Thursday Night Ride

Remember the awesome good times from the ABES bike weekend? Why not try and recreate it this Thursday, without the fire or exploding windows. 8PM? Sounds good. And buy pEl Duque a birthday beer for good measure. He's old.

Inaugural Knacksot Gravel Grinder report

Joanne, Gavin, and Steven on the gravel trail, riding past the corn.

Saturday's event was a successful inaugural and worth a do-over next year!

Here are the Stats:

8 rode the 51 km route

14 rode the 83 km route

19 rode the 170 km route

Total riders: 42!

On the 170 km route, according to my computer, the terrain was as follows:

- Climbs - avg grade: 4%; max: 14%

- Descents - avg grade: -  -2%; max: -13%

- Total Vertical: 603 m

- Highest Altitude: 179 m (above sea level)

Results (in order of completion)

51 km

Margruite Krahn

Delilah Bergen

Maggie Bergen

Scott Klassen

Carey Friesen

Ian Hall

Donna Hall

Albert Falk (who rode 70 kms - who needs maps?)

83 km

Merle Hiebert

Andy Nadler

Jim Nadler 

Cam McLaren

Charles Burchill

Cindy Hiebert

Gavin Faurschau

Joanne Wiebe

Sandra Carr

Vanessa Peters

Steven Wiebe

Lisa Gagne

Myron Dyck

Julia Thiessen

170 km

Chris Huebner

Terry Macyk

John Paul Peters

Daniel Enns

Craig Doell

Scott Brown

Rob Brigden

Andrea Tetrault

Adam Bergen

Genevieve Krahn

Paul Krahn

Shaun Dyck

Franklin Rempel

Cory Pratt

Janice Brigden

David Sears

David Gerrard - DNF

Lyle Wiens - DNF

Jean Jubinville - DNF

Janice, Rob, Cory, & David - finished.

Vanessa, Lisa, Sandra still riding past the corn.

More corn.

Franklin and Shaun at the end of the day.

Cory, David, and the beards.

Final Thanks! 

To the following folks for helping out a lot, and not riding as much as they would have liked:

Ian Hall for being the organizing genius, super-helper, keg picker-upper, and donater of the top international finisher prize; 

Donna Hall for yellow ribbons; 

Justin W for the awesome poster; 

Bruce, Elexis, and Jared G from Back Alley for two support stops and for the prizes - shirts!; 

Peter and his lovely maid from Country Cycle (Winkler) for one support stop and for prizes - pump, bottle, & bar tape!; 

Jared Falk for one support stop and for general goodness; 

David Sawatzky for managing the finish line, right until everyone was finished; 

Walt Hiebert for sweeping the course in his four-wheeled motorcycle with a box; 

Margruite for BBQing and general hosting goodness; 

and Brad and Colin for coming around in their own way!

'Til next year!

More pics:

Did I mention that we started in the Manitoba Sunflower Festival parade? Auspicious.

Autographs?

Parade trackstands.

An appropriate ending, with revels. 

Thursday Night Ride report

Cloudy, windy, and a bit of rain.  Deterrents? Hardly.  A plethora of ABES showed up to partake of our weekly ritual of riding and rabble-rousing. The camp was divided into two groups: able-bodied and gimps.  Gavin, Steven W., PK, Curt, Franklin, Bruce, Shaun, Tom, Albert and James rode able-bodied. Steve B. (ankle/foot), Dan (multiple hand/finger injuries), El Duque (knee) and myself (knee/psychological) formed the gimp group.

We started off at a brisk pace and then.....they ditched me.  Which was fine.  I knew I'd be slow.  The fixie isn't the fastest at the best of times and definitely not with me at the helm.  So I popped in the earbuds and rode around town with Metric to keep me company, a grin painted across my face.  Di you know it feels really, really good to ride your bike?  Don't take it for granted.  Ever.

I did run into a few stragglers (Duker, Bruce and and Steve B.) as they admired the new Bridge Skatepark construction site.  Seeing that made me grin too.  Can't wait for that thing to open.

