As a fan of both weirdness and travel, I wanted to, nay had to, shine the spotlight on this website: One part wikipedia, one part Ripley’s Believe it Or Not, and one part Lonely Planet Thorn Tree Travel forum, Atlas Obscura details the strangest and oddest places in the world.
Billing itself as “A Compendium of this Age’s Wonders, Curiosities and Esoterica,” thus far, the Atlas only has one entry for our great state of Nebraska (which happens to be Charlie Johnson’s Museum of the Odd in Lincoln). But that’s okay—additional entries can be added and edited by readers, much like wikipedia.
Even if you aren't planning a future trip to the last handwoven, Inca-made grass bridge in Peru or The Devil's Swimming Pool (and why wouldn't you be?), this site can provide hours of fascinating reading...and it has cool pictures.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Thursday, August 20, 2009
A pig-themed post
Let’s go for a roll in the mud!
If you’ve ever dreamed of making like a swine and diving face-first into a dirt and water mixture (or if you just really, really hate your current pair of running shoes), you, my potentially filthy friend, have just 8 more days to register for the Nebraska Sports Council’s third annual Mud Run, or its cuter, more diminutive version, the Mini Mud Run.
Held in Springfield, Nebraska, at 9 am on Saturday, September 6th, this foot race features a 3.1 mile course made all the more difficult by unknown obstacles and, of course, a giant mud pit that must be negotiated by crawling not over, not around, but through it.
For those of you, like me, who have eaten like a pig all summer, the shorter Mini Mud Run may be a more attractive alternative, as this noncompetitive event has runners jogging the very reasonable distance of 1 mile before coating their eyeballs with filth.
Tasteful costumes are encouraged, as is throwing away said costume rather than wadding it up, throwing it in the back of your car, and letting it bake to a stinky, brick-like consistency. Bring extra clothes for after the race (and maybe your toothbrush). To see last year’s competition in all of its dirty glory, check out the pictures here.
Revenge, I scream!
If you’re as upset about swine flue as I am, then you’ll know that the only way to truly combat this horrible disease is to eat as many pigs as possible. Yes, that’s right, revenge, like bacon, is a dish best served warm, and some local cyclists, as is their custom, are going to do their part this weekend.
I am, of course, referring to The Bacon Ride, an early Sunday morning ride that will start at around 6 am at Wohlner’s parking lot and travel to Platte River State Park. Although anyone is invited, be prepared for a 100-mile day. For more information, check out the Pedal Omaha blog.
If you’ve ever dreamed of making like a swine and diving face-first into a dirt and water mixture (or if you just really, really hate your current pair of running shoes), you, my potentially filthy friend, have just 8 more days to register for the Nebraska Sports Council’s third annual Mud Run, or its cuter, more diminutive version, the Mini Mud Run.
Held in Springfield, Nebraska, at 9 am on Saturday, September 6th, this foot race features a 3.1 mile course made all the more difficult by unknown obstacles and, of course, a giant mud pit that must be negotiated by crawling not over, not around, but through it.
For those of you, like me, who have eaten like a pig all summer, the shorter Mini Mud Run may be a more attractive alternative, as this noncompetitive event has runners jogging the very reasonable distance of 1 mile before coating their eyeballs with filth.
Tasteful costumes are encouraged, as is throwing away said costume rather than wadding it up, throwing it in the back of your car, and letting it bake to a stinky, brick-like consistency. Bring extra clothes for after the race (and maybe your toothbrush). To see last year’s competition in all of its dirty glory, check out the pictures here.
Revenge, I scream!
If you’re as upset about swine flue as I am, then you’ll know that the only way to truly combat this horrible disease is to eat as many pigs as possible. Yes, that’s right, revenge, like bacon, is a dish best served warm, and some local cyclists, as is their custom, are going to do their part this weekend.
I am, of course, referring to The Bacon Ride, an early Sunday morning ride that will start at around 6 am at Wohlner’s parking lot and travel to Platte River State Park. Although anyone is invited, be prepared for a 100-mile day. For more information, check out the Pedal Omaha blog.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Thinking of doing a short triathlon? Do you lack a Y chromosome?
