Winter Recon - Tranquility Park

Sunny skies got me out of the "cabin" this morning. I rode down to TP to see how much melting occurred in the last few days. The trail is still 90% covered in deep snow. And, It looks like we will have a new pond at Tranquility in the spring. Excess snow from Omaha streets is now a salty, dirty mountain range at TP. There were giant piles of snow just south of the start/finish line on the South Creek Loop. The recon photos can be viewed here.

Foggy, Crispy, Gravel

Today I took my first gravel road ride of 2010 and that's what I got, foggy, crispy, gravel. Rode north on 132nd to the county line and back. There were some MTB tire tracks. I'm guessing it was dmars that left those. The gravel, packed snow and ice were plenty frozen so I wasn't leaving much of a track. It was real quiet except for some noisy pheasants. I saw a dog but it wasn't interested in a chase.



The Deer Creek neighborhood had some huge drifts.



I can recommend Continental 'Spike Claws' now. Riding mostly packed snow and ice and no slippage what so ever.

Virginia is for Bikers

I lived in Virginia for a while when I was a kid. Bumper stickers would say "Virginia is for Lovers". This may be true but this video makes me say Virginia is for Bikers. This well done video says it's from the Gap Mountain section of the Pandpas Pond Trail system. It features rocky, rooty, and twisty single tracks. Have the Happy, Safe New Year!

Snow Covered Omaha

I drove Cali down to Central High School today so she could practice for the talent show. While waiting for her I took a trip around downtown taking pictures of Omaha covered in snow. Let me know if I caught any of your favorite places...

Snow Covered Omaha

Early AM Christmas Blizzard 2009

Merry Christmas to all my friends and family that visit this blog. It's very early on Christmas morning and there is a blizzard. The wind is blowing hard but the house is currently quiet. It won't be long and my dogs will be waking up all my girls. Then wrapping paper and ribbons will be flying everywhere. We'll miss our traditional family trip to Lincoln today as I'm sure many plans are changing due to this weather. But we will see everyone soon and we are thinking about you.

Hope you and yours have a nice and safe Christmas. -Paul

Frozen Tranq Trails

I'm sitting here wondering if there was a snowy Monday Night Ride tonight. If there was those tracks will be buried by more snow soon enough. Before the snow started on Sunday I got out to update the Tranquility Kiosk at the trailhead by Fort Street parking. You will notice some new infomation. Now that we have had a good hard freeze and snow any warmer days are going to make the trail sloppy. Not that there are any warm days in the forcast soon. But there will be.

It's number 3 on IMBA's Responsible Riding Tips ...

3. Say No To Mud

Riding a muddy trail can cause unnecessary trail widening and erosion that may lead to long-lasting damage.

BMCC Meeting and 'All-Steel' Ride

Well, today I signed up for another year of MTB racing representing Bike Masters. It was great to see some new members many of which ride the Monday Night Ride. I was also happy to hear joining up was more about participation than results (I'm kinda slow). My goal is to do at least 5 races next year. Most likely I will race the marathon class. But Cat3 (beginner) 45+ is an option for me now too.


A few of us got started on our "training" right away after the meeting with the 'All-Steel' ride. Four of us all riding steel frames did a lap at Tranquility after the meeting. The discussion for this ride started last night over pizza/wings/beer with Dmars on his steel Niner, Dale on his steel fixed Haro-Mary, and me on my trusty steel Marin. Then Dan C. showed up on his steel VooDoo. It was a nice mid 30s cold weather ride and the trail was frozen solid. There was even a patch of ice on the newly armored North Creek section. We all managed to "keep the shiney side up". Looking forward to another fun MTB season in the spring. Till then we gear up for cold and ride (probably gravel after this week).

Monday Night Ride - 11/30/2009

Big turnout for a night ride on the last day of November. Super nice chilly weather with almost no wind. Here are more photos.