Thoughts off-route
and random...
Omaha Double Bagger 2012
Saturday, May 19th, 2012
Previous version of godutchgo here: 2008 godutchgo
Omaha Double Bagger 2012 - Saturday May 19th, 2012
Updated May 17, 2012 @ 08:04 by dutch
Bailout Route Change
ROUTE UPDATE - Attention quitters: The Bailout Route segment as printed on the 2012 cue sheets will not work as 144th street and trail are dug up and under construction. Easiest way to bail after 156th & Maple HyVee would be to ride Maple east all the way to 132nd, then south on 132nd parallel trail to HyVee 132nd & Dodge. You could also bail after Bridge to Nowhere by reversing back south on trail .25 miles to fork, trail east along creek, east up frontage road to 156th, cross and ride east on frontage rd south of Bakers, through Westside church parking the California east to 144th across to FNB Parkway, east to HyVee 132nd & Dodge. Game day decision, we will be available to consult.
Option 1 bailing out from HyVee 156th & Maple: http://veloroutes.org/s/81613
Option 2 bailing out from Bridge to Nowhere: http://veloroutes.org/s/81614
Or just ride the whole dang thing.
Omaha Double Bagger 2012 - Saturday May 19th, 2012
Updated May 9, 2012 @ 06:31 by dutch
UPDATES - Let's bag up and get rolling!
New cue sheet for 2012 is here: http://godutchgo.com/images/oma2bgr.pdf
Map / elevation: http://godutchgo.com/oma2bgr_2012_veloroute.html
Full route: 37 miles, 1,062 feet total climb
Bailout route: 26 miles
Updated Stages:
- Ride Stage 0 if parking at Settle Inn / Old Mill Lounge
- Stage 0 / Stage 11 - 2.50 mi - ride to start HyVee 132nd & Dodge
- Stage 1 - 4.90 mi - to Bridge of Slight Odor
- Stage 2 - 5.20 mi - to HyVee 180th & Q
- Stage 3 - 7.30 mi - to Bridge of Unexplainable Delay
- Stage 4 - 2.30 mi - to Bridge to Nowhere
- Stage 5 - 2.40 mi - to HyVee 156th & Maple
- BAILOUT Option - 4.25 mi - to HyVee 132nd & Dodge
- Stage 6 - 4.60 mi - to Standing Bear Lake
- Stage 7 - 3.10 mi - to HyVee 108th & Fort
- Stage 8 - 1.40 mi - to Schmidley's Driving Range
- Stage 9 - 1.80 mi - to Caddyshack
- Stage 10 - 1.30 mi - to Old Mill Lounge
- Done or ride Stage 0 / Stage 11 if parked at HyVee 132nd & Dodge
What's with Stage 0 / Stage 11?
Good question. As we have run later and later each year and non-local ridership has increased, it became wise to come up with a way to crash after shutting down the Old Mill Lounge without crashing bike / car. Enter the Best Western Settle Inn, located 100 yards across the parking lot from the Old Mill Lounge. Makes a lot of sense to book a room there, park in Old Mill and ride up to the start (leave by 9:30 am to get to HyVee by 10:00 am). Nice little warm up ride before you hit your first HyVee Wine & Spirits. When you call the Settle Inn (402) 431-1246 to book your room, mention the Omaha Double Bagger to get the ride discount. Get on it - State Track Meet just up the street is the same weekend and rooms are booking up.
What if I don't get a room or if I park at HyVee?
Fine, all good, and if you're opting for the Bailout Route you'll want to park at HyVee 132nd & Dodge. If you find yourself at the Old Mill Lounge after the ride and don't see your car, ride Stage 0 / Stage 11 back up to HyVee and it should all work out.
Old Mill Lounge Online Review
Serendipity led me to this excellent review of the Old Mill Lounge on the "Hit That Dive" blog:
http://www.hitthatdive.com/2011/02/old-mill-lounge-omaha-review.html
Expectations are high that we can anticipate the same outstanding treatment this year that we have received in the past.
Bridge Update
We have named the other two main trail bridges that we stop at besides the Bridge to Nowhere. The three bridges are, in order:
- Bridge of Slight Odor
- Bridge of Unexplainable Delay
- Bridge to Nowhere
This really serves no purpose other than it seemed funny at the time. Also there was no way to bypass the Bridge of Unexplainable Delay despite it's proximity to the Bridge to Nowhere. There will be stops at all, hopefully not for two hours this year.
Omaha Double Bagger 2012 - Saturday May 19th, 2012
Updated Jan 31, 2012 @ 18:36 by dutch
The 5th Annual Omaha Double Bagger is May 19th, 2012.
Check back for updates, but what we know today:
Omaha Double Bagger 5th Annual - Saturday, May 19th, 2012
Omaha, Nebraska
09:30 AM Stage 0 - Settle Inn (host hotel) / Old Mill Lounge to HyVee 132nd & Dodge
10:00 AM Ride Start - HyVee 132nd & Dodge
Stages 1, 2 and 3 mirror 2011 course (10 min tire change limit)
Bailout Route available after Stage 3 (to 132nd & Dodge or Old Mill)
Stage 4 - Changed to Standing Bear loop, HyVee 108th & Fort
Stage 5 - Pub Crawl to Driving Range
Stage 6 - Pub Crawl to Caddyshack
Stage 7 - Pub Crawl to Old Mill Lounge / Settle Inn (host hotel / bed)
Stage 8 - Only needed if driving home / missed Stage 0
More details pending when Dutch gets a chance - check out past action below.
Omaha Double Bagger 2011 - Partly cloudy, partly awesome
Updated May 21, 2011 @ 01:43 by dutch
Thanks, everybody - had a blast!
Lyle says get the show on the road
Pictures are here.
Sometimes you ride in the weather you're given because you know it's all you're going to get. All day Saturday during the Double Bagger I think we looked skyward, felt a scrappy little beam of sunshine or two, but mostly had clouds and wind and chilly temps. Sunday when I woke up it was the same weather pattern only with rain mixed in. So I'm glad we all know how to put on our big bagger pants and ride in weather and at the same time I'm glad OMA2BGR 2011, while windy and chilly, was dry.
Bryce (up from KC) and Dutch left my driveway at 9:30 AM Saturday May 14th. Bryce rolled his sweet white fixie while I was rocking the DutchenBagger sans rear brake unnecessarily sacrified during the prior night tune-up. Destination Best Western Settle Inn in Old Mill to meet Taylor and any out of towners who were checking into their rooms. We had set up a room deal at the Settle Inn, adjacent across the parking lot to the Old Mill Lounge, the final bar stop on the Double Bagger. Found Des Moines bikers and Taylor, rode up to HyVee 132nd & Dodge.
Parked bikes around 10:00 am at the Wine & Spirits entrance of the newly remodeled HyVee. Then bikers started showing up for OMA2BGR. Gotta say it's been cool to see it grow over the years.
