2010 was a great year spent outdoors!

2010 was another great year to spend time outdoors! The NOA blog had 362 posts. Now has 27 followers and 13,785 unique hits during 2010. And I have 771 facebook friends. I've had a great time sharing my adventures with you and hope you've made an effort to spend more time outdoors.

You've seen our family have a ton of fun outside and watched me mature as a cyclist. I started riding in 2008 and put on 2,000 miles that year. During 2009 I racked up an additional 4,681.78 miles on the bike. This year brought 6,270.43 more miles giving me a total of 12,952.21 for my first 3 years as a cyclist. During 2010 blog readers have followed me on the following outdoor adventures:

129 round trip commutes to work and back (aprox 20 miles)

18 one way work commutes (aprox 10 miles)

We attended the Big Buck Classic in Omaha.

I rode in 6 of Lincoln's Critical Mass rides.

Tried my luck at the KC Sprints.

16 Hustle alley cat style races.

You saw me try and fail at riding an indoor trainer.

Couch sledding with our oldest.

Participated in the following GPBC events: Holiday Dinner, Easter Candy Ride, Spring Fling Ride, Full Moon Ride, Just Do It Ride, Lied Bridge Ride, Ride Of Silence, Wabash Trace Ride, and the Heatstroke 100 Ride.

Riding to Pepe's for the Sunday 'Biker Special'.

The purchase of Trusty Rusty.

Riding gravel with the Adventure Racers to Branched Oak and Beatrice.

Riding gravel in Kansas.

The opening of the Antelope Valley Trail.

18 Tuesday Night Nacho Rides.

Biking to church 7 times.

You saw me Demo the Bike Pedalers Marin Mount Vision 5.9 and Pivot Mach 4 mountain bikes.

I put together and hosted the 1st annual NSFW ride.

Attended the LPD bike auction.

The Cycle Works Tomac open house event.

I was a spectator at the following races: ACA 12 hour MTB race at Wagontrain. Xterra Bolt Branched Oak race. Flatwater cyclocross races at Van Dorn Park. Lincoln Cyclocross races at Pioneers park. And the Capital City Criterium.

You saw me get road rash in the shape of a heart from a tight turn on a downhill section of bike trail during a wet work commute.

We attended the Joyride Specialized demo event.

Spring and fall turkey hunting with our youngest.

Camping, air boating, and catching monster catfish on the Loup River.

I spent 9 nights in a tent and 5 nights in campers during 2010.

I rode single track at: Wagon Train, Branched Oak, Wilderness Park and Bike Pedalers' secret MTB area.

I rode with the BP crew on the Bread & Cup ride and the Yia Yias ride.

Two Fox Hole 100 rides.

Did my 2nd Tour De Nebraska 5-day bike tour.

We did the Taco Ride in Iowa.

Took Gravel to Parkers Smokehouse in Ashland.

Rode day-1 of RAGBRAI and attended the Expo the day before.

Canoed at Holmes Lake a couple of times with the family.

Met Tom Snyders the bicycling comedian on RAGBRAI, saw his show in Omaha and rode to Pepe's with him in Lincoln.

Checked out the Cycle Works Giant ladies bike demo.

Rode in the 2010 GLGA Gravel World Championship.

Bought the wife a Specialized Ruby.

You saw the Felt Z70 frame become fatigued and separated.

I rode a loaner Surly Cross Check from Bike Pedalers.

Then got a new Felt ZA frameset from Felt free on warrantee.

Attended the Monkey Wrench Cycles grand opening.

Found the Austro-Daimler & a cruiser for $30 at the Bicycle Swap Meet.

Rode the Flint Hills Nature Trail in Kansas.

Rode a century going to Nebraska City and back.

I had 6 flat tires during 2010.

We attended the 2010 Ducks Unlimited banquet and the 2010 Quail Forever Banquet.

And, we deer hunted again on the Loup this year.

I'm not bragging, just wanted to see a tally, but it's not about the numbers, it's about the fun I've had. And I'm so thankful for all the great people I've met and spent time and miles with again in 2010.

