Fun Fall Riding!

colorful corner

purdy

my favorite graffiti to date

Fall, particularly this fall, is fantastic for riding.  The colors are amazing and the cooler temps allow you to arrive at your destination without working up a sweat.  Here are just a few quick shots of some of those fun colors.

Then, not exactly commuting specifically, but bike fun nonetheless: Arkansas singletrack!!!  We also stopped at Landahl  outside of K.C. Missouri and hit up some sweet rocky trails there too.  What fun!

Well That was a First

Today on the ride into work, Vince, Copper and I encountered an interesting situation.  This sweet lil old lady pulled up (sort of hesitantly) next to us in her nondescript, beige sedan and rolled down her window.  We started to cringe, anticipating a weird quasi-bitch out from grandma, but instead we were pleasantly surprised with the exchange which ensued.  She was wondering what she was supposed to do when she encountered cyclists on the road.  I was barely able to respond, I was so blown away by her kind gesture. 

Beginning with a sincere, "First of all, thank you SO much for even caring!" I continued to explain, "The best thing you can do when you see a cyclist on the road is to treat them like any other vehicle.  Stop behind us; give us space when passing; just act normally!" 

She was kind of stuttering something about how she never knew what to do when she saw bikes in the road and was glad to find out.  Then she explained that she was in her daughter's car (as if that somehow made a difference).  Clearly stressed/thankful she lingered a bit too long and when the light turned green she was still stuttering/thanking us. The Creighton van behind her honked and we started to roll off.  We thanked her once again for caring and she hollered, "I'm going to go real fast around you guys now! Thanks!"

Oh boy.

Kind of a funny commute-warming experience that I wanted to
share.



  Here's a photo I couldn't help but snap the other night.  Holy hell, how did this seem like a good idea?

At least they're sweet paint job won't get scratched up with that handy towel.  Eegad.

Audible Autumn

 

hey look, a leaf!

I love riding this time of year!  The lack of humidity in the cooler air is definitely one of my favorite aspects of the changing season (although it was about 70 degrees on the ride in this morning), but what I've really been aware of recently is the new sounds of my daily commute.  It's the rustling of leaves that I've just now started noticing on each ride around town.  Particularly today and yesterday with the crazy gusting winds, I've been amazed at how much louder the streets are.  In a good way.  Mini whirlwinds of yellow leaves blowing through the gutters, the crunching of them underneath my tires.  I have always loved this time of year because of the temps and colors but this is the first time that I've appreciated the aural side of the season.

Once I began thinking about sounds of the seasons, the transition to the snowy wintry conditions came to mind and take the opposite turn from crispy crunch and create a soft blanket of silence over the roads.  This may be part of why I find riding in the season so peaceful. Snow will be here before we know it!

the cruise down Burt just east of 33rd

I was trying to take a pic of Copper but somehow failed...

colors of the season!

and more random branches

 

Ok, this picture deserves more than just a small caption.  We were riding down Burt on the way to work today and all I caught was this, but these two fine folks were maybe locked out of their vehicle or something. I wiiiiish I'd have gotten the gal on the right in the picture better.  She had a priceless back tattoo hanging out openly from her tiny t-shirt that said, "candy shop".  Holy shit. 

new paint on 16th st.

our destination!

It's Nice Out!!!

That's all.  Ride yer bike. 

Annnnd, some random photos...

Commuted in on the sweet new (to us) tandem

Hey Natalie!

Back on the Bob Bridge

Vince's and his dash board hula girl

Transportation Meeting Recap

 First of all, in case you missed it, check out the video:

Transportation Master Plan Public Meeting Video

It felt like the most important group ride I had ever led.  No offense to my weekly Saturday Ladies Riders, but on Thursday night the group of several concerned citizens that rode from Downtown Omaha to this big public meeting really made me feel proud to be an Omahan.  Now this may sound like a bit more emotion than I usually put into my posts, but for some reason I really was moved by the turnout (for both the ride and then later the meeting itself) and then sense of purpose that was felt throughout the group.  We even closed the shop early to give all of us the opportunity to attend; I'm glad we did.

