This Thursday we ride for tacos!

TacoRide after work on Thursday. 600th taco ride, FishHeads will be playing and street dance. Be there! Let me know if you want to ride with us.

Calvin Crest...Funky, fly, and fresh!

I'm talking about the riding at Calvin Crest out in Fremont. After years of hard work by many different people and through T.H.O.R., the trail is open for riding! Chris, Dale, and Craig put the finishing touches on the trail last Wednesday to have it open and ready for some singletrack action today. We had a smaller than predicted, yet still good turnout for riders today on the inaugural ride. About 15 of us were out to help pack down the dirt with our tires as we made our way through three laps of singletrack bliss. Each lap was a little over 4.5 miles if I remember correctly.

Another nice casual ride with breaks to explain the trail and discuss riding strategies

Cody pushing his way through one of the last turns

Cody crossing the first bridge

What do I like about this new trail? I think it's the fact that there are all types of terrain to pedal through. Twisty singletrack sections through the pine trees, couple of bridge crossings, ravine crossings, log crossings, a flat section by the river, and a tricky hill climb with a few switchbacks thrown in. There are definitely some fast sections, where in other areas just getting through the trees is enough to slow you down for a quick breather. One other thing. It is really quiet and peaceful out there!

Had a fairly decent turnout for today's inaugural ride

Following Paul through the ravines from Misterlime on Vimeo.

Push it Dave!

Dale making it through the climb on his SS

Following Brian through the singletrack

Dale on the wooden bridge

Now while the trail is now open to the public for mountain bikers, there are always the basic rules to follow. Calvin Crest is private property and they are kind enough to let us use it. Please be respectful and follow their guidelines. There are a few blackout dates where they will be using the trails and we are not allowed to ride. Check the schedule here before making the trip out to Fremont. Also, hunting season is almost upon us so be careful and wear brighter colors. See you guys on the trails!

Todd pushing his way through, one day after taking first at the Maskenthine Classic. Congrats!

Behind Todd and Dale for lap 3

Paul, Dave N., and Craig taking care of a recently downed tree

Paul rounding the corner

Dave making his way across the swinging bridge

Paul on the swinging bridge

Here comes Chris on his newly built SS

Hot dogs and lemon cake afterwards. Look, we made the events schedule!

Tower hill climb. Not easy and I couldn't make it today.

The Tower Climb at Calvin Crest from Misterlime on Vimeo.

Flaming Tornado

Check out the video, wow! Pretty cool after the one minute mark,

Calvin Crest Inaugural Ride this Sunday

From T.H.O.R. blog

"Calvin Crest MTB Trail Inaugural Ride
Sunday, Aug 29
Ride at 2pm
Eat around 5pm
$3 donation for hotdog, chips, fruit, juice, water
Park next to basketball court"

It's a great trail and hope to see alot of people out there. Here is my writeup from last year when the trail was still taking shape.

Wow, a blog about drinking and the outdoors?

Right up my alley! UpaDowna. Some reviews of outdoor gear such as backpacks, bikes, etc. They also discuss beers of the week, fan photos of the week, and have some pretty nice outdoor shots. Based out of Pueblo, CO. "Up a mountain, down a beer" is there motto! Linked in linky section.

BikeRumor's Pic of the Day

From yesterday. It's called Miles from Nowhere in Nebraska. Check it out

Darkness on the trail tonight

Full moon out tonight 

Drinky plus darkness plus riding Tranquility backwards made for a great Monday Night Ride! The usual MNR group (plus a few) was out and we rode two casual laps at TP in the correct direction in the daylight. I was struggling to stay on course the first lap. Missed one of the turns in the tree section on the southside and went up a couple of the sides of the trail. Embarrassing when I know there is a rider on my tail!

We decided to take a break and go to Paul's for a quick breather. After the refreshments (thanks Paul!) we headed back out to TP, lights ablazing with a smaller group.