I'm healthier, happier, greener, more responsible, fun and social than I've ever been. I'm looking forward to building on the time we've spent outdoors and making 2011 another unforgettable year of outdoor adventures.

My big cycling/blog goals for this year were:

10,000 unique hits on the NOA blog during 2010. *CHECK*

25 NOA followers and 500 facebook friends by the end of 2010. *CHECK, CHECK*

Another year with no serious wrecks. *CHECK*

6,000 miles on the bike during 2010. *CHECK*

5 Centuries during 2010. *NOPE, JUST 2*

125 round trip work commutes during 2010. *CHECK*

And another tour during 2010. *CHECK*

I'm not setting any specific goals for 2011 other than to finish Gravel Worlds and maybe get a MTB. Otherwise I just hope to keep doing what I have been.

Hope to see you spending time with friends and family outdoors in the year to come!!!

Have a Happy New Year!!!

Just floating through life.

We took the canoe out for a cruise this evening on Holmes Lake. It was peaceful and relaxing. I even got my grandma and Doc out on the water.

Water seems to be the underlying theme lately.

I beat the rain on the way into work, but it still wasn't quite done by the time I rode home.

After work I took the canoe to Holmes Lake for Brent to use. I hauled the bike there and rode around a bit before riding home. Afterward I rode back to the lake to take the pick-up and canoe home.

Our canoe is available if you'd like to take the kids for a ride, have a romantic cruise or get out to that hot fishing hole in the middle of the lake. Just let me know if you'd ever like to borrow it.

Today I ended up with 26.4 miles.

Had the canoe out at Holmes Lake.

Yesterday's Firecracker 50 ride in Seward got rained out, but we did get to play outside a little today when we took the canoe out for a ride at Holmes Lake.

Waterfest 2010

Our youngest and I hopped on our bikes and headed over to Holmes Lake this evening for Waterfest. Geeze, I didn't realize how big this event would be! It was all free, food, music, booths, demonstrations, fishing, canoe rides, and more. He brought home a bag of free loot, some new knowledge about water conservation and some memories of a few hours of fun on the banks of Holmes Lake.

Including all three rides today I racked up 37.4 miles total.

Pack up the kids for Waterfest on Saturday at Holmes Lake.

This'll be a great event for the family and it's free! Food, live music, and lots of water. Click here and here to find out all the details.

2009 Wrap-up and 2010 Goals & Aspirations.

Pic lifted from My Kind of Country

What a great year to spend time outdoors! The NOA blog had 500 posts in just over 9 months! And 7,095 unique hits since the end of March. I've had a great time sharing my adventures with you and hope you've made an effort to spend more time outdoors.

You've seen our family have a ton of fun outside and watched me mature as a cyclist. I started riding in 2008 and put on 2,000 miles. During 2009 I racked up an additional 4,681.78 miles on the bike and blog readers have followed me on the following outdoor adventures:

91 round trip commutes to work and back (aprox 20 miles)

10 one way work commutes (aprox 10 miles)

Our 11 yr olds purchase of a new Felt MTB from Bike Pedalers

My first endo at Wilderness Park

Shooting at Lincoln's Izzak Walton

Bike riding on York's trail

Phil Keoghan's Coast to Coast book signing

4-wheeler riding with our 17 yr old at Halsey Forest

My Hunter Education Class

Bike riding on Columbus' trail system

The Ride of Silence

Fishing trips

Airboating on the Loup River

Camping

Biking to Southpoint's Friday Nights Live Concert

Biketacular & the return of the Capital City Criterium cycling races

Riding to Beatrice

The Haymarket Farmers Market

The GPBC Slow & Go ride

The 5-day Tour De Nebraska

Seward's Firecracker Ride

Larry the Cable Guy's 4th of July Show at Memorial Stadium

Riding to the Uncle Sam Jam fireworks show

Riding the Prairie Spirit Trail in KS once from Ottawa to Richmond and once Garnett to Iola

