Dakota Five-o by dclements0 at Garmin Connect - Details

The Dakota Five-o was finally a success for me. Although my previous time was below 7 hours, this year's time finally made it below the 6 hour mark. Leading into it I didn't know if I would be able to make it or not. I used some advice I got and just kept moving. I had 2 water bottles and stopped just long enough at each aid station to fill the empty. I don't think I spent longer than a minute at any one stop.

Most of the race I felt really good. My legs felt strong and my lungs felt good too. I can't say I was overly fast but I felt strong enough which made me quite happy since my longest ride this summer to date has been 22 miles on the road.

Next year I'm hoping for under 5 hours. I think that may get into some actual training and more long rides. We'll see. I must admit that it was really nice being done before it got hot.

Dakota Five-o by dclements0 at Garmin Connect - Details

Preparation

Centennial Trail between Elk Creek and Alkali

Yesterday I was able to make a small prep run for the Dakotafive-o. I only rode for a couple hours but they were quality. I haven't downloaded the data yet but there was much climbing involved. I started at the Alkali Creek Trailhead and rode up Bulldog and continued on a few miles towards Elk Creek Trailhead on the Centennial Trail.

I've never been past the top of bulldog before and I have to tell you, it's a doozy. Much climbing is involved between that little section. Long downhills make for long uphills. The trail was beautiful though. Not that there were sweeping views but just much green foliage everywhere. There were also a couple of creek crossings which turned out to be dry.

I'm unsure about my readiness for the five-o but I don't have much choice. I have to do it and my goal will remain under 6 hours. If I don't make it, no big deal but it sure would be fun. I put in a lot of time at the beginning of the year which fell off during June and parts of July. Since then I've been riding or commuting a couple times a week. Usually logging close to 50-60 miles per week so I should be ok. We'll see.

Commuting and Dakota Five-o

I started my new job a couple weeks ago. So far, I'm absolutely loving it. There is a large variety of work to do and it all revolves around bikes, getting kids to ride bikes, bike events and other things bike related. You could say I like it.

One of the other perks about this place is the bike parking. We have a large warehouse where there are about 20-30 hooks to hang bikes and a shower to wash off the stink. I have been leaving my Santa Cruz here most of the time so I can hop out for a quick lunch ride on M-hills since it's so close. I've also been able to commute by bike a little more since I don't get so many evil looks when I am sweaty or need to bring my bike inside.

I haven't commuted a ton yet but my number is increasing. I'm hoping for at least 3 times per week which I know isn't much, but compared to what I have been doing, it is a vast improvement.

I do need to keep riding to work and getting the lunch rides in to prepare for the Dakota 5-0. It's probably too late to do any serious prep work but doing nothing will not help either. So, my plan of commutes and lunch rides will have to do for now.

Speaking of the Dakota five-o... I know two people who are unable to use their registration. One is for medical reasons, so if you are interested in riding let me know and I'll get you in touch with those folks. We'll have to move pretty fast since the transfer deadline is fast approaching.

Do any of you use Strava? What are your thoughts? I'm not fully convinced yet although I can see the fun in it.

Camping Weekend

Once again, no reports on rides. We did take our new pop-up camper out to a little lake by Hot Springs. Cold Brook Lake which isn't so much of a lake as it is a big puddle. That's not true, it's a really big puddle. Honestly, it's a lake, yet a small one.

Cold Brook is a very nice lake. It's small and not very crowded which is the part I loved. While all of the other campgrounds get tons of traffic, Cold Brook is off the beaten path and it seems most people don't know about it and if they do, they don't go there.

Since we were in for a short, overnight camping trip I decided to opt out of bringing the bikes. The one thing we do need to do is work on pairing down the amount of stuff we take camping. I think I'm going to start making an inventory of what we take and then what we use. This will help decide what we really need. Honestly, do we need 3 packs of hotdogs for an overnight trip? The case of beer is a necessity but what about the 3 gallons of water... I don't think so.

Rain

The wife and I purchased a small pop-up camper for some weekend excursions. Does anyone have any good ideas for mounting a bike rack to the top of the camper? I've seen it done but mainly just with vehicles driving by at 65 miles per hour. I've never seen one up close.

