We've had quite a bit of rain lately.
So much so, the Missouri river has been pushing outside its banks, especially on the Iowa side. Needless to say, this had an effect on my regular, tried, and true commuting route.
It was a beautiful day yesterday, one of the first nice days after a string of thunderstorms and rain. Low wind, blue skies, sun shining. The bike glided almost effortlessly along the trail. There were a few puddles and some standing water, but nothing the super Soma Double Cross couldn't handle. My go to commuter, takes punishing miles and comes back for more. I made the loop around Lake Manawa, no sweat.
When I reached Riverfront Park, it was a different story. As I descended down into the park, I rounded the first curve...and slammed on the brakes. The trail disappeared into a great swamp, definitely not some little puddle or simple standing water. No way would I be able to splash through this mess!
What to do? Here I was, only 3 miles or so from work and I was stopped cold. The first thing crossing my mind was riding all the way back to my truck, load it up and drive into work. Crap. My next thought considered any possible alternate route. Of course I had no contingency, no alternate routes mapped out or any other kind of alternate plan in mind. Jeez.
So, I did the only thing that made sense at the time...at least to me. First, I accepted the fact that I was probably going to be late to work. Now, it was time for an adventure! The only route that I could think of to get me across the river would the South Omaha Bridge road. I turned around hoping a route would magically materialize.
I backtracked to South Omaha Bridge road and started heading west. There is a trail adjacent to the road so I didn't have to ride in traffic. I was wondering what would happen when I arrived at the bridge. I knew they were renovating, so I was hoping there would be a way to cross without having to ride in rush hour.
I shouldn't have worried. The recently and very nicely renovated bridge (I stopped and took pictures btw, subject of a later post) had an excellent pedestrian path. Made it across, no problems.
Next issue...where do I go from here? I was on 13th street in Omaha, south of the Zoo and Rosenblatt stadium. 13th Street was not an option, too much high speed traffic and the College World Series was in town. The bike path terminated once I hit the street. But, I noticed a path on the river levee below the bridge. Now I had to figure how to get under the bridge and onto the levee path, running North towards my intended destination. I found a cross street (and pedestrian path!) running down under the bridge to river level. Great! I was able to find the entrance to the river levee path. I hit the path and started cranking, making great progress...until...
The levee path abruptly ended after about 2 miles. I ran into a gate across the path, and the path behind the gate was no longer paved. This was a dead end. Fortunately if there's a will, there's a way. At the gated point, another path lead down hill to the Burlington Northern railway, which runs parallel to the levee. I could only think "This is where they hide the bodies." but I soldiered on :>)
There was a gravelled right-of-way along the tracks, the only way to go, so I took it. After a couple of hundred yards there was a railroad crossing that led to a gravel 'street'. 3rd and Hickory. A light at the end of the tunnel! There was no place to go but up, and the street numbers were increasing.
I knew where I was, and once I got to 10th street it was North to Dodge and west to 16th and work. I rode through 'Little Italy' on the way, a nice diversion. Past the Durham museum and into downtown, lickety split. Without the backtracking, it's only two miles more than my regular route! -D
Friday, June 25, 2010
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Keepin' it fresh
Google blogger has come out with a new template feature so I decided to try it. How does it look?
It's good to change things up to keep things fresh. I haven't tried all the new templates but the bookshelf background caught my eye.
I've added a new link to my blog list...John Gough's spoke calculator. I've used this application to build wheels, and I can say it hasn't yet miscalculated a spoke length. Thinking about building a new rear wheel for the Double Cross, so I put this here just to make it convenient for me. It might prove to be convenient for someone else should they decide to build their own wheels.
I'm pushing hard to get in 4 days of commuting this week to get the miles up. Need to get the miles in for RAGBRAI. The MS15o Omaha to Lincoln (and back) ride is also coming up mid-July, and is a good yardstick for determining RAGBRAI fitness. Other things I need to do: buy the wife a new sleeping bag and camping bag, get the truck serviced, pull out the RAGBRAI camping list, etc, etc. It'll be here before you know it! -D
It's good to change things up to keep things fresh. I haven't tried all the new templates but the bookshelf background caught my eye.
I've added a new link to my blog list...John Gough's spoke calculator. I've used this application to build wheels, and I can say it hasn't yet miscalculated a spoke length. Thinking about building a new rear wheel for the Double Cross, so I put this here just to make it convenient for me. It might prove to be convenient for someone else should they decide to build their own wheels.