Two rides to Bennet

My first fixie ride

The Cairo Cornstalk Festival

Many canoe rides at Holmes Lake

The Cornhusker State Games Century Tour and Opening Ceremonies

The Wilbur Czech Festival ride

The BBC Rollin' To The River ride

3 Taco Rides in Iowa

The GPTN Discovery Ride

The Heatstroke 100 ride

My first century followed by two more later in the summer

Bass Fishing in North Central KS

The State Fair

The Bike Swap

CROPS walk bike ride

LPD bike auction

Several bike rides to Cortland

23 Tuesday night Nacho Rides

Our 11 yr old's 2 turkeys in one shot

Biking to my first Husker football game and 1st Stars hockey game

The purchase of my new Felt Z-70 road bike from Bike Pedalers

Bike Pedalers grand-opening party and Race Across the Sky after party

Loup Valley's annual Ducks Unlimited Banquet

The 350.org ride

3 Critical Mass rides

A ride to Raymond

2 rides to Ceresco

Riding to church

Riding on Grand Island's trails

Our 11 yr olds first buck and my buck during this year's rifle season

2 of Pepe's Free Bike Commuter Breakfasts

2 Tuesday night rides with the hipsters to Pepe's

3 alley cat races

Snowmobiling and sledding on Christmas-eve.

I'm not bragging, just wanted to see a tally, but it's not about the numbers, it's about the fun I've had. And I'm so thankful for all the great people I've met and spent time and miles with during 2009.

I'm healthier, happier, greener, more responsible, fun and social than I've ever been. I'm looking forward to building on the time we've spent outdoors and making 2010 the best year yet.

My big cycling/blog goals for next year:

10,000 unique hits on the NOA blog during 2010.

25 NOA followers and 500 facebook friends by the end of 2010.

Another year with no serious wrecks.

6,000 miles on the bike during 2010.

5 Centuries during 2010.

125 round trip work commutes during 2010.

And another tour during 2010.

Hope to see you spending time with friends and family outdoors in the year to come!!!

Have a Happy New Year!!!

Some afternoon fun at Holmes Lake.

We came out to Holmes Lake for a canoe ride with a family from church. What a great day to be out!

More water than we hoped for...

We took the canoe out to Holmes Lake this morning to meet up with some others, we snuck in a quick canoe ride, but the rain put a 'damp'er on our plans.

That's ok, there is still a lot of weekend ahead of us, and we intend to make the most of it!

Hope your getting some outdoor fun in too.

Our youngest's 'outdoor' B-day party with friends.

Our youngest had boys from his class out to Holmes Lake for a 'outdoor' birthday party. They rode bikes, had squirt gun fights, canoed, fished and ate.

Afterword his friend Brady took him sailing out on his boat. Everyone had a great time and our youngest enjoyed a birthday weekend he'll never forget.

Before the party I tried to get in a few miles and took the Billy Wolff to the Rock Island to the Tierra Williamsburg to the Southpoint, then back on the Rock Island and Billy Wolff for a total of 17.85 miles.

A special thanks to everyone who made this weekend so fun for our youngest. And being a part of it all was a good time for me too, and helped take the sting out of his birthday.

11 becomes 12 as an outdoorsman emerges and his hero steps aside.

As Wallace Stegner observed: "...there is a time somewhere between the ages of five and twelve which corresponds to the phase ethologists have isolated in the development of birds, when an impression lasting only a few seconds may be imprinted on the young bird for life. This is the way a bird emerging from the darkness of the egg knows itself, the mechanism of its relating to the world. Expose a just hatched duckling to an alarm clock, or a wooden decoy on rollers, or a man, or any other object that moves and makes a noise, and it will react for life as if that object were its mother. Expose a child to a particular environment at his susceptible time and he will perceive in the shapes of that environment until he dies."

It is with grave concern that I announce to the world wide web that our 11 year old is just days away from becoming 12. I shudder as I see the window into his subconscious closing. His sponge of a mind is nearly saturated with experiences. Brain cells are developing at an alarming rate, creating a rational and logical tween where an awe struck lad once stood. The magic will soon be gone and he’ll spend the better part of his remaining years trying to rekindle the memories he’s made already.

