Today's ride...for our good friend, Caleb

Sup, Caleb? Today's ride was conducted in your honor. 50 miles of wet, cold gravel so I could get these pictures for you:

So cool they named a whole town after him. You are the man, Caleb!

This road seemed like just as bad an idea when I reached the other end as it looked from here.

The Lemond will never be the same...what are those crunchy noises coming out of the drivetrain?

Last weekend was much nicer. 45 miles on the road bike to Crete and back...toasty warm, a rest stop to watch the Doane track meet...delicious turkey and havarti sandwich. Let's get back to that weather, shall we?

Race Report: Psycowpath 1

Race #1 for the season: Psycowpath Maskenthine--near Norfolk, NE. Nice cool day with a wind that just kept on giving. Gusting strong in the early races...got much stronger as the day progressed.

First race of the year, so had no idea what class to ride in. Thought I'd try my age group to see how the fitness was progressing. Rolling the singlespeed El Mariachi, 32X17; new Schwalbe Racing Ralph 2.4's.

Norfolk is a lot further than I thought. The extra stop to buy McD's sausage bisquits for Ian nearly cost me. Signed in at the last possible second and headed straight for the start line. No warm up at all. Checked with Millhouse, who was actually disciplined enough to show up on time and preride. Thanks for the pointers, pal.

Typically these things are just anaerobic from the gun. Open class got about a minute head start then they sent the age groupers off. I just stood up and pedaled hard on the long gravel climb to the singletrack. Kept waiting to get passed by the guys with gears...nothing. Half-way up the climb I took a look around and saw I had a big gap. Huh, that's different. Kept hammering and got a clean shot into the singletrack.


The gravel road start

First technical section by the creek was pretty soft, but really fun. A few logs to hop, some nice ups and downs, and a rocky little stream crossing. Started catching open class riders in this section, many of whom were walking the stream crossing. Rang the little brass bell (I love that thing!) and squeezed by, riding all the way through.


Exiting the technical section

On the first open section I was catching a lot of riders. Found my good friend Millhouse looking good in his first race on that Red Salsa El Mar...felt a few pangs of jealousy as Ian tells me Justin's bike looks way better than mine. Dang.


Out in the open

Right before the trail re-enters the trees I caught the last of the open class racers. Passed the last four on the hill into the trees. I assumed I'd just swap the lead with them for a while, take a breather and gather myself. Again, looked back and found a gap. Decided to just press the advantage and see who followed. To my surprise, they just let me ride away.

Pushed the rest of lap one pretty hard hoping to get a nice solid lead going and discourage the chasers. Out of the technical section the second time, Ian was waiting with the camera. He must have run four miles to get all the great shots he captured. He told me I had a one minute lead on the second place rider. The open section with all the switchbacks lets you get a good view of those chasing you. By the end of the section I could see that my lead was holding steady. Decided to throttle back a ways in case I needed something at the end.

Ended up stretching the lead out and winning by about three minutes.


Photo credit: Tom Winfield

Conclusion #1: The last month of pain and suffering at the hands of sadistic spin instructors really paid off. I was so much stronger than in race one last year. Conclusion #2: I've got a long ways to go to be in position to succeed at Laramie. Conclusion #3: Great equipment set-up, mostly. I love that Salsa...only got to race the rigid fork once last year and got worked over pretty good. Much better this time. Singlespeed hurts...but it's a good hurt. Used an H2O bottle instead of pack...jury still out...much easier to grab the tube and gulp than to wait for a convenient place to hydrate. Tires: fabulous...trail condition were about perfect, but these are definitely the race tires for me this season.


Relaxing with Millhouse

Next up: Swanson, May 3. I love that place.

Hmmm...break the silence

The world cries out for more insight from the Wiener Dog. The Wiener Dog hears you, world.

...Okay, the Wiener Dog just realized...he has nothing to say. So, how about a little photo dump with commentary?



The Tigger finishes up her volleyball season. You think that smile is big...you should have seen the one on her parents when the season ended!

Ian getting jiggy with it. Does he enjoy dancing a little too much? I gotta cut loose--footloose.

Is Ian auditioning for a part in the Donner Summers reunion tour? No, he's Pharaoh in the school musical. Dude, let my people go already.