I'm pushing hard to get in 4 days of commuting this week to get the miles up. Need to get the miles in for RAGBRAI. The MS15o Omaha to Lincoln (and back) ride is also coming up mid-July, and is a good yardstick for determining RAGBRAI fitness. Other things I need to do: buy the wife a new sleeping bag and camping bag, get the truck serviced, pull out the RAGBRAI camping list, etc, etc. It'll be here before you know it! -D
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Wear and tear
It's been rainy. I rode one commuting ride last week, and my little tater has been here to visit for our family reunion this weekend. Not much bike riding occurring, which I hope to remedy next week.
RAGBRAI is fast approaching, and I need to think about preparing. Besides getting some cycling miles in, the camping equipment needs to be checked and we need to buy my wife a sleeping bag and a camping pad. She is driving our truck, and we are going to rent a U-Haul trailer to haul gear for the remainder of our group.
The Double Cross has been doing a great job on commuting duty. I didn't realize exactly how many miles I've been putting on this bike until I noticed I just wasn't getting the rear wheel braking power I used to. I pulled the rear wheel off and removed the rear brake pads...they were worn down to nearly nothing. The wheel rims also have a wear indicator stamping on the braking surface, and that's now rear wheel history as well. I also noticed the rear wheel is getting a bit out of true as well, and I'm not surprised given the amount of weight and wear put on the rear end of my bike. Of course, my rear tire is nearly shot as well!
The wheels and drivetrain came off my old Giant road sport bike. That bike had at least 4000 miles on it before I made the swap, so all those parts might now have over 10,000 miles on them. The big chain ring is shark-toothing and the cassette is getting worn down as well. This makes me think it's time for a new wheel build, cassette and chain and chain ring swap out.
I like bike projects! -D
RAGBRAI is fast approaching, and I need to think about preparing. Besides getting some cycling miles in, the camping equipment needs to be checked and we need to buy my wife a sleeping bag and a camping pad. She is driving our truck, and we are going to rent a U-Haul trailer to haul gear for the remainder of our group.
The Double Cross has been doing a great job on commuting duty. I didn't realize exactly how many miles I've been putting on this bike until I noticed I just wasn't getting the rear wheel braking power I used to. I pulled the rear wheel off and removed the rear brake pads...they were worn down to nearly nothing. The wheel rims also have a wear indicator stamping on the braking surface, and that's now rear wheel history as well. I also noticed the rear wheel is getting a bit out of true as well, and I'm not surprised given the amount of weight and wear put on the rear end of my bike. Of course, my rear tire is nearly shot as well!
The wheels and drivetrain came off my old Giant road sport bike. That bike had at least 4000 miles on it before I made the swap, so all those parts might now have over 10,000 miles on them. The big chain ring is shark-toothing and the cassette is getting worn down as well. This makes me think it's time for a new wheel build, cassette and chain and chain ring swap out.
I like bike projects! -D
Friday, June 4, 2010
WHAT THE F...?!?!? or get out of the freaking tornado doofus!
I hate it when that happens.
I was in the middle of my great story when I accidentally and completely deleted my post. Dammit.
So I'll start over again. My wife says it will even be better this time...but it's still a pain in the ass. My 'new' post starts now.
I wasn't really surprised, but I should have known better. Gravelo was smart enough to call his wife to come and pick him up.
I'm a doofus cycling dog. Let me explain. Most dogs will chase anything right? When another cyclist passes me, I instinctively speed up and try to stay on his wheel. Even if it's an ultra-light crabon roadie racer wearing a jersey proclaiming "Ultra Marathon, Triathlon and Cycling Racing Training Inc." or "53 x 11 or Bust", I'll try to chase it. Definitely if it's a recumbent rider. When I'm in the lead, if a cyclist tries to close the gap behind me, yeah, I'll crank harder. If his goal is to catch and pass me, then he'll have to work a bit harder at it.
So when I see storm clouds over my shoulder coming up fast what do you think I'll do? Will I stop and seek shelter? Ask for a ride? Call the wife to come and pick me up? Of course not! I CAN BEAT THIS.
I commuted to work Tuesday. According to the weather reports, it was going to be a rainy day. However, it was a beautiful morning and when I got to the parking garage there were at least four other bikes in the rack. As the day progressed, I was fairly busy and although I tried to keep an eye on the weather work drama kept me occupied and I stayed longer than I would have liked.
I should have clued in when got to the bike racks and all the bikes were gone. The afternoon was bit gray but as I moved Southeast the sky was clear. But...as I looked over my shoulder I saw some very dark clouds moving in from the Northwest. They looked a long way off and I knew I could make it back to the trail head and my truck before they rolled in.