Eventually we all ended up back at Grumpy's where Boris greeted us heartily.  Maybe it was the festive pre-Sunflower Festival atmosphere, maybe it was just good vibes.  Everyone seemed eager to be there.  Beer does that sometimes.  Topics thrown about included the upcoming Knacksot Gravel Grinder (Shaun will bear our banner), Dan's undying love of Wing Night (only reason he came out apparently), Steve B. had a private suite at the Goldeyes game (and then it got rained out), really big chain rings = really fast bikes (with video evidence from Steve W. and PinkBike), all participating ABES loved the 24 Hours of Falcon Ridge (next year's teams are already in the making), Albert is Altona's newest superhero (The Mumbler...wait...what did you say?), our brothers to the West (Jason and Peter) were much better prepared for 24 hours of riding (oranges and Gatorade vs. Doritos and beer), and our fearless leader was sorely missed (yeah, trying to make you feel good Jonny). 

Still BFF's, even after the MUERTO Summer Challenge.

As the evening grew late PB decided to swing by.  And EVEN later our guest of honour Lorne showed too!  We'd written him off actually but at 11:34pm he dragged his sorry ass to the bar.  Good times. 

Lorne shows his affinity for MB made beverages.

The happy couple.

Eventually the premises emptied and after cajoling our lovely server Lin into one more round we headed off into the night, 15 pack in hand, to set up residence in Duker's garage.  A fitting end to a great night.

DS

Final Knacksot Route Maps and Cue Sheets

Looking forward to, or just wondering about, gravel-riding goodness on Saturday? The maps and cue sheets are here. And the race bible (top left of the blog) is updated too.

Note that there are three routes: Sonnebloom Licht (51 kms); Sonnebloom (83 kms); Knacksot (163 kms). Advance registration (you save $10!!) is open until 4 pm on Friday.

You know you wanna! 

Thursday Night ride

The weather looks iffy for this week but should clear up for this weekend's Knacksot Gravel Grinder.  Who's in?  Sounds like a bunch of the Athena gals are up for the challenge albeit the shorter versions.  If you're not interested in riding then I'm sure PK would like some help with volunteers!

As for our ride, we'll gather at the usual place, usual time, and see what happens.  Probably a safe bet that we'll ride our bikes for awhile and then retire to the comfort of our local public house.  On a personal note my surgeon has cleared me to ATTEMPT to ride bicycle again.  Yeaaaa!  We'll see how it goes but I'm hoping to ride this Thursday.  Slowly.  Hopefully not painfully.  And the presence of ex-pat ABE Lorne Hildebrand is also a possibility.  Good times are comin' my friends!

DS

Knacksot Gravel Grinder

Sunflower Festival weekend is coming up.  Soon.  This coming weekend in fact!  So make plans to race/attend/volunteer at the ABES/Olympia Cycle Club Knacksot Gravel Grinder!

All the info you need is here. 

ThNR Report

Pole Vaulter, Duke, Mike, Curt, and I met at headquarters.  A low turnout considering the beautiful weather at 8:00.  Then again, the weather can be funny.  Everybody funny, now the weather funny too.  We cycled around and found ourselves in the village admiring the ominous looking clouds.  We realized the rain was coming and we needed to get moving.  We decided to take shelter down the road at Swatters house but didn’t make it far before the wind drastically picked up and the rain began to pelt us.  We spotted an open garage door, jumped in and took refuge while the wind and rain whipped about.  We thanked our host (Abe) and limped back to the clubhouse where we were greeted by DSwank and eventually James and birthday boy Tom.  Minutes include: $108 meat-draw draw, the upcoming 24 Hours of Falcon Ridge race: Cheryl and I are team Lube and Liquor - Gavin and Steven are entered in the 24 hour solo category (despite being the best couple) - Mia is riding with a group of kids - and Albert will ride an and continue to be awesome, David got a mega bump-up the medical ladder (huzzah!), The Echo reports on Mary Hane, tulips on my organ, The ABES gravel grinder goodness and sunflower festival parade lap, Bobby Ryan is a young Schiesse lookalike, Uncle Tricky Dick, Monsters Inc. helped save James and Sandra’s marriage, Captain Sum Ting Wong, and the annual Moose Lake Ride is scheduled for August 24.  Good times.

