And by Fishing I mean I’m getting hitched and going on honey moon to NOR CAL see you end of the month. Photo by BRedemske
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the one that almost didn’t happen
In order to begin the story of camping and racing at Ponca, NE one has to start Thursday night and rather uneventful TNR. Tranquility was the place, It was hot and humid and quite windy. Recent heavy rains have made some erosion progress on the prairie portion of the course. On the south decent I heard a pop in back of the bike but proceed to ride it for about another 10 seconds. Until Jeremy yelled at me to stop and check the wheel. I though it I have broken several spokes but no this was the end result.
What a bummer not only I had to walk with bike for about mile I had no ride for Saturday’s race. Trek Omaha and Chris Wolff came to the rescue. After begging, pleading and bribing Chris I walked away with replacement bike for Saturday, not just any bike but pretty sweet top fuel 9.8 Everyone’s comment was so you going to ride 26 inch bike. Well it might be small wheels but it is a lot faster than me running for 3 hours so yeah I had bike to race. The only bad thing I could see were the stock tires, not exactly best choice for tacky trails. This would prove to be an issue on first couple of laps. Megan and I piles our stuff into the car and went on camping. Feagans, Larry and his kids, and Bergrmans were already there. Jesse was pimping sweet new carbon cannondale. After good dinner we went to bed.
Saturday I had to get up early and make sure the small wheels bike was set up right. Heck I even went for ride, and it was interesting. I had to figure out how to climb on this sucker as it’s careful act of balancing your body to much of a forward lean and your back wheel will start spinning out, too much back weight on the front end would start bouncing like it was possessed. I think I got the basics of how this worked. We lined up for marathon and the gun went off I believe I was in 5th place into the single track, That was pretty much the only time I saw Ryan as well…bummer. The trail was still slick so first climb I spun out and got passed by 2 guys. Then on the super slick roots part I spun out again and got passed again.. At that point I was both a) cussing at the bike b) apologizing to the people behind me for messing up their momentum. Quick run up the hill and I was set. I think Roxy was laughing at my constant cussing for about 3-4 minutes. We got to top of the climbs and it was time to make up the gap. Surprisingly everyone was less than 10 seconds ahead of me. What the hell? I though I would be at least 20-30 seconds down, I guess people were not really taking advantage of the donwhills to get gaps opened up. When we came out of the woods I made up 4 places and was back sitting in 5th or 6th place with Roxy right behind me. The pool climb would ensue I passed 2 more guys and was sitting in rd place behind Shaun from Lincoln, at the feed zone I rode by him and was not in second. He grabbed my wheel and asked me where was Ryan, I said I have not idea. At next lap I would gain on him on the climbs and he would close the distance on the descends( yup he was on the 29er) Eventually I pulled away from him, and to be honest with you didn’t really see anyone except for Anne, and top of cat 1/2 group on their first lap. I had no idea what the gaps were, I knew Ryan is probably smiling and posing for anyone with a camera in hand. I knew there were still some people behind me who could close the gap so I maintained solid tempo.
The most memorable part of the ride was Nate passing me and asking for permission to pass. Small wheels and Metal Kit must of thrown him off, from what I understand Nate, Jesse and Scott were treated with some lead on way to town.
At the end of lap 8, Roxy passed me on the pool climb, I asked here if she knew what the gaps were. She didn’t know, then it was over I came in second place. The bike handled great for most part, it climbs like a mountain goat and it is pretty compliant for smaller wheels size, once again thank you for letting me borrow that bike for day, Trek Omaha hooked me up fat that’s why they are top shop in town in my opinion . Thank you Megan for being awesome support side kick that was sweet I think I might of stopped for total of 1-2 minutes. Most importantly thanks local volunteers that worked on the trail and made it super fun for us city slicker. Congrats to MOD and Chris Wolff on good finishes. MOD dropped chain 3 times and still finished second in cat 1 race. wow
That night we drank beer and eat smores we watch night sky without any ambient light present. It was great. I’m off to chicago this friday for some single night out with some friend. Not before THOR FUNdraiser Thursday night.
