THOR Annual Meeting

Seems that the weather for THOR (Trails Have Our Respect) annual meeting is always bitter cold!.  This past Sunday did not disappoint us.

From what I count with the photo, there were about 70 attendees.  Chair Roxy Feagan welcomed the group.  It what a change from the attendance of the first THOR Annual Meeting I attended in about 80 years ago.  That meeting was held in the back of a bike shop and attended by 8 members!

Meeting was held at the National Park Service in Omaha.  The members learned about current status of becoming a chapter of IMBA (International Mountain Bike Association).  Breakout groups discussed the goals and future of THOR.  There was time to brain-storm to see what projects the membership would like.

Meeting ended with election of THOR's Board of Directors for the coming year.

Most Popular Mountain Bike Trails

Thanks to Singletracks.com for the map and the review of most popular trails in each state.  I am surprised how many of them I really have ridden a section of or at least checked out to see it I could ride it.

Here's the ranking criteria on the list.

• Average trail rating
• Number of members who have ridden the MTB trail
• Number of members who want to ride the MTB trail

There's the list of trails I am familiar with (means ridden a part of the trail or tried to ride a section):
 

Santos, Ocala, FL

Cuyuna Trails, Ironton, MN

Tsali, Bryson City, NC

Jewell Park, Bellevue, NE

FATS Trails, Clarks Hill, SC

Centennial Trail, Sturgis, SD

Tanasi, Ocoee, TN

Palo Duro Canyon, Canyon, TX

Curt Gowdy State Park, Cheyenne, WY

In addition to the top trail per state, the web site also lists the 100 top trails.  Like those above, I have ridden a section of these trails.

#1 - Colorado Trail, Durango, CO

#19 - CAMBA: Namakagon Cluster, Namakagon, WI

#34 - Bent Creek, Asheville, NC

#85 – Nine Mile, Wausau, WI

Coffee Packet Review

With my Keurig coffee brewer, I received several coffee samples. One box (12 pkts ea) of Newmans Original Blend and Green Mountain Nantucket Blend. Also a sampler box – all different. Here's my review so far. Note: unless specified, each cup was brewed as a large cup.

First morning – I tried the 2 boxes:

Green Mountain Nantucket Blend, Medium Roast – funky flavor. Not excited about it. Will have to try it again as I have a box of 12. Not planning to buy any more.

Newmans Own Special Blend, Medium Roast, Extra Bold – Reasonable flavor. Right now, its a “go to” blend. Bold enough that I could get a large and small cup in one packet.

Now – the running commentary of the others in the sample pack:

Gloria Jean Hazelnut – very weak. Might have a problem when I tried to extend the use by brewing a large and small cup with the same packet.

Caribou Coffee, Caribou Blend – OK, but nothing worth writing home about. Might be good with a shot of hazelnut syrup.

Van Houtte French Vanilla – reasonable flavored coffee. Just enough vanilla. Coffee could be bolder.

Tullys French Roast – A bold roast. A reasonable flavor. Little bitter aftertaste at the end of the cup. Still like the Newman's, better.

Donut Shop Medium – Not harsh, not bold. Not weak. Good all-around taste/blend

Green Mountain Breakfast Blend – Its coffee, but about all I can say about it. I am thinking that “breakfast blends” are just some caffeine running through your system.

Green Mountain Nantucket Blend – Getting low on my sampler box so tried this blend again. Must have been a bad (stale) packet. Not so bad this time. No “funky” flavor today. One or 2 cups is enough in the morning – finish off with Newman's when I wanted a third. I will be able to consume the box, just not planning to buy more.

Ordered some more coffees with the brewer registration:

Van Houtte Vanilla Hazelnut, Light – There is some reasonable flavor. Being a light roast, not much “kick” in the coffee. Will have to see how it tastes as the first cup of the day.

Timothy's Kahula Original, Mild – Decent coffee. Kahala flavor stays on the palette.

Tully's Hawaiian Blend, Medium Roast, Extra Bold – Bold flavor but not overpowering. Would be a great coffee when you need to get up and out.

Eight O-Clock Hazelnut, Medium Roast – THIS is closer what I am looking for in a hazelnut-flavored coffee. Medium roast, not too strong and not weak. Reasonable hazelnut flavor.

Picked up 12-packet boxes at the grocery store (non-Keurig packets):

HyVee Hazelnut (mild) Blend – Funky smell from the brewer. It sure is a mild blend. Can tell there is some favoring added, just not taste it. Not planning to buy this coffee again.