Lots of regrouping makes this a great casual ride 

Met up with a few people at the parking lot who were there for the Full Moon Ride. About six of us rode the north section backwards, what a thrill! We also did this late last year and I forgot how difficult it is. For one, you're in the dark. Secondly, you have two beers in the belly with no dinner. I'm no lightweight, but man, those beers can hit you hard with no food! Third, the trail seems like foreign ground. Just like Dale mentioned, we were hitting the brakes on the downhills because you're not sure what is coming up next. The narrow space between trees that doesn't usually bother you can catch you off guard. Suddenly, a tree that you normally fly past pops out when you least expect it to!

With biking to the trail from home, I managed to get in 18.5 miles tonight. Not bad for a ride on a Monday night! Next time remember to smile!

Pitstop at Paul's for some refueling 

 

Stick 'em up! 

 

Riding the northside backwards in the dark for tonight's MNR at TP

 

Paul remembered my shortcut from last year. "Crunch, crunch. I don't remember those branches being there an hour ago?" Paul, joke is on you this time!

  

Got your light ready for some fall night riding? 

3D camera by Fuji

Three dimensional cameras are nothing new, at least for 35mm film that is. Not sure if this is the first digital camera to be able to take 3D images? Would be pretty cool, no samples up on this review site. Would be a cool way to spice up the blog! Any donations are welcome...as my lil Canon Elph is nearing it's drop limit. Check out the review for the Fuji FinePix Real 3D W3.

How it works is it basically uses two lenses separated by a small distance to take two pictures simultaneously at the click of the shutter button. This will produce a stereoscopic image. From what I gather, this camera can display both 3D photos and even 3D high definition videos right there on the camera LCD screen. The photos can then be either printed in 3D or projected on a 3D tv. The 3D movie can be played back on a 3D ready HD tele also. Wow! I say give it a few years before jumping on this technology, unless you happen to have a new 3D ready tv sitting in your living room.

Another cool thing is that you can take two separate photos simultaneously using different zoom lengths. Since there are two lenses, you can have one at the wide angle and the other zoomed in! Man, I can barely figure out how to frame one of my shots, can't imagine having to deal with two at the same time! Great idea though!

http://www.dcresource.com/news/newsitem.php?id=4168

http://www.fujifilm.com/products/3d/camera/finepix_real3dw3/

And some samples here, but looks like you need a 3D tv or monitor to view them "correctly". Time to trade in the 60 inch Sony??? I want to see real 3D samples! Might have to make a trip to the electronics stores.

http://en.akihabaranews.com/57477/hands-on/fujifilm-finepix-real-3d-w3-hands-on-and-first-impression-we-have-3d-samples-for-you

98 degrees

Mulhall's doesn't lie. Actually while getting my camera out it said 99. That's hot! Six of my friends are forecasters, working for various companies and even the National Weather Service. With that in mind, WHY do we always end up biking when it is the hottest out? We need to rethink our strategy boys! Got three laps in at Swanson today, about 12 miles in total. Not too shabby for a Saturday afternoon with gym time beforehand! Managed to get Cody, Cory, and Todd out for the ride. Roll on!

Cody and I taking a break during the first lap 

 

Todd, you should fill the Bomber's tires with Nitrogen! 

Hey that's my blog!

Both Alex and Todd pointed out that the Bikingfools blog got some luvin from the Gamjams page. Check it out here. Not sure how they came across my blog, possibly thru facebook posts by others?

Another good night at MNR

It's finally raining! The trails are so dusty that it's near impossible to keep the drivetrain on the bikes clean. But hey, at least we've been able to ride almost everyday (if you can stand the August heat)! Last night's weather was great for the MNR. Had a new rider with us and Paul was kind enough to show him the ropes. Glad to see new faces on the ride, seems to be gaining popularity through word of mouth and even facebook. Also glad to see that Dave N. is finally back on the saddle!

Driving to work this morning with the wipers working away, I see a Honda CRX at 129th and Maple intersection. No side windows, no back window, or even a windshield for that matter. Better yet? No doors on either side! Just bars as doors. I'd understand if he was in a Wrangler, but nope, a little old CRX. The guy took off pretty fast, probably in sheer embarassment that he was getting soaked. Wish I had a picture of that!

Possibly going on the taco ride this Thursday, depends on the weather.

ps. it helps to put the battery in the camera before bringing it for a ride. Cell phone with camera capabilities is always a trusty backup!

River Riot 2010 was a blast!!!

