Sunday, February 8, 2009

The Road to Raymond

Unseasonably warm temperatures for February meant getting on the bike for a gravel roads ride up to Raymond, NE. It's about 25 miles round-trip from my house in the Highlands. I took N. 1st Street up to Waverly road, then over to NW 40th Street up to Raymond. Following a brief Powerbar break in Raymond, I took Raymond Road down to James Arthur Vineyards. Here, I did a little wine tasting. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Nebraska wines, there are few to choose from (and rightly so). James Arthur actually makes a decent red wine, ironically enough called Nebraska Red. A couple of sommeliers at the vineyard made the comment that I was their first cyclist. I found that hard to believe, but they added that they see bikers, not cyclists. It was a proud moment.
After some pictures and wine tasting, I wandered back onto Raymond Road and took NW 27th back toward Lincoln. In route, I was chased by 3 dogs on two separate occasions. The first 2 dogs almost got to me; the 3rd dog didn't stand a chance. Kind of scary, though, when these dogs dart out of nowhere and start chasing you. Overall, it was a nice two-hour adventure on the 29'er.

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Whistler/Blackcomb snowboarding trip






Incredible! A group of 6 ventured up to Whistler/Blackcomb in B.C Canada for a weekend of snowboarding/skiing. The vistas were amazing and the runs were fantastic. All 3 riding days were bluebird days. No new snow in the past week, but we were able to find some pow on the Peak 2 Creek run. This trail has the longest vertical in North America at just above 5,000 feet. It was insane...I had to take several breaks. The natives were friendly and the Canadian beer was quite tasty. Check out all the trip pictures on my Facebook page.