Pali Returns

I hear the Palisades Trail at the northern end of California’s famed Napa Valley is a magnificent spectacle. What is lacks in height and dimension it makes up for in mystery and uniqueness and it's incredibly rugged. My Marin - Palisades Trail is a bike which has it's own mystery, uniqueness and ruggedness. I don't know the original owner because I purchased Pali from a pawnshop in downtown Omaha several years ago. I bought it as a backup to my 2005 steel Marin - Bear Valley. At the time I was getting ready to convert to disc brakes and a new wheel set and didn't want to be without a bike while I was gathering up parts for the upgrade. I used Pali to get to work for a while.

At one point Pali was the only bike I had working on a trip out to Colorado.

I rode Devil's Backbone and Pali did great!

Later that year I was doing trail work with Doug. He wanted to ride a section of trail we were working on. He was surprised that this bike, which was already six years old at the time, was so nice to ride. I always thought so too. I had plans to update the bike with a red paint job and put on the set of decals Marin was kind enough to send me. Those plans were put on the back burner but I still loaned Pali out to friends that wanted to ride single track but did not have their own bike yet. One morning, a little over a year ago, I found the garage door open. Pali was gone. Funny that my more valuable Surly bikes were still there. But they saw the shininess of Pali and made off with it. At the time Pali had no paint just shiny aluminum. I filed a police report with the serial number I had on record. Then I spread the word an hoped for the bike to show up. More than a year went by when I got a letter from the Omaha police. It informed me that a pawn shop in downtown Omaha had Pali. Yup, the same shop I bought it from. I was going to have to pay $75 to get it back. I looked it over. It was rough and had obviously been left outside but it was basically the same as when it was taken from me.

I decided to resurrect Pali with my previous plans of red and a state of newness. After cleaning up the frame I took it to Trail Performance Coatings. I dropped it off and said "make it red", simple as that. The frame came back to me perfectly beautiful red. I got some new parts for it from Bike Masters and put it together.

Well here it is, like new. Great to have it back!

Oak Creek Trail Ride

Just when you thought I completely abandoned this blog I make a post!

My phone app tells me that my girl Linda and I have been on 947 miles of rides together since Jan. 26th of this year. These miles encompass all kinds of good rides: cold gravel rides, fast road rides, spring race rides, hot Monday Night dirt rides and many many miles of Rail-Trail rides. Our most recent bike adventure was the Oak Creek Trail ride from Valparaiso, NE. to Brainard, Nebraska.

The Oak Creek Trail occupies a former Union Pacific Railroad corridor in the eastern part of Nebraska. It is the most rural and peaceful trail we have found. While the trail is only about 1 hour from both Omaha and Lincoln, it connects two towns with populations of less than 600 with little development in between. The Oak Creek Trail has great views. Linda and I began our journey at the trail's southeast point in Valparaiso. From here the trail has an oak tree corridor. It has some high bridges crossing creeks that were recently very full. Just north of the trail's midpoint, trail users enter the tiny community of Loma. Restrooms are located just off the trail near St. Luke's Czech Catholic Shrine—established by Czech immigrants in 1911—in the center of town. This town had several abandoned houses and businesses that appear to have been untouched for years.

As we rode northwest, the trail follows the top of a picturesque ridge. Here we found some of the nicest wild plums we have encountered so far this year.

For the next several miles, natural prairie stretches as far as the eye can see. At Brainard we found the original train tracks were still laid adjacent to the trail. After a little searching I was able to find a loose railroad tie as a souvenir of our ride.

We rode the same trail back but faster since we did not need to sightsee as much. Also the trail is more downhill in the southeast direction. Linda screamed loudly as she ran over a large bull snake. But then we she found a small turtle that she was not afraid of.

This was an unexpectedly great ride and one of many fantastic memories Linda and I have made together. We are looking forward to some great fall night rides coming up soon.

A full rack and some sides

It's the second day of "Bike To Work Week". The cycling commuters here at work are off to a good start. The rack is full and the late arrivals just locked up their bikes to the railing of the parking garage stairwell. If you are interested in joining in on the bike to work challenge just visit the web site http://www.endomondo.com/campaign/nbc2013. Use endomondo to track your rides, earn points and maybe win prizes. My ride in this morning was peaceful. Looks like I will get a nice tailwind heading north to go home this evening. Ride on!