I have wished many, many times that I could somehow change the length of a project I’d gotten involved with—maybe pull up at mile 55 of a century bike ride, leave work at 2 pm rather than 5 pm, or stop hiking at the top of the mountain and, I don't know, take a helicopter or a water slide back down. It’s a novel and wonderful idea, and the women who enter (yes, only women are allowed to enter) the noncompetitive Methodist Health/UNO women’s triathlon on August 29th will get to experience that feeling.
First, participants will start with a short 100-yard swim in Wehrspann Lake (named after John Wehrspann, who, in 1912, became the first man to don a weighted vest and walk underwater from one end of the lake to the other, a feat known as "bottom shuffling" that was popular around the turn of the century in the Midwest1). All manner of assistance is allowed, so feel free to don an old inner tube or bust out your water wings (although these could slow you down in the transition area).
Next comes the "choose your own adventure"2 part of the triathlon, as racers decide whether they'll do a 2, 4, or 6-mile bike ride followed by a half-mile, one-mile, or 1.5-mile run through the rolling terrain of Chalco Hills.
The triathlon is intended to be an untimed, purely-for-fun event, so if you've never done a triathlon before, this would be a good opportunity to try the sport out. This is also a good opportunity for more experience competitors to practice their transitions while getting in a good workout. Proceeds go to a good cause (assisting the UNO women's swimming and diving team with traveling costs for the year).
If you’re interested, on-time registration (which is $18) ends tomorrow, although you can register late, right up until the day of the race for $30. Just print out this form and send it in.3
Footnote 1: This is a total lie.
Footnote 2: Does anyone else remember those books from the 80s? Do people still read/write them?
Footnote 3: Don't foget the envelope and stamp.
First, participants will start with a short 100-yard swim in Wehrspann Lake (named after John Wehrspann, who, in 1912, became the first man to don a weighted vest and walk underwater from one end of the lake to the other, a feat known as "bottom shuffling" that was popular around the turn of the century in the Midwest1). All manner of assistance is allowed, so feel free to don an old inner tube or bust out your water wings (although these could slow you down in the transition area).
Next comes the "choose your own adventure"2 part of the triathlon, as racers decide whether they'll do a 2, 4, or 6-mile bike ride followed by a half-mile, one-mile, or 1.5-mile run through the rolling terrain of Chalco Hills.
The triathlon is intended to be an untimed, purely-for-fun event, so if you've never done a triathlon before, this would be a good opportunity to try the sport out. This is also a good opportunity for more experience competitors to practice their transitions while getting in a good workout. Proceeds go to a good cause (assisting the UNO women's swimming and diving team with traveling costs for the year).
If you’re interested, on-time registration (which is $18) ends tomorrow, although you can register late, right up until the day of the race for $30. Just print out this form and send it in.3
Footnote 1: This is a total lie.
Footnote 2: Does anyone else remember those books from the 80s? Do people still read/write them?
Footnote 3: Don't foget the envelope and stamp.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Xterra BOLT pictures, recap, results
Despite torrential pre-race rains that had many athletes wondering if ark-building would be a more suitable way to spend the day, last Saturday's inaugural Xterra Branched Oak Lake Triathlon (BOLT) kicked off with nary a hitch, save a half-hour delayed start and a last-minute re-routing of washed-out singletrack.
At 9:30 am, with clearing skies and reasonable temperatures, over 100 racers flung themselves into the algae-colored water at Branched Oak Lake for the 1000-meter swim. But the story of the day was the mountain bike section of the course, which started with a 5-mile grass ride and culminated in 2 laps in the tangled, muddy trails just west of Branched Oak Lake's area 1. Bike handling skills, mud-shedding tires, and a good motor were at a premium, as many racers began to redefine success as simply not getting pitched over their own handlebars into the mud. But racers that kept their rear tires weighted and didn't stop till they were at the top turned in some truly amazing times for the mountain bike section, before dismounting and trotting back toward the dam for a 4.5 mile finishing run.
Afterward, winners received their bolts, and anyone willing to engage in stupid human tricks (or pushups) were further rewarded with gift certificates to a Lincoln bike shop. All in all, though, the race organizers did a terrific job, and a spirit of fun, cooperation, and camradery pervaded the entire event.
