Goodbye Ben, Hello Year of the Wood Dragon

February 10, 2024 

Hello friends and family! 

I hope you are having a worthwhile 2024 thus far.  How was your 2023?  2023 had some good times and sad times for me.  A friend of mine and a former college roommate, Ben Kroeze, died last year. 

He was 50 years old. We had a lot of fun times together. He and I did a bit of biking together: Indian Caves back in the 1990s, el Nacho Ride and un Taco Ride in 2011 (con accentes, por favor).  

Also just around town.

 More recently we’d been out on a few local rivers with kayaks and my inflatable SUP. 

Ben was the best story teller I knew and he always had a unique perspective backed up by personal, intelligent ideas. He enjoyed outdoor activities and expertly completing home improvement projects for himself and others. When he and I became roommates, we needed a place to keep our bikes. I showed him a few options we could have mail ordered through a bike catalogue, but Ben was having none of that. He looked over the designs in the catalogue and then we headed over to the lumber store to grab some 2x4s and then over to his family garage/shop. We had ourselves a nice rack put together within a few hours. It’s heavy and reliable and I’ve still got it on our back porch where it typically supports one old bike and several garden hoses, although it could hold up to 4 bikes, if needed. 

One of our most memorable experiences was a trip with the Outdoor Adventure Club back in college. We went spelunking at Devil’s Icebox near Columbia, Missouri. It rained a lot on the way out, but it was clear by the time we got to the park to set up our tents. Ben and I stayed up late smoking and chatting with a few of our fellow spelunkers. 

The next morning we canoed into the cave system for maybe a quarter of a mile or so and then left our boats to explore the mazy subterranean realm. We slid, waded, and climbed through many tight passages. We found a seedling growing in this place devoid of sunlight. 

I think we spent half a day or so underground before we paddled back out into the surface world. I emerged with a deeper appreciation of the natural world and caves in particular. Because of that trip I try to include a visit to a cave in family vacations whenever possible. There are caves on the moon, Mars, and possibly on the moons of Jupiter and Saturn. 

 As you are likely aware, it is now the Year of the Wood Dragon! 2024 is expected to be a time of visionary leaders, innovators and problem solvers. 2024 is also predicted to be a great year to start new projects, explore new opportunities and create value for yourself and others. It is a year to pursue your dreams, express your ideas and expand your horizons. It is also a year to be generous, compassionate and loyal to your friends, but shouldn't every year, Ebenezer Scrooge?  There is apparently a Dragon bicycle company in Seattle.  Here is a photo of Woody Harrelson riding a bicycle. 

Although he’s not really dragon-related, as far as I know, he was in a movie called “Out of the Furnace” that could be considered fire-related. 

Taylor Swift also has been known to ride a bicycle. 

As she may be the most famous person in the world, there are also many predictions as to how she and the Year of the Wood Dragon will get along. Apparently her song “Long Live ” refers to fighting dragons, but she enjoyed it, so it could be a good challenge/opportunity for her. 

Here are a few things I might try this year: 

1. Retaining wall work (the contractor quote was way too high so I will attempt to accomplish some/most of this as a DIY with help from friends. 
2. Maybe a few other DIY projects around the house/yard 
3. Loess Hills Enduro coming up in May! 
4. Some mountain bicycling now that I’ve got a pretty good setup in place for the Santa Cruz Superlite I’ve been using lately. 

Now that the streets are snow and ice free I've been enjoying some nice bicycle riding and quite a bit of Pokemon Go playing.  I hope you have been enjoying some quality outdoor time too.

Whatever it holds in store for you, I hope the Year of the Wood Dragon provides the opportunities and challenges necessary for you to grow and thrive. And hopefully a nice cave visit as well. 

Many blessings to you and your loved ones. We'll miss you Ben.