As I moved past Metro Crossing and rode through the adjacent trailer park, I saw a large group of people standing near the entrances to their newly constructed storm shelter. The dim bulb began to light and maybe I should stop and take shelter here. But noooo....I CAN BEAT THIS.
I turned South on the Lake Manawa bridge and headed toward the levee bridge. The wind direction changed 180 degrees from South to North, and at that point I knew I was screwed. I took advantage of the tailwind and pushed my bike past 20 mph. The low-hanging black and green ominous clouds encircled me like a pair of arms. Then all hell broke loose. I began screaming out loud "I'M NOT GOING TO MAKE IT!!"
With the wind on full boil and huge raindrops pelting me, I managed to make it across the bridge without blowing away. I threw the bike down the slope and dived under the bridge, cowering as the horizontal rain hammered me, stinging my skin. The bridge shook as the wind gusted, and I was wondering if the bridge would disappear or simply just collapse on top of me. Adding injury to insult some hail fell. Great. At least the bridge was overhead (for the time being), keeping the worst of it off me. After about 15 minutes of this mayhem and soaked to the bone, the wind subsided enough so I could get back on my bike and get on my way. Mind you, it was still pouring and gusting a fair amount.
There is a railroad spur that runs east-west toward the end of my commute. The trail runs underneath the track at one point, encircled with a stout concrete tunnel. I managed to make it there choking on the gallons of rain I swallowed, and tried to call my wife. I felt like a drowned rat. Of course, I was in a tunnel, so cell phone reception was almost zero. I found a spot near the end of the tunnel out of the rain where I could get enough signal to make a call. The wife was understandably concerned, but I let her know I was alive and would be continuing on once the weather subsided a bit more. I noticed I had multiple weather alerts !!! on my smart phone.
I got home and got the requisite concern, scorn, then ridicule from my wife. I don't blame her. We watched the weather alerts on TV, hail, high winds (over 70 m.p.h) and tornado warnings.
Lesson: You can't beat Mother Nature. And don't be a dumb ass on your bike. -D
I was in the middle of my great story when I accidentally and completely deleted my post. Dammit.
So I'll start over again. My wife says it will even be better this time...but it's still a pain in the ass. My 'new' post starts now.
I wasn't really surprised, but I should have known better. Gravelo was smart enough to call his wife to come and pick him up.
I'm a doofus cycling dog. Let me explain. Most dogs will chase anything right? When another cyclist passes me, I instinctively speed up and try to stay on his wheel. Even if it's an ultra-light crabon roadie racer wearing a jersey proclaiming "Ultra Marathon, Triathlon and Cycling Racing Training Inc." or "53 x 11 or Bust", I'll try to chase it. Definitely if it's a recumbent rider. When I'm in the lead, if a cyclist tries to close the gap behind me, yeah, I'll crank harder. If his goal is to catch and pass me, then he'll have to work a bit harder at it.
So when I see storm clouds over my shoulder coming up fast what do you think I'll do? Will I stop and seek shelter? Ask for a ride? Call the wife to come and pick me up? Of course not! I CAN BEAT THIS.
I commuted to work Tuesday. According to the weather reports, it was going to be a rainy day. However, it was a beautiful morning and when I got to the parking garage there were at least four other bikes in the rack. As the day progressed, I was fairly busy and although I tried to keep an eye on the weather work drama kept me occupied and I stayed longer than I would have liked.
I should have clued in when got to the bike racks and all the bikes were gone. The afternoon was bit gray but as I moved Southeast the sky was clear. But...as I looked over my shoulder I saw some very dark clouds moving in from the Northwest. They looked a long way off and I knew I could make it back to the trail head and my truck before they rolled in.
As I moved past Metro Crossing and rode through the adjacent trailer park, I saw a large group of people standing near the entrances to their newly constructed storm shelter. The dim bulb began to light and maybe I should stop and take shelter here. But noooo....I CAN BEAT THIS.
I turned South on the Lake Manawa bridge and headed toward the levee bridge. The wind direction changed 180 degrees from South to North, and at that point I knew I was screwed. I took advantage of the tailwind and pushed my bike past 20 mph. The low-hanging black and green ominous clouds encircled me like a pair of arms. Then all hell broke loose. I began screaming out loud "I'M NOT GOING TO MAKE IT!!"
With the wind on full boil and huge raindrops pelting me, I managed to make it across the bridge without blowing away. I threw the bike down the slope and dived under the bridge, cowering as the horizontal rain hammered me, stinging my skin. The bridge shook as the wind gusted, and I was wondering if the bridge would disappear or simply just collapse on top of me. Adding injury to insult some hail fell. Great. At least the bridge was overhead (for the time being), keeping the worst of it off me. After about 15 minutes of this mayhem and soaked to the bone, the wind subsided enough so I could get back on my bike and get on my way. Mind you, it was still pouring and gusting a fair amount.