As we pedaled by Greenstreet and then past the parking lot just to the west, we even turned down a FREE BEER offered to us by some Nighthawk tailgaters.  "Free beer for any cyclists!" was happily screamed at our group as we pedaled by. That should give you a pretty good idea of the severity of our mission.  We continued up the Benson route to connect with another group that we'd arranged to meet at Metcalfe Park.  There were about 6 more cyclists there that we tacked on to the back of our citizen train and we continued south-bound along Happy Hollow across Dodge, and through Elmwood to UNO's Scott Conference Center.

We rolled up with our group of about 20 cyclists and wheeled our bikes right inside, where indoor parking was available for us.  As we all signed in and found tables to sit at, it started to set in: this is an important night.  Many different groups worked pretty hard to get attendance up for this night and I'm happy to report, the turnout definitely exceeded expectations.  Mode Shift Omaha, Omaha Bikes, Omaha's Planning Department, and many others were an integral part of making the night what it was.  So a big thanks is in order to all of you. 

I could go on and on about all of the comments and conversations that were had that night, but two things in particular made me smile: 1) "I'm here because of you, Sarah" and 2) "I didn't know Omaha had this many cyclists!"    Good stuff.

One more link to KETV's coverage of the event:  here!

Over and out for now...time to close down the shop and enjoy an IPA.

Cheers,

SJ

It's Happening

I'm not sure if it's the weather, the advocacy and education efforts, or just general Omaha progress,  but there are cyclists galore out on the streets these days!  There's almost bike traffic to get stuck in.  Ok, maybe not quite to that extent yet, but I do believe we're on our way. 

Anyway, with this perfect weather over the last few weeks I've of course been on my bike daily; hauling Copper to and from work, grabbing groceries, riding to friends' houses, the occasional bar hop, you name it, I'm on my bike.  I also have a new project bike in the works that I'm pretty excited about.  It's my old lugged steel Trek touring frame from the mid to late '80s and I'm putting my mustache bar from my other old lugged steel Pinarello that's been sort of unrideable lately due to a front hub issue that I've been putting off fixing.  It will be kind of a fun cruise around townish sort of bike when I don't need the heavy duty capabilities of the Vaya.  Pictures will come soon.  It should be done next week!  My favorite part (well, I'm actually pretty thrilled about most of it) is the Apple Green Brooks saddle that I just finally made my own after looking and drooling over it for the last several months.  She's a beaut!!

Copper, loaded and ready!

After all the crazy storms lately, there have been a bunch of downed trees.

Copper, loving the ride!

My favorite commuting accessory, flip flops.

These thankfully aren't getting torn down now!  Renovation will be fun to observe.

Construction at every turn these days.

I do love riding to work!  I also just sold my 2011 Specialized Ruby and got in its replacement today, the 2012 Ruby Comp.  So far, so good! 

Next week is the Dakota 5-0, which is a 50 mile mountain bike race in Spearfish, South Dakota.  Salsa gave me a Spearfish to race, which is awesome!  Thanks Salsa!!  Wish me luck, it's gonna be a brutal one for me.

Updates will come...eventually!

Get out and ride and let me know how it's going.

-SJ

Interesting Read...

I came across this article on Eco Velo today (thanks to Vince) and thought it was worth sharing.  
The Commuting Paradox

I've been pedaling a fair amount recently but do have to admit that with this heat and hip injury combined, I've been wussing out and driving a bit too.  Copper and I rode in yesterday in the insane heat and humidity and all I could think about was riding in the winter.  People say you can almost ride year round comfortably in Omaha and I'd have to agree...although most people are referring to the 4th "unrideable" season as winter and I'd beg to differ.  I think the summer is way less inspiring to ride during than the peaceful snowy winters. 