BSO

Nacho typical Tuesday ride

September 7, 2011

Yesterday I joined a group of Nacho Riders on the lovely Mopac Trail. The Nacho Ride takes place on Tuesday nights at around 5:30, and is an out and back ride between Lincoln and Eagle, Nebraska. I met up with my friend Ben and company and together we set off on our merry way.

The trail was elevated above the surrounding land, affording nice views of some rural buildings and landscapes.

I took a photo of Scott's classic steel frame, along with his bicycle.

Hey.  You wanna see this Fuji erupt?

The midway point of the ride is a great little bar called the One Eye Dog Saloon that includes outdoor seating, great service and a good vibe. While dining, Tara informed me that the Rush song "Trees"

somehow alludes to the Lord of the Rings series. Although I am skeptical, I will look into this.

On the return trip I was fascinated by a green taillight which stared at me like a one-eyed, feral hobbit (and no, I don't want to meet your one-eyed hobbit, thank you very much).

Needless to say, it has been quite an eventful couple of days for this working stiff, what with a trip to Ponca State Park and then a bicycle ride from Lincoln to Eagle and back. Time to kick back and relax a bit with a brew and thoughts of upcoming yard work. Might even kick back on the bike trailside recliner/underpass as I saw a young man doing on my way home today. I'm pretty sure this personage is a downtown-dwelling urbanite/musician who may have taken a wrong turn and ended up out in our suburban fields. After taking stock of his surroundings, this hip urban spirit calmly reclined above the maddening pace of the multi-use trail to record his thoughts in a journal or perhaps to pen a whimsical song of nonconformity. Ahh, the joys of youth.

Campy Neonderfall fun!

September 5, 2011

As a yard banner in the RV section of Ponca State Park stated, "Camping is s'more fun!"
"In-deedy-dubitably, neighborino!" I chortled as we passed by.

Yes, the extended weekend American dream getaway was being lived in the beautiful environs of northeastern Nebraska. S'mores were eaten, beer was drank, frogs were caught, and gassy tales of terror were told.

This morning I awoke and slapped on my Neonderthal skins

 for a trip down to the riverside. It was on this morning expedition that I felt as if I were on the Ewok planet Endor.

Although I did not find any homicidal, fuzzy, cute savages, I did come across a few prints.

I am no boy scout, but I think the prints to the left were left by the forepaws of a raccoon. Like state politician Jon Bruning I often associate raccoons with welfare recipients, so it wasn't more than a jiff or two before I was convinced that a cult of welfare recipients with pet raccoons and twisted rituals were living on this habitat created by the recent flooding and the closing of the Corps of Discovery Trail, which had formerly been frequented by decent, God (regular, non-cult variety)-fearing, state park fee-paying citizens.

I tried to stay on the alert to possible cultists as I traipsed about shooting photos

and enjoying the feeling of the mud and sand on my Neonderthal skin-covered toes. Ah, yes. This is living! On the way back, I documented some of the clues about these cultists (just in case they are wanted by the law). It appears that they may drink Stroh's beer.

They also worship small, cross-like sticks,

which may represent a bird of some sort (my guess is turkey vultures, since they were present in force along the steep, loess cliffs adjacent west of the river).

I also encountered a tree named Old Oak.

This oak's reported age is 367 years young! That's older than bicycles, by gum! Old Oak Trail seemed to be a pretty good area for all-terrain-bicycles, although I didn't see any of them during my stay.

Scenic views were to be had along Buffalo Run Trail.

Many activities were available, including hayrack rides, night hikes, beginning kayaking, and kids+bugs=squishy, squeely fun-for-all. All-in-all a great extended weekend getaway. There's also the ever-popular haunted hayrack rides coming up in October.

Although I doubt it is quite as good as the haunted hayrack ride, I am excited to participate in the Nacho Ride tomorrow evening. Hope to see you there!

