Started off today in the low 60’s and ended in the 90’s when I pulled i around 2:00. It was hot, I had a flat at the hottest part of the day and was having troubles with my gear shifter all day. Crossed over the Platte river twice, which is about two feet over its banks.
At about 22 miles we reached Gothenburg. A Pony Express station was relocated here to the town square from a few miles north. The Pony Express and I have a lot in common. We both average about 10 miles per hour (of course, my figures don’t include all my rest stops).
Today we traveled 62 miles from Brady to Callaway, Nebraska. I’ve never been to Callaway, which celebrated it’s 125th birthday last year. I’m always excited to see a part of Nebraska I have not seen before. Callaway was voted the Best Host Town for BRAN 1997 and they deserve awards for their hospitality this year as well.
Reading through our BRAN guide book I see an ad from the Callaway District Hospital and Medical Clinics offering free bicycle seat removal when you get to town. Took me a bit to catch on, they were not talking about removing the seat from the bike, they were jokingly referring to removing the bike seat from ones behind! 😉 Fortunately, on my recumbent bike I don’t have problems with that. Whereas many bikers are squirming on their seats the last 10 miles of the ride, I’m pretty darn comfortable on my seat.
Looking at this hill ahead gave me the willies. Okay, maybe it was the hill and the 92 degees.
Hopefully I have the gearing problem fixed. Kelly from the Bike Rack worked on it and I am hopeful. The fairing is working great. Tomorrow we have 13 mph tailwinds so I hope it works as well as a sail. Long day tomorrow, 72 miles and temps in the mid 90’s. I left at 7:00 today, but hope to leave at 6:00 tomorrow to avoid the afternoon heat as much as possible.
Bike all torn down and ready for box
All boxed up
Now one of many on the truck
I refer to this as Day Zero as it not a ride day but the day we all put our bikes on the semi trailer and are shuttled by passenger bus to the starting point. here are som pictures getting the bike ready.
Those of us taking the bus are meeting in Waterloo, NE, at 7:00 in the morning to get our bikes loaded on semi-trailer. Last year I designed my own box by taping two bike boxes together. This year I got lucky and the Bike Rack had an empty tandem box they offered me. This saved me a couple hours of work and is much more sturdy than my box last year.
This year the ride is starting in Brady, Nebraska, population of about 370 people. We will essentially triple the town’s population when we arrive.
Brad is on Highway 30 which traverses a major portion of the middle of the state. I’ve actually been to Brady once before, a few years ago on the way to my grandmothers funeral, and I remember it well as I stopped in Brady asking locals if they had seen a 1960 era vintage VW singlecab truck that a trucker said he had seen on the edge of town a few months earlier. No one knew of it, but the cashier at the local store said there was an old junkyard on Hwy 30 between Brady and Maxwell. Off we went, found the salvage yard and sure enough there were a couple of early 1960 VW buses. I even found a picture from our visit.
Back during that visit I went to the door of the house and knocked on the door. A very elderly man answered and I could tell he was not pleased to have company. I explained my interest in the buses and he told me it was his birthday and he did not have time to talk. I was able to get his phone number but he told me I better not wait long, he was 90 years old and might not be around much longer. Long story short, it was a very memorable experience. My boys and my mom took that route for something scenic, something different and we made a game of searching for old VW’s. We discovered nearly 20 on that trip.
Back to the present, arriving in Brady we gather our bags and look for a good site to camp for the night. Lessons learned form last year are DON’T camp near the portapotties or the door to the schools (slamming and creaking all night long). Also, don’t camp under a streetlight. What I found best for me is to camp near the semi-trailer. About 4:00 in the morning you can hear riders clomping up and down the ramp to put their gear away and it is a great way to make sure I wake up in the morning. Even with earplugs I hear them clomping!
Once I picked my site and put up my tent I went and grabbed my bike box and put the bike together. I was careful to mark where everything was so everything is properly adjusted. Don’t want to spend my first day making numerous stops to adjust seat and steering positions.