I had to ride around the parking lot in 2008 to find my original partner in crime Greg Spence, the guy who's been there every year since and will reluctantly wear the hat of co-founder and Double Bagger navigator / sweep when called upon. Didn't know him before OMA2BGR 2008. He came to a West Omaha HyVee from Council Bluffs, met a guy he didn't know, rode the original stupid route and is a guy I will always look forward to biking with. Steve and Anne doubled our count halfway through OMA2BGR 2008 and took me off-route on my own ride. Total 2 starting, 4 midway, 2 finishers. Also noticed a picture of Greg in front of the Old Mill Lounge in full sunlight on the 2008 ride, I guess 2 guys really can get 50 miles done before dark-thirty. Hasn't happened since.
Best I can tell, in 2009 we had around 12 bikers at the start and at least 4 finishers, full route around 50 miles. 2010 started with maybe 20 riders and could have been as high as 25 at 180th & Q HyVee by the pics. Due to Dutch losing his phone, we shortcutted the route and cranked west on Dodge after Hyvee on Cass and a bar stop, finally found the Big Papio trail and ultimately shut down the Old Mill Lounge. There were at least 4 of us that rode the final leg back to 132nd & Dodge in 2010 including Old Man River.
Fade to present...
Wow - thanks everybody for riding in crappy weather. Locals and out of towners totaled 40 bikes and a dog for the start of OMA2BGR 2011. We added people along the way. I was expecting an increase over 2010 but out of the gate - man that was impressive.
Trying to move things along, I had analyzed the timestamps of previous year photos and come up with a checkpoint timetable in the hopes of completing the full route OMA2BGR 2011. Given the weather, logistics of 40 versus 2 and the fact that we had many more out of town bikers coming in, I was forced to relax. Probably should have done that to start, turned out it was a pretty good idea.
The first traffic crossing was dicey. The first "take the lane" organization was a cluster-something. But man I was proud of everybody rolling a tight bagger peloton down 144th from Center to F Street - nice work.
The first bridge was really stinky and we probably stayed too long. Felt some rain drops. Lake Zorinsky was a dryed up tire heap but I think everybody understands the true impact of Zebra mussels now.
It was good to see Taco Rider folks, baggers from Des Moines and T-Bone hauling Lyle in the Burley. At least three authentic HyVee Triathon jerseys probably added to the civilians commenting to each other that this was a "Hyvee Triathlon training ride" - even though I'm probably the only one racking up fenders in T1.
So what did we do? We rode bikes. We rode bikes in crappy weather. We rode bikes on streets, in traffic and on trails. We rode to HyVees. We rode to a driving range and we rode to at least one bar. Nobody got permanently lost, injured or jailed. We rode to a hotel room or we rode home. Hopefully you had a good time, met some old friends and made a couple new ones.
Nobody won.
That's the Omaha Double Bagger - pointless and stupid, fun as hell.
Next year it will change, but I'm finding that a shift here or there makes things better. Probably going to be a new route. We will ride to HyVee's. We will ride on traffic and trails. The route will change, so will the people. But we'll probably end up with a driving range, a lounge and a hotel on the final stage. I kinda liked how that turned out this year. And hopefully better weather. But then again, it could be raining.
Ride anyway.
Dutch
OMA2BGR
Omaha Double Bagger 2011 will ride Saturday May 14th, 2011
Updated May 13, 2011 @ 03:55 by dutch
Target check point times below, will never be accurate. Delays will incur. If trying to intercept OMA2BGR, pick a checkpoint and ride route back to us. Download the cue sheet
Double Bagger Event Hotel - Omaha Settle Inn
Scroll down for details on the host hotel if you're from out of town or just don't want to drive home from the Bagger! Cyclist discount and right on the bike trail (cause we're "cyclists")
Saturday, May 14th, 2011
10:00 AM
HyVee
132nd & Dodge St, Omaha, Ne
Full Route: 46 miles
Short Route: 26 miles
Both routes end you up back where you started.
A tour of six Omaha HyVees using trail network and surface streets. Cause? Cause it needs doin'. Rain or shine - HyVee don't close, we don't close.
Updated cue sheet here includes:
Detail on all Eight Stages
DOUBLE BAGGER pace line / TAKE THE LANE traffic advice (* new)
Bridge To Nowhere (* new)
Bailout (short) Route Detour
Secret Driving Range location (* new)
Railroad Underpass and Winchester's Pitstops (* new)
Old Mill Lounge Experience (* new)
Again, all in the updated cue sheet found here.
Please note - no cost, registration, organization or support. Ride is ridden at your own pace. Rider assumes all risk - wear a helmet, ride responsibly, some traffic riding involved. Also you might think about allowing 14 plus hours for the full route :-)
Email Dutch at bagger@godutchgo.com if you have questions or are coming from out of town.
See ya May 14th...
Dutch
Past Double Baggers:
Omaha Double Bagger 2010
Omaha Double Bagger 2009
Omaha Double Bagger 2008
Omaha Double Bagger Event Hotel
Details below and remember to call 402-431-1246 to book your room for discount! A mighty fine deal even if you're from the area - no late night / early morning driving hassles after OMA2BGR
Host hotel now available for anybody coming in from out of town or any local who wants to fall off their bike after completing the Bagger. Located a mere 2 miles from the Start / Finish and a ridiculous 100 yards across a shared parking lot from our last bar stop, the Old Mill Lounge. Also, right on the bike trail - no, really right on it! Imagine rolling up to the Old Mill Lounge with nothing left to do but celebrate your personal best knowing your car, belongings and possibly in-room hot-tub are within stumbling distance - not to mention a pool, hot tub and hot waffles!
Best Western Settle Inn
650 North 109th Court
Omaha, Nebraska 68154
Call for reservations - 402-431-1246
Mention event code "Omaha Double Bagger"
www.omahasettleinn.com
Candace at the Settle Inn has offered a blanket 15% discount on rooms for Friday / Saturday when you mention Omaha Double Bagger - but you must call 402-431-1246 and give our event code (shh - it's "Omaha Double Bagger"). Book a standard room or get a friend and reserve one of their ten magical theme suites with in-room whirlpool and maybe a beach mural or suit of armor?
The Omaha Double Bagger basically ends at the bar next to this hotel. It's 2 miles from the start / finish. If you stay here Friday night, to get to the start of the Bagger just follow the directions on the cue sheet in Stage 8 after "Experience Old Mill Lounge" - a 2 mile ride Saturday morning to HyVee 132nd & Dodge. Or park there Saturday morning and roll up to the start.
Also on the facebook and let Dutch know if you book a room.
Christmas Frost 2010
Posted December 28, 2010 @ 18:03 by dutch
Central Nebraska, day after Christmas. Testing out new camera after hoarfrost hits Kearney.
Ragbrai 2010
Posted December 28, 2010 @ 17:26 by dutch
All the pics are here.
There's a few videos here.
I'll write this up someday, maybe, seem to be suffering a block since July. Wanted to get the pics up in the current year. Might just be riding out next year, but 2010 was a blast.
