Do the Dew...Drop...Ride

It's just like Dale said, "I feel a blog entry is in the making." Ahh...the group knows me too well. This past Sunday we did a gravel ride to not only get us out of the house, but to help us get ready for the Panama Enduro in less than two weeks. Yikes!

Not a camera trick. Yes, that hill is that long. And it was narrow and squishy on the side, as I found out when a car passed us. 

Ready or not? Speaking for myself, not. As we left the Dew Drop Inn in Kennard, NE., our first gravel hill was a killer. Dale had too tall of a gear and I simply had no excuse. My bike is too heavy? Haha. I was struggling to get the cold air into my lungs. I think my nose had turned a little runny and the cold air just stung as I tried to breathe in. Man this was going to suck. Hill after hill. Let's ride to the top of that one and see if there are more. Yup. Well let's keep going...over and over for 15 miles. But hey, it makes you a better person for accomplishing your goals and not giving up. My lungs finally opened up halfway into the ride. I was breathing better and getting more into the rhythm of things. Finally.

Not a lot of color on this ride. Brown. Gray overcast skies. Dirty snow. Kind of depressing. Hence the b&w pics to make it look a little more interesting.

We were actually having trouble finding gravel roads during this 14.63 mile loop. We hit a section of highway with no shoulder, and man we were flying. At some point in the ride I hit 30 mph on the fatbike. Weeee! Chased by a dog or two, crossed paths with a train, and we found a cool Civil War cemetery. And we unfortunately had a lot of traffic on the gravel roads.

People's private lane names crack me up. But to tell you the truth, I did hear a bird as we passed this one. Driving out of town, I saw a "Cattle Grate Lane". And yup, there was a cattle grate by the entrance of the drive.

We made it back to the Dew Drop Inn about two hours or so later and had some grub and beverages. It was a good ride. My one leg did start to cramp up a little bit on the last stretch of road. But not bad. I didn't go out the night before, but two nights before we were out till 6am on a partybus so I attribute my cramping and dehydration to that. Think I'll have to do a bottle of water and another of sports drink for the race. See if that helps, maybe do some of those chews also.

One thing I liked about this ride is the exploring of new territory. You never know what kind of roads you'll find. Every town has its own story and its nice to just see what is out there. Go by car and you'll miss alot. But by bike, every turn of the crank gets you one pedal stroke closer to that Civil War cemetery, to the oncoming train, to that crest of that never ending hill. You really notice things around you. And having a camera in your pocket or hand makes you  that much aware of the even smaller details! This was a trip of many firsts. Never been to Kennard, NE., never ridden next to a train, and the last time I passed cattle so close was at Potter's Pasture many years ago (they were actually running right next to us with no gate). Good times.

I got bored after the train had passed and was just taking different angles during this flat stretch. I also took pics of myself. Even Nick asked if I was just taking random pics. Yup!

The Dew Drop Inn pics and story.

Okay, maybe it's my being newly single and on the market again. What a mess that last relationship was. But anyway, a family came into the DDI as we were finishing our beverages. I gather they somehow knew the owner or a worker there. One of the blonde females kept looking over, I would guess mid 30's. No ring, as compared to cuter brunette who did have a ring on. Maybe it was my looking at the blonde that made her keep looking. We use to joke that we would stare at a girl until they were uncomfortable. But as I told Paul, I think she was checking us out the whole time. And by us, I was hoping to mean me. Selfish. Anyway, didn't think much of it. But as we were walking out, she actually stopped Paul and I and asked up about our riding. Was that a sign? Should we have asked if she also biked? We quickly answered her question and just left. Oh well. Next time!

Do the Ride.

Hoochie Momma!

Well thank you for the kind greetings!