Thrills, bills and bellyaches

August 26, 2011

During a recent drive in my Raid-scented Metro, I noticed that my mirror was dangling at an awkward angle, presumably due to being "thwacked" by me and the Old Bastard as I carelessly careened in and out of the garage for exciting expeditions out and about. Speaking of excitement, I have recently come to the realization that instead of being a thrill-neutral entity, I am actually a thrill-avoider. This slightly disappointing realization occurred to me due in part to three events, which I will now address in an anti-thrill-like list:

1) Check out this crazy bicyclist. Yes, even watching Danny MacAskill in action feels a bit too thrilling for this casual cyclist. I received this video link from a non-bicyclist friend, which also shows how locked-out of the current bicycling scene I am.

2) I also viewed a B.A.S.E. jumper in action while drinking a beer and lounging fatly upon a hotel bed in the lovely town of Grand Island. The sight of a flying squirrel-like dude-man in search of thrills made me cringe in fear and avoid the television by staggering unevenly towards the hotel mini-fridge to grab another non-thrill-inducing Boulevard Wheat beer. I gawked in disbelief as a soul-patch-adorned scofflaw philosophized about when not to B.A.S.E. jump. "If a jump is not worth dying for, that's when you should call it quits," he stated. I began shivering, sucking my thumb and called the front desk to demand that they move me down to the ground floor, far away from any suggestion of falling.  Although I am ashamed not to have located the actual video footage, here is some slightly less-scary, but more photogenic footage of a more technically minded B.A.S.E. jumper.

3) This grass-hopper

rode on my recently fractured mirror from Grand Island to York, Nebraska. While refueling in York, I noticed two young women with bicycles on a trunk rack. I stared enviously, possibly arousing feelings of caution in these young Wisconis (I was too shy/sober to ask for a photo-op). Back in the Metro I noticed the 'hopper had migrated up onto the windshield

and possibly performed some type of insectoid B.A.S.E jump (in any case, my hitchhiking buddy had disappeared a few miles further) .

4) I went to visit a former college professor. Although being around 60 or so, this role model of mine had recently finished a 16 day rafting trip through the Grand Canyon. I nearly fell over backwards off the chair I was leaning back on. High waters had caused the Colorado to rise to such levels that the water near Yuma must have been more massive than most creeks in the less adventurous state of Nebraska! I wanted to cower behind my chair as he described an eruption of water known as a "haystack," with impressive amounts of "lateral force." My recent interactions with water had involved swimming across the hotel pool at the Grand Island Holiday Inn Express (where guests may enjoy free beer and wine during the 5-7 pm happy hour, which prevented me from doing my planned running exercises after work). The most extreme "lateral force" I had encountered was the enjoyably relaxing jets in the hot tub on my slightly sore knee.

In other news, here's what some people are riding to the bar these days.

Stone Mountain II, baby!  Rocky Top, suck on this!

I did not attend the Corporate Cycling Challenge event this year, although I did plan on it for awhile. I often imagine people asking me, "Why do you participate in one or more charity bicycle rides per year on average?" My response would be thusly, "Because of the wee ones! (yelling italicized words and then bursting into Groundskeeper Willie-like tears). By "wee ones" I don't mean children, I mean the wee folks, will-o-the-wisps, hobs, etc. which dwell in the tangly forests of yore. Yes, I occasional feel as if I am being messaged and/or messaged by the wee ones who guide me and link me to the supernatural powers to which my forebears were attuned via a heightened state of awareness created by a lack of modern distractions such as television, corporations and computer-aided-drafting.

Although I feel a barely detectable amount of sadness at missing the CCC, I do plan on attending an event I've been made aware of known as the "Nacho Ride" in the vicinity of the exciting town of Lincoln, Nebraska. For all you Cornhusker fans out there, this ride may include one or fewer actual Nebraska Cornhusker footballers (aka, northern North American futbol, con accento, tilda, upside-downo exclamacion marcos y itacizo por favor, tu cabron!). It takes place every Thursday. So get your cobs ready and head out for some cheesy fun in the slightly cooler late summer weather before you get all crazy with your Labor Day camping expedition! (And watch out for any lurking thrills....)