Wilderness and Mountain Lions

I have been away too long. The new job is going well. It's very hard to leave a job you had worked at for over 9 years where you knew the ins and outs of everything to something completely new. In other words, I'm actually working for a change. Still getting plenty of time on the bike too. I bought some rollers back in December and have been enjoying them. They make the time inside a little more enjoyable. I have finally gotten to where I can ride them for 4 hours, though every forty-five minutes or so, I am in dire need of nether region relief.

Recently we have had some great weather and some not so great weather here in the lovely state of Nebraska. This past weekend being one of them. Here is what happened.

Sunday after being on the rollers for a little over an hour, I received a call. Someone whining about wanting to go out and ride Wilderness. Here is a sample of the conversation.

I said, "Are you nuts? It's 7 degrees out there with a 10mph wind out of the north."

Caller, "But you will warm up and you will be out of the wind because of the shielding the woods provide."

"Are you nuts? It's 7 degrees out there."

"But I don't want to go to the Y and sit on the spin bike."

"Are you nuts? It's 7 degrees out there."

"But nobody else will ride with me. Besides there are mountain lions out there."

"grumble, grumble, grumble. Okay, I'll go. But so you know, IT'S 7 DEGREES OUT THERE!"

Now, I am one who has a hard time retaining body heat, no matter how much I move around out there, so it was with great trepidation that I went. Got myself all bundled up in several layers, prepped the cross bike, and headed out for a cold weather adventure.

In the open it was completely miserable, my nose, fingers, and toes were hurting from the cold. However, I will admit, after about 20 minutes into the ride, the trees provided enough shielding that my fingers and nose were warming up. My toes were a completely different issue. They did not get warm until late in the evening.

My riding buddy kept talking about the mountain lions that live in Wilderness, so I was trying to keep in front so if we were attacked, they would go after the slow one in the pack. Much to my chagrin they went after the leader. The picture above was taken moments before my tussle with the ever elusive Wilderness cougar, which is almost as elusive as the photographed Gravy. Thankfully, I won with only a bruised knee.

Riding the cross bike was great fun out there. I probably should have taken the mountain bike, as the larger tires would have provided better traction; but the ride was still just as sweet. There were many moments that I would get hung up in a frozen rut or on something that was lurking beneath the snow. I even managed a really sweet save that you just had to be there to appreciate.

This coming weekend is looking to be fun. Road Racing season begins! WOO-HOO!!! I will be heading down to Lawrence, KS for a crit race on Saturday and the Dam race on Sunday. Some fellow teammates will be down there too and hopefully we will kick some butt, and make them fear Nebraska riders. If not, then at least we will have some fun.

Till next time.