Saddle Time

No trail riding for me this weekend, all dirt roads. Did 4 hours and 50 miles yesterday. Went out by Honey Creek, around the Amazonia Levy, then up through the hills to Country Club Village. Seems like dirt road rides usually turn up something interesting, but this one was pretty dull apart from a lot of deer on the road, beside the road, and bounding through corn fields.

Only a couple days till Laramie. Anything else going on this weekend that the world should know about?

Itchy

Well I got into something nasty. Poison oak, poison sumak, poison ivy - don't know which, don't care. All I know is that I would like to cheese-grate myself to death. Uhhhggg.

Rode last night with Aaron (who is getting pretty darn fast), and Tyson who hasn't ridden much this year but is still riding well. Did 2.5 laps on the south side and 1 on the north at Corby. It was a good ride.

Will be doing sporadic riding this weekend, so if anyone wants company - give me a call.

Quiet

It was a quiet evening in the park last night. I did one lap at Corby and didn't see a soul.

Be careful near the Corby South enterance. There is a tree that is about to fall on the trail. I tried to bring it down, but didn't feel like I could do it safely with out some rope or something. The wind will probably take it in the next few days.

Tried to map the GPS stuff last night for Krug, Corby, and the Scout Camp. Just as I was finishing up there was a fatal program error and I lost the file. Guess I will have to start over on that one.

Another Ass-kicker

Winding up for the Laramie Enduro at the end of the month. Did two-furs today. 2-laps Corby South, 2-laps Corby North, 2-laps Girl Scout Camp, 2-laps Krug. I figure this was about 32 miles of trail at the end of the day. Bet I ate 250 spiders at Krug. Next time I'll get a picture of one of those little bastards, incase some of you don't know what I'm talking about.

Took along the GPS from Forces of Nature to get a map on some of the trails that haven't been mapped yet. Batteries died about half way through the journey, so I didn't have a solid read on what I had accomplished.

32 miles doesn't sound like much, but when you throw the single speed, rigid bike, and type of trail into it - I think it was a good training day. Total bike time was about 4 hours.

Ran into Lance on the parkway between trails, he was on his way to infect a youngster with mountain biking fever. Hope everything worked out on their ride.

Jim was going to race at Smithville Lake - how did that go man?

Long Day

Randy and I did an epic. It had a little bit of everything.

We met some folks on the river. We talked to a guy on the hiway. We wend through some woods. Hung out with an old guy on a 4-wheeler. Rode into the Honey Creek Conservation area. Had lunch in a bar in Amazonia.

Randy was having a heck of a time with cramps, and it was hot - but we made it. Went through some interesting terrain, saw some interesting stuff.

Thurs night

Rode Corby with Jim, Rusty, and Aaron last night. Great weather, although I got rained on riding home in the dark.

After Corby, Aaron peeled off and Rusty, Jim, and I rode the Girl Scout Camp trail a couple times. Coming out of the trail Jim ripped a sidewall, bummer. That trail is a lot of fun, and definitely a technical challenge. I have to put my foot down a couple times in the rocks, at least until a good line develops. I think it is a little tougher picking through that stuff with the big wheels.

Here's Jim racing up the parkway to get to the Scout Camp:

After the flat we all rode back to Corby where Rusty and I took another full lap in the twilight. Rusty and Jim are riding fast - put them in the lead for most of the ride, as I was just trying to keep up.

It was a good night.

Heavy Use

Great night last night. Went out for a couple laps at Corby and found myself in a relative mtb traffic jam. Ran into John, who I had ridden with once or twice last summer. We did a lap South and North. Ran into Rusty, and did a partial lap with him. Saw some teenage types out on mountain bikes. They were walking the hills, but it's a start - and any start is a good start. Saw a guy on a nice Cannondale. Rusty talked to him and I forgot his name.

Also saw a couple hikers on the South loop.

Weather was great, trail conditions are very dry, but good, and people are friendly. It is fun to see the trails being used. Hats off to Randy, Shawn, Brian, Brad, Lance, Jim, Rusty, Javier, David, the Boyscout Troop, and all the others not listed who have worked so hard making these trails a reality. This trail system is really becoming something you can be proud of.