Still early in the afternoon I decided to ride towards Maxwell on Hwy 30 to find the old junkyard I spoke about. Larry W, who is married to someone I know and I met on this ride, told me he knew of this junkyard, the owner had died and everything was up for acution (small world he even knew this). Sure enough, when I got there all the cars were in order and a sign stating all was up for auction on July 11. Maybe 100 cars, including three VW bugs, two split window buses and one fastback (picture below).
Ride was much further than I remembered and ended up doing 18 miles round trip. Got back at 6:00, had a huge plate of spaghetti with a salad. Around 7:30 pm we gather at the high school cafeteria for a group meeting where they go over the weeks route and other important details. After 30 years, it’s a very well organized ride.
Can’t wait until tomorrow and see what new adventure awaits me. But look at the elevation chart they posted.
Barring bad phone reception, I should be posting my daily blog each night and promise to do more pictures this year. Please leave comments as I love to hear from all of you during the ride (but may not always be able to respond right away).
The challenge of staying hydrated while cycling is to keep ahead of it and I’ve often heard, “drink before you are thirsty”, which is so true. Also, if you drinking enough you will be making bathroom stops during the day. If you are not, you may be running the risk of dehydration. Only once did I run the risk of dehydration on a long, very hot ride. I thought when I took off that I had two bottles of water and found out somehow I only had one. Thank goodness it was a SAG supported ride and water came to my rescue.
The hard part of staying hydrated is forcing yourself to drink. So, making drinking easy, accessible and enjoyable is a key factor. Having water bottles within easy reach during your ride, or using water bladder system is the most popular.
For my recumbent the bottle holders are on the back of the seat and really impossible to reach during a ride, so I designed my own bottle holder system under the seat of my recumbent using special clip on bottle holders.
Water bottle position under seat of recumbent bike and on rear of seat
A general rule is to drink about one bottle of water per hour, but on really hot days I recommend doubling that. Adding something to the water, not only adds much needed carbs, but the flavor helps me down more.
Disposable pill pouchesare about perfect size for the amount needed to flavor my bigger bike bottles. Small snack size ziplock bags work well also. I usually bring a few flavors to add some variety, too.
Gatorade size options and my individual serving packages
I’m not really sure how much this is per serving, doing it myself like this, but to give you an example of store prices, the small container above sells for about $4.50 at my local grocery. The medium one I bought for about $8.50 at Walmart (about three flavors available) and the large one I bought for around the same price at Sams Warehouse (only one flavor).
This should not be your only source of carbs, though, on a ride. I also recommend fruit or power bars of some kind.
Last night was the first Taco Ride of the year for me and this year my son Alex joined me. Other son Aric was going to go but we could not get enough trail bikes working and he graciously offered to let Alex go this time.
Over the shoulder shot of Alex on his first Taco Ride
Weather was cool, but still warm enough for shorts and short sleeves. We met up with two friends from the Omaha Ski Club, Ben and Ellen and a friend of theirs for the ride. We anticipated a busy night, which it was, as the Blue House band was playing in Mineola that night outside the Mineola Steak House steakhouse. However, we got there early enough to get immediate seating inside where we enjoyed tacos and margaritas for the adults. Food was great and the music was great as well.
We ventured outside after dinner and enjoyed the music about 30 minutes before heading home. It was dark by the time we got back to the parking lot in Council Bluffs (it’s 10 miles each way) and we did need to put jackets on.
Alex and I outside the Mineola Steak House enjoying the music of the Blue House Band
If you have never ridden on the Wabash Trace, it is a real experience, especially at night. A reclaimed railroad line that runs a couple hundred miles, many parts of the trail are canopied by the trees, which is very picturesque but the added benefit of keeping the shaded areas cool in the summer.