Omaha Double Bagger 2010 set for May 15th
Posted February 01, 2010 @ 07:15 by dutch
Lincoln Highway on a Bike - Omaha to Kearney
Posted September 26, 2009 @ 16:50 by dutch
All the pics are here.
Prologue
"The Lincoln Highway was the first road across the United States of America". Well, the Wikipedia article starts off that way, and you can read the entire history at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_Highway. Here in the midwest the Lincoln Highway is mostly Highway 30, occasionally apart, with old Lincoln Highway close in the form of a gravel road across a ditch from Hwy 30, or a few miles north or south, joining back up with "new" Highway 30 perhaps on the outskirts of town. Along the way, as metal road signs or faded painting on telephone posts, are the red, white and blue Lincoln Highway "L" markers, and in some places a section of road with the original brick pavers is still open for travel.
My mother was born in Clinton, Iowa where the Lincoln Highway crosses the Mississippi river. About 16 miles east, in Morrison, Illinois, my grandfather opened a car dealership in 1949 which today sits at 727 West Lincolnway (http://www.schulermotors.com). When I was 8 years old my family moved from Oklahoma to York, Pennsylvania where the Lincoln Highway is also Highway 30. While in York, my car dealing grandfather, in a blue 1926 Chrysler accompanied by several other country crossing classic car rallyists, traded grandma for Mom and myself and took us 187 miles east along the Lincoln Highway to the terminus (or starting point) in New York City.
A couple of years later my family moved five states west to Columbus, Nebraska, it's major east - west route being Highway 30. Perhaps some people are destined to live within a narrow latitudinal range, maybe that's just how it worked out. And I now live in Omaha, where if I take a certain city street west a few miles I find myself rolling on those nicely preserved brick pavers outside of Elkhorn. Which leads up to how, years after traveling 187 miles east on the Lincoln Highway in a classic automobile to NYC, I would leave Omaha on a bike and ride that same "main street across America" through 197 miles of small towns, corn and cows to Kearney.
My wife Megan and daughter Lucy would be heading to her folks place in Kearney Saturday of Labor Day weekend. I planned to start my ride on Friday, stay in Columbus, ride to Grand Island for a Saturday night stay and arrive in Kearney Sunday mid day. Megan and Lucy were staying the week and I would be taking her car back to Omaha so transportation was easy. For lodging, while this was solo, self-contained cycling it was to be credit card touring, staying in hotels in Columbus and Grand Island as opposed to camping. I know, kind of soft but the mileages worked out Friday and Saturday to put me in those two larger towns, and while I'm comfortable throwing a sleeping bag on a city park picnic table in most small towns, stealth camping in more urban environments is a merit badge I have yet to earn.
Starting point of 7 mile 2 foot shoulder
Most of the Lincoln Highway I would be traveling would be Highway 30, and most of that looked to have nice wide paved shoulders. A stretch that concerned me was about 7 miles from just west of Fremont to between Ames and North Bend where the shoulder narrowed to about 2 feet. I would be on that mid-day on a Friday, but didn't really know what that meant traffic-wise. Well lighted front and back, I nonetheless intended to reach each overnight town by sunset and be off the highway at night. The weather forecast was promising, dry with mild temperatures and a bonus tailwind on Friday.
Day 1 - Friday September 4th
Omaha, Elkhorn, Waterloo, Valley, Fremont, North Bend, Schuyler, Columbus
Pics: 696 - 727
Departure Friday, I was slow packing up as usual, but unlike Ragbrai I didn't put half the contents of the garage on the bike. Minor tuning, rack tightening, chain lubing and bag loading soon brought the clock approaching 11 am and thoughts of where I would be relative to Columbus at sundown. I had done a shakedown ride the weekend before where I heard what I thought was bottom bracket creaking, louder when I pushed down harder (I tend to be a pedal masher). The problem with bottom bracket noise is that it's sometimes hard to tell if it's the BB, or crank, or pedal, or even seat, and you tend not to push hard enough to recreate the noise in a stand. I had purchased a new BB at the LBS but at the last minute decided against the change, and even left the part and tools behind. Just hope for the best, because odds were against getting it fixed where I was headed.
Last zipper check and roll out of the driveway and this mini tour is underway! Well, stop 3/4 miles at the ATM for cash, then convenience store for some supplies and - this mini tour is underway! I took Maple Street west out of Omaha to Elkhorn, where I stopped in to see Mom at the nursing home where she works. I knew she was worried about me riding on Hwy 30, and wanted her to see that I had lights, reflective stuff, flag and bright yellow vest - maybe made her feel a little better, probably not much.
Rolled down the hill over the Elkhorn river at Waterloo and crossed over to Old Maple Road, rolling west then north to Valley. While I had skipped the section of Old Lincoln Highway that goes from Blondo to Elkhorn, I saw it joining up with Maple and continuing to Fremont as Reichmuth Road. At this point the current Highway 30 was about 10 miles north in Arlington and would rejoin the Lincoln on the west side of Fremont. Stopped in Valley at Casey's for a slice of pizza then rolled to Fremont. Pretty light traffic as the better vehicle option from Omaha to Fremont is the four lane 275. Nice shoulder, Reichmuth became Bell St which I took north over the viaduct to Military Ave. West through downtown Fremont then Military skirting Fremont Lakes Rec area to County Road 18 which joined up with Highway 30. I rolled onto the busy highway right at the start of my narrow 7 mile shoulder section.
While I had been taking it easy, pulling out the camera occasionally, riding relaxed, the next half hour was all business. I was glad for the tailwind, and glad for the rumbles in the middle of the road between lanes. I kicked it in gear (for me) and while the rumbles may have made it more of a pain for the cars and trucks to give way, it became reassuring to hear that loud buzz as they came up behind me. I did employ a new improved rearview mirror on the left handlebar for this ride, but concentrated mainly on holding my line and keeping the wheels on the two foot path between traffic and ditch. There were times where I probably could have reached left and touched truck or slapped mirror, but usually only when oncoming traffic prevented a move over for the vehicle passing me. All in all pretty good, and when I reached the point where the shoulder expanded to a comfortable width I rode for a few minutes to cool down, then pulled over and guzzled water. Two fellas working on a grain elevator offered me some shade, I thanked them but said I had to keep going to get to Columbus. They remarked that I had "a ways to go", which I knew but appreciated anyway.
Had I think two beers at Arlie's in North Bend around 3:45 pm, realized I still had 30 miles to Columbus and got rolling. Good traffic and better highway riding now with the wide paved shoulder. Taylor was driving to Columbus and met me for a beer around 5:45 in Schuyler by the old drive-in. He was on his way to the horse races at Ag Park where a bunch of people were drinking and betting. Sounded good, I made Columbus at 7:50 pm, called Megan and my folks and then rode down to the horse track where half of Columbus was drinking beer in the parking lot. Saw some old friends, drank beers out of my bags, watched a race or two. Rode to my hotel, showered and changed, then the Intern picked me up and we went to Glur's Tavern ("Oldest Bar West of the Missouri River"). Had a double cheeseburger, fries and a few beers, more old friends then a ride back to hotel via Intern and Mojo. Went to sleep, stats for the day were 79 miles, 6 hours 28 minutes ride time, 12.15 mph average.