Posted in Rambling, racing
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awnser is no
First of the promoters of dirty kanza joel and Jim are top notch dudes who know how to put on a great event. 3 of us, EB, JP and I left Omaha Friday midday to venture to flint hills of Kansas. The spirits were high so was the wind and the temperature a little bit of foreshadowing of events that would unfold the next day. The Nebraska crew was pretty strong this year with 6 people from Omaha and about 10 from Lincoln. That’s accounts for about ten percent of the field sweet. The talk was about the weather and many people from GLGA were present. Sean was sweet mountain feed bag which I immediately borrowed. We called it a early night and got ready for the grind.
The alarm went of at 4:10 in the morning and we were all started getting ready for day ahead. Around 5:15 am we rolled out with the Lincoln crew to the start race. The race kicked off to with police escort out of town. First gravel road and the pace picked up and I found myself in lead group of about 40 people. Sitting on the back of the group spinning it up. Eventually the pace was picked up and I settled into nice state of mind. I really didn’t know many people I rode with for long time I road wit 3 guys from colorado, including mike beck. Super awesome dudes. At some point around mile 20 I so EB changing a tire and about 5 minutes later I saw troy krause fixing his bike. I thought he only had a flat I didn’t know he crashed. I had to pullover soon after to fix my water cage as it rattled itself loose. Eventually Scott Bigelow pulled up next to me and rode together until checkpoint one. Scott is super fun to ride with we rode together last year. Checkpoint one was pretty fast stop. Fill out bottles and we rolled out . We road together for super long time after that, until enemy of all single speeds attacks slightly downhill flats. I just couldn’t spin out and after i looked down and saw 25 mph I decided to let Scott go. Lesson number one ride your own race. Indeed, that’s true. I didn’t manage water to well this time and I ran out with 5 miles to go before checkpoint 2. I’ve made one attempt to get water from the farmers house. It would be my luck to find a house with no one in it. Luckily some guy from Kc. offered me some water couple miles down. At that point things were looking good. I was motoring averaging 16 mph, stomach was good legs were good.
I pulled to second checkpoint, to see troy krause smiling and drinking cola red bull, that bastard has been holding out. At the checkpoint I was informed that I was second single speed to check in. I knew there was gap between rest of the single speeds. I took good 30 minutes to recover. Talked to MG and Fob took my shoes of and let my feet relax. Eventually I rolled out from the second checkpoint and headed toward Alma and epic lil Egypt road. Weirdly enough I saw the number one single speed guy and we pulled each other for quite sometime. Eventually he took off and i settled into grind again.
Watching road racing you see people crack all the time. On tv it happens in couple of minutes and you see them just slowdown a bit. The real life and endurance racing is bit different, it happens slowly and it’s obvious when it happens somewhat slows down noticably and swerving does occur. Eventually you pass them and you know that there is nothing to for them. I noticed a lot of people just slowing down and stopping. While the temp hovered around 87 degrees and nice cloud cover was welcome sign. I passed leading single speed guy and was in first. At that point I was feeling great and just motoring. At mile 120 I entered lil egypt road, yes it takes just as long as walk as it does to ride. Scott the guy who won single speed actually managed to ride up the hill but then stopped to recover. Yes at that point him and Adam passed me I was in 3rd. Then just like that sun came out and temp jumped to 95-96 degrees that was about mile 129. With ten miles to go and 2 water bottles I though I was set. Well I my body decided otherwise and I wasn’t the only one. This is the only race I’ve been to where I’ve seen people on side of the roads resting. Crazy….
My body was getting pretty worked from the high heat and humidity. The speed slowed way down. At some point along some hill there was about 5 people standing at the shade looking at each other, I was one of them, so was scott and jason from salsa. I knew it was damage control time. The plan was to drag myself int to alma, recover and proceed. During one of the downhill I was starting to see double and my hearing was getting somewhat bad. I think I knew at that point there would be not miles after 140. My core temp was super high and after 4 24 oz bevs some ice cream I knew it would be straight up dangerous to continue on, as I sweated all the liquid right out meaning my body was too hot. I told Adam and Scott good luck. They looked strong and I knew at that point that both of them finished. Rest of time at Alma I spend getting stuff for people who wanted to continue, Aaron Gammel looked great, so did everyone who went on. Lesson number 2 it’s hard to say no more.
