ponca 2008

for the last 4 years a group of lincolnites have ridden from lincoln,ne to ponca,ne. all gravel roads, pretty much striaght north. leave early morn, get there before sunset. stay in a group all day. camp that night and drive back with some friends that drive up the day before with our gear. it's between 155 and 165 miles depending on where you're leaving from in town.

this year it took 16hrs to go north. and this year a few of us agreed to ride home. and that took 14hrs. we cheated a bit with some highway shoulder but 310miles in two days nonetheless.

thanks for cornbread for the pics. i broke my saddle on the way up and had to shim it with a wad of duct tape between the saddle shell and the top of the seatpost. of course, it failed at mile 30. so the rest of the way on a ride-able but painful saddle. i switched it out to a friend's saddle that his wife drove up since she was camping too. the tire lever fix was my first attempt. it didn't work well.

i've got the route on a series of maps i printed from garmin software. it shows all the gravel and paved roads. pretty much a big grid untill you get up north or around the platte river. in 4 years i have the route pretty much in my head, but i like to check it alot so we don't get off track and waste a bunch of daylight.

we'll try to keep this as an yearly event. it sure is a good time.

SSWC Primer Reschedule

Curtis Inglis called me yesterday to tell me there has been a slight change in plans for the pre-worlds festivities. Here's the new lowdown:

• Wed night Dirt Crits at Howarth Park in Santa Rosa at 6pm. Races and BBQ.
  
• Thursday meet at the Lawndale parking lot at Annadel in Santa Rosa for a 10am ride through the park and over to the Sycip shop on 5th st. We should be arriving at Sycip around 1pm for beer and food.
  
• Friday meet at the Java Hut in Fairfax at 10am and ride the Pine Mountain loop. Then meet at American Cyclery in San Francisco at 4pm for a ride through SF and across the Golden Gate Bridge for a BBQ the Marin headlands. This will be a mellow cruise.

Dr. Kickass

This here is Rich Szecsy. He's a got a PhD in kicking ass. He finished 8th at the 24 Hr Solo World Championships (single speed division) last weekend. I get my ass kicked regularly so I'm not in need of Rich's services but if you happen to be racing against him I suspect it won't matter when your last visit was, he will tune you up for free.

I made it down without a flat and all I got was this stupid seat.

Jason Holmes bought a bike from us last year and he stopped by recently with his daughter Ava to get some schwag. I noticed his new custom saddle which was a prize for winning the Sport class at Downieville. Pretty cool. Only a select few got these things, and winning your class at that race on a hardtail definitely says something about your fitness and bike handling skills. By the way, all his friends who said he couldn't get away racing a hardtail there do not have this saddle.

SSWC Pre-Race festivities

On Saturday I met Curtis and crew for a little re-con at Skyline before the SSWC. I've ridden and raced up there before but I guess my memory ain't so good because the ride was a bit of an eye-opener. Hot, dusty, steep, lotsa rocks, but really fun. Just like a mountain bike race should be.

Ever the gracious host, Jeff Hantman provided us with some sort of Chinese pastry/cake deal that conveniently did not have a nutrition label attached. All we know is one of the ingredients was "green".


Speaking of being good hosts, the locals (not us or Curtis or anyone you know) out here want the out-of-towners to have a good time in the days leading up to the race so here's the itinerary:

• Wed night Dirt Crits at Howarth Park in Santa Rosa at 6pm. Races and BBQ.
  
• Thursday meet at the Java Hut in Fairfax at 10am and ride the Pine Mountain loop.
• Friday meet at the Lawndale parking lot at Annadel in Santa Rosa for a 10am ride. Then meet at American Cyclery in San Francisco between 4pm and 5pm for a ride through SF and across the Golden Gate Bridge for a BBQ the Marin headlands. This will be a mellow cruise.

Of course this all might be a bit much for those of you who will be in the "resting" phase of their training. Better that you people stay away from this stuff.