Pictures and results
If you sang the national anthem, volunteered to work at the race, participated in the race, or even happened to be water skiing at Branched Oak Lake that day, there's a really good chance that photographer Ken Coffman took a picture of you in one of these 400-some photos. Race results can be found here.
At 9:30 am, with clearing skies and reasonable temperatures, over 100 racers flung themselves into the algae-colored water at Branched Oak Lake for the 1000-meter swim. But the story of the day was the mountain bike section of the course, which started with a 5-mile grass ride and culminated in 2 laps in the tangled, muddy trails just west of Branched Oak Lake's area 1. Bike handling skills, mud-shedding tires, and a good motor were at a premium, as many racers began to redefine success as simply not getting pitched over their own handlebars into the mud. But racers that kept their rear tires weighted and didn't stop till they were at the top turned in some truly amazing times for the mountain bike section, before dismounting and trotting back toward the dam for a 4.5 mile finishing run.
Afterward, winners received their bolts, and anyone willing to engage in stupid human tricks (or pushups) were further rewarded with gift certificates to a Lincoln bike shop. All in all, though, the race organizers did a terrific job, and a spirit of fun, cooperation, and camradery pervaded the entire event.
Pictures and results
If you sang the national anthem, volunteered to work at the race, participated in the race, or even happened to be water skiing at Branched Oak Lake that day, there's a really good chance that photographer Ken Coffman took a picture of you in one of these 400-some photos. Race results can be found here.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Tranquility Tire Tantrum MTB, Pictures and Results
As last Saturday's temperatures boiled to near 100 degrees and the southerly wind felt like someone trying to blow dry my hair with a lighter and a can of Aqua Net, in my daze, the only song I could hear blasting from the Psycowpath PA was Buster Pointdexter's neo-calypso classic Hot Hot Hot. Anybody else have that problem?
Like the race, at first the song and its infectious chorus was kind of fun, but then it started to get to me. However, for those racers with cooling fans in their lungs, heat sinks in their brains, and the ability to store water like a camel (or perhaps just wear a hydration pack, like the rest of us mere mortals), the temperatures were a non-issue.
Pictures, including some pretty nifty portraits of Tranquility Tire Tantrum mountain bike racers, can be found here. And full results of the race can be found on Nebraska Cycling News's website. Enjoy!
Like the race, at first the song and its infectious chorus was kind of fun, but then it started to get to me. However, for those racers with cooling fans in their lungs, heat sinks in their brains, and the ability to store water like a camel (or perhaps just wear a hydration pack, like the rest of us mere mortals), the temperatures were a non-issue.
Pictures, including some pretty nifty portraits of Tranquility Tire Tantrum mountain bike racers, can be found here. And full results of the race can be found on Nebraska Cycling News's website. Enjoy!
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Single speed (disg)racer
How’s this for a summer road trip idea: pack your pink jock strap and the lucha libre mask you bought in Tijuana on spring break years ago, bungee your single speed mountain bike to the top of your station wagon, and get on the open road to witness one of the wildest mountain bike races in the world—the 2009 Single Speed World Championships (SSWC).Held on Saturday, September 19th, in Durango, Colorado, this year (about 900 miles from Omaha), the SSWC is a mysteriously run annual event that attracts a wide variety of single speed enthusiasts from all over the world. Costumes and drinking are de rigueur, athletes range from the world class to the half-assed and are routinely thrown a competitive curveball (the top 20 finishers in the 2005 mountain bike race were forced to race go-karts--yes, go karts--in order to determine the champion), and the winner gets not a trophy…not a medal…not a Taco Bell bean burrito gift certificate…but a tattoo. (As the race organizers say, “Don’t win if you don’t want the tattoo.”)
Photo of the 2003 and 2004 champs. Photo taken by Wendy Gasson. Permission to use in Wikipedia granted via email on Jan 1, 2004. Her main website is http://wendysphotos.fotopic.net/. The photo can be found at: http://wendysphotos.fotopic.net/p6944314.html
Anyone interested in participating should’ve registered months ago, but that’s okay—there’s a ton of interesting things to do (other than watch the spectacle of the race itself). For one, there's a ton of great mountain biking in the area. For another, there's the Durango to Silverton narrow gauge rail, which will provide you with spectacular views of the San Juans and the Animas River (which you can also go whitewater rafting on).
