Trans Iowa V6 postcard

Coming at ya Guitar Ted

After staring at the postcards at Avant Card for about 20 minutes, I finally gave up on the idea that I needed to find a postcard that "defines me" and just grabbed the stupidest one they had in stock. In doing so maybe I did grab the one that defines me.

Short Sunday ride

North 27th rollers - Hey, I see Matt and Jesse!

The crew was small today most likely due to the threatening weather. North wind kept the temps in the 30's with wind chill. Yep, it's about time for the Lake Winter boots.

Not a sound

Ninja dog ran with Schmidty and I for a bit. The pooch was stoked to have someone to play with. Not one bark.

Blood trail

Signs of the first weekend of rifle season for deer appeared a few times on the gravel.

Hat trick

Number three for Mark on the day. Couldn't find anything in the tire or rim strip. Bad luck I guess.

Big load

Wrapped up the ride at Cafe Indigo in the Hay Market for a free espresso. Anyone that rides to the cafe on Sunday gets a free espresso. Good stuff.

Saturday gravel fun

Rollin' out

The gravel posse reached double digits today. We headed North towards Valparaiso after some coffee at The Mill. The ride started out a bit chilly, but quickly warmed up when the sun came out.

Never thought I'd see the day - Wills on the smart phone

Hit "B road" on our way into Valparaiso. Those of you who rode the 2009 GLGA probably remember that road well. It was dry and fast today.

Rural lawn ornament

On the way back into town on the 27th street gravel just North of Kawasaki, Jim Winklepleck had a little run in with a pretty good sized dog. The dog came at Jim in a full sprint and T-boned Jim as he was clippin' along. I don't know how Jim was able to keep it upright, but he did. Jim, you got some skills and some bad luck with dogs.

The collision made a terrible noise. Kinda like picking up your bike and throwing it down to the ground as hard as you can. The dog was visibly injured. It tucked it's tail and limped back to where it came from. Jim's bike was fine.

I've never seen that dog before. Maybe it was over for a visit. Weird.

Tanker fly over

We wrapped up the ride with around 55 to 60 miles. Another great day on the bike. Thanks for the ride fellas! More of the same tomorrow.

Registration for Trans Iowa is open!

Registration for Trans Iowa V6 has opened for vets of the event. Guitar Ted has the info on his blog. 340 miles (or as many miles as my body will take me) of Iowa gravel in late April. Sounds good to me.

I need to stop by Avant Card and pick up my postcard on the way home from work. Who else is in for some extra long gravel fun?

Sunday fun day!

Double pace lining the Homestead Trail south

Another good sized crew of folks met up at Meadowlark Coffee for an 8:30 departure. The wind was stiff all day and taking a turn up front was a challenge. We don't have mountains, but we have plenty of wind.

Barely visible cemetery

On the way to Wilber for brunch at the Wilber Hotel, Aaron, Jesse, Sydney and I came across an interesting piece of history. I think it was Sydney who spotted it. At the top of a small mound hiding in the tall grass next to a corn field was a 19th century cemetery. The cemetery is on SW 72nd Street between Ash and Aspen Roads.

Not in bad shape considering the age

The whole Marsh family is buried here. Another smaller enclosed cemetery (the Sykes family) is only a few feet from this one.

Here lies William Marsh

Can you figure out the inscription at the bottom?

This marker is the wife (first wife?) of William Marsh. Only 33 years, 6 months, and 16 days old when she passed away. Sobering reality of the life expectancy in a world without modern medicine that was just five generations ago.

I tried to figure out the inscription at the bottom. German is the language. The first word is misspelled. It should read, "Selig sind die im Herrn sterben". Using several translating websites, I believe it's most likely, "Blessed are those that die in the Lord"

Note the headstone in the upper left - Jasper M. Sykes

The pic above is of the second smaller cemetery which probably pre-dates the larger one. This assumption is based on the date of death (1878) on the largest headstone of Mary A (wife of Jasper).

Jasper M. Sykes - Civil War Veteran and Grand Army of the Republic member

This goes to prove that you can find just about anything on the internet. A very brief and interesting read of the life of Jasper M. Sykes. Civil War veteran who fought with General Sherman, stanch Republican, successful farmer, and husband to Mary.

Finally dry enough for harvest!

Hey fellas!

Soon to be harvested

Another great ride today. Thanks everyone! Looking forward to hitting more gravel next weekend.

Satur-Yay!

Gravel posse- great seeing everyone today!

Beautiful day in Nebraska. Temps reached mid 60's by the turn around point. Ditched the arm warmers and knee warmers for short sleeves and shorts by the end of the ride. Didn't quite make it to North Bend for a gravel hundy. The North wind was a bit more intense than the forecast had indicated. So Ceresco ended up being the destination. A nice 60 miler for the day. Nothing too crazy.

Rural gravel beauty

Yep, that's Nebraska gravel for ya. Endless possibilities for rides in every direction. No matter which way you go you'll hit a small town about 15 to 25 miles out of Lincoln. Perfect for 50 to 60 mile rides.

Good Problem

Post ride lunch at the ever popular Grateful Bread. Line out the door at this Freakbeat Vegetarian bakery/soup shop. Will they ever make the Amish Cinnamon Rolls again? I asked that question last week. The answer is no. Bummer.

Drop bar mountain bike lovin'

Went through Wilderness on the way home from work today on the Fargo. Glad I had my light with me cuz it got dark before I knew it. Keeping the light charged is gonna be a daily ritual from here on out until Spring next year.

Tonight was my first off road ride with the Fargo. I've taken it on plenty of gravel and crushed limestone, but no dirt. Just never had the opportunity. Well, after hitting the dirt I gotta admit, drop bar mountain bikes on flat singletrack such as Wilderness Park are quite amazing. It felt much more natural than a traditional flat bar and the fat tires chewed everything up. I pretty much felt invincible on that thing. To be fair, my perspective is probably a bit skewed right now since I ride cross bikes all the time. Anything with a fatter tire will feel better on singletrack. But it wasn't just the tires. There's something else that I can't quite put my finger on. I will say the bike fit really well and is obviously well designed. Kudos to Salsa.

Maybe this drop bar mountain bike thing will be the next new old school craze. Travis Brown rocked a drop bar on his 26 inch mountain bike for Leadville last year and did really well. He's convinced it's the way to go for a race like Leadville.

Wills you were right. Drop bar mountain bikes are wicked.

Sunday!

Meadowlark Coffee rally point. Matt, why so sad?

Ash road on the way to Wilber.

Aaron wants me to take his picture. Done.

Wilber Hotel for brunch. The "real" bikers beat us there.

Slim pickins by the time we show up. Fresh biscuits, eggs and coffee soon followed this pic. Score! $5.95 per plate. The new off-season Bacon Ride.

Homeboy in the background isn't too impressed with our cheesy pose.

Good dog. Didn't bark at all. Just ran along with us for a bit and then stopped and headed back for home when I told her/him to "Go home". Oh, getting pics of dogs chasing on gravel is my "new thing".

Ran into this skinny transient on the way home. He asked us for money. I gave him some pocket change.

The colors are peakin'. Beautiful day on the bike. Got up to 72 degrees. Might be the last really nice one of the year. Hope you got out and enjoyed it.