Okay, I'll admit that I wasn't too keen on going to a concert at Westfair Amphitheater in Council Bluffs. I was there back in college and I don't remember having a good time. Maybe it was the traffic or the heat, but I was a little wary about slapping down money for those tix. BUT, how many times do you get the chance to see Weezer, Stone Temple Pilots, and Blue October all in one show? Never. Let's just say that I was very glad that I went. Quite possibly one of my best concert experiences in my life. I can finally check off Weezer as one of my favorite groups that I've wanted to see. Bands that I've seen in the past include 311 (my photos and write up here), Foo Fighters, RHCP, NIN, CCR, Tom Petty, DMB with Timmy Reynolds, System of a Down, Limp Bizkit, The Urge, George Clinton and the P-Funk Allstars, Moby, Goo Goo Dolls, Bush, Ben Harper, Cake, Black Eyed Peas, Smashmouth, Third Eye Blind, even Elton John. DJs I've dance to include Ferry Corsten, DJ Rap, Steve Smooth, Max Graham, and Christopher Lawrence.

The day had finally arrived!

Grabbed a bite at Chicago Dawg House before heading out to CB. I had the awesome chili cheese dog and Emily had the traditional, complete with spicy peppers, onions, relish, tomato and all. Topped it off with a can of Pabst and we were ready to roll.

Yesterday's River Riot artists included (in the order they came on stage) Something to Burn, Paper Tongues, Flobots, Spose, Emphatic, Cage the Elephant, Blue October, Weezer, and then finally Stone Temple Pilots. Woohoo! Only one band that I've never heard and the lineup was great! Luckily the weather cooled down for us just a little bit, high of 90 I believe. Tiny bit of raindrops while waiting for Weezer to come on stage, and even saw a double rainbow overhead. Could we ask for anything better?

We made our way to the fairgrounds. Parking Nazis on horse were aplenty. Guy was yelling at some girl for parking too far away from another car. She corrected herself, got out of the car and he continued yelling at her, saying that they needed to get cars as close as possible to fit everyone in. Pretty sure I heard her say sorry. Give it a break man on a horse with a pointing stick. Whatever, I sprayed some bug spray on and we continued on our way. I could hear The Paper Tongues playing, I was getting excited! Walk through security without a hitch, give them the tix, and there we were. Carnival type food vendors everywhere, StereoWest, Midwest Wake and Skate, KXVO, etc were there trying to promote their services.

Ahh...the grassy hill with the mainstage at the bottom. I look up and I see the huge "W" with wings on the back of the stage. Did it stand for Westfair or was it the Weezer logo? We concluded that it was the Weezer logo, oh how happy I was!

df

Flobots taking the stage when we got there at 2pm 

The Flobots put on a great show, pretty cool to see the girl on stage with a violin with two rappers, drummer and electric guitar. They played Handlebars (how appropriate for the Bikingfools blog!) and my favorite song by them, Rise. I would best describe the Denver group as a cross between Beastie Boys and Rage Against the Machine, using their hip hop styled lyrics to convey change and a message to the public in many of their songs.

Spose consisted of a 24 year old rapper, turntablist, and a friend on the mic. They were from Maine, and the kid joked about not knowing that there were casinos in the midwest. He sang a song about money and it was funny because people started throwing their change up on stage. And I'm talking about hucking the money up on stage. He said to keep it coming, despite getting hit in the face with a quarter. Even joked about the dollar bill that made its way up on stage and how they were going to clean up and head to the casino with his new earnings. Of course they played their popular tune Awesome.

Rapper Spose trying to keep cool with water and mic in hand 

Next came local Omaha boys Emphatic and then Cage the Elephant. Emphatic's style was a little hard for me, although their one song Dirty that gets airplay on 89.7 doesn't really sound like their other tunes. Cage the Elephant was good, playing most of the their tunes that get airtime.

