deep, Lincolnites I've never seen before, & the usual suspects of course. There were so many folks I didn't even realize some people had been on the ride until after. A month ago I reconned this event, made some mental notes. Back then it was just LML (LNK-Milford-LNK). A week or so later someone suggested adding miles with a 2nd stop in Malcolm, home of the Clippers. On my first recon I explored a wormhole (fold in the space/time continuim) that would get me from 178th to 182nd in the blink of an eye. I later decided that this avenue was to unstable & would be a risk. I could enter but may not come out the other side. I also considered hiding a Zodiac in the creek near 178th & VanDorn, I later decided this really would not gain me any advantage. My third consideration was probably the most risky, it involved a very active stretch of rail road tracks & I may have died attempting it.

So this week I settled on what I've coined "the rogue mission". LNK-Malcolm (home of the Clippers)-SEWARD-Milford-LNK. I put it at roughly 70 miles. With no real organized destinations or finish line for this "race", I can do whatever the hell I want. Its PCL!!!

The group rolled out West A, an awesome sight. 40 something strong. When we got to SW 63rd I made my hard right to the North and began my solo mission. First stop Malcolm, home of the Clippers. That's me trying to get a shot of myself with the PO in the background, kind of worked. Bought my Powerball ticket, ate some stuff, shed my wind jacket & headed out W. Bluff. Cross headwind & really hilly.
Next stop Seward. Lottery, food, bathroom...
Then 13.2 tough, but pretty flat, miles into the wind to Milford. Lottery, Dr. Pepper ( didn't see any RC's, did the earlier crew drink 'em all?), food. Cross tail time, well sort of. It was mostly a direct cross with bouts of tail.
Arrived back at D street to this...
Most people had been back for awhile, some had split already. The group that remained was all stories & smiles.

rogue mission recap: exactly 70, 16.8 avg. Ahhhh...sweet gravel.

If you weren't there...see ya at the next one. Cornbread & DK, thanks for hosting!

All smiles as I type this...

Later

TK

new shoes...

LML preparations...a small problem needs to be addressed. Cornbread...he'd probably roll like this. Just kidding man. You wouldn't right?


the new shoes...pre-race cup cake loading...

see ya in the morning...TK

they're longer...

...the days, but it sure gets dark & cold fast. Blasted down to Princeton on the Jamaica after work. 2 hour round trip. As the wind picked up & the light dimmed it got cold fast. Under dressed for sure. Today's high 28, tomorrow 27. 40's by Friday. Stay warm, weekend looks good. TK

who do I need to thank...

Never give up hope. 70% rain forecast last night, heavy at times...we got almost nothing. More rain forecast for today...we got nothing. Small crew today made up of those who scoffed at the weather. I didn't even put on a fender or bring a rain coat. Above: MT & the Dark Knight discuss our next move at NW 27th & Branched Oak Rd. MT had to head back to Lincoln, but Craigio, Cornbread, Dark Knight, FOB, & myself pushed on to Ceresco. This was actually my first gravel journey up to Ceresco, new roads are always good.
Again, who do I need to thank. They knew were coming & signs alerted us to the fact RC's would be flowing soon. False advertising, I ended up going with a $1.09 Sunkist. No RC's in the cooler, damn! I didn't mention the wind was blowing pretty good, just to make sure we stopped by our local wind turbines. Yep...blowing pretty good.
Craigio has a snack & C-bread checks to see if the winds still blowing pretty good. Yep...blowing pretty good.
Rolled in through Havelock & crossed paths with Coach, PC, & JT on a bike path loop of Lincoln. Pretty strange spot to run into those guys, cycling magnetism or something. Joined forces & added on some more miles, just over 60 dry miles when all was said & done.

Pretty much the same forecast for tonight/tomorrow but a little snow mixed in. Hmmmm?

See ya out there?

TK

Kick a$% Thursday

I figured I needed to post to get rid of the last post w/ me staring at you. It was starting to get creepy.

JT, MT, & myself hooked up at 1:00 yesterday to expose some bare leg & arms. Topped out at 76 around here. I worked on my farmer's tan. Top 3 inches is fresh sunburn, all good. 50 miles of gravel. Recovery meal: double mushroom veggie burger, soy cheese, lima's , & fries. Oh yeah! Forecast tonight & this weekend is questionable w/ rain possible. 70% & possibly heavy tonight, that'll jack up the gravel.

See ya out there.

TK

the down side...

Metal frame Oakley's + way cold = frost bite, I guess. Lost a layer of skin across the bridge of my nose after this weekend's adventures. Whoops.

It was worth it.

TK

PPE

Above: the money shot, below: first tracks, sort of. From EP to Saltillo parking it was hiker & ski tracks, I was first bike. The snow single track that has been carved between the first bridge all the way South to 14th St parking is primo. Once in the park I was never cold. No one was in the park, at one point I was wondering if I could get in an end to end w/o seeing anyone. Nope, ran into KW on my way back from the Saltillo end. He turned around & the 2 of us continued North. A couple miles later, the Dark Knight. At the creek crossing 2 more hardy souls, don't know them but KW did. Conditions were perfect, trail was dialed in, all good.


I asked KW, "so how cold does it have to get to keep us from riding?" Apparently colder than this. I know one thing, I wouldn't be out for 3 hours on the open road. The protection of the park makes it all possible. Well, that & my PPE. Personal Protective Equipment, for those of you who haven't worked in an industrial setting.

the lobsters...
the Lakes...

the balaclava w/ the skull cap underneath...also layers of wicking gear & toe/hand warmers (actually toe warmers in my gloves)...

Good weekend with some good people. Rode for 6+ hours over the 2 days & I can feel it. My arms, back & legs are whipped from the slipping, sliding, finessing, saving, crashing (minor) good times in the park. No crashes today though.

C-bread, hope your healing. See you next weekend, hopefully we can get in a mega.

Later,

TK

see ya in the park...