Cameron's Vanilla Hazelnut, Light Roast – opened the box – are not in typical Keurig packets. May have to check out how to use in the brewer. OK, just a different filter section of the packet. Decent flavor, could be bolder coffee roast.

More - Looking for the perfect cup...  (added May/June 2014)

Superior Selections, Medium Roast.  -- Reasonable taste, specially for the lower-priced coffees on the grocery shelf.  Mild kick and no nasty after-taste.  Almost as good as Newmans Own without the cost.  

Millstone Hazelnut Creme -- Picked up at a local grocery store (box of 12). Reasonable hazelnut flavor, no aftertaste.  Good enough to order from Keurig.

Timothy's Hazelnut, Medium Roast. --  Very disappointed with this coffee.  Had high hops as I enjoy the Kaluha coffee from this roaster.  Weak coffee and unpleasant aftertaste.  Won't be purchasing this one again.

Second Order from Keurig  (June 2014)

Been enjoying coffee from the brewer enough that I made a second order or 4 boxes from Keurig.  One is the Timothy's Hazelnut reviewed above.   Ordered a lager box of Millstone Hazelnut - see above.    Two others are re-orders for coffees I enjoy  from the earlier order. They are worth mentioning.   Eight O-Clock Hazelnut, Medium Roast,  and  Timothy's Kahula Original, Mild.

Keurig K-Cup Coffee Brewer

During my visit to Las Cruces, New Mexico I stayed with an Army friend and his wife.  They had a Keurig coffee maker.  Talked with them about the maker and the advantages and the shortfalls of the system.

On the negative side, the maker is a bit pricey.  I bought the K-Cup 665 at Sam's Club for $130.  A lot of money to brew a cup or two of coffee.  Also, I was concerned about the cost of the coffee packets.  Does not seem to be economical way to buy coffee.

At this time, I may brew a pot of coffee up to 3 dyas a week.  The other days, I am out for breakfast or the local coffee shop to use wi-fi and conversation.  When I brew a pot of coffee, about half of it sits in the pot until I dump it out and make a fresh pot 2 days later.

The K-Cup system was looking interesting.  Just needed to look at the cost of the coffee supplies. A normal sized can of coffee lasts me a long time. So much that I wonder if its losing its flavor in the fridge.  Depending on where you purchase you K-Cup coffee inserts, they run between $0.50 and $0.75 each.  The maker also has an insert there you can use your own bulk (canned) coffee.

Looking at the cost, it compares favorably versus the cost of my coffee at Panera Bread.  Those 3 days when I do not go out for coffee, I also save the cost of gas to run into town.  The Jimmy Dean's breakfast sandwich at home is a wash compared to a bagel at the bakery.

The brewer comes with a selection of different coffee.  Most my brewer came with boxes of 12 Green Mountain Nantucket Blend, Newman's Own Original. and a variety pack.  This morning I frost tried the Nantucket Blend (not impressed - pretty bland) and Newman's Own (more traditional flavor).  Neither beats the Panera Hazelnut coffee that I prefer.

With registration of the brewer, I can get 2  boxes of 22-24 packs free with the purchase of another 2 boxes including free shipping.  The boxes list at about $15.  Seems to be a good way to sample more of the many coffees packaged for the K-Cup brewing system.  Thee are a couple of hazelnut blends and a Kahlua blend I am interested in trying.

Murder on the White Sands

The weather has been the pits for the 2 weeks since I got home from New Mexico.  Ended up spending lots of time reading.  While on the trip I picked up this book at the White Sands National Monument Visitor Center.  Their copies are even autographed by the author (Corey Recko) - a bonus.

The book is a historical look at the disappearance of prominent New Mexican citizen Albert Fountain and his youngest son Henry.  The disappearance happened in the Winter of 1896.

My interest in the book stemmed from a visit at White Sands and friends that now live in the area.

The book goes into great detail into the disappearance, investigation, and trial of those believed responsible.  Albert and Henry Fountain were never found. 

This is not an easy read.  The first thing I was looking was a good map of the area and the locations mentioned in the book.  There is a rudimentary map in the book, but many of the key locations in the book are not noted on the map.  It may make more sense for someone familiar with the area, but I had problems.

The author is writing a factual (as he and his sources know them) accounting.  The book reads as a technical book, rather a murder mystery.  As such, I found it tedious.  Also, I had problems with all of the names of those mentioned in the book. 

One thing I got from the book was a flavor of the times.  At that time, New Mexico was still a territory.  The area was certainly the "Wild West".  Patronage abounded - seems like everyone that was anyone owed their position to a political figure. 

The investigation into the disappearance was hampered by political cronyism.