Day 2 - Saturday September 5th
Columbus, Duncan, Silver Creek, Clarks, Central City, Chapman, Grand Island
Pics: 728 - 761
Slept pretty good, got up and just under the wire for breakfast at the hotel. Checkout, couple of last Columbus town pics and rolling around 10:45 am. Saw a few cars heading south from Columbus or east from Duncan full of red clad folks on their way to Husker game in Lincoln, but traffic not bad. Could have had an incident on way to Duncan - riding west on the Hwy 30 shoulder as I approached a gravel road I saw a pickup come to the intersection from the north, planning to turn east. He looked east (my direction) and I could tell he hadn't registered me coming at him in the shoulder. I slowed as he looked west, then as I'm almost on him he looks back east and begins to enter the highway. It's only at this point that he sees me, and he stops abruptly with a look of surprise on his face as I roll past the front of his truck. I give an easy wave and keep going. Nothing malicious or really even negligent on his part, just one of those situations where a driver isn't expecting a cyclist, and a bike doesn't even make the radar. Does lend merit to taking the lane in traffic, but obviously you take the shoulder on the highway. Heads up, could have been worse.
Hit Duncan (home town of Huskers / Detroit Lions fullback Cory Schlesinger!) at 11:30 am and had a beer at My Place (Taylor's family used to own). Rode sweet new-ish blacktop shoulder to Silver Creek - nice and wide with a rumble strip between shoulder and traffic. Spooked a herd of elk. Had a couple of beers at Lil' Joe's in Silver Creek where the college football game they had on was U of Neb - Omaha vs U of Neb - Kearney. Hmmm...Omaha...Kearney...didn't even plan that.
Made it to Clarks around 2:30, didn't find a bar but found a preserved section of old pavers and a Lincoln Highway mural on the side of a building. Took some pics, had a beer out of the bags and then had lunch in the town c-store. Must have got a late start out of Clarks cause my next Facebook post saying Central City is at 4:42 pm, only 11 miles. Don't remember stopping but I was getting tired and a little hot - Friday's tailwind was gone replaced by a fairly strong crosswind out of the south. At some point I started a routine which I would continue for most of the rest of the ride - about every mile, take a 5 second stand out of the seat, then a sip or two of water. Worked pretty good for me. Also around this time that I came up with the theory that trains create headwinds or tailwinds, probably all mental. Made good use of the bike stereo.
Was pretty wiped at Central City, snaked through the town to the west side without seeing a bar, had a sports drink, water and a 15 min rest in the shade of a Casey's. Wanted to get to Chapman before kickoff of the Nebraska game as I planned to catch a little of it at the Prime Time Steakhouse & Lounge. Sat myself down at the funky short bar with rope lighting about 6:15 pm, they had the game on the radio. Had a couple of beers and watched the locals coming in for their prime rib dinners, they watched the dirty sweaty biker with no sleeves drink his beer. Left the Huskers and the diners to themselves and headed to Grand Island.
Seems like the wind died off which was immediately noticed by tiny, swarming gnat-like gnats which stuck with and to me as I headed to GI. A couple of miles out stopped to have a beer on a gravel rode, snapped a couple of pics and made town just at dark thirty, needed lights for the longish ride through town to my hotel on the west side by the Conestoga Mall. Got to the hotel, made calls, cleaned up, had pizza and salad delivered to the room. Watched some college football but was too tired / full to drink the last couple of beers I had in the bags so into the fridge they went as potential Sunday last miler's. Today's stats: 72 miles, 6 hours 45 minutes ride time, 10.67 mph average.
Day 3 - Sunday September 6th
Grand Island, Alda, Wood River, Shelton, Gibbon, Kearney
Pics: 762 - 775
Got up and had hotel breakfast, packed up the bags and rolling out of Grand Island around 9:30 am. Wanted to get to Kearney before Lucy's afternoon nap, plus Sunday morning, so running a pretty tight program. Foggy but not raining, comfortable temp. South breeze kickin up made a quartering headwind. Stopped west of GI for quick pic of the bike by a Husker Hwy sign, then rolled through Alda and Wood River, stopping to hydrate at the c-store in Shelton, where I found more preserved paver road sections and L signs. Was now 11:40 am, wind picking up and 20 miles to go.
Also have to mention that I got a lot of "Harley waves" from weekend motorcycle riders, both approaching and overtaking me. Returned the favor, left hand off the handlebars, arm downward forty-five degrees, fingers extended. Traffic throughout the ride was overall pretty good, there were a couple of dumbasses in a white van in Grand Island that passed me close and made barking noises (?) but that was about it, no honks, fluids or projectiles coming my way.
Took a couple of pics of farm equipment and bovine statuary, then stopped about halfway between Gibbon and Kearney to drink one of the two beers I had in the bags. I had put ice on them in GI at the hotel when I left, but by now they were about room (outside) temp. Drank the beer anyway, tasted great. Home stretch now, but feeling the headwind effect. Was doing a lot of my stand 5 seconds every mile. Got back on the bike, rode about a half mile and saw the only other touring cyclist I would see on this trip. Guy was riding a hybrid or mountain bike, bagged up like he was going some distance, heading east on the other shoulder. As we approached, we waved at each other, shouted "How are you" and "Great", smiled and kept going. Would have been nice to stop but we were both cruising pretty good, if I'd have been a few minutes later or he earlier he could have rolled up on a gravel road and had a warm Miller Lite. Oh well, hope he had a good ride.
Thought alot as I did this ride about how lucky I am to get to do rides like this. About how, as I headed west on Friday there was a funeral in Des Moines for a cyclist hit by a pickup on a rural road. About how much I loved Megan and Lucy, and that I have a son coming in January, and that I need to keep it safe and get home to them. Those of us that that ride love the freedom and adventure we enjoy on the bike. There's also respect for the fact that, despite how careful we are and despite how responsibly we ride, things can go very wrong in an instant. My smile at the end of an extended ride is always a mix of accomplishment with a little relief and gratitude thrown in.
I stopped at the Cabela's on the east edge of Kearney, phoned Megan and cracked that last warm Miller Lite open. Took a couple deep breaths. I rolled east to 2nd Avenue, then headed south over the Platte river to the in-law's house. Headwind coming hard out of the south now, I was tired but end was in sight! Coasted into the driveway, got a kiss from Megan and lots of hugs and "Daddy, Daddy!"'s from Lucy. There's that smile again, and a quick victory picture. Stats for the day: 46 miles, 4 hours 30 minutes ride time, 10.22 mph average.