Panama Enduro - The Northern Route

It turned out to be a nice day for a bike race in Panama. Right from the start the race registration it was well organized and everything was on time and good. Thanks to Jim Craig and all the volunteers for putting on a great event. By the 1:30 start time there was a stiff SE wind but the sun and temps around 40 made it comfortable enough. I felt like I wore the right gear for the day and I did stay comforatble. Once again, I was probably the only one in shorts but my zombie legs are fine until below 30 degrees. In the pre-race meeting we learned that the course was marked with yellow caution tape on the stop signs where we made our turns. We also learned that if you get off course you will be out "enjoying the ride" because this is a self supported gravel road race. The course was a big square with left turns. It was a rolling start and for the first couple miles of gravel my stomach was feeling upset. I was riding with Dave N. for a couple miles. And I felt like I needed to take a slower pace. Then Dale appeared next to me. At this point Dale and I were off the pace of most of the pack. Dale just had too low a gear on his fixed single speed bike. So we rode together for the first two thirds of the distance. At about the eighth mile I started feeling much better. When I made the turn to have the wind at my back I started feeling like Dale and I might be catching back up with some of the riders ahead. I could see someone, maybe it was Brian H's red coat, getting closer over each hill. Being somewhat hilly I could see them about a half mile ahead. Then I would not see them as I was climbing. So I was in my zone going with the wind and put all my effort into catching back up. The concept of time and distance completely left me. After a while I was trying to figure out if I was slowing down again because I kept looking for that stop sign with the yellow tape and it was not showing up. My intuition was bad because I thought Dale was just maybe a football fields length back. But I was also enjoying the ride and the countryside views. I just kept cranking the pedals out of the saddle with the wind at my back on crest of every hill. Then I started getting a strange feeling. I started noticing the roads I was crossing had names I did not notice when we were going south into the wind. Then I stopped. I stood there in the middle of the gravel thinking Dale would be coming over the hill any second. Roca? That last road I crossed was ROCA! I thought to myself, "I must have gone a mile too far". So I turned around. Into the wind. AGAIN. But soon I realized I was not a mile north of the last turn. I was actually just south of Bennet, NE. five miles north of the turn into Panama that I was supposed to take. So my 15 mile race was now a 25+ mile ride in the country. My phone rang, It was Dave N. and you can imagine what the words were starting with "Where are you?". Once I called him back and found out what color the Panana water tower was I was rolling again. There were two towers not far from me. The blue one would have been the wrong choice so thanks for guiding me in Dave.
View Panama Enduro in a larger map So I was rolling back into Panama into the wind. It was nice to be back from the the north. Not that I'm really trying to fine tune my racing skills, but there is always something to learn. I did not eat good that morning and it messed up my stomach. And it turns out I was that guy who was talked about in the drivers meeting that would be out "enjoying the ride". And even though I really wanted to cross the finish line going north instead of coming from there, it was fun. Congratulations to Nick and Alroy for their first and third place finishes. They have been doing some great training and this was the first time racing for both of them.

Elkhorn River Ride

Riding gravel roads can be great in the winter but sometimes the views can be boring. I've been looking for a road on google maps that follows the Elkhorn River and found some gravel between Arlington and Fontanelle, Nebraska that looked like it might be interesting.

Friday night Dale and I were building bikes at the shop. We decided little adventure would fit into our lives. It was time to ride someplace we have never ridden before. So today, at a little past high noon, we rode out of Arlington, Ne. on a northwest path. It started with paved rollers for the first 3 miles. As we got closer to the river we found ourselves on gravel on a ridge that overlooked the river. This was just the kind of riding adventure we were looking for. Even for February winter grayness the views were fantastic.

We stopped to take a photo and this friendly black lab made an appearance. Not long after the dog was getting aqquainted a passerby motorist from the area told us that his name was Bob. So we called him "Friendly Bob" because the dogs we typically meet out riding gravel are not very nice.

Once we got to Fontanelle we found a historic building that was worth investigating. The Fontanelle Township Hall is also pictured here. This was our halfway point for the day. We turned our bikes around into the wind and headed south.

After an 8 mile ride back in Arlington we stopped to refuel at "Our Place". Turns out it's a good place to start/finish the ride. We were happy with the adventure and decided it would be worth doing again.
View Elkhorn River Gravel Ride in a larger map

Cranksgiving Omaha on Saturday, Nov. 17th

Cranksgiving Omaha is a little more than a week away.

