Hot AF Air Show

 August 25, 2024

Hello fellow humans,

How is the pedaling and/or other activities?

Today I went out for a bicycle ride to see the air show down at Offutt Air Force Base.  There are a lot of good places to watch from near the Keystone Trail so you don’t have to deal with the hassle of getting onto the base.  The Thunderbirds were there!  I tried to take a few photos, but those guys are so damn fast I didn’t get any good ones.  

I got a lot of 'em like this

It was very hot so I took refuge under an overpass.  

Don’t worry, I drank plenty of water, including some from this waystation/splash park.  

The splash park was deserted, likely due to very hot temperatures and lack of shade; however, the water fountains and bathrooms were fully functional and well maintained.

After going to see the air show and getting some water I snapped a couple photos of signs for upcoming activities that might be of interest to some of us.  

I would have liked to obtain more info about these events, but I was starting to feel hot!  And I noticed I wasn't the only one!  Whew!  

Then I beheld a wavering image that I thought (Wait!  Could it be?) might be a local brewing company!  

I gratefully availed myself of the lovely air conditioning and ambiance.  

It was only later that I noticed I hadn’t bothered to dust off my ass (dusty from relaxing under the bridge while waiting for the Thunderbirds to appear) before relaxing on a bar stool.  Note:  For British-type English users our American “ass” is similar to what you might refer to as “arse” - I don’t have the inclination or the resources to purchase a pack animal to haul around more stuff!)  I had a pint of Calamansi Breeze, a refreshing lime lager that really hit the spot.  

Although the name was confusing to me, the wonderfully cool temperature and flavor were both perfect.  Later I looked it up on their website and found this description of the Calamansi Breeze:  “Light lager with Calamanse Lime, a cross between mandarin orange & kumquat, so expect bright, zesty orange notes over a citrus lime backing.”  Although I think this “Calamanse lime” may be a mythical organism, like a satyr, this potentially imaginary life form just added to the exotic/oasis-type experience.  No, I will not just look it up:  I find the mystery nearly as delicious as the beverage itself!  As I glanced around the inside of the establishment I noticed this cool sculpture.

After thus fortifying my constitution, I once again braved the hot trail.  If anything it seemed hotter than before!  Luckily I managed to pedal my arse doggedly back to my precious homestead and enjoy a nice shower (first hot to wash off the sunscreen and grit, then cool to feel refreshed).

So there you have the summary.  I hope it is summery enough for you, but if it’s not, just get out on a hot trail and consider stopping by Pint 9 for a Calamansi Breeze or one of their other delicious options.

Stay cool, summer riders!  Or, failing that, get your arse some shade!

Love,

BSO

Ambition Knots

                                                                                                             July 8, 2024

Whew!  That last entry was long!  Here’s something different.

Friday I decided to get out for an afternoon cycling excursion.  It’s not that common for me to have such an opportunity, but you see here in North America’s mid-section we are on the backside of the national holiday we call Independence Day or, colloquially, the Fourth of July.  This time I had some free time and so I hopped on the dusty, prematurely aged Wear-Yellow-Ride-cycle.  

seen here in younger days

It’s fun because it goes pretty fast on flattish routes.  It’s prematurely aged because I leave it out back under the canopy where it’s kind of sheltered but still gets a fair bit of dust and moisture and, hence, character-enhancing rust.  So I filled her tyres with a bit a ye olde aire, strapped on a couple of gear bags with one of the few tubes lying around that seemed like it might be the right size, and spent some downhill time trying to re-familiarize myself with the feel of the skinny-tyred single-speed.  It felt quite nice to get out on the trail.  I had a tail wind as I headed southeast on the West Papio Trail (I hopped on at around 132nd & Q, by the big Tyson plant).  I was probably going about 14 miles per hour (around 12 knots for the nautically minded, more on this later) on the way out.  On that leg of the tour I noticed a relaxed looking fellow walking his dog whilst reading a book.  Sorry, no photo, I was too busy going fast.  I did refocus my ambition relatively soon: first I was ambitiously bicycling out and then I was ambitiously riding back towards Pint Nine brewery.  As part of this shift; however, I did snap a photo of this intriguing sign.

I couldn't find out anything about the Iron Riders Tribute Bicycle Ride 2024

The Iron Riders have had a few documentaries made about them and there was apparently a re-enactment of one of their expeditions out in Wyoming somewhat recently.

On the way back, there was a headwind to contend with, but this only served to sharpen my thirst for a fermented beverage.  Eventually I was comfortably perched on an outside bench at Pint Nine.  A fellow with a computer was sitting at the table with a 4-glass sampler and we conversed a bit about various topics, including bicycle- and travel-related things.  It turns out that Seth was into bike-packing and had bicycled across South Korea!  Apparently they’ve got a great trail that traverses the entire country and is mostly paved and well-maintained.  You can get a passport-type book to collect stamps at TARDIS-like stations along the route and if you collect them all you can take your book to the trail HQ to collect a golden medal of some kind!  How awesome is that!  Plus, the US dollar is pretty good over there right now and you might meet some convivial K-pop stars or at least some of their fans.  If I ever ride this trail, I would like to attempt to do it in a track suit that celebrates some type of K-pop group or maybe even just K-pop in general.  

