Friday, June 15, 2007

Riding in Nebraska

I was lucky enough to find Blue's Bikes in Lincoln. I was able to rent a Trek Pilot for $80/7 days which was a lot less than flying my bike. I had most of my own accessories and all it took was a little adjusting and off I went.

Monday: Met up with Chet Henry who is living in Lincoln and is a UNL cycling team member and Cat 3 on the road. He was there for the weekly easy ride with a few friends. one of the best things about lincoln is the bike paths. They are straight, wide and get you out of town fast. We started out of town when an enormous thunderstorm dumped on us for about a half hour. Wind, rain, and cool temps sent us scrambling for a shelter.

Tuesday: I decided to head south of town for what is know as the "Denton Loop" The ride goes to Denton and back and traverses some pretty rolling hills which surprised me. It was 26 miles and i fought the wind and traffic a little to get back. Traffic is a little sketchy because most of the roads are dirt/gravel which funnels traffic along any paved road.

Wednesday: Today there was 35 mph sustained winds and gusts up to 50 mph. The local hammerfest left at 5pm and I was still at work so I went east of town on the crushed limestone "Mopac Rail Trail". I figured it would be a little more buffered from the wind. I rode about 1.5 hours and the wind was intense! I never did get the 34 mph tail wind but the group ride did and they were spun out in the 53x11.

Thursday: I met Chet and some others for their Thursday interval session at Pioneers Park south of Lincoln. They have a 3 mile loop and two hills. On the first hill someone attacks and then the race is on and finished at the top of the second, steeper hill. These were tough after sitting on my ass for 5 days but they were fun and I even was able to win one. Of course a local Cat 2 rider came and destroyed us on the 4th interval.

Friday: I did the Denton Loop again and dropped the bike back at the shop and took a taxi back to the dorm.

It was a fun week riding in some beautiful country. I would be willing to bet you could ride almost across the state only on dirt roads.

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