Today - A good day spent outdoors. Happy Trails!

After biking to work our youngest and I took a spin around Holmes Lake reminiscent of my first blog post 3 1/2 years ago. It was a great day to be outdoors, but, then again, most are. I followed it with a ride up the hill giving me 27.3 miles for the day and bringing my 2012 total to 1,067.74 miles so far.

This is my 1,000th post on the Nebraska Outdoor Addict blog and it's a fitting time to wrap it up. Loyal readers have followed me on hundreds of rides totaling 13,657.12 miles. As well as lots of other outdoor adventures. The NOA blog has had 35,000 unique hits to date, and I'm encouraged and flattered by each one.

I'll continue to spend as much time outdoors as posable in the years to come and hope you will too. As my old cycling pal Scott said on the Nacho Ride, "It's not the end, it's just a new beginning." Well put. Thanks again for all the support and encouragement. And a special thanks to all my friends and my wonderful family.

Here's hoping to see you outdoors!

The last Nacho Ride for the Nebraska Outdoor Addict.

A few NOA blog fans and I met up at the Mopac trailhead for a ride to Eagle last night. Technically, the trail is still closed due to the drought cracks that'll eat a bike wheel, but we went anyway. And anything besides a Nacho Ride wouldn't seem like the right way to celebrate.

It was a fun group with Tony, James, James, Patches, Terri (rockin new wheels) Jon, & Scott. 4 of the 8 of us got flats, there were stickers everywhere. I thought for a minute James was going to toss his wheel into the trees out of frustration. Toward the end I had the honor of running into former cyclist Counsel who was running on foot (wth?) with Christa. He claimed he was training for a 1/2 Ironman.

It was a great time as always and good to see everyone again. The Nacho Ride along with a trip up the hill the other day and some other piddling around I'd done in the neighborhood gives me another 26.6 miles.

Ride.

Just get a ride in every chance you get. Over the weekend I took a couple of short rides up the hill totaling 9.1 miles.

Cooling down.

It's not near as hot as it has been and I'm loving it! I took the Felt to the office and back today tacking on another 21.1 miles.

Union Plaza Dedication.

Tonight was the dedication of Lincoln Parks and Rec's new Union Plaza.

Union Plaza is a 3 block long city park in the Antelope Valley Project. Mayor Beutler was on hand as well as reps from the Parks Dept, Union Bank and others who were instrumental in the creation of Lincoln's newest park.

Besides the dedication and recognition of those involved, there were booths, prizes, food, crafts, music and more.

I had a chance to see a lot of old biking friends and it was a great night to get out on the trails. Afterward I pedaled to a meeting on 56th St before going home giving me 14.2 miles this evening.

Cycling should never be a pain.

Over the last few months I've had a stiff neck/shoulder the night and next morning after a ride. Since the pain didn't come on till hours later it took awhile to even figure out it had something to do with biking.

We started wondering if it had something to do with my Trek FX 7.6, on Tuesday I took it for a spin around the South Pointe loop, sure enough, by bedtime I was sore.

Today I did the exact same route on the Felt and... no pain! Well, at least I've got it narrowed down. I've got some kind of a fit issue with my Trek I'll have to get solved. At least it's not just old age. Those two rides plus a trip up the hill over the weekend give me 20.3 miles.

Perfect conditions.

This mornings work commute was cool with no wind and the trip home was in the mid-80's with a strong tailwind out of the north. What luck! Today's miles = 21.1

A dry summer.

My bike rides have been as few and far between as the rain storms this summer. The NRD has closed the rail-trails outside Lincoln due to the bike tire width sized drought cracks on the paths. The other day I took a spin over to Holmes Lake to find the water level way below normal. I also took a trip up the hill over the weekend and rode to work today adding up to 38.7 miles lately.

A fast summer.

I've been getting out there some, not near as much as I should, but even though I haven't been blogging, I have gotten some rides in. Summer is slipping away and my mileage is way down but the time I've spent on the bike has been great.

I've rode to the office several times, a group of us went to the screening of Reveal The Path at the Sheldon, the Nacho Ride last week and lots of trips up the hill. All told I racked up 159.3 miles since my last post.

A new short cut and more miles.

Our youngest is taking classes this month at Northstar High School so I rode with him there before going to work this morning.
On the way home we found a couple of guys prepping to pour a short cut connector trail where a dirt path had been worn in the grass where the John Dietrich connects to Holdrege street.
I made several trips up the hill since my last post getting me 13.2 miles and today's commute was 29.5 miles, for a total of 42.7 miles.

The Cottonwood 200.



Memorial Day weekend was the annual Cottonwood 200, a 200 mile, 3-day tour out of Topeka Kansas through the Flint Hill and back to Topeka. The price was right so a bunch of us from Lincoln signed up and went. The weather was brutal with tough winds and high temps, it was hard at times to even go 9 mph on the bike. They SAG'ed a record number of riders (myself included) in on the first day. I couldn't keep fluids down and was over heated. The scenery was awesome though and the tour was top notch all the way. The SAG stops were loaded with great food and drinks, and everyone was really helpful. The second day also had some tough hills and a direct headwind of 35 mph. We worked our tails off to ride the little over 20 miles South before turning back into a hot but rewarding tail-wind. The third day was the best weatherwise and ended the ride on a high note. We saw some neat sights, had a ton of fun and enjoyed the chance to get away for a long weekend on bikes. I wound up with 127.1 miles during the 3-day tour.

Find a way.

Try to find a way to make time to ride your bike. Last week I biked to the office and up the hill once racking up another 26.1 miles. It's not as much as I'd like, but I'm still getting out there every chance I get.

Get out and ride.

(image lifted off www.ribike.org)

After recovering from the bear attack during the NSFW Ride I've rode up the hill four times and to the office four times. The weather has been awesome and with a new helmet I'm good as new.

This is bike to work week, the CCC and Biketacular are this weekend, the Ride of Silence is tonight and so much more. It's prime season to get out and ride!

I'll be working in West Point tomorrow and on vacation Friday so I'm done for the week. Happy healing to Cletus and Ben.

Since my last post I've added another 102.3 miles onto the Trek.

The 3rd Annual NSFW Ride.

16 of us met up at the Zoo this morning and made stops at Joy Ride, The Bike Rack, Pepe's, Ivanna Cone, and Monkey Wrench Cycles.

The weather was perfect and spirits were high despite a couple of mishaps. One was a bear that came after our group on the 84th St trail till I saved everyone and came away with just a few abrasions. The other happened as we rode down a tight section of N 1st St.

We had a blast and got home with 45.6 miles for the day.