As a parent and an outdoorsman, I feel like I’ve failed to pack as much of the outdoors into his head as I could have during the short handful of formative years we had together.

Statistics show that those who were not exposed to outdoor sports such as fishing and hunting as kids have around a 3% chance of partaking in those activities as adults. The number of outdoors-people is dwindling with no end in site. And I tried, as best I knew how, to instill into each of our kids the enjoyment and responsibilities of recreating outdoors. Now, as the youngest of our children bikes, swims, paddles or steps his hunting boots across that line in the sand. He’ll have more neurons connecting than ever, sending pulses of ambition to establish himself as a teen, then adult, and prove his worth to the world.

I pray that he will be reminded of:

Riding on the Billy Wolff Trail behind Hobby Lobby when he smells lilacs.

What a target perfectly lined up in his sites looks like when his fingertip touches cold steel.

How no worldly invention can be as therapeutic as warm loup river sand eroding from under bare feet.

That a puffed out chest and ear to ear smile just don’t seem right without a fish in your hand and dad pointing a camera at you.

Every weedeater or chainsaw exhaust smell beckons him back to the scent of his childhood 2-stroke ATV.

How grown-up the punishing kick of his new rifle’s first shot made him feel.

Cricket chirps and frog croaks heard from a campfire are possibly as close as you can get to heaven on earth.

How a crushed limestone trail sounds under bike tires and how the vibrations feel through the pedals and handlebars.

The smell of every fall from now on, takes him back to a riverside tree stand in 2008.

The deep-seated need to ‘do it again’ after the nauseating feel of your stomach in your throat and sting in your buns from a fast sleigh ride.

Propane will always smell like a warm duck blind breakfast on a clear and still, cold morning.

The tackiness of sunscreen and bug spray on your skin means good times are soon to be had.

Test riding an immaculate showroom bike necessitates a run through a virgin mud hole, regardless of the expression on the salesman’s face.

Root Beer and cheap chips tastes best from the front of a canoe.

With coveralls on and a shotgun in the back seat, city lights never looked better than in a pick-up mirror.

Of course I’ll continue to nurture (forcibly or otherwise) my interpretation of his love of the outdoors. But I know every outing will have less of an impact as he takes in less of the experience and worries more about whether we’ll get back in time for him to hangout with friends or for a date. The thought of girls, a job, his checkbook, and all the other responsibilities that lie across that line, will distance him from his boyhood outings I was lucky to be a part of. That disgusts me.

He had trouble coming up with what to say when I asked him what he wanted for his birthday. I said, “well, since you can’t think of a good gift anyway… I tell you what… it’s been a fun year, right?” “Yes” he says with a smile. “I thought so, ok, how about this, I’ll go down to the courthouse and have them change your birth-certificate so it’ll say you were born in 98 instead of 97, you can be 11 one more year, and we’ll even spend twice as much on your gift next year since we aren’t buying you one now. You can just skip this birthday.”

He declined.

Can’t say I’m surprised. But if it were up to me, I’d sure appreciate one more year of outdoor fun.

So now, as I trudge up to the courtesy desk of parenting, to exchange my hero’s cape for a has-been’s cane, I can’t help but feel a little sentimental about this ragged old cape.

Sure it looks ruff, with fish slime child-sized hand prints around the collar, it’s tattered and torn by bike wrecks, bloody from successful days in the field. You can shake river sand out of its seams and it smells like bug spray, sunscreen, bike sweat, fall hunts, root beer, campfire smoke, river water, and the love of three children and an adoring wife.

I’ll begrudgingly hand it to the clerk, and take that dang cane. The one that’ll make my kids turn away, when their out with friends, and I come around the corner. Their friends won’t see the cane. But my kids will. They’ll see me as I really am, an embarrassing, bumbling old fart who’s served his purpose and now should be put to pasture. But, mark my word, I’ll be back. Oh yes I will. I’ll stomp right up to that courtesy desk with this dang old cane and demand my cape back! You’ll know it’s me by the awe struck grandchild I’ll have in tow.

