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

Postcards from France

Well, one of these is from Emma's friend in Alaska.

But Cali has been some amazing places in France in her short time there. Last weekend she was in Normandy at the site of the D-Day landing in WWII. Before that she was in Paris, Saint-malo, Dinan, and Fougeres.

Thanks for all the postcards Cali. I miss you.

Pete says you are missing from me Cali or "vous êtes absent de moi Cali".

How to get on the singletrack at Calvin Crest

If you have not been to Calvin Crest to ride the single track this will give you a feel for how to find it. When you arrive at Calvin Crest you will see a basketball court on the left side of the gravel road. Please park in the large parking lot by this basketball court. See the map for the path (in orange) from the parking lot to the singletrack.

For the rules and up-to-date information on trail closures go to this link www.calvincrest.org/Mt_Biking_Trails.php And finally, this is a great video by Mark Sullivan that gives a riders view of how to get into the singletrack at Calvin Crest. This is a great fall destination! See you out there. -Paul

A trail bridge too far

The mission for the THOR brigade for today, build an alternate bridge at Calvin Crest. The sway cable bridge is nice but the bike traffic is putting a bit of stress on it and it would not be suitable in race conditions.

About a hundred yards upstream a new bridge was constructed out of two 17ft telephone polls and treated 2X4s. There was a large crew working the bridge and trail on both sides of the now dry creek. Using a tow strap tied to the heavy poles they were dragged into place.

It was Cody's job to guard the planks.

Once the job was finished there was the matter of a quality assurance load test.

And then the ride...

And finally, DMARS...

CC Trail Day September 23, 2012

Click here for more photos.

Ride Some Dirt

Have a great Labor Day Weekend. Get out and ride some dirt. Thanks for the photos Omaha Dirt!

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

Playing With Fire is back!

In years past the Playing With Fire series would have several blues concerts a summer. Last years flooding and the bad economy slowed that down. This past Saturday it was back in full force at Lewis and Clark Landing down on the riverfront. Thanks to Dave N. for sending me these photos. We got there in time to hear The Pounders (local band) finish up their set. Then we heard the first tune from Meena Cryle's band and we decided to head up by the stage. This was one of the better performances I have seen at PWF. They came all the way from Austria. Meena Cryle's band should have been the headliner.

We did not stay long after Rick Vito started. They probably should have had those two bands switched around in the order but I'm glad they didn't. Turned out to be a great night for an outdoor concert.

Chicago - French Consulate Trip

Cali and I just got home from Chicago safe and sound. We were there two days and covered quite a bit of ground. The Photos in the link pretty much cover it.

Chicago - June 7, 2012

The French Consulate was not quite what I was expecting. The Visa office was pretty much like the DMV with the French people behind glass. Oh well, got r done.