So great...so tired.

My Garmin GPS gave out at mile 36 and it was at least 10 miles from home.  I'm gonna say I had fifty miles for the day.  It was indeed a great day.

Warm sun, great friends, interesting route choice.  It all kicked off with delicious breakfast at EB's casa.  Many assembled and partook in the mastication.  Then it was off to the Blue Line coffee house.  We met a couple other folk there, then we were on our way.

Across the BK bridge, South on the trails, a pit stop at Manawa so most of the guys could venture out onto the frozen over lake (I was not that adventurous).  Over to the Wabash where we probalby should have not opted to ride.  It was fun, but pretty messy.  We hit the road even further south so we could hit 370 into Bellevue.  We hung out at Hayworth park, then remounted and mozied toward downtown.  Most of the guys ate at the Upstream, but Brady and I had to get heading home.  We conjoined with Ryan and Roxy who were just coming back in from their wonderous warm winter day ride.

It was a great time, but I'm pooped.  50 mile rides used to be nothing to me.  Now, alas, I've slowed down and become soft.  I imagine once summer hits and I can put in some hours outside in the sun, I'll harden up again.  But until then, I'm content to get out when I can and soak up the comraderie with fellow pedalers.

Tomorrow!!!  Shabbos +1!!  Bob, I hope you read this before you go to bed.  The other Mike and I would like to ride somewhere in the AM if you want to join.  If you don't pipe up by 9pm, we'll assume you're busy and figure something out.  All posts about tomorrows ride please respond in the comments section.  Oh, and if, perchance Bob and/or the other Mike can't ride, I'd be willing to ride in the afternoon with whomever responds.  Talk to me Goose!!

It's like riding on gravel the whole time.

That must have been the thought process for the creators of tires like these:

I got these tires from Fred since he over-bought them.  I figured today's ride in some snow would be a good test.  I didn't get to mounting the rear tire, but I got the front one on.  I had to patch the tube that was going in it so I ran out of time before my 11am shift.

These things are super stiff.  I'm not sure how much pressure I got up to, as I used a frame pump since my regular pump went on the frits.  But even at, what I assumed was, about 50 psi it was still really stiff.  Also, these tires say they are 35C.  I've been running my 32 C Bonty hardcases and they seem WAY fatter than the 35s from Innova.  Kinda strange.

Anyway, now I see what all the hype is about.  With just the front tire being studded, I felt like I was velcroed to the ground, no matter what was on it - hardpack snow, loose fresh snow over hardpack, etc.  I couldn't tell if I went over any ice since it had just snowed some.  However, once i got onto the flat smooth plowed surface of Center street, the tire played against me.  I felt like I was going on a gravel ride.  My normal speed of 16-18mph dropped down to 13-14.  Which is kinda frustrating when you know it's the tire that's doing it.  I could have just as easily ridden both slicks since I only really have a couple blocks of non-treated roads.

Speaking of treated roads, has anyone noticed how much salt is on the roads nowadays?  I guess I'm glad since it makes for easier driving when I do that, but man, the drivetrain on my bike is completely orange with rust.  I have a heater for the garage, so I really should get it cleaned up.  I'm just not looking forward to all the scrubbing I'm going need to do.

grumble,grumble..Rides anyone?...grumble, grumble..

Anyone venturing outside this weekend?  Highs of 18.  North wind.  Snow on Sunday.

grumble...grumble...

Ok.  Anyone playing loads of Playstation/XBox/Nintendo and/or watching TV this weekend?

I'm up for either, but will be doing only the latter if I don't hear from anyone.

I rode, therefore I was?

Saturday's ride was a hurtfest for a number of reasons.  I met up with Bryan near Ponca hills and we proceeded to climb for an hour or so.  He was riding at almost LT, whereas near the end, I was blown past anaerobic.

Let me go back to that morning to set the stage.  The alarm went off at 8am so the woman and I could go grocery shopping long before the noon bike ride.  I was planning on re-applying the removeable fenders onto my race machine.  It was sloppy out and I didn't want to ride for a few hours with soaking bike shorts on.  Never a good idea.  The original plan was to be grocery shopping by 9am, done by 10am so I could have time to dink on my bike and ride to the coffee shop meeting place early.  

We were not so quick to get going.  9:45am rolls around and we head out the door.  We get to Bakers on Saddle Creek and Leavenworth only to find multiple cop cars around the parking lot.  Customers were still going in and out of Bakers, so we decided we better get our stuff done.  We talked to the coffee shop ladies and they mentioned that a half hour before we got there, some guys showed up to make a "withdrawal" from the USBank that's inside the Bakers.  So had we been on time......who knows?

We didn't get all the grocerys put away till 11:30, so that only left me enough time to change and ride out on my heavy commuter bike that has fenders.  Unfortunately the shifting had gone to crap after a couple really sloppy and cold commutes the week before.  Plus the rear brake was rubbing.  All this made for a very unhappy climbing repeats experience.  But I held on ok.  For the first 2 climbs.  After that, I was lagging behind Bryan as he crested the tops of the climbs.  Then eventually, I was almost a minute behind.  Meh.  He's been training, and I haven't.  That's the way it goes.