May 16th Fort Kearney State Park Game and Parks Commission to Host Expo

Mark your callendar now to take the family to the Outdoor Expo - it's free.

The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission will host Nebraska Outdoors: Expo 2009 on May 14-16 at Fort Kearny State Recreation Area located on Highway L50A south of Kearney. More than 7,500 individuals attended last year's Expo. This will be our first year in a new outdoor location, and we think the move to the Fort Kearny location will significantly enhance this FREE, family-oriented event. With eight lakes, camping areas and plenty of room for outdoor activities and demonstrations, we hope to continue our mission to encourage use and understanding of Nebraska's outdoors.

A wide variety of activities and exhibits are provided for participants to experience hands-on. Outdoor information and skills will be presented by Nebraska Game and Parks Commission staff as well as Cabela's and participating outdoor interest groups. The activity experiences differentiate the Expo from many sport shows.

The Expo is a free, family-oriented event.Highlights of the 2009 event include: An outdoor classroom for 4-6th grade on May 14 and 15. More than 2,600 students attended these classroom days in 2008; we anticipate this "outdoor classroom" will again be a popular educational event for schools within a 200-mile radius of the Kearney area. A public day from 9 am - 6 pm on Saturday, May 16. Featuring hands-on activities, presenters and a variety of exhibitors, this event attracted thousands of visitors of all ages from around the area last year.

Additional "on the water" experiences for those interested in kayaking, canoeing and fishing. A special kick-off even for Nebraska's 2009 Great Park Pursuit outdoor adventure program.

The Expo is for all skill levels. There is something for everyone, with 45 activities going on throughout the Expo. You can get acquainted with outdoor pursuits you've wanted to get into or pick up information that complements your present interests. You can hone safety shooting skills, see fish sampling equipment work or learn how to attract birds to a backyard feeder. Some activities will focus on specific skills such as canoeing or campfire cooking. Other sessions will add to your knowledge base of the outdoors as in wildlife management or Nebraska's raptors.

Twelve general activity areas are included in the Expo: Archery; Boating; Camping and Park Experiences; Dog Training; Fishing; Fish and wildlife management; Hunting; Law Enforcement; Natural World Encounters; Shooting; Trapping; Wildlife viewing and birding.

An hour at Holmes Lake.

After she got out of church our 12yr old wanted to canoe with a friend. We had an hour before the 11yr old had to leave for York. So while the girls paddled around the lake the youngest and I wet a line off the bank. No luck fishing. But a bad day fishing is still better than a good day... well... doing most anything else!

Hope you got out today. It was perfect out there!

Did you make it outside yesterday? If not you missed out on some awesome weather!

The wife, 11yr old, 12 yr old & I took the canoe out for a little while on Holmes Lake after work/school yesterday. The water was calm and it was really peaceful. We took a loaf of ‘duck bread’ (old bread from the bread store, you get a big bag for $1, they call it feed bread) and since we couldn't get the ducks to come over by our canoe we gave what was left to a little girl who was playing in the sand on the bank near the boat ramp while her older brother fished and mom looked on. Kudos to the mom, for taking the kids out! I always get a kick out of giving our leftover duck bread to the families we see when we’re ready to leave.

Then I hit the Mopak trail head at 5:30 to do the Nacho Ride. It was a sweet ride into Eagle. I indulged in 3 tacos and a Mountain Dew with free refills for the astronomical price of $3.65. They hit the spot perfectly and fueled an invigorating ride back to the trail head arriving just before 7:30. The trail was dry and it was simply a wonderful ride. I hope to see you on a Nacho Ride sometime. Really, a great way to spend a couple of hours on two wheels. Score 21.24 miles.

Watercraft

Throughout my childhood my dad, uncles, grandpas', etc. all had boats. And I spent countless weekends at lakes, usually Harlan County Reservoir, and Sherman Dam. When I was 15 my grandpa Duke gave me a old 50's era boat that would seat 5 and had a 50 horse outboard Mercury. It had a white hull and red top, lots of chrome and black upholstery and black engine. He restored it and it was sharp and ran good. I sold it back to him when I was around 22.