So there you go - 197 miles solo bike on the Lincoln Highway, Omaha to Kearney. A nice, flat route I'd recommend to anybody looking for a two or three day tour, within 3 hours drive back to the start. Got your smaller towns, your bigger towns, your taverns and trains, available for immediate enjoyment at 11 miles per hour.
Dutch
August 2009 Schuler Gathering
Posted September 09, 2009 @ 20:43 by dutch
Crossed Iowa to Clinton & Morrison, Illinois for a long overdue get together with a large contingent of the Schuler Clan. Also took in the Whiteside County Fair! The pics are here.
Ragbrai 2009
Posted August 1st, 2009 @ 16:56 by dutch
All the pics are here.
Short, but quality videos are here.
Day 0 - Saturday July 18th
West Omaha, Keystone Trail, Elmwood Park, Neener's, Old Market, Riverfront, Pedestrian Bridge, CB Trails, Lake Manawa, Trace Trailhead, Trace, Margaritaville, Mineola
Pics: 7 - 60
I had finished upgrading my bike for Ragbrai 2009, the most significant change being the wheels I built the week before, my first attempt at wheelbuilding. DT Swiss 7.1 trekking rims, Competition 2.0 / 1.8 / 2.0 spokes, Ultegra hubs, 36 hole 3 cross lacing. Happy to say that outside of some minor rear wheel field truing Sunday morning after riding on the trace they held up great all week long, sturdy and no spoke breakage.
Just because you can fit the contents of a covered wagon on your bike / trailer, doesn't mean you should. I took three pictures of all the crap I loaded in the Bob and panniers - looks like a garage sale or a fireworks stand. What a ridiculous, heavy load - and it would not all end up at the Mississippi river. Loaded and zipper checked, rolled out of my driveway and met Taylor at his house.
We took the Keystone Trail from Blondo to UNO, then cut through Elmwood Park and up the steep ass hill to Leavenworth. Precursor of things to come, man that was a bitch starting out with no momentum. Stopped at Neener's house where the Quad Bike and crew were getting loaded, and got caught in a vortex for a couple hours.
Rolled out with expanded crew JP, Baums, Connie, Neener, few others, Taylor and I down to Old Market and met Bryce, Zeke and Marky Mark. $2.50 PBR tallboys outside the Old Market Tavern. Ride to riverfront and through the masses of people over the Bob Kerry Pedestrian bridge. Went past the concert / crowds at Riverside Grill and the casino, onto the Council Bluffs trail system south.
Provisioning before leaving the Old Market
Stopped once along the trail, then again at Lake Manawa, Quad Bike and trail party both times. Rode under I29 to Wabash Trace trailhead, encountered a couple more baggers. Headed down Trace with BV Heather, B Rad and Taylor. Spent a couple hours at Margaritaville, rode to Mineola trailhead and slept on a picnic table.
Day 1 - Sunday July 19th
Mineola, Trace, Silver City, Malvern, Emerson
Pics: 61 - 129
Woke up Sunday morning with no way to hold my head that didn't hurt. Also there's the Real Ragbrai going past, about 50 yards from my picnic table domicile. Should know better by now when town-aheading to not camp right by the route. Our little bagger camp provided quite the amusement for the clean front-of-the-packers standing in the kybo line. A couple of them even came right up to me and my bike to snap photos. Field trued the back wheel using a stick and picnic tables for a stand, then rode to the Steakhouse.
Man - don't usually find myself this far up in the pack. What a circus! Fought my way to a barstool, ordered drinks and drew a Duffy cartoon. Proceeded to wait out the push, entertained myself by:
- meeting some folks I don't normally see being back of the pack
- watching Le Tour
- having cocktails
- watching British Open
- photographing Jerseys
- drawing Duffy cartoons
After the push came through we headed down the Trace, had trail party, met some of the Perry Boys, Choads, Emus, few others. Hopped off the Trace for a bit at Silver City - no bar but had a couple beers watching the older folks clogging in some building. Headed back down the Trace towards Malvern with Ted.
Just after passing under Hwy 34 on the outskirts of Malvern, left Ted and the Trace to drop off my trailer at my friend Greg's farmhouse. I had called him earlier when I determined, 24 hours after leaving home, that I was carrying a ridiculous load on the bike and would never use nor did I need all the crap I had stashed on board. Headed back to Malvern on the Trace much lighter - thanks, Greg!
Emus, Jarc, Mosquitos, Hermsen, Omaha crew, Choads at bar in Malvern. Spent some time, went to Caseys and got food, rode to Emerson. I was pretty much done at Emerson so quick tour through the bar then picnic table and sleeping bag.
Day 2 - Monday July 20th
Emerson, Red Oak, Corning, Orient
Pics: 130 - 162
Get a wake up tap Monday morning in Emerson from a Mills County Deputy at 7:30 am (!) saying the City Council had a meeting and doesn't want us sleeping in their park anymore. Huh. Look around and see Taylor has set up his tent, lots of others sleeping on or by picnic tables. My friend Greg in Malvern is on the VFD and heard the call on the radio before he went to work - pretty funny. He says the deputy is "Goose" and is a good guy - he was but was pretty firm about us rolling out of the sack - "you guys still trying to get to Red Oak?". Duffy cartoon.
We packed up and managed to have a decent breakfast at the Emerson cafe, Choads there and Bryce rolled in, bagged up aired up and headed to Red Oak. Looks like rain coming at this point but road in to town leads directly to Caseys where we find Emus and Mosquitos, some buses loading up. Emus decide to fill out Caseys career applications. A bunch of us head to downtown Red Oak to find a bar, end up at a beer only joint next to an ink shop. I roll sled inside for tunes, Ted does an impressive one-handed cartwheel.
It's still cloudy as we roll out of Red Oak, up a big hill out of town. We decide we can shoot straight east and skip Stanton, Villisca and Nodaway taking old 34 to rejoin the route west of Corning. Might have saved a few miles but added a bunch of hills - got some laughs from farmers and a couple locals pointing south and saying "your sag wagons are down there!" Nick pulls out the Mexican wrassling mask, and a little later we pull out the rain gear as it gets pretty wet. Couple of safety checks, about 30 miles of hills in the rain with no towns. Ted loses it mentally.
Road party on our hilly detour
Bryce, Taylor and half the Choads head to Prescott, Cromwell, Creston - we would see them next on Thursday night in Ottumwa. They detoured south of 34 for a couple of days. Ted, Nick, MadDog and I sagged to Orient in the Tommy / Choad short bus, Kremer and Team Mustache were somewhere up there? Had some drinks in the bar, then I found a picnic table and hit the sack. We had towned-ahead once more.
Day 3 - Tuesday July 21st
Orient, Macksburg, Winterset, Martensdale
Pics: 163 - 224
Ugh - the front of the pack. Oh, well, stood in line with the clean folk and treated myself to a healty Methodist breakfast. Tried to dry stuff out hanging it from picnic tables. Went to the bar / square - bunch of folks around, seemed like the push was going through or had already gone through. Note to Ragbrai bar owners - hide your bar's trophys.