Riders on the Wabash Trace on Taco Ride Night
It’s just 12 days until BRAN and I am so not ready for this. It’s a real struggle to not let myself talk myself out of this mentally. I’m several hundred miles behind in my training because of the cold and wet Spring we have had. Yeah, yeah, I could have gone out in the cold and rain to put on some miles, but I REALLY don’t enjoy that. Besides, that’s not what we usually get on BRAN. Except, this year has me worried. We are now at the end of May and this blasted weather is still here!
The best thing I’ve found to prepare mentally is to work on the details of planning everything for the trip. I’ve spent the last few weeks getting my recumbent bike all tuned up, including replacing the entire drive train and adding a fairing (wow, what a difference that made). I have managed to get in 300 miles this month, but am about 400 miles behind the training I had put in last year.
I am encouraged though by my physical ability this year. Last Spring I had barely any time in as a new bike rider on my newly purchased recumbent bike and it was not just the physical training involved, but getting used to riding differently. The sprained ankle in April last year did not help either. This year everything feels like a well fitting glove and although I’ve not gone more than 50 miles in one outing, I really do feel confident I can manage a 70 mile day. When people ask how I can ride that far in a day I tell them I really just ride several 15 mile rides in one day. Mentally, 70-90 miles in a day is a depressing thing to look forward to so I tell myself all I need to do is ride to the next SAG stop, where I rest, rehydrate and get some nourishment. Then, it’s simply on to the the next SAG stop. And so on and so on. Before you know it you are at the camp site.
I should preface this by saying that for the last six months I did not do any riding and practically nothing athletic. Gained ten pounds and really was concerned that I would be staring over on the bike, having to build up muscles and stamina for my three upcoming state rides, the first and most grueling less than two months away. Well, when they say “Just like riding a bike”, it must also mean we don’t lose our muscles. Unlike a year ago when I’d be really sore after a ride I found the outing with my sons on Saturday quite enjoyable physically and no soreness at all.
Our local city trail heads mostly South and the forecast for Sunday was 15 mph winds from the SW, temps around 72 and dropping to 65 after noon, then winds gusting to 40 mph. I thought I’d do my favorite 13 mile ride down to Bellevue, NE, and back on the trail, headwind first, then gliding home with the tailwind. WRONG! Throughout the ride I kept checking the weather channel on my phone and it always said the forecast was for SW winds but the current conditions consistently said winds from the NW. I made the 13 miles down in less than an hour and it took over two hours to to get back home in a headwind with cooler temps (and me in just shorts and a thin bike shirt). About half way home I was fumbling with one of my water bottles, trying to put it back in the under seat holder blindly, quite distracted from my riding when a strong gust of wind hit me and I went down. A mild case of road rash on my arm, but all is well.
On a bright note I ran into Gloria at the turn around point, Culvers restaurant, a fellow BRAN and RAGBRAI rider I met last year. We chatted for about 2o minutes, talking of last years trips and our upcoming ones. She is suggesting we start an adult card group on RAGBRAI. The teenagers had one last year and had a great time, so I look forward to the adult version.
Well, the season has begun and barring any further close encounters with the trail, I am looking forward to the next seven weeks of intensive training in preparation for BRAN.
Last Saturday, April 9, I went for a 13 mile ride with my two youngest children, Alex and Aric. We have a city trail head just blocks from our house but some city sewer construction project has the most of the first mile blocked so we put the recumbents in the back of the pickup and the road bike on the used Yakima bike rack I had just installed on my 1972 Super Beetle (worked great).
It was most pleasant to ride with my two youngest (ages 16 and 19), something I don’t think we have done in probably a decade. I’m pleased to see they are both taking an interest in riding and hope this is the start of many more rides.
Yep, we heard of a recumbent bike over in Griswold, Iowa, that was in need of a good home and on April 2 my son Aric and I drove our 1972 VW camper bus over to pick it up. This recumbent, under the loving care of Duane, was quite different from other other adoptee, my Burley Canto. The steering is under the seat and the rider position is much more laid back. I enjoyed the drive over and back, as it was one of the first nice Saturdays of the year and a chance to get my vintage VW another adoptee) out for a country drive. Additionally, half of the 50 mile drive is on the same highway as a stretch of RAGBRAI which I will be participating in this July.