Here's a pic from me happily commuting in the snow to help cool you down. 

Hello Again!

I just logged in for the first time in waaaay too long and the first thing I saw was the pic of Natalie in winterish riding clothes!  For the love of Pete, I've been negligent once again.  Ah, summer at a bike shop.  Although, I must say this hasn't been a typical summer for me.  Usually (or at least for the last many years that I've worked in the bicycling industry) summers are non-stop time at the shop; no vacations or really much aside from hot, humid Omaha summers (with a few Grand Lake, CO summers thrown in too). This summer I've been crazy busy, but not only at the shop.  I've had the opportunity to get out of town a bit!  And of course, this means bike trips.

First of all, we (Greenstreet) closed down for 2 weeks during the College World Series to rent our space out to DeMarini who sells softball/baseball stuff and they were way more excited about being amidst the pandemonium of the Series than our lil ol bike shop. So, we packed up the entire shop, moved it into storage and took a vacation!  I helped supervise the Bike to the Ballpark initiative through Omaha Bikes and it was a huge success!  We parked over 700 bikes during the CWS and raised a bunch of money for our organization.  Thanks to each and everyone who made this idea a reality!  Here are a few photos of the crazy night that the sirens went off due to potential tornadoes and ridiculously high winds.

our racks got blown to smithereens!

Volunteers smiling because we're inside.  Thanks DeMarini!

Getting people back on their bikes, despite the downpour.

 So that was just part of it!  Then, after that I took a quick trip up to Grand County, Colorado to visit some friends and some singletrack.  It couldn't have been much nicer! 

Dave, Me, Barry, Mandi on the Grand Lake Lodge deck

view from the deck

and more views from the deck

Strawberry Hot Springs just outside of Steamboat, CO

the rushing water next to the hot springs

Mandi and Barry's back yard! Fun!!

Mandi on her bike

buddies

Guess why they call this trail Chainsaw...

Greenstreet in the mountains!

More Mandi in WP

Such fun flowy riding

almost back to the car. dang it.

Even though it was a quick weekend, it was so great catching up with Mandi, et al.  Thanks again for the hospitality! 

Then, I came back for the Omaha Bikes Handlebar Happy Hour at Jake's in Benson and I'm glad I did!  It was a really fun time with a great turnout.

Love this poster!  Thanks Jake's!!

the beginning of the evening

more omaha bikes folks

a lovely sight indeed!

That's pretty much all of what I have pictures of.  However, that's only because my camera died and I think that the battery got lost in the Greenstreet move...dang.  Certainly one of the most amazing parts of my summer ( riding the STP) remains undocumented, save a few crummy camera phone photos.  Dang again. Actually, I got these two from my time up North...

This was at an awesome Italian restaurant with the owner

My mom's bestest buddy from 7th grade and her husband at our Vader campsite

I rode from Seattle, Washington to Portland, Oregon in 2 days.  Now, having never even completed a century in a day prior to this ride, I was a bit nervous about what I'd agreed to.  Thankfully it ended up being a total blast, and certainly a memorable weekend.  I absolutely love the Pacific Northwest and actually grew up visiting my grandmother who lived in Hoodsport, Washington. I remember always looking forward to the trip up North; collecting crabs and sea shells along the canal was one of my favorite things to do as a kid.  So the trip up that direction a week ago was exciting for all sorts of reasons. 