After that I got busy with life and didn't have anything to take out on the water. Duke died in 2000 and I borrowed the 'little red boat' a couple of times from my grandma. In the meantime my dad got a air boat to use on his new river ground near Centura and we'd get rides and fish for catfish off it when we went there.

Fast forward to 2008. We're in Lincoln for our first spring and I take the kids to Holmes Lake to catch bluegill. The have a ball. Just using zeboco 202's, a split shot weight, plain hook with some kernels of canned corn and a bobber. Fishing off the rocks on the bank you can see 4" bluegill come out of the rocks and take the hook, one right after the other. It's a hoot. We throw them all back.

Then it hits me, the big blue expanse is calling me, and I get the itch for a boat. I know I can't afford one, and the wife is a bit of a landlubber, but I can't get it out of my mind. I find myself checking craigslist and even looking at a couple of boat stores, Sams Club and Scheels. I decide what I need is a Two Man Bass Boat. Long story short, I tell my grandma about my dream and she tells me that she gave a small boat to my dad years ago for the kids to play on at one of the ponds on his river ground. I call him and ask about it, and he says it's still around, that he never liked it and it hasn't been used. He said I'm welcome to it if I want it. Another quick check of craigslist yields a minkota trolling motor and battery for $75 in Beatrice, a quick drive down there and a trip out to Cairo and I'm once again a seaman! The wife sarcastically calls it "his rubbermaid tote".

It's real small, rated for 1 person or 250 lbs. but since I'm tipping the scales at 150 lbs. and the two youngest are around 80 lbs. I figure we're safe to use it as long as I only take one at a time. I just throw it in the bed of the pick-up and go. We had allot of fun with it all summer last year.

You'd think that would pacify me... wrong, then I get to thinking about all the fun I had canoeing the loup growing up. Hmmm. I need a canoe! So, back to craigslist I go. I watch for a few months and even tried trading a atv trailer for a canoe to no avail. Then one day I check again. And deep into the depths of craigslist I find that UNL's Rec. Dept. is having a inventory liquidation sale. Starting on a Thursday at 10am and continuing through the weekend. It's a worthless ad. And I figure I'm the only guy in cyberspace that has seen it.

The appointed day arrives, I sneak out of the office and get to UNL at 1/4 to 10 feeling confident that I'll get a canoe or two. You see, the ad said they had like 13 or 14 canoes from $30 - $70. (their usually over $200 for a decent used canoe in the paper or online) I neglected to tell the wife about the UNL sale, but I'm thinking I can save face if I pick-up two. One for me and one as a gift for her. (typical testosterone thinking, huh?) Or, if she wasn't delighted with her new vessel I could sell the extra for enough of a profit to cover the one I'd keep. Essentially getting a 'free' canoe and not taking anything away from the family grocery budget. I'm feeling pretty smart!

Back to that morning at UNL, as I round the corner of the building I find a herd of over 50 outdoorsmen! After a few minutes someone from the rec. dept. comes out with numbers 1-60, everyone draws one and the person with #1 gets to go first. They announce everyone can pick up to 3 canoes and when their gone, their gone. I draw # 27 *bummer* I see the guy with #1 and ask him how many he's going to get. He said he wants two, but decided he'd get 3 and sell one. I ask what he'd have to have to sell me the rights to buy his 3rd canoe. We agree on $25. I pick a $60 canoe and when the dust has cleared I've got a nice used canoe for a total of $85. Still well below what it's worth.

That was in January of 2009, we've had it out a couple of times and love it. For one reason or another the wife or 17 yr old hasn't come out on it yet. But it shouldn't be long. Even though she's not much for canoeing, I think I've sold her on the idea of a romantic sunset cruse. I don't know if I've got to stand up and sing as we go under the bridges on Holmes Lake like the gondola guys do in Italy, but I'll let you know how it goes. I told the girlfriend of my 17 yr old about how great it'd be if he took her out on it some quite, serene evening and she ate it up. Even if he'd rather be playing basketball, I'm hoping she'll help get him out on the water sometime soon. Of course he's too busy and too cool to go out with me on it.