I also haven't had a chance to try out some bikepacking gear. Well, not so much gear but the bike, bags and just other normal stuff I have. My weekends have been so busy that time has been spent elsewhere. I have the Salsa Fargo with some bags. It would be so easy to take a short ride up to Nemo and camp overnight yet I haven't done it yet.

Is anyone watching the tour?

Last weekend we were camping at Stockade Lake by Custer. I brought my Blur and was hoping for a Centennial trail ride. That didn't happen but I was able to ride through the park from our lake to another lake. Bicycle is the ultimate way to travel through the park. It's slow enough where you can really see the sights.

News from the West side

Well, I have a little news to share. I have a new job that I'll be starting in a few weeks. I'm going from the energy industry to the bicycle industry. I'm going to be working for a little company that makes little bikes for little people. You may have heard of them. Strider Sports.

My excitement is overwhelming at this point. I love the idea of putting more kids on bikes and at a younger age. I completely believe in the brand and the product. Both of my kids have used or are currently riding Striders. The oldest, 4, is now on a peddle bike. He had no issues at all going from the Strider to the peddle bike. No training wheels and he had so much confidence already. My 2 year old rolls around everywhere.

It's always interesting when I'm talking to people and they ask how I get my kids to ride their bikes so much. I ask them how not too. Maybe it's because I love bikes and I try to ride as much as possible or maybe it's just that bikes are so fun it's nearly impossible not to want to ride. Both of the kids wake up in the morning and instantly want to go outside and ride. For some reason, it seems so natural to me.

That's all from me for now. I'll update you on more once I start. Maybe I'll have some ride reports between now and then, who knows.

I'm extremely excited to be starting a different chapter in my life doing something I completely believe in and have so much passion for. Until then... later.

Finally some updates (ride report)

I finally have some updates. I know I said I was going to post pictures a while ago about what burned on M-hill here in Rapid City. I never made it back up there until today. So, I have some pictures of that...

The short stuff is where it burned

I actually think the fire helped out the vegetation. Even with the lack of rain the grass is so green and pretty. There isn't the brown under brush that's usually there.

Right below the Sun Climb... up and to the West is where the burn happened.

I love having this hill right in the middle of town. It took me 3 minutes to ride my bike from the front door of my office to the base of the hill. I'm so blessed to have something like this in town.

On that note, I was in Nebraska on work last week. At the last minute I threw my bike in as I hoped I would have a little extra time to explore the cities by bike and maybe even find a trail or two. Lucky for me I work with a guy from Omaha who gave me a few tips and locations. 

On Monday evening I was in Lincoln. I was able to ride their version of the rails to trails bike path which had  a few little spider legs branching off into very lush single track. Not hilly but certainly buggy. It was very interesting and different to ride in an environment unlike the Black Hills. Lincoln was very humid and it felt like I was riding in a rain forest. 

This trail was one of the longest, straightest and flattest I have ever been on. It travels from Lincoln to Beatrice on an old railroad bed. Roughly 44 miles long one way.

Then after I rode in Lincoln I got to travel to Omaha. While I was there I was given a few different trails to check out. Sampson was the one that was raved about the most but it was the furthest from my hotel so I opted for Tranquility. It is about 9 miles of varying single track in Tranquility park. The bike club T.H.O.R. does a good job maintaining it and it was a lot of fun. I could tell the trail is used a lot because of the depth of the track. There was a variety of small climbs, little whoops in the advanced section and some tight turns. Nothing crazy and very smooth trail. The one feature that sticks out in my mind the most is how smooth all these trails are. I rode my Fargo which is a rigid 29er. I'm very happy I didn't bring my Blur LT because the 5.5" of travel would have been overkill. 

Tranquility Park overlooking Omaha to the East

All in all this was a very worthwhile trip in the mountain biking world. I am happy I brought my bike along and asked around to get some locations. It was different and exciting to see what else is out there to the East. I'm so used to riding in my location where it's hilly and rough... the change of scenery was just what I needed.