BTW, if I forgot someone - sound off in the comments.

News Story

Yep, Made the news - see below

Driver injured after hitting treeSt. Joseph News-PressA one-vehicle accident on Corby Parkway sent one woman to the hospital and blocked traffic for more than an hour as workers cleared a fallen tree from the roadway Sunday afternoon.Laurel J. Grimm, 21, was driving southeast at 4:16 p.m. on Corby Parkway between Corby Pond and Ashland Avenue when she lost control of her 2003 Chevrolet S10 and veered off the right side of the road. The truck crashed into trees along the road, one of which fell and blocked traffic, according to Sgt. Richard Ketchem of the St. Joseph Police Department."By the time city yards employees arrived and got it all cleaned up, it was probably an hour to 90 minutes or better before we opened the road and traffic could come through," Mr. Ketchem said.Ms. Grimm was transported by ambulance to Heartland Regional Medical Center, where she was treated and released, according to a nursing supervisor.Ms. Grimm was issued citations for careless driving for failure to maintain control of her vehicle and for failure to provide insurance, according to police records.

Manawa Race

Well, it was really hot. Really hot.

The trails were in fast condition, even though they had sustained major flood damage earlier in the year. Poised between Lake Manawa on one side, and the river on the other, they didn't have much of a chance in those big rains. THOR (trails have our respect), the trail building group in Omaha, is awesome with good community support, good funding, and strong membership; they got the trails whipped into shape really quick.

For my part, I forgot just how flat the course was, and I have apparently forgotten how to gear for flat races. I spent about 1/3 of the race totally spun out. In the heat spinning like crazy blows energy quick. The rest of the 2/3 race was spent in very, very tight and twisty single track. This is the kind of trail that I have always preferred, and I was able to at least sort of hang on because of the single track part. I guess that's the cool thing for me about single speed, it is just as much about planning for the race as it is about riding during the race. I fell down on the planning part this time.

Regardless, it was a fun race. My mom, step-dad, and daughter also came to the race - so it was fun to have a fan base, even if I didn't perform like I deserved one. Here are the results -

Note that Woodman had almost 4.5 minutes on the next 3 of us. What an animal... And a helluva nice guy.

Next up - St. Joe trail building story. Went out for a Corby ride this afternoon. Was trying to map the south side for the website, but kept running into problems. The weirdest part: while starting the second lap I heard the snap of a tree falling, then constant honking for a few minutes. I was farting around with the GPS, so I wasn't paying much attention. Then after rolling into the trails, right before the rock bridge there was a yellow pick-up hanging part of the way across the trail. There was a very disoriented woman in the driver seat, and a few by-standers jumping around trying to figure out how to get her out of there. Luckly I had my saw in my pack, so I cut the trees that were pinching her doors shut, then cut a trail up to the road so they could pull her back to the road. Also cut out the trees that she had knocked onto the trails. By-standers and Paramedics thanked me, which was cool. The lady just staggered past without saying anything, might have been rattled, or drunk - not sure. At one point a cop asked if I had a permit to cut trees in the park. I just gave him a look and that was the end of it.

Anyway, it was an interesting ride. Ate a lot of spiders, so I guess it is that time of the year. All in all, I had fun - just wish I would have thought to get a photo of the truck on the trail, it was something else.

Race Saturday

For anyone interested, there is a race in Council Bluffs this weekend at Lake Manawa. It is part of the Nebraska Lottery Psycowpath race series (a well run, safe, fun series). Payouts and prizes are generally very good and the crowd is very cool.

The course is a lot of fun, and is great for beginning racers, as there is almost no elevation change. The course is very twisty/curvy through the trees on an approximate 7 mile loop. It will be a fast but fun race.

Here is the information - hope to see some of you there!

http://www.nebraskacyclingnews.com/content/view/728/190/

Krug Bridges

Repaired 3 bridges this weekend. Scabbed one together to make it at least rideable with out getting wet and muddy (will need help hauling the heavy bridge planks to really fix it). The final 3 crossings didn't have a bridge to start with, but I think we should try to build something across them.