For a full schedule of events, check here. And for a write-up in this month’s Outside magazine on last year’s SSWC, held in Napa, check here.
And, for a better idea of the weirdness associated with this event, check out the registration video that appeared on the SSWC web site earlier this year:
Photo of the 2003 and 2004 champs. Photo taken by Wendy Gasson. Permission to use in Wikipedia granted via email on Jan 1, 2004. Her main website is http://wendysphotos.fotopic.net/. The photo can be found at: http://wendysphotos.fotopic.net/p6944314.html
Anyone interested in participating should’ve registered months ago, but that’s okay—there’s a ton of interesting things to do (other than watch the spectacle of the race itself). For one, there's a ton of great mountain biking in the area. For another, there's the Durango to Silverton narrow gauge rail, which will provide you with spectacular views of the San Juans and the Animas River (which you can also go whitewater rafting on).
For a full schedule of events, check here. And for a write-up in this month’s Outside magazine on last year’s SSWC, held in Napa, check here.
And, for a better idea of the weirdness associated with this event, check out the registration video that appeared on the SSWC web site earlier this year:
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Although this blog post is only tangentially related to Nebraska adventures (that tangential relation mostly being the word “adventures”), this film positively begged to be re-introduced to a new audience.Shot in a single take in Paris in 1976, director Claude LeLoche mounted a camera to the front bumper of his car (a Mercedes-Benz 450SEL 6.9). Early one morning, LeLoche plopped behind the steering wheel and tore through the streets of Paris, leaving $200 worth of rubber on ancient cobblestone, scattering pigeons, running red lights, and giving viewers a breakneck-speed tour of the city of lights. The result is C'etait un Rendezvous (It Was a Date), a testosterone-addled, white-knuckle example of cinéma-vérité that makes The Fast and the Furious look like High School Musical.
On one hand, it is a daring and imaginative (albeit dangerous) project, one that fully mesmerizes viewers during its 10-minute run time. On the other hand, it serves as a reminder to bike commuters, pedestrians, and pigeons to always be aware of what’s going on around you—don’t take anything, even that walk signal or the fact that cross-traffic has a red light, for granted, or you could be road kill.
On one hand, it is a daring and imaginative (albeit dangerous) project, one that fully mesmerizes viewers during its 10-minute run time. On the other hand, it serves as a reminder to bike commuters, pedestrians, and pigeons to always be aware of what’s going on around you—don’t take anything, even that walk signal or the fact that cross-traffic has a red light, for granted, or you could be road kill.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Homegrown hares
You can file this dispatch in the "if you didn't already know about it, you probably won't be doing it" file (especially because the last-minute deadline for entry was July 31st--sorry, loyal readers), but here goes anyway: Adventure racing, a multi-discipline sport for people who love the great outdoors almost as much as they love suffering, will once again be causing blisters in the Omaha area.
The Wild Hare 12-Hour Adventure Race will kick off at an undisclosed time and location (sounds mysterious, doesn't it?) after a mandatory gear check and pre-race meeting Friday evening. Featuring 21 two-person and three-person teams who compete in trail running, mountain biking, canoeing in the Missouri River, and orienteering, the race is sponsored by the Wild Hare racing team, a homegrown adventure racing team that for the past few years has competed far and wide in a number of grueling challenges.
My hat is off to these brave young (and old) men and women--good luck to all. There aren't many things that I would still consider "fun" after having to do them for 12 hours.
The Wild Hare 12-Hour Adventure Race will kick off at an undisclosed time and location (sounds mysterious, doesn't it?) after a mandatory gear check and pre-race meeting Friday evening. Featuring 21 two-person and three-person teams who compete in trail running, mountain biking, canoeing in the Missouri River, and orienteering, the race is sponsored by the Wild Hare racing team, a homegrown adventure racing team that for the past few years has competed far and wide in a number of grueling challenges.
My hat is off to these brave young (and old) men and women--good luck to all. There aren't many things that I would still consider "fun" after having to do them for 12 hours.
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