Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Be Inspired

This isn't right.



I'd be embarrassed to tell you how many times I have watched that video in the past couple days. Great song too. Don't miss that he is doing this on a mountain bike and not on BMX.

Two more awesome videos of Danny MacAskill in action here and here.

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Pepe's Bistro

Pepe's (6220 Havelock Avenue; 11-8 Tues.-Sat., Closed Sun. & Mon.) is a place that I was very excited to check out since the first time I heard about it in the Journal Star. It took me a while to make it there, but now that I've eaten there three times, I can say it is one of my favorite places in Lincoln.

The restaurant features mexican vegetarian fare, an idea that at first seems odd when considering the majority of mexican restaurants in Lincoln. The menu is small and ever changing, utilizing fresh local produce as much as possible (its helpful that there is a farmer market just around the corner for much of the year).

My buddy Aaron and I headed there last Thursday and were not disappointed. Aaron had Spinach Enchiladas, and I had a Sweet Potato Quesadilla. We both had Cucumber Lemonade and some chips and salsa. All of it very good, and noticeably lighter and healthier than typical mexican.

Spinach Enchiladas and a Sweet Potato Quesadilla

Pepe, himself, seems to be a cyclist as the restaurant features some cool bicycle related decor and promotions. The first Tuesday of every month is Bicycle Commuter Appreciation Day featuring free breakfast from 7 am - 9 am. Also, every Saturday is Barter Day, where Pepe accepts bike parts, bikes, and business services in exchange for food.

Check this place out and support a local restaurateur and cyclist.

Monday, April 6, 2009

Lycra!!

I popped a seam on my nicest pair of shorts and now I am really bummed out. Anybody know a good seamstress? Any chance I could fix them myself? I have no experience with this...

Friday, April 3, 2009

2008 Ethics Arts Festival

This is part of a series of posts intended to catch up on events from last year that I failed to blog about.

Last fall, my company held its annual Ethics Film Festival, and my co-worker and I (and our talent) threw our hat into the ring yet again. This was the second year we had entered, after winning the trophy in 2007 (our winning entry can be seen here and here). We wanted to do something drastically different, and but still tell a good story.

We were chosen as finalists, and we headed out to the company headquarters in Charlotte, NC. The prize package for finalists was similar to 2007, except instead of a football game in the company suite, we were going to a NASCAR race.

At the awards ceremony we ended up not being chosen as the winner, but hey, with a free trip, a weekend at a nice hotel and tickets to watch the NASCAR race in the company suite, we were all winners that day my friend. Here is our entry:



I am not really a NASCAR fan per se, but it was a lot of fun to experience in person. Kathryn's husband, Shawn, put together a video from the race with some sweet shots near the wall.



The time is approaching to do another video and try to reclaim the trophy. Ideas?

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Under Thirty Seconds!

Yesterday Harp posted about a new personal record for an out-and-back ride through Wilderness Park. This immediately made me think of one of my favorite Seinfeld moments:



Sounds pretty good to me.

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Panama Enduro

If you have followed this blog at all, you will not be surprised that I let the first "race" of the year pass with nary a mention. That's right, Sunday, March 15th, was the Panama MTB Enduro, a approximately 30 mile gravel race south and east of Lincoln. To be clear, I didn't put race in quotation marks to disparage the event in any way; it was simply a comment on my approach to it.

I showed up way too close to the start time and was rushed to get registered and ready. Hooked up with Ryan and Harp (both looking sharp in their new Flatwater Cycling Team kits) and shortly thereafter we were off on a 1 mile controlled start. There were 93 total racers and I (stupidly it turns out) was in the back half at the start. Things managed to stay together pretty well and I was able to move up a bit on the leadout. However, after we turned off the pavement things got hectic fast. The wind was strong out of the south and we were heading right into it. I pulled away from some people and noticed a group of maybe 20 riders forming in front of me. I spent the next couple miles trying my hardest to catch that group but I just couldn't make up the gap floundering by myself in the wind.

Soon afterward we turned to the west and there was the first checkpoint. This race is similar to the local adventure races in that each racer has a card that must be punched with a special punch at several checkpoints distributed throughout the course. On this day, CP#1 was very early in the race, and served to spread everybody out as we all had to wait our turn to punch the card. It was at this point, just 5 miles or so into the race, that I ended up around the people I would ride with all day.

The rest of the race would take us on a big loop to Stagecoach Lake, thru Hickman, to the singletrack at Wagon Train (muddy and horsey), and then back to Panama. It was a grand old time. I ended up finishing about ten minutes behind the people I wanted to be able to keep up with. Overall, I was pretty pleased with my performance, and I know if I had started in better position I could have finished higher in the order.

Afterward there was food, drink and prizes at the Panama Fire Station. My name was called in the raffle and took home some Hammer Gel. Organizer extraordinaire Jim Craig gave us the lowdown on all the upcoming events, and talked about some of the new trails that were getting built. Biggest news: Wagon Train will feature a 15 mile loop when it is complete; that's unheard of around here!!

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