Ridin' the Storm Out!

this was my Memorial Day ride, after riding through our local cemetery to pay homage I pointed it west into a 10-12 mph head wind

rode some new gravel roads & there was a whole lot of this in front & behind me

finally made it to Lake McConaughy & gave myself & the Fargo a bit of a break

the lake is as full as I've ever seen it since I've moved here in 1990, still a lot of water to come yet by the way it sounds

not near as much of the morning glory showing as just one year ago

riding along the base of Kingsley dam I could see the ominous clouds quickly moving in from the northwest & knew I may be in for an interesting trip home

and man was I right, that grass blowing there meant some super strong wind & I was cruising with it at my back sometimes reaching speeds of 25 mph or more

I had a good 20 miles of gravel left so re-fueled with a Honey Stinger waffle, these things are awesome!

the canal is out of it's banks at a few places & actually had whitecaps for most of the trip home, my legs were getting sandblasted with the gravel/dust while at the same time I was getting a cool, wet mist from the water getting blown around

pushed on hard & fast through a 3-4 mile dustbowl were the visibility was like a thick fog & made it home from the lake in record time, never got any rain just huge winds & rolled into home base in time to share a few cold beers with some friends who were over visiting, with 50 miles of extremes in it was a very good character building session!

Against the Wind!

a cloudy, windy day a few weeks back found Lane & I back on the canal road riding straight into a 30 mph headwind for 15 miles RATHER than putting the wind at our backs like some roadies do! I was hearing Bob Seger in the back of my head singing "Against the Wind"

the secret is out & we are now having to share our pristine backroads with RUNNERS! What the $@#*!! Oh well, may need to make exceptions now & then, this gal had to be training for something as she was a long way from her destination & had a blistering pace.

got to the end of the canal & threw in the towel on the dang wind & headed up this paved road that has a HUGE climb to get back on some more G-roads to point it back east to home

with the wind now at our backs for 15 miles we made some awesome time back home sometimes reaching gravel speeds upwards of 25 mph, another GREAT gravel ride with my son on the backroads & it's funny I just noticed that in all these pics for 30 miles he was AHEAD of me...GO FIGURE!!!

The Great White Buffalo

just an evening cruise down some familiar gravel for some more windmill shots

some dirt road goodness

followed by yet another windmill with some local occupants

I turned off to get the Fargo in it's element

and low & behold...what's that up the hill in the middle of nowhere?

HMMM...an elusive cave in the middle of a hill!

this has me thinking about Uncle Tupelo's song, "I am a...moonshiner" wether it was ever used for this or not, it's a cool notion

looking east from the cave is another squeaky sentinel of the plains

a most excellent platform for these little forays into the hills!

a few gnarly trees around here seem to be clinging to a harsh life here in the buffalo trace

they don't seem to be holding up as well as the windmills

it's been a rough life for them between the wind, elements & many cows rubbing on them over the years

this buffalo trace "blowout" has become a mystical somewhat spiritual place for me to visit, really makes my mind wander

"I said above the canyon wall, strong eyes did see, it was the leader of them all baby, THE GREAT WHITE BUFFALO"

full moon a rising over the plains...I'll be back!

"Into the great wide open"

on the venue for Saturday was more backroad base miles & the weather was perfect though overcast all day, I quit using an I-pod quite awhile back as I like to hear what's going on around me & today it was meadowlark's welcoming in the balmy temps. but it seems I always get a song stuck in my head for the whole ride, today it was Tom Petty's "Into the great wide open...under a sky of blue...a rebel without a clue" however it goes, anyways that seemed like an appropriate song for the ride

this is a grove of Cottonwood trees & what's odd is they are in the middle of nowhere out in the hills & there used to be a whole bunch of platform nests in them during the summer that were used for Blue Herons nesting, I always thought this was odd until reading up on Herons & learning that this is pretty common for them to raise their young away from the water that they spend most of their lives wading in.

the first of several cattle guard crossings

these guys came up to the road to check me out on the way by

these backroads have this effect on me!

a sign of things to come?

YEP! these kids were in a playful mood & wanted to race to!

the Fargo launches across these!

I've always had a problem staying hydrated with just plain old water & am trying this MIO stuff & in the peach tea flavor it is great, just a few drops in a bottle & you're good to go

CAUTION, WHIP POPPING, ROPE SWINGING COWBOYS AHEAD!

I love these signs & the roads that are ahead of them!

the new Jandd Mt. handlebar pack holds the right amount for a day trip like this

lunch with a view on the North Platte river bridge

back on the north canal to head it home from Keystone just as the wind really came up into my face! the canal is running full bore right now to so it's wise to pay attention. another great day on the bike, ended up with 40 miles & can't wait to ride this route again.

Fine tuning, a history lesson & one CRAZY DOG!

Been riding the heck out of the new fargo & tweakin' it some, including the new bar end caps compliments of 5 Trails Winery in downtown Paxton, their Zorx brand caps they use to bottle wine are the ticket for drop, wrapped bars & are FREE after buying, opening & drinking 2 bottles of wine!

Sunday Lane & I went 12 miles west for a Keith Co. history lesson of this old building which is called the Cider Mill, used to set on old Highway 30 or the Lincoln Highway about 5 miles west of Paxton where it was the office for a gas station & they sold cherry & apple flavored cider buy the glass or jug to weary travelers stopping for gas, a friend of ours salvaged it from demolition & turned it into a garden shed years ago, funny part is my folks remembered it from when they drove through here in 1952 on their honeymoon to Yellowstone! the spindle holding the windmill blade is from an old Model A, great to see this old stuff being preserved & actually knowing the story behind it.

And our crazy dog Tate wants to take up spelunking I believe as he's been practicing getting into some really tight spots for napping lately, what entertainment he brings us!

Local legend re-visited

with beautiful balmy temps on a Sunday afternoon what's a bike rider to do? GET OUT!

my new Salsa Fargo is shaping up to be the PERFECT platform for some of my off the wall rides that tend to wonder "off the beatin' path"

today my neighbor Kendell & I decided on some canal miles with a side trip to our local famous blowout which after a little more research appears to have been formed by hundreds of thousands of buffalo cutting through here many years ago to head to water in the South Platte river about a mile to the north, making this Paxton's very own "buffalo trace" which also happens to be the name of a DAMN FINE bourbon from Kentucky, making it kind of ironic that the local legend is there used to be some moonshining going on back here in some caves

I imagine horses would look a little more appropriate here but the Fargo & Kendell's GIANT TCX seemed to do the trick just as well!

DROPPING IN...YEEHAW!

back on canal gravel in the North Platte river valley

canal bridge safety break, what a GREAT loop, south valley to north valley with an off-road detour AND a history lesson, with the new bike I'm pretty sure there will be many more of these local adventures as well as some in other far flung places in the future. Get out & ride a bike & make some good times happen!

New bike!

Not much goin' on lately other than the single speed may be gathering a little more dust these days as I finally got my new dream bike, the Salsa Fargo. Been riding & dialing it in for a week now, 115 miles later I LOVE IT!