Cranksgiving will be held Saturday, November 17 at Bike Masters. The function collects donations for the Omaha Food Bank. The fun is a scavenger hunt style event on bikes.

Here's how you can participate:

- Ride in the event to collect food.
- Bring a food donation to the event.
- Make a cash contribution.


VOLUNTEER TO HELP OUT! Perry Mitchell is organizing this event. He needs volunteers for registration, rider check-in, food preparation and food serving, etc.

Tell everyone you know! This event is great fun and serves a worthwhile, community-building cause!!!

Who knows, you might be the winner of the prestigious golden crank!
Contact Perry at perry.mitchell@cox.net for more information on how to volunteer for this event.

Bike Masters is located at:
5265 N 129th
Omaha, NE 68164
(402)964-1080

THOR in the local news

Good news, THOR, our trail work organization, was on the channel 6 news last night. It was fun to see our friends from the Monday Night Ride at Tranquility on TV. Eric Geiger and Roxanne Feagan did a great job with the interview.
The link to the story:
Volunteers Build And Maintain Mountain Bike Trail In Omaha

snapped

I got a big surprise on my ride in to work this morning. It was on the right side of the pavement on the Big Papio trail. I was looking around and off into the distance and then I noticed just before I was about to hit it. I made a quick swerve and it snapped out at me. It was a large snapping turtle. It was abut the size of a large frozen turkey. I stopped, went back and snapped this photo.

Lee's Schwinn Typhoon Deluxe

My friend Lee owns some classics. Most of these have four wheels and were built in the USA by Plymouth. He owns one with two wheels, no motor and also built in the USA by Schwinn. It's a Deluxe Typhoon cruiser bike. It has 3 speeds and a "nice rack".

Lee was not the original owner. He purchased it for $25 from a co-worker at Valmont who lived in Arlington. Lee has owned this bike since the 70's when his kids were little. It had previously been fitted with a child carrier. It's one of those bikes that could tell many stories about the places and people it's encountered in it's 45 years of life.

Based on the serial number (FA41930) it came off the Schwinn assembly line on June 14th, 1965. Lee did most of the cleanup on the bike. I took care of the mechanicals. The original black tires were hard and cracked so they were replaced with some classic white walls. The brakes are adjusted with new cables. The hubs and bottom bracket are lubed. A missing spoke was replaced and the wheels trued.

Lee's Schwinn Typhoon Deluxe Cruiser

New life has been breathed into this classic cruiser. It's ready to roll into the next 45 years. It's been a privilege and a pleasure to work on this bike.

Ponderosa Ride II

Another mild winter day gets us out to see some countryside. Brian and Greg were already at the parking lot of the Prairie View Lake when I arrived at 1PM. Dave P. was going to be a little late so we rode the limestone path around the lake. There were hundreds of geese in the water and in the fields along the path. Once back at the parking lot Dave P. was there and ready to go. There was a pretty stiff west wind so we rode out Dutch Hall Rd heading right into it. The hills out there are killer. However, the surface of the gravel was really compact and smooth.

We made a quick stop at the Ponderosa to fuel up for the ride back. The combination of the wind at our backs and the hills in our favor made the ride back fast and fun. Great ride today. And thanks to Dave P. for remembering to bring a camera. Here is the google map for the Ponderosa Ride...

View Ponderosa Ride in a larger map

Marin Bikes - Sold

Well I like Marin bikes so I guess you could say I'm sold. But the fact is they just got sold. I was reading BikeRumor and noticed this article posted about a European based investment firm called Minestone Limited that bought Marin. I've always been interested in Marin because of there location in the heart of "where it all started". I thought it was interesting that their headquarters was once the recording studio of the the band "Greatful Dead". I also like how their bikes are named after trails on "Mount Tam" in Marin County north of San Francisco. Here is the Marin video...

New Years Eve Ride

The forecast said to expect a warm New Years Eve day this Saturday. There was some talk at work last week about having a bike adventure on New Years Eve Day. We decided to meet in Mineola, IA @ noon and ride south to Malvern. IA and back. This would be about 12 miles each way.

Brian, Dale, Chris N and I met at Dave N's and we were able to save some gas and pile into his Honda Ridgeline with all five bikes.

Stop at Austin's in Silver City, IA.