ThNR

See you at 8.

ThNR report

Who rode?  Not me!  As I arrived at Grumpy's I saw a breakaway of one approaching with me.  Wolters broke from the pack and made a desperate sprint to the finish to claim the stage win.  Limping in behind were Franklin, Shaun, Curt, James and Bruce.  It was only upon entry to the establishment that we discovered Tom already enjoying a refreshing beverage, having claimed the Stage win with a daring "don't ride with anyone and quit early" strategy.  Brilliant.  Oh well, the peloton didn't seem too disappointed.

It was a busy Thursday night with two serving personnel in attendance.  And Nash even had wings available!  Beverages were consumed and things were discussed.  No pictures were taken.  It was that kind of night.  The Folk Fest was barely mentioned.  Neither was the TdF.  We did talk a lot about flying (Bruce says pilots get laid like nobody's business), shooting guns (we all like shooting things), Franklin discussed the Muerto ride (never ride down Darryl Road), James was asked the question that has made him dream of punching people in the face for years, riders wondered (dreamt?) of the day that their rides would be gone when they walked out, Tom seems to have made the switch to Long Islands (unacceptable in winter, passable in summer), the upcoming Sunflower Fest gravel grinder looks fun (meaning only Shaun said he'd do it), and the Bombers are awesome (always).  Should we do it again next week?  I think we shall.

DS

ThNR

On.  8 pm.

I can't make it this week - I'm going to the folk fest with a bunch of awesome hippies.  

Knacksot ne Runtreis Gravel Grinder!!!

The race bible and online registration link is on the Knacksot Gravel Grinder page to your left!

And for good measure, here's the online registration link. Beat the rush!

MUERTO Update

Paul did it!  He cycled on gravel roads from Virden to Falcon Lake in 34.5 hours (almost 24 hours of cycling). Unfortunately, Franklin wasn't feeling well but managed to soldier on for 300+ km's before calling it quits in Winnipeg.  

Congratulations DB!

Albert Keeps On Keepin On

Albert continues his studly ways with a third place finish at the Manitoba Individual Time Trial Championships this weekend.  After the race Albert said, "I did my best and felt good about my ride." (I think that's what he said).  Well done Albert.  We heart you!

ThNR Report

Lyle, Tom, Schiesse, James, DB, Mike, Paul B, Shaun, Steven, and I met to ride bike.  It’s been a long time since Paul Bergman joined us for a ride and it was ‘nice’ to have him back; he was sporting a very sweet 3-speed internal hub bike with wood fenders and a brooks saddle.  Steven debuted his new whip – a Jamis Sputnik fixie that he bought (threatened) from a co-worker (subordinate).  We cruised around town, Lyle left to eat a sandwich and we all met at the clubhouse.  David, Steve, and Franklin joined us for the meeting where minutes include: DB’s B+B, Bombers win, Paul + Paul = good idea jeans #windchimes, Buffalo/Thai wings are good, windmill rides, Lyle’s summer project/criminal activity, Paul B is going to live/work at the cemetery, Steven wants to get back to his roots and develop Plum Coulee Beer (PCB), high-vis cardigans, Shaun proclaims - fuck this world, our server’s name is Berlin Wall (yes, really!), Lyle is bored after 4 days of vacation, discussions about le Tour, and DB and Franklin are taking the MUERTO challenge this weekend – best of luck boys!  Good times.

Pre-Muerto check-up

Steven loves his new ride

Steven submitted this picture Friday evening...

Lindsay Gauld stocks up on crackles in Altona as he cycles the Manitoba portion
of the Trans Canada Trail (That's about 1400 km's).  Lindsay is a living legend.

ThNR

Bike ride?

See you at 8.