Happy Fool's Day

I'd like to thank all the hearty souls who made the commitment to spend a good chunk of an unbelievably beautiful Saturday grinding away on the gravel roads of Nebraska and SoDak.  I think everyone had a pretty good experience with the exception of a plague of flats - for awhile we were averaging 1 per 7 miles.  I'm still hoping to do something similar in the Fall, perhaps Steeplechase 2.0.  In the meantime, here are some photos (more may be coming along in the next few days).  Y'all rock!

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Gassing up the Pugsley

Big footsteps to follow

Watching another flat repair

Last flat in Nebraska

Last flat in SoDak.  A doozy.

Brrrrisk

I took my oversized/overweight Erwin out for a roll on Saturday morning.  As I've said many a time, I'm not hardcore so heading out when it's 24° with a 25 mph wind is something of an accomplishment for my soft self.  Anyhoo, the roads were great and with the wind at my back 30 mph was a blast.  Heading back toward the northwest was another story, however you fully experience every bit of gravel, every beer can when you've got your head down and are struggling to make 8 mph.  On the plus side the snowgeese were putting on an amazing show and the views from the highlands were outstanding.  Regardless of where you're from you should be able to see your house during parts of the Fool's Ride.

I've been getting some positive feedback via the email I sent out and folks who got wind of the event via gravelgrinder news and it appears that there will a few of us doing the ride.  Dare I hope for 20 this time around?

On a day when a good portion of this great nation of ours is preoccupied with the weather prognosticating abilities of a ground-dwelling rodent, I thought I would trot out a little treasure that I found in an ethnic pastry I received at my local HyVee store/restaurant.  I feel it pretty well sums up what the gravel grinding scene is all about.

Planning is still on the table for what today I'm calling April Fool's Eve Gravelfest on March 31, 2012.  If the rodent is to believed winter should be mostly over by then.

Snow? In January?

We finally received a smattering of white goodness the other day and it seemed like a perfect time to get out for a rare mid-winter ride to check out some of the proposed spring route.  I have a feeling that the weather gods will once again frown on me for the March 31 ride, but I'm an eternal pessimist. 

 Reclaimed railroad bed - sort of a rails to trails project, but there's no gravel surface - just grass (or snow)  Extra credit if you can find my bike.

A typical South Dakota winterscape.

Our new 90-year-old bike (and pedestrian bridge)

Spam! (not the tasty pork concoction in a can)

I've noticed that supposed 'hyperlinks' in the text of my posts are really nothing more than crap ads promising wealth, fame and your choice of larger or smaller body parts.  I don't pretend to know how this works or why it's happening - just be forewarned.  I'll see if my resident IT expert (my wife) can work a fix.  With my Amish leanings I consider turning on a computer an accomplishment.

Happy riding!

Looking for a working title...

It's official!  I'm committing to putting together a 100k ride on March 31, 2012.  Because I am still haunted by flashbacks from the 2011 Steeplechase this ride will have at most 1 mile of MMR.  Also, I will post a map prior to the day of the event for your perusal and critique.  There will probably be cue sheets as well.
The bike bridge (pedestrians can use it too) is now open over the Missouri so this will be a part of the route as well.
As always this will be a self-supported, free ride (not race).  Depending on expressed interest there may be something happening afterward in terms of food/beverage.
Please check back for more details.  And this ride needs a theme...

Grinding 2012 style

Welcome to the new year!  Since winter has been on hiatus it still feels like October and it's been hard to get in the spirit of starting anew.  However, 2012 is here for real and it's time to start planning for some gravelly miles.  Who wants to do a 50 miler (or metric 100) in late March/early April?  I'm turning 45 on 4/1 so 3/31 may be a good option for a last hurrah.  Let me know preferences of dates and mileage/kilometerage.

Cheers to all!

For the record, we've had about .5" of total precipitation since the mire-fest of last October.  I'm really trying not to take it personally.