Once the wheels were rolling, we found out that this trail takes longer than we thought to dry this time of year. It's not often that coasting a downhill grade on the Wabash feels so sluggish that you have to pedal. It was like a damp beach. The trail was not really muddy but just soft enough to steal your energy. We only rode half as far as we planned and that was more than enough in these conditions. We just couldn't make enough power. It was still a good adventure and bikes are powerful machines. They have the power to improve our lives, build friendships, and create good memories. This appears to be a shared understanding that bikes do this in a way that is kind to the earth and our bodies. I'm looking forward to new bike adventures this year. Happy New Year!

Creative Shift

I'm not into cyclocross but I am interested in cycling innovation. This video caught my attention. These are old school frame shifters mounted to brake levers. This kind of creativity just seemed worth sharing...

quick shift demo from Retroshift on Vimeo.

This is a demo from RetroShift

Cranksgiving Report 2011

Today was my forth time participating in the annual Cranksgiving event. The first three all took place with temps around freezing or below. Today was a welcome change with temps in the fifties.

Our traditional route takes us south on the Big Papio trail to around 90th and Center. The stiff south wind made the ride back toward Bike Masters really enjoyable.

I used my cargo trailer for this year's event. Sure makes hauling a load easy. I'll do that again.

So we didn't really follow the rules of the event exactly. But we contributed to the over 1000 lbs. of food and large sums of cash collected for Food Bank of the Heartland. Back at Bike Masters for the finish there was awards, food and prizes. It's a fun event.

We now have a ceremonial garment tied to this annual event. Chris N. wore it this year so we'll just have to past on this honor next year. I would say that honor should go to the person that won the most in prizes. Dave "shoulda picked the bike" would fit that description. I'll keep the Cranksgiving Safety Vest in a safe place until 2012. Way to go Dave. A nice trail ride at sunset was a great way to finish off the day.

Omaha Transportation Master Plan Meeting - September 15th

Last night we were able to hear and see what the city has planned to make Omaha a more “bike and pedestrian friendly” city. To help with the citizens show of support, there were special buses and bike rides scheduled prior to the Public TMP Meeting.

It was awesome to see and be a part of the multitude of bikes that pulled up to the Scott Conference Center last night. Dave, Dale and I rode from Bike Masters at about 5:30 so we could get there in time for the 6:30 start. I was interested in how they showed studies and measurements to weight which transportation projects would give the most return on the 750 million dollars budgeted. Now they want input from the public on what they think the priorities should be. I’m still trying to find out how to do that online but they might not have that portal ready yet.

There was a great turnout for this meeting. It looked like close to 300 people to me. I know I’m concerned about how I’m going to get around when gas is just too expensive.

The whole 2 hours of the meeting is embedded here if you'd like to hear and see for yourself:
Video streaming by Ustream Scott Conference Center, 6450 Pine Street, on UNO’s South Campus

Attitude Adjusted

This post is not about adjusting my attitude at Clancey's Pub. I work at 116th and Miracle Hills Drive in Omaha, Nebraska. I try to use my bike as transportation a couple times a week. The perfect weather is making that real easy right now. Today I took some extra time on my ride home to take a few photos of my route from work to home. I'll also mention a few strategies to get home safely and easily.

Once I leave for home I don't look for the shortest route. I'm riding behind the strip mall starting here at Clancy's and there is no traffic.

An extra 1/2 mile is not too far for a flat and low traffic route. But there are a few short climbs. Here is were I climb the 'grassy knoll' to cross the papio creek by Huber Chevrolet.

Normally I would ride the Big Papio Trail from Dodge to Blondo but that has been torn up all summer. Looks like the work to get this trail back has made some recent progress.

Riding west on Blondo Sidewalk to 117th Street.

Using Google Maps or something like it is a great way to plan your route.

Here I cross 120th at the lights on Stonegate Drive. Once across, this street has speed bumps to keep the traffic slower.

When the trail is dry I take a single track shortcut. Here is where I cross Maple and ride up a small hill to the Ice Rink parking lot.

This where the fun level is kicked up a notch - Single Track Dirt. Some would recognize this to be the 'Ice Loop Climb'.

But there is always an end to the dirt. This is the entrance to my neighborhood riding west.

Calories Burned: 200 X 2
Miles ridden: 9.8
Auto Cost Saved: $4
Time Spent Outside: 30 Min. X 2
Attitude Improvement: Priceless