Eventually rolled out and had road party before Macksburg. TPP, Neener, Dave, Shorty, Hermsen & Perry Boys. Quad Bike rolls through, then we hear what sounds like a bagger stereo coming up the blind hill approach but no - it's two ISP cruisers and the one in front is playing Rockstar by Nickleback out his front loudspeaker - no lie! He just rolls by jamming that song, smiles and waves at us drinking on a dirt road. Am I on the right Ragbrai? Kinda like it was 10 or so years ago - kinda cool.
Rode a sweet downhill next to Hawkeye and hit the Buck-N-Wild at Macksburg, now serving $2.00 tall boys after the push. Starting to look more like the back of the pack now. Ragbrai Billy and Suzie, Toe Rings, Choads, etc. Saw the following transpire - guys bike breaks that morning, calls wife, she brings new bike down from north east Iowa. Gets it hooked up to his trailer, wife takes off. I'm looking at the Orbea, say "nice bike, you'll go fast up the hills" and he says "damn - wrong pedals". Calls wife up, she turns around and drives back so he can swap pedals. Kiss, see ya later, wife leaves. Fifteen minutes later bike is unhooked from Bob, placed on trailer and dude is sagging. "Honey - can you bring me a replacement bike so I can hop in the back of a pickup and continue my Ragbrai?" I think that cost him a trip to Vegas.
Pretty sure I headed out with some folks towards East Peru / Truro but got dropped or dropped myself and soon was soloing with the sun going down. This was the night of the off-route at the Cumming Tap, so plan was to get to Martensdale and head up the trail 10 miles or so to Cumming. Took some solo pics, had a road beer or two, saw storm to west which failed to materialize. A couple of farmers said I should avoid East Peru and Truro - "pretty scenic in the daytime but just hilly at night" so I rode 169 north to Winterset, found a bar next to a Caseys and met a guy "Tax" (sp?) who said he was good friends with T-Bone. One of his buddies aggreed to sag me 15 east on 92 (trying to be safe) to Martensdale. Enroute got word that Cumming Tap had run out of booze so went to Roadside in Martensdale, had some then found picnic table up by trail head.
Day 4 - Wednesday July 22nd
Martensdale, Indiandola, Milo, Lacona
Pics: 225 - 254
Woke up at trail head, quite a few around, and some still rolling down from Cumming. Went to C-Store with BV and B Rad, had pizza and some beers. Should have ridden but got another boast 10 down 92 to Indianola. Was being pretty careful about the highways still, would end up riding them more later in the week. Bitch to put bike back together again but got it accomplished and headed into the Elks Lodge.
The Elks had gotten a bunch of pins made but the guy who filled out the order form must have been drunk because they said "IndianDola" with that second "d". Duffy cartoon. Anyway, two Elk bartenders who we referred to by their member / tab book numbers - #3 and #222, or "Number Three" and "Triple Deuce" - kept drinks coming.
Rode to Milo in two safety stops, good back of the pack atmosphere at the bar / beer garden. Sent some more stuff that I didn't need back to Omaha with B Rad. About dark thirty a group of us headed out towards Lacona, had a dark highway beer stop and rolled in to a packed bagger bar - O'Neals - pizza, jukebox and picnic tables. First I'd seen of Jeff / Kim and Tony / Caroline, some other new faces from the Ride Out as well. Oh, yeah - it was Jersey Day but I forgot mine.
Day 5 - Thursday July 23rd
Lacona, Red Barn, Landing, Iconium, Moravia, Ottumwa
Pics: 255 - 284
Got up and followed an old lady into the Community Center to use the facilities. She saw me come out of the john and made me take a cup of coffee back to the shelter with me. Later as baggers continued the same, these older gals would turn a couple loaves of bread into toast and you couldn't go in and get out of there without a minimum 3 slices with homemade cherry jelly, lots of butter and more coffee. And some conversation. Remember Emerson - Lacona and those ladies just kicked it's ass.
Went back into O'Neals to hydrate, ended up staying for lunch. Saw a few roll out in alternative transport towards the Red Barn down by Rathbun Lake, with promise that Austin's uncle would be back. Thought we needed to ride a little so BV, Neener, Dave and I knocked out a 5 by doing a...5. Extended safety stop, nice views but pretty hilly looking stuff. Duffy cartoon. Finally nice hot Ragbrai weather. Don arrived and we time-warped.
Had beers, drinks and firecrackers at the Red Barn and then rode east to the Landing / Iconium. Just four of us now, they were shutting down but let us stay for a couple before kicking us out. Headed into Moravia in the dark, found Emus at the bar, had a few. About 35 to Ottumwa and we were supposed to be staying at Choad Ted's aunt's house - time-warped for the last time and found the place. Re-united with Bryce / Taylor and other Choads, stayed up late with Ted and his aunt. Didn't sleep on a picnic table for the first time all week - slept sitting upright in a metal chair on the porch.
Day 6 - Friday July 24th
Ottumwa, Agency, Batavia, Libertyville, Fairfield, Lockridge
Pics: 285 - 343
Woke up Friday morning and pretty funny to see all the bagger bikes in the backyard of Ted's aunt's house which is at other times a daycare. Had first shower of the week - thanks! Also good breakfast - I think Dave cooked some of it but then he's a science teacher. Everyone getting bagged up and positive.
Oh, yeah - Friday was also Drunk Dan Day. Started getting calls early on that he was enroute, and hitting towns trying to find a local who would drive him to Ottumwa, drop him off, and drive his truck back to said local's town. I think he succeeded in Lockridge and called us when he was on the north side of Ottumwa. We started heading north from our south location, and went to a bar somewhere in mid-town, at which D2 soon shows up. Had drinks, and the bar gave away a bunch of swag from the night before. D2 is self-monitoring at this point as his next kid is expected soon and he's keeping himself on a short leash - but a shot in the old Ragbrai arm either way.
Took a southern detour from the route Friday, skirting 34 through Agency (safety stop) to Batavia bar - Still Ned's Place. Great to be riding full crew again with Choads, Taylor, Bryce and rest of northern gang. Extended drink / food stop, then rolled out southeast to Libertyville. Had a little crop duster action and a road party, then hit the Dew Drop Inn where Taylor and I ruled at shuffleboard.
Then I noticed D2's free swag visor from the Ottumwa bar said "Dutch Mania" and "8:00pm" which turns out that meant Dutch dogpile in the bar at 8 bells. Best Dutchmania ever. Storm coming and we rolled out at dusk northeast towards Fairfield, some running hot to beat the storm but eight of us had the nads for a quick shotgun on a bridge at the bottom of a hill. Still beat the storm to Fairfield.
