Corporate Cycling Perfection

We saw evidence of the bad weather that took place around the airport this week. However the weather for today's Corporate Cycling Challenge was perfect. A group was assembled that included some of our Monday Night Riders and other friends.

Corporate Cycling Challenge 2011

Dave P. was riding a vintage road bike from the late 60s. Dave N. rode the same Mountain Bike he races with the tires pumped up like rolling rocks. Brian H. met up with us after blasting his road bike through the hills on the 42 mile ride. There were some interesting contraptions on our 25 mile ride. Several were actually climbing hills with these sway trikes. I'm not sure what they are really called but they look kinda like this...

Barleys was the planned destination following the ride. Since it appears that they are closed we choose Old Chicago as our backup plan. Good times and more to come.

Swanson Mayhem 2011

I showed up at the MTB race at Swanson as a spectator with a cowbell and a camera. I quickly found out that I can't take pictures and hit the cowbell at the same time. I found a willing spectator to run the cowbell so I could get these pictures. With the rain that fell early Friday morning the trail had just the right amount of moisture and grip. The weather today made it a perfect day to be a racer and a spectator.

Swanson Mayhem 2011

DMars in motion...

Brian in motion...

Linda in motion...

Dave in motion...

A day off

Now that it's cooling off, I decided not to let more summer get away from me without being outside. So I took a day off. The initial plan was to ride Calvin Crest with Dmars. The weather radar didn't look good this morning. So instead I got out early and rode Tranquility until it started to rain. Once the trail debris got damp it was sticking to my tires and my bike.
This afternoon Dmars and I went kayaking at Lake Cunningham. Overcast skies and just a slight breeze made the paddling fun. There were lots of fish jumping and cranes standing at the waters edge. Kayaking is a great way to get on the water and spend some time with friends.

Kayak at Glenn Cunningham Lake

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!

Home from the 2011 WI Road Trip

By the middle of last week everything worked out well for me to hit the road to visit some new places and some old friends. I spent the day last Thursday in Decorah, IA. My plan was to ride the trails in the bluffs north of the Upper Iowa River. It had rained Wednesday night. I did some paved road/trails riding early that Thursday. I found some interesting sites like the Ice Cave and ...

...Dunning's Spring.


Decorah has great paved trails that I used to visit the local fish hatchery. There are several canoe/kayak services in the area so I spent a couple hours exploring the Upper Iowa River on a 10’ Kayak. I found a huge eagle nest.


I'm "shooting the rapids" here...





















By midafternoon the dirt trails were "tacky fast". I found some trails that were just too challenging and some that were well groomed and fun. Pictured here is a creek crossing where the water flows right into the river. Bottom line is that it was good to get familiar with Decorah, IA. I'm sure I'll be back.





DECORAH HUMAN POWERED TRAILS does the building and trail maintenance.


Thursday evening and the next few days were spent fishing, biking and hanging out with Chris and Denny north of Lacrosse WI. We had lots of laughs and new adventures in Wisconsin. Thanks for having me up for another great weekend!