Rockers and local Omaha boys Emphatic took the stage 

 

Cage the Elephant 

Up until this point, we were trying to stay hydrated. Waters down instantly, multiple beers gone. Diet Mt. Dew and huge Tiger Blood shaved ice in bellies. Oh yeah, when the concert promoters say that free water is provided, they mean yellow nasty water that has been sitting in Farmer Brown's spray tank that they wheeled into the center of the field. Lines of people getting the yellowish water from the cart and filling their bottles with the stuff. Numerous occasions I heard people say, "This water doesn't taste right." I thought the water at Creighton was nasty, this was at a whole different level. I told Emily that I would be afraid to even bathe in that bacteria infested water. Pay the three dollars and get yourself a cold Aquafina, would you please?

Next came Blue October who played all of their popular tunes such as Into the Ocean, Hate Me, and Dirt Room. Dark and sad lyrics behind their music if you've never heard of them. Once again, I think the violin makes their songs really stand out. This time, the violinist had multiple colored violins, one was even green/purple fade that he later plucked at the end of their set. Pretty cool to see him holding that on his shoulder, while playing keyboards and having an electric guitar strapped and ready to play.

First time I've seen Blue October perform, great show! 

 

Might as well pluck the violin for a unique sound! 

Weezer singing MGMT - Kids at RiverRiot 2010 from Misterlime on Vimeo.

Ahh...Weezer's turn. Most people were there to see STP. Not me. Weezer got my attention back in the day with their blue album. Even though I had played that album dozens of times, I only knew the songs by track number. #7 and #10 were my favorites. How much do I like them? Buddy John and I had used the name Jonas as an alias to try to pick up women in St. Louis ten years ago (they have a song called My Name is Jonas). Even played El Scorcho over and over in the dorms while mashing Nintendo 64 buttons during those late night 007 GoldenEye matches. That game was a grade killer.

Weezer's turn to tear up the stage 

Weezer played all of their great tunes plus many others. Some of them were Troublemaker, Buddy Holly, Pork n' Beans, Hash Pipe, Beverly Hills, Say It Ain't So, El Scorcho and My Name is Jonas. Island in the Sun came on and out came the beachballs and tons of rolls of toilet paper from stage. It was like a huge beach party! Rivers Cuomo even stopped the music at one point and got this kid dressed in an all blue outfit (from head to toe) to come on stage. Later, he also got the kid dressed in a chicken costume up there. Is that all it takes to get up there during a Weezer concert? I'm dressing up in an ape outfit or something next time!

 

The spotlights were on the stage most of the show. Then while watching some kid next to us pass out, wake up, and pass out in the hands of security guards, the lights were shining on them as they got the paramedics and a stretcher involved. I turn around and I see the spotlights on one of the scaffold poles and I saw someone halfway up on the post! I thought it was a jumper! I was like whoa! Turns out it was the lead singer for Weezer up there in the middle of the field. How did he sneak out there? He sang up there for a little bit, then started running straight for us! I tried so hard to get my camera to take the picture while Emily stood in his way. My camera flash went off and Emily said that he had grabbed her hand. More like an awesome running hand shake and less of a high five. I looked at my camera to see what I got. Picture of Rivers Cuomo's hand and Emily's touching in an action shot. How cool is that? Almost as cool was when they played MGMT's - Kids mixed with Lady Gaga's Poker Face.

They let the guy with the blue man suit on, chicken man also!

 

Stone Temple Pilots were on after that. By now it was 10pm and people started leaving halfway through the set. Once again, they played all of their great tunes plus a few off of their new album. Emily was pretty sure that it was all of the same members. During one of the songs, Scott Weiland announced that a good friend/producer/drummer would be playing a song with them. Josh Freese stepped up and drummed like a madman. Reading up on him, he has drummed for Perfect Circle, NIN, and is currently drumming for DEVO and Weezer on tour.

 

 

 Scott Weiland sang into the megaphone multiple times during the show

 

Josh Freese up on stage, he has drummed for various bands such as NIN, Perfect Circle, and Devo 

What can I say? It was a great show. Beers were $5, weather was great, bumped into a few ex-coworkers, and we left with a few souvenir Weezer shirts on our backs. Traffic was terrible leaving and we got home around 1:30am. Slept until 2pm, missed riding with Dave and Paul in the Corporate Cycling Cup at 8:30am (sorry guys), but it was well worth the wasted Sunday. We'll have to see what River Riot 2011 brings to Council Bluffs. 2010's will be hard to beat!