Sunday, Bob and I met up at Crane on 78th and Cass for an easy spin.  I was running late since my alarm went crazy(sorry again about that Bob).  The Crane store was closed with no reason why.  We had to get the rear rack off Bob's bike at my place, so that's where we went first.  We then tried the Crane that's 2 blocks from my house.  It was closed also.  It had a note, however, that gave notice that all Cranes would be closed that day for a large computer upgrade process.  So instead, we stopped at Blue Planet Natural Grill for some pre (me)/mid (Bob) ride drinkage.  I've only been to this place once to eat, but it was purdy tasty.  Hopefully when all of the Aksarben stuff gets done, they'll be hopping with business more.  Bob and I basically rode straight back to his place since he had to be home early, then I mosied home since I was tired from the previous day's ride. 

Overall, a decent weekend of outdoor riding, but I need to ride more to get back into shape.  Summer will be here before we know it and I don't want to keep falling off the back of rides.

Nice easy ride, part ni

That's Japanese for "2", for those of you in the no.  That last word is how the Japanese would read the word, "know."  I have no idea how to type the crazy Chinese characters for the word, "know." Ok, I'm done now.
This Sunday, or rather, Shabbos + 1, Bob and I are once again going to meet at Crane on 78th and Cass for a truly mellow ride about town.  Speed last week was an average of 14 mph.  We can go slower or faster depending on who shows up to join us.  Ride time is still up in the air, but Bob needs to be at his house (near Lake Cunningham) at 10:30am.   Last week, after we sat and drank coffee for a good half hour or so, we left at about 8:30 and were up at his place by 10:30.  The route we took only had a couple decent hills, but hey, it's Omaha.  There's no way around that.
Please post a response if you'd like to join us and/or if you have plans for Saturday that you'd like to share with others.  

Nice easy ride.

Met up with the Bob at Crane and we chilled (or rather warmed?) for  a while drinking coffee and chatting.  He had on his studded tires so once we did get riding, we had a nice mellow pace of about 14mph average.  Hills were done at 9-ish, downhills coasted near 20.

I forgot that I really enjoy the challenge of riding my slick tires in crappy weather.  Last year I made it just fine with 28C tires.  Now I have some 32C slicks from Bontrager and I had no issues.  The northern part of the Keystone trail was mostly snow with rough spots from walker/joggers and a few bike tracks.  I just muscled through and kept on rolling.  A couple of dips going under the bridges had my front wheel sliding slightly sideways, but the clear cement underneath was a nice respite.

Now that I remember how easy it is to ride in this stuff, I really have no excuse not to ride more.  Oh, and Fred, I so super sorry I bailed on yesterdays ride.  I hope you had fun laying down those first tracks on the Keystone.

Rough weekend plans.

Shabbos + 1 (Sunday for anyone new to this crazy blog):  We will leave from Crane coffee at 8am.  If you want coffee, get there early, I know I will.  The route will be heading up north after about a couple hours.  Bob needs to get home at 10am, and lives near Lake Cunningham.  That gives the rest of us time to ride home for some more time on the bike.  Tempo is real laid back.  Bring out your heavy bikes for some conversational pace riding.

Shabbos (Saturday) is still kinda up in the air.  I know Bryan is planning on a painful hill climbing workout in the afternoon.  So if you want to join in his fun, have at it.  Johnny has all afternoon to ride also, and my guess is he doesn't want to do hill repeats?  (correct me if I'm wrong, Johnny)  So if anyone has a definitive timeline for Saturday afternoon, that'd help the rest of us wonderers commit to the ride.

I challenge Bob!!!

This weekend, temps are looking kinda good.  37 for a high on Saturday and 42 for Sunday.  Saturday may feel warmer since it's supposed to be sunnier, however, there's also supposed to be lots of wind Friday that may carry into Saturday.

Let's start making plans now to put in some time this weekend either or both days.  Write what times you have available and we'll hopefully figure out a compromise to get everyone riding.

2009 Shabbos #1

It starts tomorrow. Weather permitting, outside. If not, then let's crash the Bike Master's trainer ride in the shop.

When 8:00 AM
Where Bike Masters
Duration 2.5 hours

Discuss

Ah vacation time.

I've been off of work since the 19th, my last post.  And being that the last almost 2 weeks have been inundated with family time, food occasions, and most of all laziness, I haven't been on the bike during that time either.  I'm riding in about 2 hours and it'll be interesting.

So lotsa people are doing the whole 2008 in review deal.  Here's mine: I rode some, I officiated some races, I became better friends with some new peeps and lost touch with others, I've paid down some debt and tried not to buy too much new bike stuff.  I can't say it's been a stellar year, but it's been a decent one.

For 2009, I hope to pay down more debt and keep up the commuting/fun rides.  I hope to go on  a couple vacations; another crank n camp this spring, a possible Colorado mtb trip in mid summer, and maybe another non-bike related vacation.  There might be some big life events coming up this year too.  I'll keep ya'll posted about this.

Hope everyone had a great 2008 and will have an even better 2009.