Great bar in FF, waited out the storm and listened to Big Mike do David Allen Coe. Mucho debate about pushing out after the storm, would entail riding the four lane about midnight. Bryce took off solo, then Dori and Team Mustache, then myself, Taylor, Ted, D2 along with Halvey, DC and Joe. Nice riding on the four lane in the dark - no real traffic and a good safety stop. Rolled into Lockridge just as we see Dori and the two Choads ride out, town shutdown but we went up the big hill to the center and had a shelter all to ourselves. Picnic table, no hassles. D2 found his truck and slept there.
Day 7 - Saturday July 25th
Lockridge, Rome, Mt. Pleasant, New London, Danville, Middletown, West Burlington, Burlington, River
Pics: 344 - 384
Great day, got up with Ted and Taylor and said goodbye to D2. Nice tailwind, easy flat 12 into Mt. Pleasant. Went to Caseys and had a few, saw Neener and Dave for the last time, Zeke rolled up for a while. Missed Bryce - he was on track to get to Burlington and his van. Taylor and I had to get to Burlington by 4 to catch our ride back to NE - some couple with an SUV I found on the interweb but didn't really know.
Rode route to New London, enjoying the tailwind. Had PBR's at the VFW where a bunch of stage winners were asking if anybody had a map. They were trying to decide on a shortcut, I talked to a local and decided we could do about 6 on the four lane to Danville and cut out about 15 and hills. The jerseys thought they could do it, but about 5 min later we see them coming back - guess they didn't have it in them.
Leaving Danville after our awesome shortcut
We _flew_ down 34 with that tailwind, doing about 25 on the flat and smoking it to Danville. Great shortcut, no traffic problems. Enjoyed a C-Store stop, then rolled to Middletown where we regrouped with Choads MadDog, Big Mike and Lufkin. Seeing all sorts of the Real Ragbrai and back of the pack mixed together as it's mid day and we've all got some sort of schedule.
Pretty much rolled route to the river from that Caseys and tire dipped. Big Mike and Lufkin full body tire dipped, almost lost a bike. Shotgunned, then went to find our ride back. Found the SUV, decorated by their kids, and 3 clean front / middle of the packers - no beers was the message we got. Not sure they knew what they were in for, but they were agreeable to taking Big Mike back to CB sans bike. We loaded our stuff. They went and had a sit down meal, me, Taylor and Big Mike had C-Store meal and returned to the SUV. Pretty much nothing left but crashing out in the SUV and heading for home.
That's my Ragbrai 2009 - great times, great riding, great people. Good to be back with my Megan and Lucy, and I'll see you degenerates back on the road soon.
Dutch
1st Place, Ragbrai 2009
All the pics are here.
Short, but quality videos are here.
2nd Annual Omaha Double Bagger
Posted June 02, 2009 @ 18:47 by dutch
We always have great weather on the Omaha Double Bagger.
So Saturday morning May 30th, 2009 was naturally sunny, if a little breezy. I rolled up to HyVee #1 and saw of all people Taylor, original TMB getting back on the bike after a six year hiatus. Nice job, Hoovey. Also Zach (Barenaked / TMB) and he brought April who gave us a ride from Des Moines when the TMB bus bit the dust Ragbrai 32, 2004. Glad we're over that!
Tony who I remembered from Taco Rides, and three dudes I didn't know - Brad, Eric and Bob - well met, dudes. Also Harry who is a year or two older than any of us with about 15 BRANs under his belt. And Johnny Paradise eventually found the start!
Ended up with 12 starting, big increase over last year's start list of Greg and myself. Speaking of Uncle Greg, thanks for making it again, man - always good riding with you! And he brought Jodi so he wouldn't be late getting home (she would not be denied the ODB). Provisioned up the bags and rolled sled, about 10:30 am.
Perfect morning, nice riding up through Boys Town and up Pacific to 144th. But - first leg was not uneventful as a couple people disappeared before we hit Oakview Mall. Turns out Zach flatted, then he flatted a loner tube from Jodi mounting it to the wheel. The breakaway contined on to HyVee #2, and setup camp in the parking lot to wait out the gimpy bike. Should say at this point breakaway speed is about 10.5 mph. New tubes purchased at Dick's, but not before Hoovey's front tire decided to expel air for no reason while stationary. One leg, second HyVee, two bikes flatted on three tubes. All good and rolling again.
Detoured a bit after crossing L Street, some trail instead of F street and the no shoulder hill to Zorinsky. Winding through neighborhood, and into HyVee #3 180th & Q. Food stop, and look at Johnny Paradise's front tire - flat #3, oh the humanity. Re-provisioned for the 11.5 mile leg. Pace is by now becoming rapidly apparent, also apparent that Dutch has forsaken the sunscreen.
Up through a ritzy neighborhood with concrete pineapples lining the entrance (?) and down a sneaky trail to the west side of Zorinsky. Heavy Saturday family trail traffic, and a pack of wild geese. Eric and Johnny P tasted a little singletrack. Continuing north, beer stop, Bridge to Nowhere, HyVee #4 156th & Maple. Dutch and Tony almost ate bumper getting in. About 3 hours off 2008 pace - which turns out is exactly on Omaha Double Bagger schedule. Lost Bob I think at the Bridge to Nowhere. Thanks for ridin', Bob!
Leg #4 east on Maple, Harry and Tony took shorty bailout route at 144th. Continuing on, good tight riding in busy traffic, glad everyone survived (Brad!). Shmidleys (sp?) Driving Range - sweet! Lemonades with a kick. Bucket of balls. Johnny sold Wabash Trace koozies. Pretty sure we have a recruit or two. No mints to be had at the wedding reception.
Continuing up to HyVee #5 108th & Fort - Dutch should have drank more water! Hammy cramp took me off the bike for a bit, walked a block but got back on and rode up hill. Remedied with a shotgun. There was rotisserie chicken and mac and cheese - thanks Eric! Couple of cool cars in the parking lot and at least one crazy lady.
Headed east on Fort with no shoulder, tight city riders claimed the lane - nice job! Turn in to a neighborhood and then a luscious winding downhill along Tomahawk Blvd eventually to the Keystone Trail - was that fun or what?? Brief stop at the busy teenybop skate park where I think a couple of bikes dropped in. Made HyVee #6 on Cass, and who's getting groceries - Taco Ride co-founder Dave and his better half - just off teaching BBQ class, loading up on Moose Drool. Nice to see ya, Dave - next year you're riding. Still held out hope we'd see Anne & Steve like last year but it was not to be. Missed ya!
Determined we had enough in the bags for an under I-80 beer stop and headed south on the Key in the direction of Winchesters. Underpass stop was had, then Q Street (remember when we were on Q street 110 blocks west about 8 hours ago?) and Winchesters. Attrition increased as we lost Zach, April, Brad and Eric. Nice ridin', y'all! Renee was at W's to sag JP, they, Greg and Jodi went to Route 66 while Taylor and I enjoyed a couple of PBRs. I think I sang karaoke, and pretty sure there was going to be a fight or three within the combo bachelor / bachelorette party going on. Taylor and I decided to skip it and headed to Route 66, where we enjoyed patty melts. Johnny Paradise has left the building.