I was pretty disappointed in calling it but I knew I gave it my best calling it quits while being in top 3 was pretty hard. Now to things that did work. Kenda Kommando tires, slime tubes and 65 psi gave no flats awesome. Nutrition was solid i had no stomach issue. Perpetum and Sustained energy worked great. I still don’t know how much water is enough I don’t know if that was just combination of things that lead to my spectacular shelling. 96 oz should of been enough. I don’t know for sure. I’ve met some cool people and rode some sweet country side. This was probably the hardest day on bike I ever had it also made me determined to comeback next year to finish this sucker, and to challenge Scott and Adam for some singles speeds.
I would like to thank Gammel family for bringing me back to Emporia. Sean for letting me borrow his bag ( I will be getting one those bags ). Big props to Corey for winning (Corey you inspire me to ride harder), and for Troy to continue on and rallying into 8th place, you might be okay even if you do hold out on nd red bull cola 
The biggest props go to Scott and Aaron for finishing. I’m very happy for those two guys.
Posted in Biking, Rambling, racing
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am I ready
That is the question of the week. The mental games have started ever since yesterday morning. How will the dirty kanza go? I had solid month of biking with good 1000 miles under the belt. Some pavement, some gravel, Weirdly enough I believe my mtb has been put in corner and set to collect dust. I believe I’ve been on it about 6 times month of May, one of those included 3 hour event at Swanson. Until last Thursday, it was actually 3 weeks since I touched mountain bike. This weekend was pretty grand two good days of biking, some bacon some house work, a lot of wedding stuff done. The weekend looks like sweat box and monday I will be able to tell you if I was ready. Until then enjoy piece of pork.
Posted in Rambling
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Mills County Adventure
Saturday can mean only one thing long ride day for me. I had this idea in my head for quite some times mills county and some loess hills action. It was supposed to be moderate day on bike about 100-110 miles, all and all good times. I posted my plans on pedal-Omaha and had five other droogs showed up for some gravel goodness, JP, Douglas Sean, T-bone and Johnathan. It rained right was we were ready to leave, but it was short lived and we rolled out via lake manawa to mills county. The pace was pretty easy going for most part. T-bone decided to go and get some Shirley temples at Mineola (just kidding) and we proceed to roll to Applewood rd. Even before we got to famed Applewood rd Sean went down climbing a hill? I think I wasn’t there to see it. Proven to be a trooper he kept on soldering on with bloody knee… Chicks dig scars dude, or so I hear.
I love applewood road. It’s got some serious rollers, and with recent rain the gravel was a bit more packed down then it was 3 weeks ago when JP and I rode it. Check out this sweet hill, that pretty much sums up about 12 miles of travel eastward. 
This part was not that much interesting the crosswinds were starting to pick up quite a bit and Johnathan was struggling with his 48-18, I affectionately call it I’m in my 20′s gear. Eventually we made it to American Post in Henderson, IA talked to some nice people. They would been nicer if they gave us their sweet pecan rolls but whom am I to complain.
The next stretch to malvern was really really tough, whit winds gusting up to 40 mph we journeyed on forward. I believe the low point for everyone was road 400th. It was several miles of MMR with maybe 4-5% climb and stiff wind in your face. Riding single speed you had to balance your weight pretty well in order to prevent rear wheel slipping. After constant 8 miles of southern wind I couldn’t wait to turn the corner west for some crosswind. It was like that little cox speed boost, I went from 11-12 mph to 17 mph in no time, sweet bacon. Malvern was great feast time. Casey’s didn’t have mac and cheese pizza (what’s up with that) After refuel Glenwood was only 12 miles way. Glenwood was the end point for Sean, he called for ride we went on to Pacific Junction, for visit at castle unicorn B&B. (No i’m not making this stuff up) Well the Castle was just as elusive in real live as unicorn we didn’t find it. Wed did discover sweet route name Deacon rd. It’s in valley of pony creek lake, good times. hour later we were in Omaha. Big props go to everyone who came out and battled the elements. Especially Jonathan who gridded out a hundy on uber tall gear, I believe he said something about geared bike in the future adventures. Mills county is pretty sweet. Ticker for the day little less then 100 about 96-97 miles
Yes, it’s true the 2010 twinsix team kits were shipped. I would say they are a great improvement from last year. It was probably not a good idea to wear all black on hottest day of the year thus far. Overall though it’s sweet looking kit for sure. Looking at forecast for Kanza i can see that it will be a bit cooler, it’s too far out
p.s. photo courtesy of mike douglas
p.p.s. Bacon ride Sunday 6 am wohlner… meet the lincolnites for some grub.