If you are looking for a typical murder mystery, Murder on the White Sands in not for you.  On the other side - if you are interested in history of New Mexico around the turn of the century, you will find it a good read.

Race Across the Sky

Last evening I attending the showing of Race Across the Sky - a movie about the Leadville Trail 100 mountain bike race. Some 1400 mountain bikers head out from Leadville, Colorado for a 100 mile grueling out and back race, all at over 10,000 ft! The showing was a one night event, held all over the country (?).

Race Across the Sky is a documentary film about the race. If there was a "Star" of the film, it would have to be Lance Armstrong. Before and after the film the feature included panel discussions including Lance, several time winner (and 2nd place finisher) Dave Wiens, 3rd place finisher Matt Shriver, the race promoter, and one more guest (that I did not catch the name).

The best one word description of the film - Awesome. It was inspirational - a woman racer that overcame a crash with a car that almost cost her life. It was heartbreaking with the senior racer that cried because he did not make the 4 hour cut-off at the Twin Lakes check point.

The scenery was beautiful. The aerial shots give a great view of the race venue. The graphic animations shows the race course and gives you a idea where the shots are taken.

Now, while I have never raced other than one at Lake Manawa, I can feel for the riders. They endured the trail, the altitude, rain, sleet, hail, and 100 miles on a mountain bike! Hats off to everyone - if you finished or not, were there as support, worked as a volunteer, or just attended the race.

The schedule at the theater showed the film lasted 195 minutes! No way - just over 1 1/2 hours.

Am I going to ride that race? (That's what some of my friends asked - in jest, I gather) No Way! Now I would like to shoot photos as the racers come up and down Powerline...

A "Must See" film, for mountain bikers, road riders, racers, race fans, or know a cyclist. A treat for a guy like me that knows some of the local racers. Great to see them in the film.

Thanks to Kim West (The Kim West Radio Cycling Show - KXNO, AM 1460) for the promotional tickets.

Nokian Extreme 294

A week ago, on bitter cold day, I decided to install my new studded tires on my hardtail. A good day to work in the house and I was anxious to see how well they work.

You are supposed to ride them on pavement for 30 miles as a break-in. Before doing that, I rode 4 miles in the snow, singletrack at Lake Manawa.

On the snow-packed trail, they performed abut the same as normal mountain bike tire (riding with less than 25# air pressure). As the temperature climbed, I watched for snow packing on the tread. The fork of my Trek4300 hardtail was starting to pack with snow, but the tire tread kept pretty clear. At icy spots, I noticed that I did not slip on the hills (a very good sign).

The next day, I headed out on the local paved bike trail (11 miles). I upped the air pressure for this ride - about 35#. As expected, the trail is mostly clear, with spots of ice from snow melting. This is where the studded tires excelled. Previously, I would lift my feet off of the pedals and spread my legs for better balance as I rode across the ice. With the studded tires, I could continue pedaling right across the ice. As a test, I found I could even accelerate on the ice!

The other test was section was riding on a packed snow/ice trail which was plowed, but not "cleared" (see photo). Where previously I might walking the section, I was now able to ride right through.

Finally I finished the break-in with a 20 mile ride on pavement. Air pressure upped to 40-45# (probably should have been higher). On a 20 mile ride, I noticed the higher rolling resistance of the studded tires. My riding pace was slower and my legs sure felt it the next day!

Bottom line - The Nokian Extreme 294 Studded Tires are AWESOME. Now I am not an aggresive rider, but I did not feel slippage on either bare pavement or ice. They do the trick riding on ice or packed snow. However, for the higher rolling resistance of the tires, I will ride non-studded tires for normal riding - use the studded tires when you know you will encounter icy conditions.

Short Sunday Ride

After breakfast, I headed to Manawa for a short ride. My legs are still tired from the ride yesterday, but wanted to worked them a little. Also, I wanted to check out my new studded tires on the hardtail.

The snow at Manawa was crunchy when I started riding. Had about 15-20 psi air in the rear tire, probably about 25 on the front. Needed to add little air to the rear brought it to about 25 psi. That seemed to work pretty well on the singletrack.

After 4 miles on singletrack, I rode up to the paved bike trail. The studded tires seemed to do their job. I had good traction on the snow/crunchy snow/ice. Surprisingly, I felt that I had pretty good traction also on bare pavement.

Now, I was not riding very fast - but who wants to ride fast on ice (I do not plan to race the bike on the ice). I want to be able to safely lengthen the riding season. Watch for more comments as I ride more with these tires.

I plan to ride again tomorrow morning. Word is that a unorganized group ride will happen tomorrow morning (8:30) at Lake Manawa.