There is a railroad spur that runs east-west toward the end of my commute. The trail runs underneath the track at one point, encircled with a stout concrete tunnel. I managed to make it there choking on the gallons of rain I swallowed, and tried to call my wife. I felt like a drowned rat. Of course, I was in a tunnel, so cell phone reception was almost zero. I found a spot near the end of the tunnel out of the rain where I could get enough signal to make a call. The wife was understandably concerned, but I let her know I was alive and would be continuing on once the weather subsided a bit more. I noticed I had multiple weather alerts !!! on my smart phone.
I got home and got the requisite concern, scorn, then ridicule from my wife. I don't blame her. We watched the weather alerts on TV, hail, high winds (over 70 m.p.h) and tornado warnings.
Lesson: You can't beat Mother Nature. And don't be a dumb ass on your bike. -D
Monday, May 17, 2010
Bike Omaha Commuter Challenge
This week, the Bike Omaha Commuter Challenge begins. The goal is to ride as many commuter miles as possible between May 14 and Aug 20. No cheating!
A fitting week to start, since the weather will be great this week. I commuted today, and the ride home was great...virtually no wind, low 70's. Haven't yet seen weather this nice for the year.
Last year, I racked up around 800 miles.. enough for second place in our company. However, our total company miles fell way short, and I believe we were ranked toward the bottom in our division. Jeez, I can't do it ALL myself :>)
Heck, it's all just numbers anyway. I think I'm just going to log miles and enjoy riding!
-D
P.S. Get out there!
A fitting week to start, since the weather will be great this week. I commuted today, and the ride home was great...virtually no wind, low 70's. Haven't yet seen weather this nice for the year.
Last year, I racked up around 800 miles.. enough for second place in our company. However, our total company miles fell way short, and I believe we were ranked toward the bottom in our division. Jeez, I can't do it ALL myself :>)
Heck, it's all just numbers anyway. I think I'm just going to log miles and enjoy riding!
-D
P.S. Get out there!
Sunday, May 9, 2010
The Crud is craptastic!
What is this stuff?
I was feeling pretty draggy and congested a couple of weeks ago, so I went to the doctor. Doctor 1 says, "You have an infection" and prescribed antibiotics. After a weeks worth of antibiotic treatment, I felt marginally better. So I figured this stuff had run it's course.
Thursday night, after my commute ride home I decided to do the infamous Taco Ride. Wife is out of town, why not. Plus, I hadn't been on the Wabash all year. Bought my season pass and hit the trail on my good ol' trusty Quickie Blue Fixie.
I bombed it, man. No one would pass me. I hammered all the way, chugged a smoothie drink, and hammered back. Felt pretty good.
Friday morning. I get up hacking and coughing...what the hell? So I call the doctor's office and get a 9 a.m. appointment. Doctor #2 says "Allergies, go take some Claritin". OK then. I stop by the Walgreens, pick up the Claritin and go to work. We had a team outing that day so we went to an afternoon ball game at Rosenblatt Stadium. Had a couple of beers, enjoyed the Creighton - Wichita State game (Creighton got blasted 8 - 0).
Saturday morning: the MS Spring Ride. Started from Iowa Western CC, through Underwood, Minden, Bentley, back to Underwood and IWCC. Yeah, I did the half-century. The idea though, I was going to get up early, ride to the event, then ride back home to Minden. Done by noon.
However, I got up at 6:30 a.m. and no energy...plus it was thirty freaking five degrees out. Almost the middle of May and we're wearing winter gear? Nope, I decided I'd drive there later and went back to sleep.
Got up about 8:30 and dragged my ass out of bed...just didn't feel all that motivated and a little run down. I figured it was just a bit of weekend pokiness and willed myself into my bike clothes, loaded up the Bleriot, and made it to the 10 a.m. start with no time to spare.
The bike felt like it weighed like a ton...well, it does weigh a ton. I added a kick stand and taillight Friday night. Okay, I'll make it to Minden, rest a bit, change bikes and finish the ride. Which I did, courtesy of my Rambouillet (pretty cool to be able to change mid-ride). But man, I was having a hard time pulling the hills outside of Minden and headed towards Bentley. I felt spent but hammered away anyway and managed to make the finish line. Felt like the hardest half-century I'd ever done.
