Monday, June 30, 2008

Dry Trails



Last time I hit up Lewis &Clark was about 600 miles ago. With all the wet weather, Ive been getting in some serious road mileage and wondering what kind of shape I'm actually in. After a few climbs I was just.. wow. Lewis and Clark feels like Swanson now. Seems like my routine of easy riding/commuting/jogging during the week, and riding till i pass out on the weekends is paying dividends. I am almost confident that i will survive the 5-o now. I just watched the forecast for the week and Bill Wrongby is saying rain Wednesday, so its looking like Swanson Tuesday evening and taco ride thursday.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

FYI

Commuting in the rain is totally worth it just for the looks on your co-workers faces when you show up soaking wet with a huge smile on your face.

Monday, June 23, 2008

Yesterdays ride...

Chris and I had a good ride yesterday. I am getting more comfortable on the new bike, though I will probably change the seat.

here is a map of the ride

Thursday, June 19, 2008

The Ride home and the drive in...

2 days and about 70 miles. that is 12 dollars in gas.

I rode the new bike to work two days in a row. I have a decent route home that seems pretty safe. There is a great short hill around 79 to 75th street right before Pipal Park.




My back started hurting on the ride home yesterday. I am not sure what happened or why, but it was really bad when i breathed deep on the right side right around the last lower ribs. So, I drove to work today. Driving is STRESSFUL. Bleh. Maybe not having that stress first thing in the morning is the reason my days at work seemed better.

I think the hardest thing is getting up earlier to eat and the extra time to ride. I have found that if I don't try to go fast and just keep a steady pace I am not worn out at all. I think i use to try to get to work as fast as I could and the made me really tired all day. Now I feel great if i take it easy.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Taco Ride

Hey taco ride people, I need to know whos coming so I know how much beer to bring.

How much beer can I haul on my bike?
The better question is how much can you drink on your bike?

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

New Bike First Impressions...

First, I am glad I got the Long Haul Trucker over the X-Check. I got to work today and I do not even feel like I have been on a bike. It is really smooth. The parts of the ride that use to vibrate me to death on the LeMond were smooth rolling today.

It only took me 45 minutes to get here but I also cut the route down to about 11.5 miles. I took the direct approach. I will have to see if I can do this riding home. But it is nice that riding to work and stopping out of the way for a quick coffee is only an hour.

The weird thing is that the bike feels more like a 58" than a 56". I have ridden two 56" and i thought the stand over was lower. Also the bar reach seems longer than I remember. I will have to let it settle in and see if it positive or a negative.

I love the higher stem. I actually used the drops and it was really comfortable.

It is of course way heavier then my Lemond was and I noticed it on starts especially. But once I was rolling I just kept the momentum up just like I do on my SS MTB and it was easy to get up the city hills.

Well go take it for a spin over lunch now also.

Mass Transit

On my way to work this morning, I saw a fancy new bus with a bike rack on it! Looks like after years of MAT saying they are coming, they are here. Question is, how are we actually going to use these things? I guess taking the bus out to westroads or wherever out there it stops and riding the rest of the way to tranquility wouldnt be bad.

Sunday, June 15, 2008

I aint got time to bleed.


Dakota 5o training has officially begun. Mountain biking is fun again.

Saturday, June 14, 2008

today...

first do you read the Surly blog?

people riding fixies in the RAAM is pretty amazing. One of the videos on their page shows one of them pushing 48X16 up a huge hill.

Tranquility is a go this evening. Jim, Lynden and I are gonna hit it. Then stop at Whole Foods for some steaks and a tuna steak for lynden. Then we are gonna cook them (barely) then we're gonna eat them. good times!

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

submerged!




Not going to Manawa for a while.

Check out the pics taken by our extreme friends at the xteme wheels blog.

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

a little dirt...

rode a little at tranquility tonight with broken rib girl. ("BRG") She did great, the interior hill was easier for her than she remembers and there was water only in one little spot. The rest was dry and dusty.

I pushed a 36 X 18. 2:1 is not bad, and i rode it slow-ish, which makes it harder. If i can get use to that gearing I know i can get down to 25 minutes for the beginners lap and may even try a 36 X 17 or 36 X 16 to get to 22 or 23 minutes. We will see.

Has any one who checks this out ridden the Dakota_5_0? I have some questions.

happy trails!

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Ramblings.


With the rain keeping us off the single track, Ive been spending alot of time riding the roads and trails along the river north of downtown. Nice flat, low traffic and somewhat scenic roads. Scenic except for barb wire that runs from around the airport all the way up to the North Omaha power plant. At least when you get north of the airport, you get on top of the levee and can see the river. BUT thats when the barbed wire get serious and gives you that maximum security prison cycling atmosphere. The fences are there for a reason though, trash dumped everywhere. Bob summed it up well Sunday (in so many words), its too bad human beings are so horrible". Sorry about the bad qoute Bob.

Monday, June 2, 2008

Long ride. Longer walk.



Rides like this make me begrudgingly admit that I like living here.

Sunday, June 1, 2008

522 for the year

Lots of good riding this week, getting back on track for my riding goal of 100 miles a month. Ive got nothing on Up in Alaska, but 100 a month is an accomplishment for me.