On to HyVee #7, or the penultimate HyVee, along the Big Papio to 88th & Center. Short stop, then on to Old Mill where we found - the Old Mill Lounge. Greg & Jodi said so long, and headed up the Dodge St service road back to the start. Greg and Jodi ROCK! Hoovey and I had a night cap at OML and did the same.
Started with 12 at 10:00 am Sat, ended with me and Taylor rolling into HyVee around 12:30 am Sun. About 45 miles, about 4.5 hours actual ride time, at least one shotgun and one dead chicken. Not really sure on all the specifics.
Except that it was awesome - great time, great riding, great people, old friends and new blood. Thanks and congrats to everyone on a cool 2nd annual Omaha Double Bagger.
Dutch
Might love it, someday
Posted May 27, 2009 @ 10:13 by dutch
So I started "running" the other day. Right now it consists of:
- Walk down hill from house
- Hop over into neighboring neighborhood
- Jog down street 1/2 mile
- Touch lightpole
- Jog back up street 1/2 mile
- Walk back up hill to house
Today it took 6:19 for the downhill 1/2 mile, and 7:21 for the uphill 1/2 mile for a blistering 13:40 min/mile pace. But I can "run" that mile without walking, which was my goal. Just need to start adding distance and hopefully some, hmm what do they call it, "speed"?
My Roadie Technique
Posted April 21, 2009 @ 08:22 by dutch
Check out Day 21 video, Dutch is about 1:45 into it...
Phil Keoghan, host of The Amazing Race, is riding across America promoting cycling and raising money and awareness for Multiple Sclerosis. Friday April 17th his route ran from Lincoln to Omaha up Hwy 6. I drove to the outlet mall south of Gretna mid afternoon, parked my Jeep and set out to intercept Phil and his crew.
I had done the Taco Ride on the Wabash Trace the night before, breaking in the bike rebuild on the limestone. Swapped out the 46/38 cyclocross crank for a 50/34 compact, new bottom bracket, new pedals. Ragbrai 2008 I wrecked at midnight in the rain over diagonal railroad tracks in Marshalltown (off route), slamming down hard on the left side. Thankful for the helmet and no oncoming traffic. The left / front 105 brifter was scraped / bent pretty bad but functional after that crash. Somehow I managed to toast it dialing in the front derailleur on the new crank. So the 105 brifters are also gone, replaced with DuraAce bar ends and Cane Creek brake levers. New cables and housings too. The bike ran great on the Trace and on the highway - I really like the new gearing and the dependable, friction front shifting and indexed rear shifting.
Rode down the big hill west to Linoma beach, then across the Platte river and up into Ashland. Pulled over, got out the Blackberry and checked the "Where is Phil Now?" link on philridesacrossamerica.com and saw they were just about to hit Ashland on the west side. I crossed over to the eastbound shoulder and soon saw motorcycle, 3 bikes and van / Airstream coming my way over a small rise.
Phil and his riding partners Sean and Janna were ready for me to jump in, but I was a little slow off the mark and let them go by before starting to ride, so I had to pedal like crazy to keep from getting run over by Phil's dad John driving the van and honking at me. I caught up and Sean gave me a push in the back to get up front and ride next to Phil. Great guy, had a good conversation riding with him a couple miles back east to Linoma Beach and the lighthouse where we pulled over. I got a mini interview, wish I had something brilliant to say but tried to hold my own. See the Day 21 video, about 1:45. Sean and Janna are very strong riders, of course so is Phil and it was quite an experience for a back of the pack bagger on a touring setup including fenders, racks and bags to ride with them. I enjoyed meeting Phil, Sean and Janna, Phil's dad John and crew - very relaxed and comfortable experience. I think I'll stay at the back of the pack, but as a nod to the roadies I'll work on my "jumping in a paceline" technique.
When they were ready to roll again, I let them all go ahead of me, knowing they had to get into Papillion and that they would drop me easily on the big hill heading east out of the Platte river valley. I didn't scream up that hill, but the change to 34 up front from 38 suits me well and should help with loaded touring this season. Got back to my Jeep and headed back. Nice little 16 mile ride, not across America but at least across the Platte.
BRR Ride 2009
Posted February 10, 2009 @ 06:39 by dutch
Drove to Perry Friday mid-day and parked Jeep in downtown parking lot by hotel / caboose. Bagged up and headed out of town east on 141. Dude in a blue pickup was not into sharing the highway shoulder with me and for a minute I thought he was going to wait on me at the off-ramp to 169, but then he took off. Headed south on 169 to Minburn, and broke a spoke just as I was rolling into town. Coasted to the Coop where there was a nice big cement perch to rack the bike on. Only problem was the ground was soft mud, and the bike shoes I had on were open in the back. Tried to stay on my toes as I taped off the broken spoke, tightned / loosened neighbor spokes and opened up the rear brake. Good to go.
Headed east on 195th / 190th st towards Granger, met group of folks riding out to Perry and we had a small road party. Rolled back into Minburn and we drank at Mudders until it was dark enough to head back to Perry. Nice tailwind and a good bagger cruise back up 169 then a couple miles in the dark on the four lane. Caught Brother Trucker at the Rockin' Horse and got some floor space in the Japanese room - thanks, Sammy.
Saturday had breakfast, then got call from Bryce that he was just leaving KC. Choads had not yet arrived so decided to replace rear spoke. When riding 24 spoke wheels it's a good idea for me to carry spokes, cassette tool, wrench and chain whip. Rebuild wheel, jacked around truing it with stripped nipples - okay job. Degreased and lubed drivetrain. All this in the parking lot in early February - sunny, warm beautiful day. Saw lots of people heading north while I was working on the bike - too early to ride for us anyway. Bike back together and loaded up.
Bryce shows up and Choads call that they are in back of Rockin' Horse. Hit the horse, enjoy beers and amusing shotgun. Roll out of Perry, Ted looses crank after a couple of blocks. Big Mike crashes the Denali, think another Choad went down. Couple of road parties, bitch of a headwind especially turning the last 4.5 miles west to Rippey. Get there and manage to have a couple of beers before the tent runs dry. Mess around a little more then nice cruise back. One good road party on ride back.
Eat some barbeque at the Horse, then hit the wall and go to the Jeep for a catnap. Oversleep but manage to get back to the Horse for last call, then grab some floor in the Africa room thanks to Kim Kim and Jeff - garcias! Get up next day and head back home.
Great BRR ride, good seeing all my good buddies, best weather ever!
Shrunken Nut Ride 2009
Posted February 10, 2009 @ 06:39 by dutch
Headed to Panama Saturday morning. Had a couple beers waiting for Neener and Johnny Paradise, also Marley Mark showed up. Despite advice to the contrary, we had beers on bikes and a bridge party. Great day and weather for the short ride up 191 to Earling. Spent some time in the bar and I headed back while everyone else went to the other bar. Had a great ride back solo then headed for home.
Dutch