When asked about his bike-packing rig, Seth stated he had a Giant hybrid that he currently uses but that he’s got his eye on a Poseidon.  I was not hithertofore aware of this brand, but it sounded like they have some pretty great deals, so I looked at their website and here’s one of the bikes that they had that I thought might be good for bike-packing.  https://www.poseidonbike.com/products/flatbar-redwood?variant=41091788963991

Mrs. Snot and I were both not sure that Poseidon was a good brand name for a bike company. My wife has a deep understanding of mythology and she pondered the many facets of Poseidon.  He was full of surprises.  For example, you might think that Zeus or some land-based god created horses?  Nope - Poseidon did!  Mrs. Snot suggested that the website might have an origin story.  So I looked around on their website and found the following:  https://www.poseidonbike.com/pages/who-we-are  

“Poseidon Bike takes its name from the God of the sea, a place where you can find serenity and stillness and discover the sea's strength at a moment’s notice.”  

So I guess they are stating that bicycling is like being at sea?  Maybe that is true in some ways, but I don’t think it’s common to get motion sickness on a bicycle?  Anyway, I couldn't find any other specific reason for their brand name.  As a direct-to-consumer bike manufacturer there are a few things I think about:  

1.  Not good for your local bike shop.  But money’s pretty tight these days…  tough decisions  

2.  Not sure where frames are made.  

3.  To keep costs low, some parts are probably not the greatest.  

Nothing really jumped out at me when skimming specs, but a few reviewers stated that they upgraded brakes or wheels (possibly these were on older versions).  I also feel like spending more on a bike up-front is typically a good way to get good components that can take some abuse and perform reliably.  It looks like the Redwood, sorry X Ambition, would probably be my pick for a bikepacking rig.  If you use any kind of ride-tracking technology, I'd recommend switching from km/hr or mph to knots just to honor the god of the sea and avoid angering this jealous deity.

Seth also recommended the Superchief.  It was strong, so I got a mini!

So the weather is pretty good for bicycling these days, unless you want to do some riding on dirt, which has been kind of soggy lately.  Hopefully I’ll be able to get out for some mountainous bicycling in the near future and I’ll let you know how that goes.

All the best to you and your bicycles,

BSO

Recreational Fun and a Pint!

April 26, 2020

Dear Family,

I hope that you are doing alright and that your health is good.  

I went for another recreation bicycle outing today and it was a blast!  I rode past an olden, hilarious trailer with the Clark Erection Co. moniker, still quite legible but faded, emblazoned gloriously upon its broad side.  It was right across the creek from a large Pink Construction Co. conex storage unit. Ahhh.  All is right with the world.  Sure I could have taken some photos, but then it wouldn’t have felt so intimate.

It was nice and warm so I had a hard time withdrawing, I mean turning around to head back.  I found that a fairly large group of people were out on a memorial/remembrance walk for Payton Lester, a boy who had a very short life.  Due to the COVID-19-asaurus, I did not find out any additional details about the young fellow, although I liked the "Payton is my Hero" t-shirts they were sporting.  As I was out on the Keystone Trail heading south, I found that the trail was closed at Capehart Road, 

so I rambled about for awhile.  I took a neighborhood recreational trail

and 25^thStreet south until I reached Fairview Road, headed east, then headed back north on Fort Crook Road.  The City of Bellevue had fairly recently decided it didn’t want some of its bike lanes, and I found some evidence of this along Fort Crook Road, which had a few parts with not much of a shoulder.  

Ouch.  Why you do me like that?

Be that as it may, at least the signs were still erect.  

I was happy to see a pretty good bike lane on Capehart Road as I headed back west to the Keystone Trail.  

On my way home I noticed a lone bicycler sitting out on a picnic table behind the strip mall that contains both Kros Strain and Pint9 breweries.  He was drinking a tall boy and so I quickly interrogated him and found that I could get some beer to go from either store!  

I quickly availed myself of this option and had a pint whilst chit-chatting with Phil for awhile.  He informed me that in the Des Moines, Iowa area he once rode for 150 miles (in one day!?) just on paved multi-use trails and that he never used the same trail twice!  I was mightily impressed.  While, it turns out the Des Moines area claims 550 miles of bike routes (although about 170 miles are shared with automobiles, hopefully they don't get any ideas from Bellevue!)!  And now that BRAN has been cancelled, maybe I’ll just head out to DesMoines and ride around on some sweet trails for 2 or more days and see what kind of trailside breweries are available.  

Well, that is a brief summary of my day.  I hope yours has been equally or more satisfying.  Many blessings from the middle of (US o’) America.  

Love,

BSO

PS:  Here is an optional bike-related video for your enjoyment and/or bafflement