Week #35 Nebraska: The Gravel Life Trailer

Week #35 - 652 miles

I am really excited for this film to come out. Three Pillars Media is doing a great job of putting it together. This week was the Gravel Worlds Long Voyage. I rode with JR Volcko, who was riding Single Speed. JR had a great race and won the SS Division and I came in 3rd in the Masters. In the last 3 weeks I have put in 1979 miles, with 8 rides of 100+ miles. This should be good prep work for Cannonball 550 at the end of September.

Week #34 Another solid week even with a few mechanicls

 

Week #34 - 653 miles

Another solid week of riding in the books. There was a few mechanicals along the way on Saturday. First I stuck a piece of wire through the tire. Thought I would be able to plug it, but I couldn't get the one hole to seal. Tried the first tube but it must of already had a hole in it. The second tube lasted for about 35ish miles and then I was lucky enough to bum a tube from someone on the trail to get me home. Got in 139 miles on the day so it wasn't all bad. Today I rode with Eric Mellow who is in town for Gravel Worlds 150 on next Saturday. We got in about 70 miles together and had a stop in Cortland for a donut. Good way to end the week. Next Friday evening we start the Long Voyage. It will be nice this year and not racing it but just getting in a good training ride in preparation for Cannonball 550 next month.

Week #33 Starting to prep for Cannonball 550

 

Week #33 - 674 miles

This week turned out to be a pretty good mileage week. I hadn't really planned on putting in a huge week, but the body was feeling good. On Saturday I got in 162 miles and found some cool roads over by Pawnee City. Hope to get back to that area again and do a little more exploring. Lots of MMRs that look pretty nice, so I will need to find a dry day to head that way. Started thinking about how I want to tackle Cannonball 550 this year. I plan on doing a couple of naps to see if I can stay a little fresher and hopefully ride a little faster than last year. The weather will have a lot to do with how it goes.

Week #32 Recovering time

 

Week #32 - 458 miles

July - 2667 miles

I was nice this week to take a little time off. Hard to think that 458 miles is a "recovery week" but my body feels much better. I was able to get one 100 miler at The Chug and it was probably a little harder of an effort than I expected. The front group took off in front of me after the stop so I had to chase back on. After bridging up to the group we rolled on. With about an hour left, I decided I better sit up and cruise on in. 

July was a big month with 2667 miles. I thought I might get over 2700 miles in but it didn't happen. This year has been pretty fun with the bikepacking trips and looking forward to doing some more this fall.

Week #31 Another solid week in the saddle

 

Week #31 - 571 miles

I got in another good week on the bike. Rode down to Marysville on Saturday thinking I was going to miss all of the storms. Well that didn't work out so well. I made it down to Marysville in pretty good time, but as I was getting into town the storm hit. I hung out at the bike shop for about 30 minutes before returning home. I got a few miles down the trail before I came across the first down tree. From there on, the trail was a mess. I was able to move a lot of the branches, but there were lots of big trees blown over by the storm. It was really slow going but I did get in 154 miles for the day. The last 3 weeks have been 571, 539, & 903. The Long Voyage is in a few weeks so a little recovery time is in order. This next week I am going to spend a little time in Lawrence and hopefully find some new roads.

Week #30 Bike packed to Sioux City

Week #30 - 539 miles

This week I rode up to Sioux City to visit Michelle who is doing RAGBRAI. I left on Friday and rode to Danish Alps Rec Area and camped. It was a nice campground about 15 miles outside of Sioux City. On Saturday I went into Sioux City and explored the trails a little bit and hung out at the expo. Still amazes me all of the people that do events like this. There were around 28,000 people signed up this year. Way too many people for me. It was great to see Michelle and her family before I rode back home with a total of 324 miles for the trip.

I also got over 1300 days during the ride streak this week along with 84,000+ miles. Fun keeping the streak alive but I know there will be the day that it ends. Be nice to get to 100,000 miles during it!

 

Week #29 Great Plains Gravel Route / Nebraska Edition - COMPLETED!

Week #29 - 902 miles

This week I covered 831 miles across Nebraska covering the Great Plains Gravel Route. We started at the Kansas border south of Beatrice and headed north. I had a few folks join in through Lincoln and then I headed west. Went through Seward and York, the a long stretch to get to Doniphan. On day #2 we rolled through Kearney and then looped up north for a bit before getting to Lexington. After a late lunch, I had to reroute a bit before we headed into Potter's Pasture for the night. Day #3 started with a little single track and then through the canyons before coming to North Platte. I took the canal system almost all the way to Lake McConaughy before heading south of the interstate again. Once we reached the Colorado border, we headed to Lewellen for the night and barley beating a storm. On day #4 we had lots of reroutes until we got over to Broadwater Road. Then it was into Alliance and finished up at Carhenge. Day #5 started out with some rain and mud along with some more reroutes. We rode by Fort Robinson and Crawford then north towards Toadstool Park and the Oglala National Grassland. After battling a headwind all day we finished up on the South Dakota border. Total of 831 miles with all of the reroutes and over 29,000 feet of climbing. An amazing ride and hopefully a very cool video to come out this fall.