Longest 16 mile ride ever

Omaha With Lights - this is the theme for an annual bike ride in Omaha called the Owl Ride. Greg and I helped Dale with Bike Masters support for this ride. We got there early and got setup with a good parking spot for the Bike Masters van. We had some time to take a short ride over the Bob Kerry Pedestrian Bridge to get a look at the flooded river. Seeing 1800 bikes in one place with blinking lights is quite an experience. Prior to the start people were bringing their bikes up to the van to have minor adjustments and tires pumped up. Greg and I noticed the bike pumps were getting quite hot. We waited for most of the riders to get rolling. Then we rode in the back of this huge pack of riders to watch for those needing help. Dale pulled his BOB trailer loaded with tubes and tools for support. This was a well-run event and everyone seemed to be having a great time. The ride home in the Bike Masters van was quiet. We were tired from what we decided to call the longest 16 mile ride ever.

Click below to see a few photos...

Bike Masters at 2011 Owl Ride

Can they get any fatter?

Link from Surly Blog...
Fat Just Got Fatter
Surly just announced a new model on their blog, the Moonlander. It's a fat tire bike like the Pugsley.

River water level graph

USGS Water Resources of the United States

Beware the three young skunks

I was riding the nicely manicured trails at Tranquility this evening. The crowds of riders were mostly leaving as I was getting started around 7:45PM. North of Fort close to the neighborhood homes I had to break hard for a real large raccoon that scurried across my path. He was afraid of me. Then as I headed toward the start finish on the south creek trail I scared up a deer that must have just started to bed down for the evening. It was also afraid of me. Then as I returned on the trail closest to the creek I saw these three young skunks. They were not afraid of me at all. I yelled, banged on my bike. Eventually they got in line, single file, and slowly trotted down the trail away from me. All the while I'm off my bike swatting mosquitoes waiting for these skunks to get off the trail. They finally did and I got by without any skunk on me.

It's race weekend at Lewis and Clark/Tranquility so I am wishing everyone safe, fun, and skunk smell free racing!