That night, my eyes were burning and I felt a bit flushed. Took my temperature...101.6 :>( Damn, no wonder I was pooped. So I've spent the remainder of my weekend recovering, hoping I can get rid of this crud soon. The wife has banned me from the bike for the duration until I get back up to speed, hopefully soon -D
I was feeling pretty draggy and congested a couple of weeks ago, so I went to the doctor. Doctor 1 says, "You have an infection" and prescribed antibiotics. After a weeks worth of antibiotic treatment, I felt marginally better. So I figured this stuff had run it's course.
Thursday night, after my commute ride home I decided to do the infamous Taco Ride. Wife is out of town, why not. Plus, I hadn't been on the Wabash all year. Bought my season pass and hit the trail on my good ol' trusty Quickie Blue Fixie.
I bombed it, man. No one would pass me. I hammered all the way, chugged a smoothie drink, and hammered back. Felt pretty good.
Friday morning. I get up hacking and coughing...what the hell? So I call the doctor's office and get a 9 a.m. appointment. Doctor #2 says "Allergies, go take some Claritin". OK then. I stop by the Walgreens, pick up the Claritin and go to work. We had a team outing that day so we went to an afternoon ball game at Rosenblatt Stadium. Had a couple of beers, enjoyed the Creighton - Wichita State game (Creighton got blasted 8 - 0).
Saturday morning: the MS Spring Ride. Started from Iowa Western CC, through Underwood, Minden, Bentley, back to Underwood and IWCC. Yeah, I did the half-century. The idea though, I was going to get up early, ride to the event, then ride back home to Minden. Done by noon.
However, I got up at 6:30 a.m. and no energy...plus it was thirty freaking five degrees out. Almost the middle of May and we're wearing winter gear? Nope, I decided I'd drive there later and went back to sleep.
Got up about 8:30 and dragged my ass out of bed...just didn't feel all that motivated and a little run down. I figured it was just a bit of weekend pokiness and willed myself into my bike clothes, loaded up the Bleriot, and made it to the 10 a.m. start with no time to spare.
The bike felt like it weighed like a ton...well, it does weigh a ton. I added a kick stand and taillight Friday night. Okay, I'll make it to Minden, rest a bit, change bikes and finish the ride. Which I did, courtesy of my Rambouillet (pretty cool to be able to change mid-ride). But man, I was having a hard time pulling the hills outside of Minden and headed towards Bentley. I felt spent but hammered away anyway and managed to make the finish line. Felt like the hardest half-century I'd ever done.
That night, my eyes were burning and I felt a bit flushed. Took my temperature...101.6 :>( Damn, no wonder I was pooped. So I've spent the remainder of my weekend recovering, hoping I can get rid of this crud soon. The wife has banned me from the bike for the duration until I get back up to speed, hopefully soon -D
Sunday, May 2, 2010
MB Time!
Got back from a trip to KC today, saw my little tater.
After my lawn mowing chore, there was still plenty of light left...plus mid 60's and beautiful outside. Of course, being late afternoon it was a bit late for an epic road bike adventure.
Time to get the mountain bikes out!
It's been a long time since I bombed the backyard with the mountain bikes. It just kind of hit me. I parked the lawn mower and happened to glance at my old Diamondback. It looked pretty forlorn and neglected sitting leaning against the garage wall, so I grabbed the tire pump and gave the tires a quick inflate. I thought maybe I'd just run up and down the street once or twice. I bombed the backyard a few times, then I headed back and grabbed my 29'er. I buzzed the town awhile, hit a few back alleys, the ball field, the community hall parking lot, the park, the basketball court, my niece's steep driveway (left a long black skidmark on the way out...gotta love those disc brakes), jumped a few curbs, hit the town triangle (Minden isn't big enough for a square), zipped down the big town hill, basically just pedaled my ass off.
Felt good :>) -D
After my lawn mowing chore, there was still plenty of light left...plus mid 60's and beautiful outside. Of course, being late afternoon it was a bit late for an epic road bike adventure.
Time to get the mountain bikes out!
It's been a long time since I bombed the backyard with the mountain bikes. It just kind of hit me. I parked the lawn mower and happened to glance at my old Diamondback. It looked pretty forlorn and neglected sitting leaning against the garage wall, so I grabbed the tire pump and gave the tires a quick inflate. I thought maybe I'd just run up and down the street once or twice. I bombed the backyard a few times, then I headed back and grabbed my 29'er. I buzzed the town awhile, hit a few back alleys, the ball field, the community hall parking lot, the park, the basketball court, my niece's steep driveway (left a long black skidmark on the way out...gotta love those disc brakes), jumped a few curbs, hit the town triangle (Minden isn't big enough for a square), zipped down the big town hill, basically just pedaled my ass off.
Felt good :>) -D
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