Unfortunately, I don't have any other pictures of the amazingly beautiful scenery that we cruised by in those two days but the memories will last in my head for a while.  We rode from our hotel in Seattle to Vader, WA the first day which was just about 135 miles.  Again, keeping in mind that I'd never rode a century, I was pretty concerned about this big number.  Thankfully it was amazingly doable!  It was the second day of just over 70 miles that caught up to me.  The ride was wonderfully supported by the Cascade Bicycling Club with food, water, and first aid stops every time you needed them and I was really impressed with the overall organization of the ride.  I could go on and on about each little detail of our trip, from the life changing iced latte I had in Seattle, to the crazy menu-free Italian restaurant, to the inbred campsite hosts in Vader, to the breathtaking views of Mt. Rainier, Mt. Hood, and Mt. St. Helens along the winding hilly route.  Or maybe the taste of the Subway sandwich I had at about mile 65, or the bathroom stop at mile 80, or the margaritas at mile 102... and that's all still before Portland! Anyway, lots of memorable and funny stuff along the way.

The one part that I have to take an extra moment to relay more information about was our camping adventure in Vader.  Now, we chose to ride past Centralia, which is where most of the other 10,000 riders decided to camp for the first night to Vader, which may or may not have been our best idea.  The plan was to get the majority of miles out of the way the first day so that we could get into Portland at a decent hour on Sunday.  It almost worked.  We rolled into Vader (Ben ahead of me by a stretch) and looked for a campsite.  All of the legit camping spots were reserved from months prior but Ben found a family with a weird concession tent set up on the side of the road and decided to ask if we could camp on their land. They said sure and were very gracious hosts, despite the fact that it wasn't even THEIR LAND that they ok'd us to camp on!! We also got showers out of the deal (again, not their showers!) after they asked "Old Man Andy" who turned out to be an 88 year old grumpy hard of hearing guy.  Oh Vader, how many stories exist within your town limits!?

We pitched our tent (with the help of Nick, the youngest member of the Vader host family) and just then Dianne and Tony rolled up with their bikes on the top of their vehicle, ready to camp with us for the night and then ride into Portland with us the following day.  This awesome couple lives in Tacoma, Washington and Dianne has been my mom's best buddy since they were in 7th grade.  What a fun treat it was to get to catch up with them for the evening! We enjoyed a few beers that they brought, as well as several Coors Lights which kept coming from the Vader host family...beers, pillows, and too many offerings for help of one kind or another.  What an interesting crew they were!  And, while smoking a cigarette, the momma host explained that they set their little road-side attraction up each year for the STP and never have anyone take them up on camping! Crazy, eh?!  The family sits on the side of the route and sells bananas, water, coffee, sno-cones, and campsites in an attempt to raise enough money to get momma Vader a kidney transplant.  Yikes. Enjoy your cigarette lady.  They were an overly helpful lot, and I really do hope she raises enough cash from selling rotten bananas and dirty pillows to find a new kidney. 

The next day we woke up and groggily broke camp, readying our stiff bodies for the next 70 miles that awaited.  At this point I realized that maybe too many Coors Lights and Fat Tires were consumed the night before...no matter, onward either way!  We started off at about 8:30a.m. I'd say and I felt like my tires were full of lead.  It's funny knowing that stopping is not really an option; you just keep moving the pedals and every minute you're that much closer to your goal.

After what seemed like forever, we arrived in Portland!  Hooray!!  I was nearly in tears from exhaustion and elation and stumbled over to the beer tent on numb toes begging to get out of their uncomfortable cages of cycling shoes.  I don't know the last time a Ranger IPA tasted that good.  After a few beers and a giant burrito we left the finish line festivities and checked into our hotel. Even though the water pressure and temps were hit and miss, it may have been one of the best showers I've had. Refreshing to say the least. Refreshing enough to fuel the rest of my evening which was full of Portland exploration thanks to our good buddy Hodad, who is a Portland resident that was in Omaha for the CWS with DeMarini.  He took us from bar, to donut shop, to bar, to sushi place, to brewery, to strip-aroke club and then back to our hotel.  What a crazy and fun night!! Thanks again for the hospitality and showing us around your fabulous city.  The time disappeared too quickly.

Whew!  What a long winded blog post.  Sorry all, just had a lot to get out there!   Hope you all are pedaling and staying hydrated; this head is intense!  More later...hope I find my camera battery charger!!!

-SJ