Posted in Biking, Rambling, outside
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“flying” solo
We’ll I guess i really wasn’t flying more like grinding but you get the point. With DK less than a month away May needed to be solid month of biking. That was the plan originally after Platte it was going to be cross bikes all the time with some some road miles thrown in the mix. With Platte being canceled, I did get out for gravel adventure with JP last Saturday. This weekend was time to double that distance, and if meant that I would have to do this solo so be it, Ideally I would probably just go on mr. mod’s ride but I figured hey lets do this 130 miles on a single speed. The route could be called tour of Elkhorn and platter river valleys. Omaha==>Arlington==>Yutan==>Ashland==>South Bend==> Springfield==>Omaha. Good mix of some roller couple nice climbs about 20 miles of absolute flatness between two rivers with some sandy sandy gravel.
The ride started off easy enough no wind I did see Karen Douglas in morning running on 132nd street. Sweetness nice to you, rest of the ride was standard with 2 dog intervals around mile 27 and 30. Then I lost my direction sheet right before Arlington, crap this is not good, I had to backtrack and find it. Well good thing it was only 2 miles from Arlington the route could continue. The next section of to Yutan was flat and sandy and uneventful i zipped through Valley, though about Joshua and Ali counting corn and proceeded to on through. In Yutan I went to grocery story and got some food. The only bad part of the ride happened on vine st in front of the store.
I was just eating my food seated on the curb minding my business. A big diesel truck pulls right next to me the guy gets out and asked me “do you own the sidewalk?” WTF? dude? I”m just sitting here eating and you could park anywhere in the metropolis. Then it became apparent what was happening, he was picking up his mom from the grocery store. Content of the shopping list case of natural Ice. Way to milk you mom’s retirement pension…. I’m sure she very proud of you…( end of the rant here)
Trip to Ashland was pretty tame, downtown of that town is pretty sweet looking by the way. After Ashland I reached for my sheet only to find it done again, dam it, I see bar mounting bag for one of those puppies in my future. With help of the Iphone, i found my way to south bend. From South Bend is was whole shot to Springfield and then home sweet. I was gone total of 9:30 hours. Moving time 8:44. Miles 129.6 Looking at the phone and looking for the map took some time.
This was first time I used Google maps for extensive directions with turn by turn for biking it worked out well. I think the only mistake was the name of one street and that’s it. Nutrition no problem, bike fit good, new tires great. Now to the bad. Look at the picture below. Yes that’s a salsa Delgado cross rim with giant crack in it. last 2 weeks I was hearing clicking noise and I couldn’t locate it. It only happens under load this would explain the click, single speed torque would make that broken piece move enough to make the noise. I will be calling salsa for warranty replacement. After 4k miles this? it seems to me like bad design as I noticed couple more crack on the drive side spokes.
Better to find that now then middle of nowhere Kansas
Finally, after my ride I drove to watch south vs. Creighton prep state semifinal. I’m not that much into cheese Disney movies or those long drawn out espn stories about triumph and impossible odds. But here we were at Creighton stadium with classic class struggle more than just soccer futbol match. On one side you have rich white kids from affluent families on other hand team full of Hispanic minorities. And guess what South won in shootout. I have feeling that whole south Omaha including MK and I will be there for the final Tuesday night. The kids sure are great futbol players.
Posted in Biking, Rambling
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