We could not even wait to get the bike home to embrace it and let it know it was loved. We stopped at a parking lot and took turns developing the bonds that only a recumbent rider can nurture. It was splendid!
My son Aric was anxious to try the bike on the local trails so grabbed my bike and did about seven miles. A great first ride and he did better than I probably would have with that unique steering method.
Each year RAGBRAI has a big party in Des Moines, IA, where they announce the overnight towns that have been selected for the up comping summer route. Last night that event occurred and I was able to watch it live on my computer via their website. Not sure how many were in attendance in Des Moines, but from the counter on my screen there were over 2,500 viewers watching online.
Leading up to the announcement they interviewed several people who have either ridden on the ride in the past or are there representing towns that were wanting the ride to stay overnight or pass through. Any participation in RAGBRAI can mean a real economic boost for these towns.
The towns were soon announced and I was trilled to see the route for this year. The starting point is in Glenwood, just a short distance from Omaha where I live. From there they travel to Atlantic, Carroll, Boone, Altoona, Grinnell and Coralville before finishing the in Davenport. The route has a total of 454 miles and 21,206 feet of climb.
The longest day ride, from Grinnell to Coraville is about 73 miles. The shortest from Boone to Altoona is about 56 miles. Average daily mileage is around 65 miles which is very reasonable in my opinion. The true measure of the ride, though will be to see the elevation charts for each day. Pass through towns are expected to be announced sometime in March, after which we can determine the true elevation each day (and the worst hills each day).
Time to get off the computer and back on my bike trainer. I am just itching to get outside on the bike, but the ground is covered with snow and it is snowing again as I write. Will this winter ever end??? It is starting to remind me of one of my favorite movie, Groundhogs Day, where Bill Murry lives the same day over and over.
I’ve begun training for my first distance bike ride of the year, which is just five months away in early June. BRAN, which stands for the Bike Ride Across Nebraska, is a seven day ride taking a different route across Nebraska by bicycle each year. This years route looks more like a bell curve on a graph when you see it on the map. Unlike last years ride, my first BRAN, which took nearly a straight line across our very long state, this one heads Northeast out of Brady, then near the top of the state heads Southeast to Waterloo which is just a few miles from my house.
BRAN last year, which was my first distance ride ever, was so exhausting I found it difficult to get back on my bike for two weeks afterwords. I’m going to have to be in much better shape this year as I have another distance ride, Tour de Nebraska, just 10 days after BRAN. Of course, my big setback last year was a serious sprained ankle in April. Hopefully I don’t injury myself training this year as I have three big trips planned. But injuries are always a possibility in this sport. And I’m discovering at my age these injuries kind of stay with you as my ankle has been bothering me since the weather turned colder. But, hey, nothing stops a dedicated bicyclist. It’s the wheels on the bike we worry about, not so much the technique or time it takes us to get to our destination.
If you are not familiar with these distant rides, most ask participants to vote on various factors for each of the host cities so they can try to return to these towns every few years. This can be a real economic boom to these small towns and there is competition to be the best host towns. This year’s route stops at one of last years host towns which was one of my favorites, Burwell. And this time we get to ride along Lake Calamus, which we missed last year because of a different route through town.
I’m not sure how bad the elevation is on some of these days, but this route looks much better than last year and most days are only 60-70 miles each, much better than last year that had an 80 and 85 mile days, with hills!
Here is the complete route for 2011:
Sunday, June 5th, Brady to Callaway – 62 miles
Monday, June 6th, Callaway to Burwell – 71 miles
Tuesday, June 7th, Burwell to Bassett – 68 miles
Wednesday, June 8th, Bassett to O’Neill – 49 miles
Thursday, June 9th, O’Neill to Battle Creek – 68 miles
Friday, June 10th, Battle Creek to Oakland – 70 miles
Saturday, June 11th, Oakland to Waterloo – 49 miles
Total Mileage – 437 Miles!!!